Doctor Who Forgotten Suns Chapter Seven

The three time travelers blinked at each other in confusion, not entirely able to process what had just happened. The huge figure framed in the doorway had indeed been humanoid, although little more could be made of its appearance, as it was entirely concealed in some kind of protective suit. Zoe was hidden from view by the doorframe, but the Doctor and Jamie were standing directly in its path. They would have been clearly visible if the giant being had chanced to look down.

But it didn’t.

The Doctor had attempted to step forward to introduce himself (if he could make himself heard), when a colossal foot passed over his head: the titanic ‘spaceman’ had leapt through the doorway and pounded up towards the flight-deck at great speed. Jamie, looking as white as a sheet after so narrowly avoiding being stepped on, choked out in a shocked whisper. “Doctor! He didnae even see us!”

Feeling rather shaky himself, the Doctor nodded as he took the petrified Highlander’s arm and guided him over towards Zoe, who appeared to be frozen in place. He instinctively kept his voice low as he addressed them both, even though the chances of being overheard seemed somewhat remote. “Yes, Jamie, it would appear that our, um… host… is somewhat preoccupied at the moment.’ He glanced back nervously towards the flight-deck. ‘I suggest that we get through this door before it closes, then make ourselves scarce for a little while. Before the Tardis is discovered, preferably!”

For her part, Zoe was wondering if the Doctor hadn’t been correct all along. It was one thing to speculate about the likelihood of intelligent life-forms of such monumental proportions: cool, calm, logical theorizing was something that she excelled at, after all. It was an entirely different kettle of bananas to actually meet one!

All of Zoe’s hard earned scientific detachment had evaporated, to be replaced by an atavistic fear that she could neither control nor explain. At the Doctor’s words, however, her strength of character won out. Regaining her composure she asked, also in a low voice, “The Tardis? Do you think our arrival set of an alarm after all? Is that what brought the pilot here?”

The Doctor was studying the lip of the door-seal, and answered slightly dismissively, too worried to be polite. “I hardly think so, Zoe, we have been here for some time now, after all.

‘Regardless, I really do suggest that we hurry, my dear. We can save further discussion for later, eh?’ He indicated the doorway again. ‘It shouldn’t be too difficult - just a hop, skip, and a jump!”

He was referring to the raised seal that surrounded the doorway.

This was separated from one of an equal height on the opposite side only by the sliding track that the door itself had moved along. Jamie found that he could easily step up onto the frame, and the Doctor and Zoe only needed a steadying hand-up to join him. In unison they jumped across the gap, and thence down to the deck on the other side.

Just in time, as the door slid shut with only the faintest of hums behind them.

“Ah…’ the Doctor ruminated. “I was afraid of that… er, I think that we should avoid the next sensor along. We don’t want to risk attracting the attention of… well, let’s call him the pilot, as Zoe suggested… For now at least. What I mean to say is, we don’t want that door to open again just yet, do we?”

So saying, he got down on his hands and knees and began to crawl along the floor. Jamie and Zoe joined him, agreeing whole-heartedly with his reasoning. The companions actually crawled considerably beyond any possible detection range of the sensor, before they risked standing upright again. As they got a good look at their new location, Jamie despondently exclaimed, “Och! Is this sleepy ship made of nothing but corridors ?”

“There’s only one way to find out, Jamie!’ the Doctor replied, attempting to sound enthusiastic, ‘let’s put our best feet forward! I think it advisable to put some distance between us and the pilot for the moment, perhaps find out more about what we’re dealing with here, exactly.’ He clapped a comradely arm across each of his friend’s shoulders.

The height difference between Jamie and Zoe made him look slightly absurd, but he pressed on gamely. ‘And while we do so, perhaps we can confabulate and extrapolate, and thereby reach some answers!”

“Eh?” asked Jamie.

Zoe, a puzzled frown creasing her forehead, asked, “Doctor, is Jamie trying to suggest that this is a ‘sleeper ship’? Could that be why it seems so empty?”

“That is one possibility that I have been considering, Zoe, yes.’ Agreed the Doctor as he disengaged himself, beckoning his friends to follow him as he started walking. ‘But we really haven’t seen enough yet to be sure, not at all. I must say that so far I cannot begin to guess the purpose of this vessel - it all looks fairly non-descript to me.’

He was passing what he assumed to be some sort of structural bracing, a support column jutting from the wall, as he said this: one of the many that broke up this latest corridor at regular intervals. As the lighting kept pace with them, the Doctor’s own frown deepened. ‘This really is most peculiar, you know. There don’t appear to be any side-doors, or hatches or whatever, leading off this corridor - I wonder why that is?”

“Probably because you are looking in the wrong place, Doctor!” Jamie exclaimed behind him. He turned to see both Zoe and the young Scot gazing up at the ceiling. He followed Jamie’s pointing finger, then blinked.

“Oh my word!’ The Doctor remarked, as he studied the very obvious hatch far above. ‘Well, our large friend back there may be able to reach that, but it doesn’t do us much good, does it? Perhaps we should look for similar hatches, but set into the floor, as we proceed. If we don’t find any by the time we get to the other end… well, maybe that would suggest that we are on the lowest level of this vessel. Possibly. It’s somewhere to start, at least!”

None of them looked particularly convinced by this line of reasoning as they set off again, not even the Doctor.

With the Indigo Flame docked against the huge Ship of the Ancients, the war mantis’ command hub was unusually still and quiet. The large forward view simulator was relaying the feed from the boarding party, and most of the crew on duty were able to watch this, whilst monitoring their own systems only occasionally.

Silandor had once more engaged the privacy screen around his command throne, this time joined by Sub-Commander Talamane. They were watching a different feed, this one showing the various enclaves as they watched a delayed transmission on the Visi-Sphere. Talamane found it somewhat odd, reviewing the same footage that had been playing on the main screen only 0.5 decads ago, but the Clade Commander was much more interested in the reactions of the gathered experts. “I think our friends are hooked, don’t you, Sub-Commander?”

“As you say, Sir. I believe that this should keep them well occupied while we go about our other investigations.”

Silandor nodded agreement, then glanced up at her. “Any further word from the Ghost Patrol we sent in earlier, that I need to be aware of?”

“No change, Commander’, Talamane assured him, ‘just routine check-ins. As per your instructions, Ghost First Faramandar only made a preliminary sweep of the area immediately surrounding the entry point. As you know, the only minor difficulty was presented by the sheer size of the derelicts interior.

Your brother’s patrol are all skilled climbers, however, so they have been holding station since confirming that the vessel was safe for our… for our ‘first’ team to board. They await your orders, Sir.”

“Excellent.’ Silandor greeted the report with satisfaction, returning his attention to the larger screen at the front of the hub. ‘Confirm my previous instructions. They are to remain in concealment until Palasar’s group are safely on their way, then patch their own communications systems into that Mech-Tec’s booster relay. It will be more efficient than continuing to hide their transmissions in the sensor feeds. They are then to undertake a more thorough examination of the derelict whilst our guests are busy with the Specialist’s transmission.”

As he rose from his throne, Silandor disengaged the privacy screen. Talamane backed away as he stepped down, then turned to follow him as he descended to the command deck. The Clade Commander was completely focused on the primary view-screen now, but he murmured an aside to her just before she left. “Do come and join me when your task is done, my Second Spear. This is the best view in the house - and it promises to be most interesting.”

As Palasar raised herself into the Ship of the Ancients, the first thing she noticed was the sheer size of the place. She had expected it, of course: she knew the legends as well as any Oortelian, but to actually be confronted with such a large space was… unnerving, to say the least. Still, stepping fully onto the deck, Palasar continued to report what she saw: it gave her a much needed sense of distance - she was simply an observer of events.

Conscious that everything that she witnessed not only had an audience, but was also being recorded for posterity, Palasar decided to be thorough. (Although she fantasized about racing down this corridor in search of a living, breathing Ancient!) Behind her, Enteberol was shutting and locking down their access to the contact craft. A little way beyond him, a female Tec-Op was fussing over an array of devices sprouting from the deck, presumably improvements or additions to the sensors fed through the hull. Palasar assumed that the largest of these was the booster array. She made a mental note to question the woman later.

Continuing her turn, Palasar noted what appeared to be a huge portal set into the far bulkhead, then she panned around still further, taking in the featureless wall opposite. She continued her turn until she reached what must be the ghost patrol’s ‘base camp’.

In truth, it was nothing more than a convenient area of deck that had been chosen to create an equipment store - not too far from the airlock itself, in fact. A few troopers were sorting out items of kit that they might need, occasionally breaking off to gaze around in awe. With a start, Palasar became aware that one of them was observing her closely.

Realizing that his scrutiny had been noticed, he strode towards her.

“Welcome aboard, Specialist.’ He rasped, in a surprisingly quiet voice.

He was nearly as tall as the Clade Commander himself, but carried much less bulk. Still, the abbreviated combat harness he wore did little to disguise the steel-cord muscles that writhed and twitched as he approached her. ‘I am the First of your escort patrol, you may call me First.”

Palasar noticed that, although he was talking to her, his appraising gaze was just off to her right. Evidently he was aware of - and none too pleased about - the visualiser built into her helmet.

“Thank you, First,’ she responded automatically, ‘could you bring me up to speed, please?”

“Of course.’ He nodded. Then, making no pretense to disguise the fact, he began to address the visi-com directly. ‘So far we have simply prepped this location, awaiting your arrival, and my troops have been testing their climbing gear: standard procedure, of course.” Palasar followed his indicating gesture upwards, and was startled to see several soldiers scuttling across the ceiling. Reduced in scale by the distance, their familiar lizard-like undulations brought back fond childhood memories. If it weren’t for the lack of a tail, each trooper could almost be taken for a hatchling.

The First hadn’t noticed her surprise, too busy watching his soldiers. “As you can see, our magna-clamps work perfectly well on the structure of this ship. Additionally, the Tec team have made some small progress on scanning the vessel’s interior. Unfortunately, the central mass of the ship is completely unreadable. Apparently it just appears as a void. There are more decks above us, and as yet unidentified spaces to either side. We appear to have only two options at present, Specialist.”

Palasar was nodding her understanding, as she studied the darkened corridor stretching out behind the officer, then forced herself to stop. The motion might not be too pleasant for those watching the feed, she had realized.

“I understand, First. We can either head towards the rear of the Ship, see if we can find a way through the walls or ceiling…’ She turned her back on him, studying the giant portal more closely than she had before. ‘Or we try to get through that!’

‘Any objections, First?” She asked, turning back around to face him enquiringly.

“None at all, Specialist. In fact, I concur. It makes sense to at least try the nearest visible door, does it not?”

Palasar thought she detected an undertone of humour in the First’s reply, but took no umbrage. It was the obvious choice, after all.

“Indeed it does, First. Please assemble your troops. I wish to speak with the Tec’s for a few moments, then we shall proceed.”

Much to her own surprise, Zoe was actually beginning to feel a little bored as they tromped along these seemingly endless corridors. The first one hadn’t been as long as it had initially appeared; the peculiar lighting arrangement had made judging distances difficult. Unfortunately, the next door merely opened into another section of corridor, identical to the first.

At least, on The Wheel, the corridors had actually led somewhere! But not here: each section was compartmentalized, presumably a safety measure as the Doctor had suggested. Jamie, looking fit and spry as ever, had taken to stomping ahead to activate the next light sensor along; then ambling back to walk alongside his slower companions.

He was obviously hoping that they would find something interesting soon, as he diligently continued to scan all around. The Doctor had fallen into quiet reflection in the absence of anything to comment on. If she was honest with herself, Zoe had to admit that she had stopped paying too much attention to his - initially - enthusiastic speculations; realizing that they were little more than guesswork. Now that they were approaching yet another doorway, the Doctor called a halt.

“We really don’t appear to be achieving very much, do we?’ he asked his friends glumly. It was a rhetorical question, so he didn’t wait for a response. Gripping his lapels firmly he announced his decision. ‘I have come to the conclusion that… We really have no option but to return to that flight deck. We must attempt to communicate with that pilot chap, and keep our fingers crossed that he is friendly!”

Jamie was none too keen on that suggestion, so he hedged, “Aye, Doctor, but should we no’ try this door first, just in case?”

The Doctor gazed questioningly at Zoe, who nodded and agreed, “It would be a bit silly to leave without even taking a look, wouldn’t it? For all we know, all the answers we need could be just behind that door!”

“Oh! I couldn’t agree more!’ replied the Doctor, looking enthusiastic once more at that tantalizing prospect. ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained, eh? Very well, one last door before we go back! Jamie… Zoe… you know what to do…”

After the shock of encountering the giant spaceman, the Doctor had insisted that any further doors should be approached with a little more caution. The procedure had become almost routine. Zoe went to the left wall of the corridor, Jamie to the right, and the Doctor stayed in the center. That way the youngsters were concealed from view, by the bulkheads either side of the doorway, while the Doctor got a good look through the door as it opened.

On this particular occasion, the results were a little different as the door hummed aside. The Doctor’s expression of almost child-like anticipation froze on his face, and he slowly began to raise his hands above his head. Keeping his gaze fixed firmly forwards, he attempted to speak under his breath, without actually moving the grin on his face. He sounded like a very bad ventriloquist.

“Ah... Now then, both of you… I want you to listen very carefully - I shall say this only once.”