them,' replied the Doctor simply. 'They must be looking for the Arkheon Threshold. We have to prevent them finding it. I suggest you contact Earth Command immediately and—'
'Hold it,' said Bowman, raising a hand. 'Forget that, Doctor. We can't contact Earth Command. For one thing, we don't have any official status with the authorities.'
'And no one on Earth will believe us anyway,' added Cuttin' Edge. 'We're bounty hunters, man. That's one step up from criminals as far as they're concerned. We tell them about this, they'll just laugh in our faces. We caught ourselves a live Dalek and interrogated it for the information? Yeah, right.'
Scrum nodded in agreement. 'You did say this time fissure was only a theory, Doctor. We haven't exactly got any hard evidence, have we? And we're light years from anywhere out here. By the time we reach Earth space and make contact, the Daleks will have found what they're looking for.'
The Doctor was looking worried. 'Even so—'
'We don't contact Earth Command,' said Bowman firmly. 'And that's final.'
He stared hard at the Doctor, absently rubbing the white scar on his forearm.
'All right.' The Doctor took a deep breath. 'So it's up to us to stop them.'
'Us?' Scrum looked around the galley, making a headcount. He didn't look very encouraged by the result.
'We've stumbled on something incredibly important here,' said the Doctor forcefully. 'We can't afford to ignore it.'
'It's only you who says it's important,' Bowman pointed out.
'You're the one who wanted to question the Dalek,' returned the Doctor acidly. 'Don't waste the answers.'
'It didn't give any answers – except a hint about some kind of legend. It's stupid.'
'For what it's worth,' said Koral, 'I think you should listen to what the Doctor says.'
Bowman frowned. 'I'm not promising anything. This whole thing sounds lame to me. Some old planet blown up way back when that can help the Daleks change history? It's a crazy idea, even for them.'
'But the Daleks are crazy,' said Scrum. 'They're arrogant and clever enough to take something like the Arkheon Threshold and use it against us. Against the whole human race. If there's even a chance of stopping them, then I think we should go for it. We owe Stella that much at least.'
After a short silence, Bowman said, 'OK. We'll check it out. For Stella.'
'There's one problem we're overlookin',' said Cuttin' Edge. 'If the Daleks don't even know where this Arkheon thing is, how can we hope to find it?'
'That's where you have an advantage,' smiled the Doctor. 'Me.'
The Doctor was soon sitting at the flight controls of the Wayfarer while Scrum showed him the navigation computer.
'It's programmed with all galactic coordinates for this sector of space,' Scrum explained, 'including star lanes and trade routes of every major solar system. It uses a hyperlink tachyon echo to the Earth satellite network.'
'Never did trust satnav,' sniffed the Doctor.
'You can't navigate your way through deep space without a proper guidance system.'
'I've got a proper guidance system,' the Doctor retorted. He tapped his forehead. 'Up here. Trust me, I never get lost. Well, hardly ever. Well, not often. All right, sometimes , perhaps... but more often than not I...' He started to tap his pockets. 'Where did I put my glasses? I've left them somewhere...'
'Well if you can't even find your glasses...!'
'No, here we are.' The Doctor found his glasses and slipped them on. He examined the navigation computer and then blew out a big raspberry. 'This is a bit primitive, isn't it?'
Scrum sounded hurt. 'This is state-of-the-art! It may not look like much but—'
'Yeah, yeah,' the Doctor waved him to silence. 'I don't mean to be rude, but... I was hoping for something a tiny bit more sophisticated. We need to get to the Arkheon system before the Daleks. We won't get there before Christmas using this stuff.' He rapped a knuckle on
'Hold it,' said Bowman, raising a hand. 'Forget that, Doctor. We can't contact Earth Command. For one thing, we don't have any official status with the authorities.'
'And no one on Earth will believe us anyway,' added Cuttin' Edge. 'We're bounty hunters, man. That's one step up from criminals as far as they're concerned. We tell them about this, they'll just laugh in our faces. We caught ourselves a live Dalek and interrogated it for the information? Yeah, right.'
Scrum nodded in agreement. 'You did say this time fissure was only a theory, Doctor. We haven't exactly got any hard evidence, have we? And we're light years from anywhere out here. By the time we reach Earth space and make contact, the Daleks will have found what they're looking for.'
The Doctor was looking worried. 'Even so—'
'We don't contact Earth Command,' said Bowman firmly. 'And that's final.'
He stared hard at the Doctor, absently rubbing the white scar on his forearm.
'All right.' The Doctor took a deep breath. 'So it's up to us to stop them.'
'Us?' Scrum looked around the galley, making a headcount. He didn't look very encouraged by the result.
'We've stumbled on something incredibly important here,' said the Doctor forcefully. 'We can't afford to ignore it.'
'It's only you who says it's important,' Bowman pointed out.
'You're the one who wanted to question the Dalek,' returned the Doctor acidly. 'Don't waste the answers.'
'It didn't give any answers – except a hint about some kind of legend. It's stupid.'
'For what it's worth,' said Koral, 'I think you should listen to what the Doctor says.'
Bowman frowned. 'I'm not promising anything. This whole thing sounds lame to me. Some old planet blown up way back when that can help the Daleks change history? It's a crazy idea, even for them.'
'But the Daleks are crazy,' said Scrum. 'They're arrogant and clever enough to take something like the Arkheon Threshold and use it against us. Against the whole human race. If there's even a chance of stopping them, then I think we should go for it. We owe Stella that much at least.'
After a short silence, Bowman said, 'OK. We'll check it out. For Stella.'
'There's one problem we're overlookin',' said Cuttin' Edge. 'If the Daleks don't even know where this Arkheon thing is, how can we hope to find it?'
'That's where you have an advantage,' smiled the Doctor. 'Me.'
The Doctor was soon sitting at the flight controls of the Wayfarer while Scrum showed him the navigation computer.
'It's programmed with all galactic coordinates for this sector of space,' Scrum explained, 'including star lanes and trade routes of every major solar system. It uses a hyperlink tachyon echo to the Earth satellite network.'
'Never did trust satnav,' sniffed the Doctor.
'You can't navigate your way through deep space without a proper guidance system.'
'I've got a proper guidance system,' the Doctor retorted. He tapped his forehead. 'Up here. Trust me, I never get lost. Well, hardly ever. Well, not often. All right, sometimes , perhaps... but more often than not I...' He started to tap his pockets. 'Where did I put my glasses? I've left them somewhere...'
'Well if you can't even find your glasses...!'
'No, here we are.' The Doctor found his glasses and slipped them on. He examined the navigation computer and then blew out a big raspberry. 'This is a bit primitive, isn't it?'
Scrum sounded hurt. 'This is state-of-the-art! It may not look like much but—'
'Yeah, yeah,' the Doctor waved him to silence. 'I don't mean to be rude, but... I was hoping for something a tiny bit more sophisticated. We need to get to the Arkheon system before the Daleks. We won't get there before Christmas using this stuff.' He rapped a knuckle on
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