Part 4 (1/2)

The short-circuiting of the energy in the canister had caused a small explosion.

Turlough felt the pain ease, the grip on his mind relax.

He stared in embarra.s.sment at the huge rock he was holding, then let it fall to the ground.

The Doctor looked up and grinned. 'Sorry about that.'

Tegan could not for the life of her understand why Nyssa had taken such a liking to that pale and s.h.i.+fty young man. The Doctor, obviously, didn't trust Turlough out of his sight, or he wouldn't have taken him to Earth in the capsule.

Nyssa couldn't agree; but their argument was cut short as the TARDIS column grunted and jerked, then began a rea.s.suringly regular rise and fall.

'Here we go!'

They were on their way to join the Doctor on Earth - out of the warp ellipse and away from that depressing red s.h.i.+p.

At least the explosion in the canister had cut out the beam that inhibited the TARDIS.

The Doctor stood up and looked hopefully about the obelisk. Nothing yet. He couldn't have made a mistake with the co-ordinates - or could he?

Was the noise they could both suddenly hear the wind in the trees? There was a pale blue shadow to one side of the obelisk; indubitably the outline of a police box. The groaning protest that accompanied the materialisation was music to the Doctor's ears as he stepped forward to welcome Tegan and Nyssa.

But his hand went towards a door that was not there.

Hardly had the time-machine materialised than all trace of it faded away again.

The Doctor prowled round the empty s.p.a.ce in total disbelief.

'Could it have been affected by tangential deviation?'

asked Turlough in a very matter-of-fact voice.

The Doctor might have replied that this was an impossibly knowledgeable question for an English schoolboy. In fact, he merely informed his companion that there was no question of deviation with a dead reckoning alignment in the co-ordinates.

Turlough nodded sagely. Without the demon within him being alerted, the Doctor now knew that all was not what it seemed with his new a.s.sistant.

But the Doctor had no idea what on earth had happened to his time-machine. 'The TARDIS should be here here!' he shouted petulantly.

As soon as the column had stopped, Nyssa opened the scanner screen. They had a perfect view of the obelisk surrounded by a ring of trees.

'Where's the Doctor?'

Nyssa stared hard at the screen, then checked the controls.

'Nyssa, are you sure this is the right place?'

'It should be...'

'Something's wrong, isn't it?'

'I don't know.'

Both girls looked again at the screen. The hillside around the huge monument was deserted.

'I'm sure the Doctor's only wandered off,' said Nyssa sounding very unsure indeed.

The Doctor stood beside the obelisk looking very sorry for himself.

'Have you any idea where the TARDIS is?' asked Turlough.

'Not the remotest.'

'Will your friends be safe?'

'I hope so,' replied the Doctor anxiously, and walked over to the woods to look for the police box there.

Left on his own, Turlough reflected bitterly that barely ten minutes before, he had been far from Earth, aboard a sophisticated s.h.i.+p, with access to a time-machine. Now he was back on his most unfavourite planet; no s.h.i.+p, no TARDIS. He felt cheated.

At least the cube was still in his pocket. He took it out nervously. It lay in the palm of his hand, a piece of inanimate gla.s.s. Turlough felt angry. He did not like being manipulated. 'Well, what do I do now?' he muttered. 'Say something!' he shouted at the inert crystal.

'Turlough!'

Turlough nearly jumped out of his skin as a familiar voice boomed across the hillside. He spun round. The Brigadier was striding towards the obelisk. The Brigadier was evidently not best pleased.

'So there you are, Turlough.'

'Sir?'

Ibbotson came lolloping up behind the Brigadier like an overfed puppy-dog. 'Turlough, what happened? The sphere.. ?'

'Do be quiet, boy!' snapped the Brigadier. He fixed Turlough with a gaze that had withered many a neglectful adjutant. 'You're supposed to be in the sick bay.'

'I was with the Doctor,' said Turlough, without a word of a lie.

'Doctor?' said the Brigadier, testily. 'Doctor Runciman?'

'This Doctor,' replied Turlough, looking over the Brigadier's shoulder to where the Doctor was approaching from the woods.

The Brigadier turned to face the newcomer. The Doctor stopped in his tracks. A grin slowly spread from ear to ear.

'Brigadier!' he exclaimed in amazement.

The Brigadier looked quizically at the Doctor, who held out his hand.

'Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart,' the Doctor continued, hardly able to believe his good fortune, meeting up with such an old friend.