in seconds. Besides, a part of the console is safe...’
‘But why should just that one panel be safe, and nowhere else?’ wondered Barbara. ‘What’s so special about it? And what did those pictures we saw on the scanner mean? Could it have been some kind of message? Was the TARDIS actually trying to tell as something in the only way it could?’
Again the lights of the control room flashed, and the chamber resounded with a clang of affirmation. The Doctor was silent for a moment and looked around, not at Susan, Ian and Barbara but rather at the walls and the instrumentation of the TARDIS. There was a look of wonderment in his steel-blue eyes.
‘Very well,’ he said finally, ‘we will try the scanner again—but I warn you, we’re clutching at straws.’ He turned to Barbara and Susan. ‘Now, I want you two to stand by the doors. Should they open again I want you to tell me whatever it is you can see outside. Do you understand?’
The girls nodded and crossed over to the large double doors. The Doctor beckoned Ian surreptitiously over to his side by the control console. There was a worried frown on his face. He drew Ian close to him so that only he would hear what he was about to say.
‘I lied deliberately so they won’t know,’ he confided to Ian in a hushed whisper.
‘Won’t know what?’
‘We do not have fifteen minutes left to us; we only have ten. When the end does come Susan and Miss Wright won’t know anything about it.’
Ian nodded approvingly. Strangely he no longer felt any panic or fear, merely a calm and resigned acceptance of the facts. ‘There’s no hope then?’ he asked.
The Doctor shook his head. ‘I can’t see any,’ he replied. ‘If only we had heeded these warnings earlier, or stopped bickering among ourselves perhaps... But now, I’m afraid not. Will you face it with me?’
‘What are you two talking about?’ Susan called from the other end of the room.
‘Oh, just a theory of mine which didn’t work,’ lied Ian.
‘Yes, we must solve this problem, you know..
‘ said the Doctor with affected confidence. ‘Now you two just watch the doors and we’ll be out of this mess in no time...’
10 A Race against Time
With a trembling hand the Doctor operated the scanner control. All eyes were fixed anxiously on the scanner screen.
For a heart-stopping few seconds, which to the four doomed travellers seemed Like hours, nothing happened. Ian and the Doctor looked nervously at each other. Had even the scanner screen with its strange sequence of images broken down too? Then finally—thankfully—the screen on the far wall flickered into life. Once again the picture of the
Malvern Hills
appeared, accompanined by the sound of birdsong. The Doctor and Ian looked expectantly over at Barbara and Susan by the doors. Slowly the doors opened, and the same searing white light flooded the control room once more.
Shielding their eyes from the glare Barbara and Susan peered out through the open doors.
‘There’s nothing there, Grandfather, nothing at all!’ cried Susan, a touch of hysteria in her voice. ‘It’s just a wide, gaping, empty void!’
Slowly the doors closed again and thudded shut. They all looked at the screen. As they expected, it was now showing a picture of the jungle world of Quinnius. Barbara and Susan came over to join the two men.
‘Barbara could be right, Doctor, it could be some sort of messsage,’ said Ian.
‘I am right!’ retorted Barbara. ‘You know I am. When the scanner shows us a good picture like the Malverns the doors open because it should be safe for us to go outside. Then it shows us a terrible picture and the doors close again.’
‘But if it is a message what does this mean?’ asked the Doctor and pointed to the scanner, where the picture of Quinnius had faded to be replaced by the unidentified planet turning in space. ‘After Earth and Quinnius we have this sequence: a planet; a planet in a solar system, getting further and
‘But why should just that one panel be safe, and nowhere else?’ wondered Barbara. ‘What’s so special about it? And what did those pictures we saw on the scanner mean? Could it have been some kind of message? Was the TARDIS actually trying to tell as something in the only way it could?’
Again the lights of the control room flashed, and the chamber resounded with a clang of affirmation. The Doctor was silent for a moment and looked around, not at Susan, Ian and Barbara but rather at the walls and the instrumentation of the TARDIS. There was a look of wonderment in his steel-blue eyes.
‘Very well,’ he said finally, ‘we will try the scanner again—but I warn you, we’re clutching at straws.’ He turned to Barbara and Susan. ‘Now, I want you two to stand by the doors. Should they open again I want you to tell me whatever it is you can see outside. Do you understand?’
The girls nodded and crossed over to the large double doors. The Doctor beckoned Ian surreptitiously over to his side by the control console. There was a worried frown on his face. He drew Ian close to him so that only he would hear what he was about to say.
‘I lied deliberately so they won’t know,’ he confided to Ian in a hushed whisper.
‘Won’t know what?’
‘We do not have fifteen minutes left to us; we only have ten. When the end does come Susan and Miss Wright won’t know anything about it.’
Ian nodded approvingly. Strangely he no longer felt any panic or fear, merely a calm and resigned acceptance of the facts. ‘There’s no hope then?’ he asked.
The Doctor shook his head. ‘I can’t see any,’ he replied. ‘If only we had heeded these warnings earlier, or stopped bickering among ourselves perhaps... But now, I’m afraid not. Will you face it with me?’
‘What are you two talking about?’ Susan called from the other end of the room.
‘Oh, just a theory of mine which didn’t work,’ lied Ian.
‘Yes, we must solve this problem, you know..
‘ said the Doctor with affected confidence. ‘Now you two just watch the doors and we’ll be out of this mess in no time...’
10 A Race against Time
With a trembling hand the Doctor operated the scanner control. All eyes were fixed anxiously on the scanner screen.
For a heart-stopping few seconds, which to the four doomed travellers seemed Like hours, nothing happened. Ian and the Doctor looked nervously at each other. Had even the scanner screen with its strange sequence of images broken down too? Then finally—thankfully—the screen on the far wall flickered into life. Once again the picture of the
Malvern Hills
appeared, accompanined by the sound of birdsong. The Doctor and Ian looked expectantly over at Barbara and Susan by the doors. Slowly the doors opened, and the same searing white light flooded the control room once more.
Shielding their eyes from the glare Barbara and Susan peered out through the open doors.
‘There’s nothing there, Grandfather, nothing at all!’ cried Susan, a touch of hysteria in her voice. ‘It’s just a wide, gaping, empty void!’
Slowly the doors closed again and thudded shut. They all looked at the screen. As they expected, it was now showing a picture of the jungle world of Quinnius. Barbara and Susan came over to join the two men.
‘Barbara could be right, Doctor, it could be some sort of messsage,’ said Ian.
‘I am right!’ retorted Barbara. ‘You know I am. When the scanner shows us a good picture like the Malverns the doors open because it should be safe for us to go outside. Then it shows us a terrible picture and the doors close again.’
‘But if it is a message what does this mean?’ asked the Doctor and pointed to the scanner, where the picture of Quinnius had faded to be replaced by the unidentified planet turning in space. ‘After Earth and Quinnius we have this sequence: a planet; a planet in a solar system, getting further and
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