Doctor Who: Time and the Rani by Pip Baker, Jane Baker Page A
Authors: Pip Baker, Jane Baker
Ads: Link
spins!'
He spun the beading.
A three-dimensional hologram materialised, dwarfing both them and the corpulent brain.
The dominant element was a colossal star: a sun that burned with spurting gushes of fire spiking from its surface.
Then, a subtle change. A white dot on the fiery surface spread malignantly.
'A supernova . . .' The Doctor was aghast.
In a searing flash that blanched everything in the spherical chamber, the star exploded . . .
Fretful kicks and thumps spasmodically rattled the Rani's cabinet.
They penetrated to Beyus as he emerged from the eyrie.
Warily, he avoided the fungus-infested Tetrap corpse.
'Beyus! Is that you, Beyus?'
Perplexed, he hesitated.
'Get me out of here!' The Rani's features were distorted as she pressed them against the glass.
'Do you hear me? Open this door!'
No response.
'Beyus . . .if you place any value on your people's lives. . . you'll release me!'
The ultimatum left Beyus in an agony of indecision.
'Do you realise how close the Rani must have taken her TARDIS in recording this, Mel?'
In the hologram, the star had been reduced to a molten lump: a miniature of its former size.
'All I realise is we've just seen what she intends to happen to Lakertya! Can she do it, Doctor?'
'Not by my reckoning. The only known detonator for exploding Strange Matter is Strange Matter itself.'
'But you said Strange Matter is incredibly heavy.'
'A chunk the size of a cubic metre - say, a large suitcase - would weigh as much as your Earth.'
He inspected a sheaf of vertical transparent tubes suspended above the crucible.
Each tube contained different coloured granules.
'Could she be using the brain to come up with a formula?' Mel speculated.
'. . . for a lightweight substitute? Might explain why she needs a crucible.' His prowling continued, his unease increased.
'Then - haven't we found the answer?'
'Not completely, Mel. What I can't fathom' - he pointed to the dead star - 'is why the Rani took such an incredible risk to record a supernova.'
'To discover how to reconstruct the same event?'
'More than that. She wouldn't simply be interested in a display of pyrotechnics. Too negative.' He was truly baffled. 'She'd have a deeper motive.' He jabbed a forefinger into each temple. 'The answer's in here!'
'Calm down, Doctor. Let's apply a bit of logic, shall we? What is it you can contribute that those other geniuses can't?'
'A knowledge of time! Oh, a great discovery!' He jigged about the circular gantry, his correspondent shoes rattling on the grids. 'I'd worked that out ages ago!'
The clatter of footsteps.
Mel peeked into the lab.
'The Rani!'
20
Holy Grail
For Mel, survival expunged all other considerations. She scooted into a recess separating the crucible from the rocket's breech.
Flustered, the Doctor was torn between the same instinct and the paramount need to uncover what the Rani hoped to achieve by her extraordinary efforts.
He remained still.
'So now you know.' The Rani regarded the Doctor with calculated sangfroid.
'Not the full story. The last chapter's missing.' Anxious to divert her from discovering Mel, he indicated the magenta brain. 'Keeping quiet, isn't it?'
'Perhaps, unlike you, it speaks only when it's got something intelligent to say.'
Gradually she shifted her position in her quest for Mel.
'Possibly,' replied the Doctor. 'On the other hand, it could be wondering why you want Helium Two . . .'
The Rani halted. Temporarily thrown.
'That is why you're seeking to explode Strange Matter, isn't it? To re-enact the Leptonic Era and so secure Helium Two?'
The Leptonic Era to which the Doctor was referring was a microsecond period after the Big Bang that gave birth to the Universe: a moment of mind-boggling temperatures which, if marginally protracted, would have produced the fabulous substance, Helium Two.
'If only you didn't choose to waste your talents on superficial exploits, you could be quite brilliant,
He spun the beading.
A three-dimensional hologram materialised, dwarfing both them and the corpulent brain.
The dominant element was a colossal star: a sun that burned with spurting gushes of fire spiking from its surface.
Then, a subtle change. A white dot on the fiery surface spread malignantly.
'A supernova . . .' The Doctor was aghast.
In a searing flash that blanched everything in the spherical chamber, the star exploded . . .
Fretful kicks and thumps spasmodically rattled the Rani's cabinet.
They penetrated to Beyus as he emerged from the eyrie.
Warily, he avoided the fungus-infested Tetrap corpse.
'Beyus! Is that you, Beyus?'
Perplexed, he hesitated.
'Get me out of here!' The Rani's features were distorted as she pressed them against the glass.
'Do you hear me? Open this door!'
No response.
'Beyus . . .if you place any value on your people's lives. . . you'll release me!'
The ultimatum left Beyus in an agony of indecision.
'Do you realise how close the Rani must have taken her TARDIS in recording this, Mel?'
In the hologram, the star had been reduced to a molten lump: a miniature of its former size.
'All I realise is we've just seen what she intends to happen to Lakertya! Can she do it, Doctor?'
'Not by my reckoning. The only known detonator for exploding Strange Matter is Strange Matter itself.'
'But you said Strange Matter is incredibly heavy.'
'A chunk the size of a cubic metre - say, a large suitcase - would weigh as much as your Earth.'
He inspected a sheaf of vertical transparent tubes suspended above the crucible.
Each tube contained different coloured granules.
'Could she be using the brain to come up with a formula?' Mel speculated.
'. . . for a lightweight substitute? Might explain why she needs a crucible.' His prowling continued, his unease increased.
'Then - haven't we found the answer?'
'Not completely, Mel. What I can't fathom' - he pointed to the dead star - 'is why the Rani took such an incredible risk to record a supernova.'
'To discover how to reconstruct the same event?'
'More than that. She wouldn't simply be interested in a display of pyrotechnics. Too negative.' He was truly baffled. 'She'd have a deeper motive.' He jabbed a forefinger into each temple. 'The answer's in here!'
'Calm down, Doctor. Let's apply a bit of logic, shall we? What is it you can contribute that those other geniuses can't?'
'A knowledge of time! Oh, a great discovery!' He jigged about the circular gantry, his correspondent shoes rattling on the grids. 'I'd worked that out ages ago!'
The clatter of footsteps.
Mel peeked into the lab.
'The Rani!'
20
Holy Grail
For Mel, survival expunged all other considerations. She scooted into a recess separating the crucible from the rocket's breech.
Flustered, the Doctor was torn between the same instinct and the paramount need to uncover what the Rani hoped to achieve by her extraordinary efforts.
He remained still.
'So now you know.' The Rani regarded the Doctor with calculated sangfroid.
'Not the full story. The last chapter's missing.' Anxious to divert her from discovering Mel, he indicated the magenta brain. 'Keeping quiet, isn't it?'
'Perhaps, unlike you, it speaks only when it's got something intelligent to say.'
Gradually she shifted her position in her quest for Mel.
'Possibly,' replied the Doctor. 'On the other hand, it could be wondering why you want Helium Two . . .'
The Rani halted. Temporarily thrown.
'That is why you're seeking to explode Strange Matter, isn't it? To re-enact the Leptonic Era and so secure Helium Two?'
The Leptonic Era to which the Doctor was referring was a microsecond period after the Big Bang that gave birth to the Universe: a moment of mind-boggling temperatures which, if marginally protracted, would have produced the fabulous substance, Helium Two.
'If only you didn't choose to waste your talents on superficial exploits, you could be quite brilliant,
Similar Books
