Part 12 (2/2)

'I just don't believe it,' Dobbs said. He shook his head. 'It's...'

'Unbelievable?' the Doctor suggested.

'Well, yes.' A thought occurred to him. 'Do you believe it?'

'I saw it,' the Doctor replied. He was evidently amused by Dobbs's incredulity.

'So did I. But I don't...' He broke off and smiled. 'Sorry. I suppose I'd better just get used to the notion.' He was silent for a minute. Another thought had come to him. 'I didn't believe in dowsing either,' he said slowly.

'But you do now?'

'I'm more inclined to,' Dobbs decided.

'That's good.'

'Is it?'

'Oh yes,' the Doctor told him. 'If you've seen something happen, however incredible it might seem, it's no great leap of faith to believe in it. But now you're really opening your mind.' He grinned and clapped Dobbs on the shoulder. 'Well done.'

'Thank you,' Dobbs replied automatically.

The Doctor looked out of the ditch. 'Right, they seem to be done and dusted. Let's go.' He clambered out of the ditch and reached back to help the Professor negotiate the steep side.

As they made their way back to the Rectory, the Doctor described to Dobbs the exhibition he had attended the previous day.

'So you had a good idea what was to happen?'

'Once I saw what they were preparing it was pretty evident,' the Doctor agreed.

'Is this why you came here?' Dobbs asked. 'Because of Nepath and the material he intends to mine?'

'Oh no.' The Doctor paused and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a dull ball of dark material, similar to a large marble. He glanced at it briefly and replaced it. 'Wrong pocket,' he murmured. 'That was the free sample that Nepath gave me.'

'He gave you some of the material? Why?'

'I can't imagine,' the Doctor said. He was reaching into his other pocket. 'Well, actually I can imagine. But I think I'd rather not. Not for the moment anyway. Ah, here we are.' He pulled a small cube from his jacket with a flourish that would have befitted a stage magician. He held it out to Dobbs. 'Do you know what it is?' he asked. His voice was low and serious now.

Dobbs took the cube and examined it closely. It seemed solid and it was quite heavy. There was no apparent hinge or lid. The machining was perfect. The material it was made from was s.h.i.+ny black, so black that light seemed to be lost in it. The surface was so glossy that it seemed it should act as a mirror, but it reflected nothing other than indistinct shapes of light. It was slightly warm to the touch. He turned it over in his hands, then held it back out for the Doctor to take.

'No,' he said. 'I've never seen anything quite like this. What is it?'

The Doctor sucked in his cheeks. 'I was hoping you could tell me,' he said. It was the first time that Dobbs had heard real disappointment in his voice.

'You don't know?'

'I have no idea.'

'Where did you get it?'

The Doctor started walking again, so briskly that Dobbs had to make an effort to keep up. 'I can't remember,' he said. He seemed embarra.s.sed at the admission.

'Yet you say it is why you are here.'

'That's correct.' The Doctor turned to him as they continued to walk, his pace slowing slightly. 'You noticed that the cube was warm?'

'I did.'

'It used to be cold. Like ice. Then one of the faces of the cube became hot. I felt it through the lining of my pocket.'

'Just one face?' Dobbs frowned. What did that say about the conductivity of the material it was fas.h.i.+oned from?

'But not the same face.'

'I beg your pardon?'

'If I turned the cube, a different face became hot and the previously hot side was instantly cold again.'

'But why? How?'

'I wondered that. Then it came to me. No matter which way I turned the cube, the side pointing in a particular direction was hot. If I angled it, then the edge or corner was hot. Always pointing me in the same direction.' His voice had become distant, almost wistful as he remembered.

'And so you followed that direction? And it brought you here?'

The Doctor nodded.

Dobbs was struggling to absorb this. On top of what he had seen, he could feel his whole scientific belief structure beginning to crumble. 'And you say the side of the cube pointing towards Middletown was always hot?'

The Doctor quickened his pace, striding across the moorland, his shadow stretching out across the snowy surface. 'Burning.' he said.

The faint sounds of the machinery that had already been installed were just audible at the mouth of the tunnel. Harry Devlin was supervising the unloading of a trepanner, a vast contraption built from oily steel, as Nepath arrived. The two horses that had pulled the trepanner on its cart were sweating heavily, stamping their cold hooves on the frozen ground and tossing their heads. They seemed unnerved by the attention of the silent mine workers.

Nepath spared a moment to sooth them, patting their damp flanks and talking quietly to them each as he held the halter and looked into their eyes.

'How is it going?' he asked Devlin when he had finished with the horses.

Devlin's voice was a monotone. 'The equipment is installed. Except for this trepanner, which has only just arrived.'

'So I see. And what progress?'

'Progress is slow,' Devlin admitted. His eyes were wide, unblinking as he spoke. 'We shall need more equipment if we are to reach the depth you require.'

'Equipment is expensive,' Nepath told him. His mouth twitched slightly as he stifled his smile. 'Bur fortunately I expect a large cash injection shortly. We shall arrange others when and if they become necessary. I have several possible customers lined up. But do what you can for now.'

'Yes, sir.'

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