further away; and then a blinding flashing light!’
‘And total destruction,’ added Barbara, and turned her eyes away from the glare of the scanner screen. ‘Unless...’ She drew her companions’ attentions to the closed double doors. ‘If I’m right, the doors are shut because what is outside now is hostile to us... Were the other pictures just clues? Could that picture on the scanner now be what’s outside the Ship? Could that be the danger?’
The Doctor’s eyes suddenly blazed with understanding. He clapped his hands together in satisfaction. ‘Of course!’ he cried triumphantly. ‘It’s all clear to me now: the pictures on the screen, everything! It’s our journey—our journey to destruction!’
‘Hang on,’ said Ian. ‘You mean to say that we are heading on a course straight to that explosion?’ ‘Yes,’ said Barbara. ‘And the TARDIS refused to destroy itself—so the defence mechanism stopped the Ship and it’s been trying to tell us so ever since!’
‘Exactly!’ said the Doctor. ‘The TARDIS is ultimately unable to resist the overwhelming forces of that explosion; but it has stalled itself in the void, trying to delay for as long as possible that fatal moment when it must be finally and irrevocably destroyed!’
The affirming clang which echoed throughout the room now was almost deafening. The floor beneath their feet shuddered violently, sending the four companions staggering off in all directions.
‘I know now,’ cried the Doctor, as he leant against the safe part of the control console for support, ‘I know!’ He turned everyone’s gaze towards the scanner screen: the final sequence was repeating itself over and over again.
‘I said it would take at the very least the force of an entire solar system to attract the power away from my Ship. And that is exactly what is happening! We have arrived at the very beginning of all things!
‘Outside the Ship, hydrogen atoms are rushing towards each other, fusing, coalescing, until minute little collections of matter are created. And so the process will go on and on for millions of years until dust is formed. The dust then will eventually become solid entity—the birth of new suns and new planets. The mightiest force in the history of creation beyond which the TARDIS cannot pass!’
‘You don’t mean the Big Bang?’ asked Barbara incredulously.
‘No,’ said the Doctor. ‘I doubt whether even my machine would be capable of withstanding as well as it has done the forces generated by the creation of the entire Universe; but the creation of a galaxy—of your galaxy—of the Milky Way!’
‘But, Doctor, how did we get here?’ asked Jan. ‘When we left the planet Skaro where did you ask the TARDIS to take us?’ The Doctor hesitated. ‘Think, Doctor, think!’ he urged.
The Doctor paused for a moment. ‘I had hoped to reach your planet Earth in the twentieth-century; the old man said. ‘Skaro was in the future and so I used the Fast Return switch.’
‘The Fast Return switch?
What’s that?’
‘It’s a means whereby the TARDIS is supposed to retrace its previous journeys.’
‘What do you mean “supposed to”?’ asked Barbara.
‘Exactly what I say, young lady,’ snapped the Doctor. ‘I’ve never used it before!’
‘Don’t you see, Doctor, you’ve sent us back too far! We’ve gone back past the Earth of 1963, we’ve even gone on back past prehistoric times!’ Ian seized the old man by the shoulders. ‘Doctor, show me that switch! Where is it?’
The Doctor peered down at the control console. ‘I can’t very well see it in this light,’ he flustered. ‘It’s near the scanner switch,’ volunteered Susan. ‘Of course!’ said Barbara. ‘The one part of the control console that the TARDIS kept safe for us! Only we were too stupid to realise!’
‘Doctor, hurry—we can’t have much time left!’ Ian reminded him.
‘There! That’s the one, said the Doctor and pointed down to a small,
‘And total destruction,’ added Barbara, and turned her eyes away from the glare of the scanner screen. ‘Unless...’ She drew her companions’ attentions to the closed double doors. ‘If I’m right, the doors are shut because what is outside now is hostile to us... Were the other pictures just clues? Could that picture on the scanner now be what’s outside the Ship? Could that be the danger?’
The Doctor’s eyes suddenly blazed with understanding. He clapped his hands together in satisfaction. ‘Of course!’ he cried triumphantly. ‘It’s all clear to me now: the pictures on the screen, everything! It’s our journey—our journey to destruction!’
‘Hang on,’ said Ian. ‘You mean to say that we are heading on a course straight to that explosion?’ ‘Yes,’ said Barbara. ‘And the TARDIS refused to destroy itself—so the defence mechanism stopped the Ship and it’s been trying to tell us so ever since!’
‘Exactly!’ said the Doctor. ‘The TARDIS is ultimately unable to resist the overwhelming forces of that explosion; but it has stalled itself in the void, trying to delay for as long as possible that fatal moment when it must be finally and irrevocably destroyed!’
The affirming clang which echoed throughout the room now was almost deafening. The floor beneath their feet shuddered violently, sending the four companions staggering off in all directions.
‘I know now,’ cried the Doctor, as he leant against the safe part of the control console for support, ‘I know!’ He turned everyone’s gaze towards the scanner screen: the final sequence was repeating itself over and over again.
‘I said it would take at the very least the force of an entire solar system to attract the power away from my Ship. And that is exactly what is happening! We have arrived at the very beginning of all things!
‘Outside the Ship, hydrogen atoms are rushing towards each other, fusing, coalescing, until minute little collections of matter are created. And so the process will go on and on for millions of years until dust is formed. The dust then will eventually become solid entity—the birth of new suns and new planets. The mightiest force in the history of creation beyond which the TARDIS cannot pass!’
‘You don’t mean the Big Bang?’ asked Barbara incredulously.
‘No,’ said the Doctor. ‘I doubt whether even my machine would be capable of withstanding as well as it has done the forces generated by the creation of the entire Universe; but the creation of a galaxy—of your galaxy—of the Milky Way!’
‘But, Doctor, how did we get here?’ asked Jan. ‘When we left the planet Skaro where did you ask the TARDIS to take us?’ The Doctor hesitated. ‘Think, Doctor, think!’ he urged.
The Doctor paused for a moment. ‘I had hoped to reach your planet Earth in the twentieth-century; the old man said. ‘Skaro was in the future and so I used the Fast Return switch.’
‘The Fast Return switch?
What’s that?’
‘It’s a means whereby the TARDIS is supposed to retrace its previous journeys.’
‘What do you mean “supposed to”?’ asked Barbara.
‘Exactly what I say, young lady,’ snapped the Doctor. ‘I’ve never used it before!’
‘Don’t you see, Doctor, you’ve sent us back too far! We’ve gone back past the Earth of 1963, we’ve even gone on back past prehistoric times!’ Ian seized the old man by the shoulders. ‘Doctor, show me that switch! Where is it?’
The Doctor peered down at the control console. ‘I can’t very well see it in this light,’ he flustered. ‘It’s near the scanner switch,’ volunteered Susan. ‘Of course!’ said Barbara. ‘The one part of the control console that the TARDIS kept safe for us! Only we were too stupid to realise!’
‘Doctor, hurry—we can’t have much time left!’ Ian reminded him.
‘There! That’s the one, said the Doctor and pointed down to a small,
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