glaring eyes to look ahead. It chirruped faintly and extended a claw. Its companion at the head of the column joined it and followed the pointing foreclaw.
Beyond the ridge, in the centre of a great basin of land dotted with crags, a light shone, pulsating as it turned. The revolving light crowned the dome ofa strange, sprawlingstructure whose spokes spread out like living creeper all over the land around, enveloping rocks and circling the bases of the crags.
The creeper, reaching and curling far outward from this building, glowed luminously.
The building itself was like a colossal, illuminated web, thick and dome-shaped at its core. The light pulsing at its very centre revolved again, its reflections glittering faintly on the shiny bodies of the watching Zarbi.
The leaders of the toiling column seized the tow strands in their claws and began moving down towards it.
It was growing harder for Ian and Doctor Who to follow the tracks of the ship and the prints around it. The glassy.sand had given way to rocky ground, and here, gradually, the furrow left by Tardis grew fainter. So did the strange marks that had pitted the softer terrain over which they had come.
Finally the tracks petered out entirely and Ian halted, scanning all around him for further marks.
‘They’ve disappeared,’ he said.
Doctor Who ground a foot into the flinty terrain. ‘Mm
— hard as rock here. Still, we should pick up some marks.
Have a good look round.’
But Ian was worried. He stared at the landscape ahead of them, then at Doctor Who.
‘Doctor — what are we going to do when we find the ship?’
Doctor Who waved an impatient hand, peering all around him intently. ‘One thing at a time, Chesterton.
Let’s not cross our bridges until we get to them. It’s a waste of brain-power!’
‘Yes, but — Barbara and Vicki...’
Doctor Who raised his head, glared and snapped, ‘Do you imagine I’m not thinking about them? Now start looking! Start looking! ’
He turned his attention to seeking tracks where the smooth unyielding surface gave way again to a tumble of glassy stone and jagged pebbles.
Ian watched him stepping gingerly away, the silvery head peering alertly this way and that. He himself surveyed the going ahead. The ground sloped downward and narrowed into a pass between great outcrops of pointed rock. Ian started towards it, placing his feet as delicately as a mountaineer on the polished, time-worn slope.
Was that a chirruping he heard, echoing somewhere ahead of him in the distance?
Ian went on. The shadows of the pass folded around him until he could hardly see the ground.
Then his foot crunched into something softer, a shape lying on the ground.
It was not a rock. Ian bent and stared, and the hairs prickled icily on the back of his neck. He pulled his foot hurriedly away and shouted, ‘Over here, Doctor!’
He turned back and looked again at the thing he had stepped on.
A strange face, with holes where eyes might have been, stared sightlessly back at him from the shadowed ground.
His foot had gone straight through its chest, crumbling it like a hollow shell.
Steps came slithering down towards him from behind, and Doctor Who bent and looked in the direction of Ian’s pointing finger.
‘What do you make of that, Doctor?’
The Doctor’s eyes gleamed with interest as he stooped to study the shape. Suddenly Ian realized, staring down, what the crumbling body reminded him of.
‘That great statue we saw back there — it was a figure of this.. creature, surely? Look..
He pointed. ‘See where the wings were?’
‘Indeed I do. Hm! Yes!’
‘Then now we know at least what took Tardis ! These creatures!’
Doctor Who knelt for a closer look. He shook his head.
‘No,’ he said, straightening. ‘Those tracks we’ve been following are claw marks of some kind.’
‘Well?’
Doctor Who indicated the lower part of the mummified figure.
‘Take a close look at the feet. Not claws — in fact,
Beyond the ridge, in the centre of a great basin of land dotted with crags, a light shone, pulsating as it turned. The revolving light crowned the dome ofa strange, sprawlingstructure whose spokes spread out like living creeper all over the land around, enveloping rocks and circling the bases of the crags.
The creeper, reaching and curling far outward from this building, glowed luminously.
The building itself was like a colossal, illuminated web, thick and dome-shaped at its core. The light pulsing at its very centre revolved again, its reflections glittering faintly on the shiny bodies of the watching Zarbi.
The leaders of the toiling column seized the tow strands in their claws and began moving down towards it.
It was growing harder for Ian and Doctor Who to follow the tracks of the ship and the prints around it. The glassy.sand had given way to rocky ground, and here, gradually, the furrow left by Tardis grew fainter. So did the strange marks that had pitted the softer terrain over which they had come.
Finally the tracks petered out entirely and Ian halted, scanning all around him for further marks.
‘They’ve disappeared,’ he said.
Doctor Who ground a foot into the flinty terrain. ‘Mm
— hard as rock here. Still, we should pick up some marks.
Have a good look round.’
But Ian was worried. He stared at the landscape ahead of them, then at Doctor Who.
‘Doctor — what are we going to do when we find the ship?’
Doctor Who waved an impatient hand, peering all around him intently. ‘One thing at a time, Chesterton.
Let’s not cross our bridges until we get to them. It’s a waste of brain-power!’
‘Yes, but — Barbara and Vicki...’
Doctor Who raised his head, glared and snapped, ‘Do you imagine I’m not thinking about them? Now start looking! Start looking! ’
He turned his attention to seeking tracks where the smooth unyielding surface gave way again to a tumble of glassy stone and jagged pebbles.
Ian watched him stepping gingerly away, the silvery head peering alertly this way and that. He himself surveyed the going ahead. The ground sloped downward and narrowed into a pass between great outcrops of pointed rock. Ian started towards it, placing his feet as delicately as a mountaineer on the polished, time-worn slope.
Was that a chirruping he heard, echoing somewhere ahead of him in the distance?
Ian went on. The shadows of the pass folded around him until he could hardly see the ground.
Then his foot crunched into something softer, a shape lying on the ground.
It was not a rock. Ian bent and stared, and the hairs prickled icily on the back of his neck. He pulled his foot hurriedly away and shouted, ‘Over here, Doctor!’
He turned back and looked again at the thing he had stepped on.
A strange face, with holes where eyes might have been, stared sightlessly back at him from the shadowed ground.
His foot had gone straight through its chest, crumbling it like a hollow shell.
Steps came slithering down towards him from behind, and Doctor Who bent and looked in the direction of Ian’s pointing finger.
‘What do you make of that, Doctor?’
The Doctor’s eyes gleamed with interest as he stooped to study the shape. Suddenly Ian realized, staring down, what the crumbling body reminded him of.
‘That great statue we saw back there — it was a figure of this.. creature, surely? Look..
He pointed. ‘See where the wings were?’
‘Indeed I do. Hm! Yes!’
‘Then now we know at least what took Tardis ! These creatures!’
Doctor Who knelt for a closer look. He shook his head.
‘No,’ he said, straightening. ‘Those tracks we’ve been following are claw marks of some kind.’
‘Well?’
Doctor Who indicated the lower part of the mummified figure.
‘Take a close look at the feet. Not claws — in fact,
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