DOCTOR WHO.
AND THE WEB OF FEAR.
by Terrance d.i.c.ks.
1.
Return of Evil.
The huge, furry monster reared up, as if to strike. Well over seven feet tall, its immensely broad body made it seem squat and lumpy. It had the huge hands of a gorilla, the savage yellow fangs and fierce red eyes of a grizzly bear.
There was no fear in the face of the white-bearded old man who stood looking up at it, just a yearning curiosity. He knew the monster wouldn"t move. It had stood like this, in the private museum, for over forty years, ever since he had brought it back from Tibet. He reached up and opened a flap in the monster"s chest. Beneath was an empty s.p.a.ce, just large enough to hold a small sphere.
The door opened and two people walked in. One was a tall, elegant white-haired old man, the other an attractive young girl. The man pointed to the brooding figure at the end of the hall. "There he is, Miss Travers. Now, please, you take him away!" Although his voice was cultured, it held traces of a middle-European accent.
Anne Travers was used to apologising for the eccentricities of her father. "I"ll do my best, Mr Julius." She smiled and crossed over to her father. "h.e.l.lo, Father."
Professor Travers looked round in mild surprise. "h.e.l.lo, Anne. Thought you were in America."
Anne Travers sighed. "I was was in America-until you cabled saying you were in trouble. You were supposed to meet me at the airport." in America-until you cabled saying you were in trouble. You were supposed to meet me at the airport."
"I was? Thought I"d better come here and have another go at Julius-the silly old fool won"t listen to me."
The museum owner marched angrily over to them. "Me, a fool? You would like me to be a fool, Professor Travers- fool enough to give you back my Yeti I"
"You must must give it back, at least for a time. Don"t you understand, the thing is dangerous." give it back, at least for a time. Don"t you understand, the thing is dangerous."
Julius flung out one hand in a dramatic gesture. "Forty years it stands in my museum! Now he tells me it is dangerous, but Julius is not so easily tricked."
The two old men glared angrily at each other. Travers shabby and unkempt with tangled hair and bushy beard, Julius tall and elegant in his beautifully cut suit. Anne sighed again. She glanced at the placard at the feet of the rearing monster. It read, "Life-size model of the Yeti, commonly known as the Abominable Snowman. Brought back from Tibet by Mr Edward Travers after his expedition of 1935".
It had all happened long before Anne Travers was born.
Edward Travers, with his friend and colleague Angus Mackay, had gone in search of the Abominable Snowman, the legendary manbeast rumoured to haunt the snowy pa.s.ses of Tibet. Months later Travers had returned, alone. Mackay had been killed on the expedition. Travers had told a wild story of faked faked Abominable Snowmen, robot servants of some alien Intelligence that planned to take over the world. The plot had been foiled by a mysterious being known only as "the Doctor". Abominable Snowmen, robot servants of some alien Intelligence that planned to take over the world. The plot had been foiled by a mysterious being known only as "the Doctor".
Travers had brought back a strange collection of objects in support of his story. They included the ma.s.sive creature that now stood in the museum, and a small silver sphere that, he claimed, had once controlled the creature and given it life.
Travers had been unable to prove his claims. The sphere remained silent, the Yeti refused to stir, and everyone a.s.sumed Travers, unbalanced by his sufferings in Tibet, was attempting an elaborate fraud.
Although no one believed the story, it had created a considerable stir. As a result, Emil Julius, a wealthy and eccentric collector with his own private museum, had offered to buy the Yeti for a handsome sum. Dejected, discredited, almost penniless, Travers accepted the offer-an action ire was to regret for the rest of his life.
Although he sold the Yeti itself, Travers kept the silver sphere which controlled it, together with a number of other Yeti relics. Determined to justify himself to the world, he had begun to examine the sphere with the aim of discovering its secrets. With incredible determination he had embarked upon the study of the still-new science of electronics. In forty years Travers had turned himself from a discredited anthropologist into a world-famous scientist. His discoveries and inventions had made him rich and respected. But all this time he never lost sight of his one central aim, to reanimate the control sphere and bring the Yeti back to life. Anne, now a scientist herself, had grown up with stories of her father"s adventures in Tibet. The strange Doctor and his two companions were like figures in a fairy-tale to her. She knew Travers had made repeated attempts to buy back the Yeti, but Emil Julius was as obstinate as Travers himself. The more determined Travers became to get the Yeti back, the more determined was Julius to keep it, convinced he was the owner of something valuable and unique. Looking at the two angry old men, Anne saw their quarrel had lost none of its bitterness, though both were now into their seventies.
Taking her father to one side she said quietly, "You know Mr Julius won"t sell the Yeti back. Why all this urgency?"
Travers lowered his voice. "I"ve done done it, Anne. At last I"ve reactivated the control sphere. It began signalling again!" it, Anne. At last I"ve reactivated the control sphere. It began signalling again!"
"That"s wonderful news, Father," said Anne soothingly.
"It would be-except for one thing. The control sphere"s disappeared." He turned angrily back towards Julius. "Don"t you see, it will try to return to the Yeti -and if I"m not there when it does... Oh, make him understand, Anne."
Julius interrupted. "I understand well enough. You try to scare me, to get your Yeti back. Well, it is priceless, the only one in the world, and it is mine!"
Anne took her father"s arm. "We"d better go. Maybe you put the sphere away somewhere and forgot where-it"s happened before."
"I tell you I"ve looked..."
"Then we"ll go back and look again. You know I can always find things for you." Gently she led him away.
Julius escorted them to the front door, closed it behind them. He stood for a moment, shaking with rage. "No one destroys Emil Julius"s collection-no one." Still grumbling childishly to himself he began to lock and bar the door.
In the empty hall, the Yeti stood motionless, surrounded by devil-masks, mummies, dinosaur bones and all the other oddities of Julius"s collection. Then a faint signal, a kind of electronic bleeping, disturbed the silence. It seemed to come from outside the window. Suddenly the gla.s.s shattered, broken by the impact of a silver sphere. It was as if the sphere had been hurled through the window from the street outside.
But the silver missile did not drop to the ground. It hovered in mid-air. Then it floated slowly towards the Yeti and disappeared into the still open hollow in the creature"s chest.
Immediately the flap dosed over it.
Alarmed by the noise of smashing gla.s.s, Julius can into the room. He stopped, seeing the shattered window, the gla.s.s on the floor. Was the old fool Travers to insane he was now throwing bricks through the window? Julius looked out. The street below was silent and deserted.
Julius decided to telephone the police. On his way out of the hall, he stopped for another look at his beloved Yeti. He gazed proudly up at it. The Yeti"s eyes opened and glared redly into his own.
Appalled Julius took a pace back. The Yeti stepped off its stand, following him. Its features blurred and shimmered before his horrified eyes, becoming even more fierce and wild than before. With a sudden, shattering roar the Yeti smashed down its arm in a savage blow...
The mysterious and brutal murder of Emil Julius, together with the disappearance of the pride of his collection, caused a tremendous sensation. Because of their past a.s.sociation, Professor Travers came briefly under suspicion but the alibi provided by his daughter, plus Travers"s horrified insistance that the Yeti must be found, convinced the Police of his innocence. The murder was never solved, the Yeti never found.
In the weeks that followed, the story was driven from the headlines by an even stranger mystery. Patches of mist began to appear in Central London. Unlike any natural mist, they refused to disperse. More and more patches appeared, linking up one with another. Most terrifying of all, people who spent any time in the mist patches were found dead, their faces covered with cobwebs. Central London was cordoned off. It was still possible to travel by Underground Railway-until a strange cobweb-like substance started to spread below ground, completely blocking the tunnels. It was like a glowing mist made solid, and anyone who entered it was never seen again. The combination of mist above and cobweb below became known as the Web. Slowly it spread.
Then the Yeti reappeared, not just one but hordes of them, roaming through the misty streets and the cobwebbed tunnels, mercilessly killing anyone in their path. Central London was gripped tight in a Web of Fear...
2.
The Web in s.p.a.ce Inside the control room of that mysterious s.p.a.ce/Time craft known as the TARDIS, a furious argument was raging between two very different figures. One was a small man with untidy black hair and a gentle, humorous face. He wore baggy check trousers and a disreputable old frock-coat. Towering over him was a brawny youth in Highland dress, complete with kilt. The smaller man was that well-known traveller in s.p.a.ce and Time called the Doctor. The other, whose name was Jamie, had been the Doctor"s travelling companion since the Doctor"s visit to Earth at the time of the Jacobite rebellion.
Usually the two were the best of friends. However, occasional disputes were inevitable, and this one concerned Jamie"s duties as the Doctor"s a.s.sistant. Largely to keep him occupied, the Doctor had given Jamie one or two simple tasks concerned with the running of the TARDIS. The fact that Jamie was completely lacking in technological knowledge made him all the more determined to carry them out correctly.
"Now see here, Doctor," he said stubbornly. "You told me to watch that control panel and warn you if yon light flashed.
Well, it flashed!" Jamie folded his arms defiantly.
The Doctor tried to be patient. "If that light had flashed it would mean we"ve landed. And we"re still travelling."
"Aye, well that"s as mebbe. But I know what I saw -and yon light flashed!"
"Oh really, Jamie..."
They were interrupted by the opening of the door from the TARDIS"s living quarters. A small, dark girl entered the control room. Her name was Victoria, and she was the Doctor"s other travelling companion. Rescued from nineteenth-century London during a terrifying adventure with the Daleks, Victoria had joined the Doctor and Jamie in their travels. Usually she wore the long, flowing dresses of her own age, but they were c.u.mbersome and impractical during the strenuously active adventures in which the Doctor tended to involve her. Rummaging through the TARDIS clothing lockers, Victoria had found a jacket and slacks small enough to fit her. Now, greatly daring, she was wearing the outfit for the first time. Hopefully she looked at Jamie. "Do you like it?"
"Like what?"
"I found these clothes in the locker. I think they suit me, don"t you?"
The Doctor smiled. "Very much. Don"t you agree, Jamie?"
Jamie glanced briefly at Victoria and said, "Aye, verra nice. Now then, Doctor, I"m no daft-I saw what I saw."
Victoria was staring over their shoulder, "Why"s that light flashing?" she asked innocently.
The Doctor spun round, but the flashing had stopped.
"Are you two having a game with me?"
Jamie grinned at Victoria. "You see? He willna" listen!"
The Doctor was peering at the control console. The movement of the central column was slowing down. "Well, bless my soul," he said. "We appear to be landing!" His hands flickered over the switches as he checked the automatic landing procedure. "All seems to be going smoothly. Let"s find out where we are." The Doctor switched on the scanner. He saw only the blackness of s.p.a.ce, broken by a scattering of stars. Victoria could tell he was worried. "What"s happened?"
"Something very strange. We"re out of the s.p.a.ce/Time Vortex-but we"re suspended in s.p.a.ce!" The Doctor began running a series of rapid checks muttering to himself, "Gravity off, power on, control on, flight on..."
Jamie watched him gloomily. "Ye dinna make sense.
We"ve landed, and yet we havna" landed?"
Victoria peered at the scanner. A curious, cobwebby growth was creeping over the screen, a kind of solid mist.
"Look, Doctor. It"s like a spider"s web."
The Doctor looked. "Fascinating. That"s what"s holding us here-but why?" He gazed at the scanner, lost in thought.
Angrily Jamie burst out, "Well, dinna" just stand there, Doctor. Do something!"
The Doctor seemed to come to. He beamed at Jamie.
"Practical as ever, my boy. And quite right too." The Doctor opened a locker and began rummaging inside. He produced a small red box, blew a layer of dust off it, then fished out an electronic tool kit. Fingers working rapidly, the Doctor began wiring the box into the console, while Victoria and Jamie looked on.
"What"s the box for, Doctor?" asked Victoria.
The Doctor went on working. "It"s a power-booster." He pointed to a b.u.t.ton in the lid. "When I press this, the total power of the TARDIS will be channelled into one ma.s.sive surge. It should be enough to wrench us free from whatever"s holding us, and set us down somewhere else. That is if if everything goes to plan." everything goes to plan."
"And if it doesn"t?"
"The TARDIS will probably blow up," the Doctor said cheerfully. He finished his work, snapped shut the lid of the box and looked at them. "Ready everybody? Then hold tight!"
Jamie and Victoria took a firm grip of the edge of the central console, and the Doctor pressed the b.u.t.ton. There was a sudden crescendo of electronic noise as the central column began to move again, slowly at first then with increasing speed. With a final shriek of power, the TARDIS jerked, vibrated and spun. The Doctor and his companions were sent flying across the control room. Then the noise and movement cut out. Everything was quiet and still.
The Doctor struggled to his feet, and went to the control console. Jamie helped Victoria to her feet. Both were shaken and bruised but otherwise unhurt. The Doctor glanced up from his instruments. "Well, it worked. We"ve landed, really landed this time."
"I don"t suppose you ken where," asked Jamie. "Or when when either?" either?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I"m afraid the readings area bit erratic." He patted the console affectionately. "The poor old girl"s somewhat shaken up."
"What are we going to do now?" asked Victoria.
The Doctor rubbed his chin. "It"s too soon to take off.
We"ve eluded our captor for the moment, but I don"t want to get stuck in that Web again. Let"s see where we"ve landed." He adjusted controls on the scanner. They saw darkness, and the vague shape of an arched roof. "We seem to be inside somewhere. I"ve a feeling we"re underground." He peered at the instruments again. "The atmosphere gauge seems to be working. There"s air out there... Suppose we take a look?"
Jamie moved eagerly towards the doors. Victoria hung back.
"Do you think it"s safe?"
"I shouldn"t think so for a moment!" Smiling in happy antic.i.p.ation, the Doctor operated the TARDIS doors. They opened to reveal-nothing. Just sinister blackness. "Hold on; said the Doctor. "We"ll be needing these." He opened a wall-locker and produced a couple of large torches, handing one to Jamie and keeping the other himself. Switching on the torches, they left the TARDIS.
The air outside was dank and chill, a curious dead feel to it. The Doctor locked the door of the TARDIS, which looked from the outside like an old Police Box. He swept the beam of his torch around. It revealed a long, tiled corridor with an arched roof. Jamie pointed his torch in the other direction.
"There"s an opening along here, Doctor. Seems to be steps, leading down." Eagerly Jamie ran forward. The others followed, Victoria taking care to keep close to the Doctor.
"If there are steps they must lead somewhere," the Doctor agreed. "Come on."
The steps took them down and down through the darkness. Victoria wondered what lay before them this time.
Perhaps they were in the lair of an underground monster.
Jamie ranged eagerly ahead, and Victoria could see his torch bobbing about below them. His voice floated up. "I"ve come to the end of the steps. There"s another arch-seems to give onto a kind of long tunnel."