"Oh come on, Doctor. Stop treating me like a child."
The Doctor picked up the black-light lamp. "I can"t understand why the definition was so low," he said thoughtfully. "Unless of course he"s operating with a very weak power source at maximum range..." The Doctor went over to the TARDIS, opened the door with his key and went inside. He studied the instrument console, took a number of different readings, mentally compared them with those on the rhondium sensor, and gave a nod of satisfaction. He heard the Brigadier"s voice. "Doctor! Will you kindly come out of there?"
The Doctor hurried out of the TARDIS, leaving the door open behind him. The Brigadier stood waiting, immaculate as ever, despite the hour. "Trouble, I"m afraid, Doctor. A considerable quant.i.ty of electronic equipment has vanished from the labs, and several scientists have disappeared. Everyone present in this dormitory?"
"No, Professor Rubeish is missing." The Doctor began dismantling his tracking equipment and replacing it in the black box, The Brigadier took off his cap, and mopped his forehead. "Oh my giddy aunt, the Minister will go spare.
Did you see anything, Doctor?"
"Yes. Something that looked like a man in armour."
"Old-fashioned armour you mean? A ghost?"
"I very much doubt it. Sony, Brigadier, I can"t stop to explain."
"Why not? Where are you going?"
"After Rubeish. Must get on the trail while the scent"s still warm."
"What trail? The chap"s just vanished without trace."
"Oh no he hasn"t. I managed to get a fix on him-or rather on where he"s been taken. You know, Brigadier, there"s something very odd going on here!"
"That, Doctor, is not exactly news to me," said the Brigadier exasperatedly. "What"s happening? How is it being done?"
"Someone"s using an osmic transporter beam. But the really odd thing is, there"s a time-transference factor too.
It"s being worked from several centuries ago!" The Doctor picked up the lamp and the black box. "Well, I can"t stay here chatting, old chap. I"m going after poor old Rubeish."
"Doctor, I forbid you to go off in that contraption.
There"s no telling where you"ll fetch up. Remember Metebelis Three!"
The Doctor was stung. "I got there eventually, didn"t I?"
"Eventually indeed! After detouring round most of the universe, according to Miss Grant."
The Doctor drew a deep breath. "Now see here, Brigadier..." The argument began to grow heated.
Sarah had been listening with increasing fascination.
She didn"t understand what the two men were arguing about-but she was growing more and more certain that she was on to the biggest story of her life. She noticed that the Doctor and the Brigadier both had their backs to the mysterious police box. Could the thing be a kind of conjuror"s cabinet? Perhaps the Doctor had spirited Professor Rubeish inside. The Doctor and the Brigadier were still rowing furiously. Unnoticed, Sarah slipped past them, and into the TARDIS. "Professor Rubeish," she called softly, and stopped with a gasp of astonishment.
Instead of the cupboard-sized s.p.a.ce she"d expected, she saw a large brightly-lit control room with a many-sided control console in the centre. Before she could fully take in the wonder of her surroundings, the Doctor"s angry voice came from outside. "A straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, Brigadier, but it is by no means the most interesting. Goodbye." She heard footsteps approaching and looked round for somewhere to hide.
There was a kind of cupboard set into one wall. Sarah opened it and jumped inside. She found herself in a dark, enclosed s.p.a.ce with cloth hanging all around her. The sensation was oddly familiar. Somehow it reminded her of childhood games. She was in a wardrobe! Opening the door a crack, Sarah peered out. She saw the Doctor come into the control room, stow black box and lamp away in another wall-locker, and go to the central console. His hands moved swiftly over the controls and there was a hum of power. A transparent central column began moving up and down.
In the dormitory outside, the Brigadier heard the familiar wheezing, groaning noise as the TARDIS faded away. All that was left of the Doctor was his cloak, draped forgotten over his chair. The Brigadier sighed. "Lord knows when I"ll see him again." He turned and marched out of the room, wondering how he was going to explain this to the Minister. Not only had he lost more scientists, he"d now lost his investigator as well...
6.
A Shock for Sarah Sarah crouched in the semi-darkness for what seemed a very long time, her mind whirling with wild speculations.
She knew that she was in the presence of technological sophistication far beyond anything known on Earth. The wardrobe in which she was hiding was bigger than the police box appeared to be from outside, and there was that huge control room as well. Sarah began groping towards a theory. Suppose the Doctor was an alien from another planet. Suppose he he was the one kidnapping scientists and stealing equipment, as part of some plan to spy on Earth"s scientific progress? was the one kidnapping scientists and stealing equipment, as part of some plan to spy on Earth"s scientific progress?
But in that case why was he on such good terms with the Brigadier? Perhaps the Brigadier had been tricked. Sarah decided that she would get out of this incredible police box as soon as she could, leave the Research Centre, and take her discoveries to someone high up in the Government.
Somehow she"d make them listen.
Sarah noticed that the central column was slowing down. The Doctor checked several readings, and then pulled a switch. The doors opened and the Doctor went outside.
Sarah forced herself to wait for a few minutes longer.
Then she crossed to the control console and operated the switch she"d seen the Doctor use. To her relief, the doors started to open. Sarah ran outside-and found herself in a forest, at dawn on a summer morning. This second shock was almost too much for her. She staggered, clutching the TARDIS for support. She tried to go back inside, but the door had closed behind her, and refused to open again. She shook her head and forced down a wave of giddiness.
Taking a deep breath she walked all round the police box.
"It"s still only a police box-on the outside anyway," she thought. "I"ve got to find a telephone." She stood looking round her, trying to get her bearings. The forest was thick and green and leafy, and seemed to stretch for miles. The morning sun sparkled on the dewy leaves, and the birds were singing loudly. And there was something about the air. She drew a deep breath. It was incredibly fresh and clean, as if it had never been contaminated by any kind of pollution.
Suddenly she caught a glimpse of grey stone through the trees. Some kind of building. There would be people there, and a telephone. A forest trail led straight towards the building. Sarah hurried along it as fast as she could.
The Doctor was moving in the same direction, though by a more roundabout route, and far more cautiously. He knew, as Sarah did not, that the TARDIS had travelled back in time, into England"s medieval past. It was a savage, dangerous age, and the Doctor was taking no chances. If his calculations were correct, the castle he could see through the trees was the centre of the strange force that was causing scientists and equipment to disappear from twentieth-century Earth. His brief glimpse of the strange figure on the landing had given the Doctor the beginning of a theory. Now he was looking for confirmation. If his theory was correct, he was facing a savage, scientifically advanced, and utterly ruthless foe.
Hal had chosen his vantage point well. The gra.s.sy knoll gave him a clear view of the eastern battlements of Irongron"s castle. Here Irongron walked every morning, surveying his little empire and plotting fresh conquests.
The distance was not too great, and if Hal was given a clear shot, this would be Irongron"s final appearance. Hal had no scruples about shooting the robber down from ambush.
Chivalry was something for the n.o.bles. As far as Hal was concerned the death of Irongron would make the world a sweeter place. He strung his longbow with care, and selected a goose-feathered arrow from his quiver...
High on the battlements, a door opened in the little corner-turret and Irongron strode out. He took deep breaths of the clear morning air, clearing his head of the fumes of last night"s wine. Bloodaxe, no lover of early rising, followed his leader on to the battlements, and stood shivering in the crisp morning air.
Irongron rested his hands on the battlements, and gazed over the forest. "Sir Edward"s castle is strong, Bloodaxe, but we know now that he has only a puny force. He stands safe within his walls. Could we but breach them..."
Eagerly Bloodaxe completed his leader"s thought. "We could cut down Sir Edward"s men in less time than our rogues spend over breakfast!"
"Those accursed walls," growled Irongron. He hammered a mailed fist on the stone. "Walls like these-aye, and thicker too. But with Linx"s new weapons we shall cast them down, Bloodaxe. And that will be only the first of our conquests..."
From below Irongron"s burly figure was silhouetted clearly against the sky-line. Hal fitted the arrow to his longbow, drew it back till the goose-feather touched his ear...
As he loosed the arrow, a voice behind him said politely, "Excuse me-can you tell me where to find the nearest telephone?"
Hal jumped and swung round. A slim dark maiden was staring at him. Her clothes were strange, and as far as Hal was concerned, her words were gibberish. She had spoiled his shot-and there was no time for another. Soon Irongron"s men would be searching the forest. Hal turned and ran, disappearing amongst the trees.
Sarah stared after him in amazement. It was strange enough to find a sort of Robin Hood wandering about the forest. But why had the man fled at the sight of her?
Puzzled, she set off for the castle.
Irongron glared at the still-quivering arrow, almost choking with indignation. It had whistled past his ear and thudded into the wooden doorway of the turret.
Bloodaxe peered over the battlements and saw two figures on the edge of the forest. "He flees through the forest!" roared Bloodaxe. He ran down to the other side of the battlement walkway and bellowed down into the inner courtyard. "Rouse yourself, dogs, we are attacked. Search the woods!" Baffled and sleepy, the first of Irongron"s men began running for the drawbridge.
Sarah was looking at the front of the little castle. It was a picturesque enough place, she thought, like something out of a fairy story. Grey stone wails, turreted towers at each corner, rows of battlements. The little moat was dried up though, and the drawbridge seemed permanently down.
There was a little gatehouse by the main entrance. Perhaps they"d have a telephone in there...
Suddenly a group of mail-clad men rushed out of the castle and ran towards her. Sarah stood gaping at them in astonishment. Obviously there was some sort of pageant going on, she thought. One of those re-creations of the fairs of the middle ages with jousts and tourneys and roast oxen for the tourists. "Hey, you there," she called. Most of the men ran straight past her, but to her astonished indignation the last two stopped and grabbed her.
"Let go of me!" yelled Sarah. "Get off, will you? If this is some kind of joke, it isn"t funny..."
The men weren"t joking. They were dirty and unshaven and their fingers gripped her with savage force. Ignoring her attempts to break free, they dragged her across the drawbridge.
The Doctor watched all this from the edge of the woods.
He"d arrived just in time to witness Sarah"s capture. "Oh no!" he thought. "How did she get here?"
Still struggling, Sarah was dragged across the little courtyard and through an arched doorway. The Doctor heard a final yell of "Let me go!" and she disappeared from sight.
He looked round. The rest of the guards had run straight past him and disappeared into the woods. There was no one at the gate house, and for the moment the courtyard was empty. The Doctor ran out of the forest, across the unguarded drawbridge and into the castle yard.
It was a muddy, untidy place littered with bales of hay, barrels of ale and wine, farm carts and all sorts of odds and ends, most of them stolen. The Doctor ducked behind a barrel and considered his next move.
On the other side of the yard a flight of steps led down into some lower area-and someone was climbing them.
The Doctor ducked down lower, and peered round the edge of the barrel. A squat figure climbed heavily up the stairs and came into the courtyard. It wore silvery armour, and a domed helmet covered its head. It was the same figure the Doctor had seen at the top of the staircase in the research centre. Not a shadowy projection this time, but solid and real, as real as the heavy wooden barrel behind which the Doctor was hiding or the muddy flagstones of the yard beneath his feet.
The figure looked round the yard as if making sure that it was alone, then raised its hands and lifted the helmet from its head. The face beneath was something out of a nightmare. The head was huge and round, emerging directly from the ma.s.sive shoulders. The hairless skull was greenish-brown in colour, the eyes small and red. The little nose was a pig-like snout, the mouth long and lipless. It was a face from one of Earth"s dark legends, the face of a goblin or a troll.
But the Doctor was a Time Lord and to him it meant something very different. He gave a little nod of satisfaction. "Just as I suspected-a Sontaran!"
7.
Prisoner in the Past There was a confused shouting from outside the castle, and the noise of approaching feet. Immediately, the alien replaced its helmet and disappeared down the stairs. A group of guards came through the gate and into the yard.
They had another prisoner, a tall fair-haired man dressed in green. The Doctor watched as they dragged him across the cluttered yard, through the arched doorway and into the castle. The man struggled furiously every inch of the way.
For the moment all was quiet again. A number of different doorways led off the little courtyard. Choosing one at random, the Doctor slipped into the castle.
In a corner of the great hail, two of Irongron"s soldiers were putting an edge on his favourite battleaxe. One turned the handle, the other held the blade to the revolving stone.
There was a shriek of stone on metal, and sparks flew into the air. Irongron watched their efforts with critical interest. "Make it keen, you knaves-out of kindness to Sir Edward. I"d not have him feel the moment his head is parted from his shoulders." He looked up as Bloodaxe dragged a strangely-dressed female into the hall. "What is this?"
Sarah was still struggling wildly. "Let me go, you great skinny oaf!"
"She was found within bowshot of the walls, Captain,"
reported Bloodaxe. "We caught another too, an archer. The men are bringing him now."
Sarah wrenched herself free of her captor"s grip. "Idiots!
Why don"t you stop this ridiculous pantomine?"
Irongron chuckled. "She spits fire, eh, Bloodaxe? Come here, girl."
"Get lost!"
Irongron lunged forward with surprising speed and his big hand clamped round her arm, dragging her forward.
He studied her for a moment, then s.n.a.t.c.hed the pendant from round her neck, breaking the thin gold chain. He held it up. "See, Bloodaxe, she wears gold!"
Sarah rubbed her neck and tried to pull away. "That hurt, you fool."
Irongron shook her roughly. "You call Irongron a fool?
I"ll have the marrow from your bones, my pretty chicken.
Where did you come from?"