Part 13 (1/2)

The cube gave an intense, spasmodic surge, showing a capability Turlough hadn't been aware of. He tried to resist the wrenching pain that came with it, but he couldn't prevent himself from crying out.

' Kill the Doctor Kill the Doctor!' the Black Guardian urged, and the agony stayed for several seconds longer. Turlough fought not to cry out again. Tegan might hear and come to see what was happening. If she did, and if his secret was uncovered, he knew what the cube's next order would be.

'I'll do it,' he gasped as the glow died and the pain receded. 'I have a plan.'

' You have nothing. You have nothing. ' '

'I do. But I need to get back to the TARDIS.'

' Why Why?'

'Trust me,' he pleaded, knowing that he had little chance, and it was then that he heard Tegan calling.

She must have heard something. Quickly, he went on, 'How do I recreate the door?'

' Fail me again... Fail me again... ' the Black Guardian said ominously, but Turlough did his best to put a confidence into his voice that he didn't feel. ' the Black Guardian said ominously, but Turlough did his best to put a confidence into his voice that he didn't feel.

'I won't, I promise. But how do I get back?'

' You have skills, use them. Look beneath your feet. You have skills, use them. Look beneath your feet. ' '

Underfoot? What could he have seen under the floor that would give him a clue to the way back to the TARDIS? He tried to think through the stages which had led to the creation of the door: the breakup, the emergency programme set to home in on the distinctive radiation waveform of a pa.s.sing s.h.i.+p...

Tegan was coming around the corner. He realised that he still had the communication cube in his hand, and he quickly pocketed it.

He thought he had an answer.

Tegan was looking puzzled. She'd been expecting to find him in some kind of trouble. 'What are you doing?' she said.

'I need you to help me. We've got to find the place where the door to the TARDIS appeared, and then we've got to find a way of lifting one of the floor panels.'

'But why?'

'I'll explain when we get there.'

The catwalks deep inside the Terminus were considerably different to those that had been added by the Vanir and by their immediate predecessors; these had been built for bodies with dimensions that were decidedly non-human. It wasn't as difficult as the Doctor expected to find the lines that Bor had identified as power and control cables, because his tracks were fresh in the dust. It seemed that the Garm kept to his own areas, and they didn't include anywhere above floor-level.

The lines and cables were colour-coded, and they ran parallel to the walk. Kari couldn't understand why they were following literally in Bor's footsteps at all.

'But what's the point?' she said. 'He's crazy.'

'Crazy to think he could make an effective radiation s.h.i.+eld out of junk, yes,' the Doctor conceded. 'But he knew what he was talking about.'

'I wish I did.'

'They're using a leaky containment drive as a kill-or-cure, that's risky enough. If we don't get out of here soon, we'll glow in the dark for the rest of our lives.'

The Doctor was hardly exaggerating. With access to the facilities in the TARDIS, he was confident that he could reverse the effects of mild radiation contamination. It was a fairly simple case of rigging a low-power matter transmitter with a discriminating filter between the two ends. But when the contamination had been around for long enough to cause actual cell damage on a detectable scale, there was no way of reversing the process.

'But you think there's an even bigger danger than that?' Kari said.

'Bor seemed to think so. Follow these lines, and we'll find out why.'

They carried Bor into the Vanir's converted storage tank and laid him on one of the bunks. He was weak, and he was starting to become delirious again after a brief period of lucidity. Someone was sent to get Eirak, and Sigurd crouched by the bunk.

'You hear me, old man?' he said.

Bor stared at the ceiling. 'Sigurd?'

'Why did you do it? You knew you wouldn't last.'

'Worth a try... the pilot's dead, you know.'

'Which pilot?'

'Pilot of the Terminus.'

Now he was definitely rambling. The Terminus hadn't moved under its own power or anything else's for generations. Sigurd said, 'The pilot's dead and long gone.'

'Oh, no,' Bor insisted, 'he's still there. But he's going to fire up the engines, and they won't take it.'

There was a noise from behind. Sigurd looked up to see Eirak on his way over from the door. He came and stood by the bunk, and glanced from one end to the other. 'Where's his helmet?' he said making no attempt to lower his voice.

'He didn't have it.'

Eirak inspected Bor's ruined armour critically. 'Did he say why he went into the zone?'

Sigurd shook his head. 'I can't make sense of it.'

'Well...' Eirak straightened. 'One less on the rosters.'

Seeing that the watch-commander was about to leave without further comment, Sigurd said, 'But he needs Hydromel!'

The answer was harsh and direct. 'There isn't any to spare.'

'But he's dying!'

'So why detain him?' Eirak said curtly, and he walked away.

The Doctor and Kari had followed the control cables to their end; they led to the control chamber of the Terminus s.h.i.+p.

It wasn't easy to get in. The floor and the ceiling had been built on a slope, so there was hardly enough headroom. A recess had been cut into the slope for the central control couch, and all of the controls and displays had been packed into the available s.p.a.ce around this. It didn't leave much s.p.a.ce to move around.