almost like human feet. See?’ He paused. ‘No, I don’t think it’s this creature which has the ship.’
He bent again to examine the rest of the body.
‘Hollow,’ the Doctor murmured. ‘Yet — preserved. A vertebrate creature, highly developed. Just the shell left. It makes sense, Chesterton. It... makes... sense...’
‘How do you mean — sense? You talked as though you expected to find beings like this...’
The Doctor, lost in thought, nodded absently. ‘... living in a high order of civilization. And apart from that deserted, crumbling memorial, this... thing is the only other sign of that civilization we’ve seen — so far...’
‘Are you saying you’ve been here before?’
‘No. No, my boy — but, well — the geology of these rock formations, the pools of liquid acid, and now... this creature. They all suggest that this is the planet Vortis. It’s a planet I have... knowledge of...’
‘But you’re not sure it is?’
‘M’well – Vortis is in the Isop Galaxy – many light years from Earth. But according to my knowledge, it should have no satellites. This planet has several – see...?’
The Doctor waved towards the pale sky where several satellites hung seemingly motionless, bathed in a faint reflected glow.
‘Perhaps things have changed here...’
‘If this is Vortis,’ Doctor Who muttered, ‘they have changed indeed!’
Ian straightened up from staring at the dead shell and looked around again.
‘Well, whatever it is, this is not getting us any nearer the ship.’
Doctor Who rose too. ‘Quite, quite. Come on, my boy –
we’ll try this way.’
He began to retrace his steps, still glancing back at the mummified shadow on the ground.
‘Not that way, Doctor – that’s the way we’ve come.’
‘Eh?’ Doctor Who halted. ‘Oh, er, yes – of course. Very observant of you, Chesterton.’ He snapped his fingers as he now strode forward, heading up the pass. ‘Well, come on, my boy!’
As Ian followed he noticed that Doctor Who’s silhouette ahead of him was becoming more sharply outlined against the sky. It was getting brighter. He strode after him quickly and caught up as the pointed rocks on either side of them fell away and they emerged from the pass.
Doctor Who halted to take stock of the ground. They both peered around.
‘Here, Chesterton!’
Doctor Who was pointing down. A scattering of the glassy sand over hard rock showed scratches – and the unmistakable marks of claws. They both stopped, following them clearly now, and Ian looked up to where they led.
The landscape ahead of them, featureless now except for a scatter of rock and an occasional stunted crag, rose gently up-ward towards a ridge.
As Ian noted it and prepared to follow the tracks, a glow swept across the sky and lit the ridge from behind so that it stood out clear and stark for a moment.
Ian halted and put out a hand to touch Doctor Who.
‘Lights!’ he exclaimed. ‘That’s no satellite!’
‘Where?’
‘Over there! It turned... swept across the sky! I’m sure it did!’
‘Wait!’ Doctor Who commanded.
After a moment or so, the sky glowed and the ridge lit again. It faded.
‘There – don’t tell me that’s anything natural! It’s a searchlight, or something like it, surely?’
‘M’yes... yes. Well, we shall see when we reach the top of that ridge, I imagine.’
‘The tracks lead to it – over there – and there, see?’
And Ian moved swiftly ahead, taking up the lead.
‘Carefully, Chesterton. Keep your eyes open!’
But Ian was already absorbed in picking up the tracks, stumbling in his urgency up the slope, pausing only to check on the scratches and prints which the looser ground now revealed clearly in a growing radiance.
He reached the top of the ridge, paused there – and caught his breath at the sight. He remained wordless until Doctor Who, toiling painfully upward in his wake, joined him, breathing heavily.
Then Ian pointed downward, grim and
He bent again to examine the rest of the body.
‘Hollow,’ the Doctor murmured. ‘Yet — preserved. A vertebrate creature, highly developed. Just the shell left. It makes sense, Chesterton. It... makes... sense...’
‘How do you mean — sense? You talked as though you expected to find beings like this...’
The Doctor, lost in thought, nodded absently. ‘... living in a high order of civilization. And apart from that deserted, crumbling memorial, this... thing is the only other sign of that civilization we’ve seen — so far...’
‘Are you saying you’ve been here before?’
‘No. No, my boy — but, well — the geology of these rock formations, the pools of liquid acid, and now... this creature. They all suggest that this is the planet Vortis. It’s a planet I have... knowledge of...’
‘But you’re not sure it is?’
‘M’well – Vortis is in the Isop Galaxy – many light years from Earth. But according to my knowledge, it should have no satellites. This planet has several – see...?’
The Doctor waved towards the pale sky where several satellites hung seemingly motionless, bathed in a faint reflected glow.
‘Perhaps things have changed here...’
‘If this is Vortis,’ Doctor Who muttered, ‘they have changed indeed!’
Ian straightened up from staring at the dead shell and looked around again.
‘Well, whatever it is, this is not getting us any nearer the ship.’
Doctor Who rose too. ‘Quite, quite. Come on, my boy –
we’ll try this way.’
He began to retrace his steps, still glancing back at the mummified shadow on the ground.
‘Not that way, Doctor – that’s the way we’ve come.’
‘Eh?’ Doctor Who halted. ‘Oh, er, yes – of course. Very observant of you, Chesterton.’ He snapped his fingers as he now strode forward, heading up the pass. ‘Well, come on, my boy!’
As Ian followed he noticed that Doctor Who’s silhouette ahead of him was becoming more sharply outlined against the sky. It was getting brighter. He strode after him quickly and caught up as the pointed rocks on either side of them fell away and they emerged from the pass.
Doctor Who halted to take stock of the ground. They both peered around.
‘Here, Chesterton!’
Doctor Who was pointing down. A scattering of the glassy sand over hard rock showed scratches – and the unmistakable marks of claws. They both stopped, following them clearly now, and Ian looked up to where they led.
The landscape ahead of them, featureless now except for a scatter of rock and an occasional stunted crag, rose gently up-ward towards a ridge.
As Ian noted it and prepared to follow the tracks, a glow swept across the sky and lit the ridge from behind so that it stood out clear and stark for a moment.
Ian halted and put out a hand to touch Doctor Who.
‘Lights!’ he exclaimed. ‘That’s no satellite!’
‘Where?’
‘Over there! It turned... swept across the sky! I’m sure it did!’
‘Wait!’ Doctor Who commanded.
After a moment or so, the sky glowed and the ridge lit again. It faded.
‘There – don’t tell me that’s anything natural! It’s a searchlight, or something like it, surely?’
‘M’yes... yes. Well, we shall see when we reach the top of that ridge, I imagine.’
‘The tracks lead to it – over there – and there, see?’
And Ian moved swiftly ahead, taking up the lead.
‘Carefully, Chesterton. Keep your eyes open!’
But Ian was already absorbed in picking up the tracks, stumbling in his urgency up the slope, pausing only to check on the scratches and prints which the looser ground now revealed clearly in a growing radiance.
He reached the top of the ridge, paused there – and caught his breath at the sight. He remained wordless until Doctor Who, toiling painfully upward in his wake, joined him, breathing heavily.
Then Ian pointed downward, grim and
Similar Books
