Zoe was still very far from convinced by the Doctor’s ridiculous proposal: his suggestion that the three of them - and the Tardis - had somehow been reduced in size!
No matter how open-minded she tried to be, Zoe just could not bring herself to accept this conclusion. Judging by the proportions of this pilots’ seat, whoever it was built for was of human - or at least, humanoid - physical construction. From the height of the seat-rest, and its general distance from the control desk, Zoe calculated - without even being aware that she was doing so - the occupant’s probable size. Taking Jamie as ‘the average man’, they should be about four or five times larger than him. This did not seem too unreasonable or, at least, not beyond the realms of possibility.
Still, she already had a great deal of respect for the Doctor. Indeed, Zoe had almost instinctively trusted this odd little man since first meeting him on The Wheel. (The way he had dealt with the Cybermen had shown that he was not the clown that he appeared to be at first glance!) Deciding to nudge him in the direction of more practical considerations, Zoe asked, “Well, if we are going to be here for a while, Doctor, shouldn’t we try to learn more about this place? For example, have you noticed how easily we are breathing?”
“You are correct, of course, Zoe.’ The Doctor replied, stirred from his own continuing examination of their surroundings. ‘The smoke from the Tardis seems to have dissipated remarkably quickly, which would indicate a working ventilation system. The lighting appears to be getting brighter… although it’s hard to tell just where it is coming from… I do think that further exploration is called for, yes, indubitably”
“I was actually referring to the fact that we can breathe at all, Doctor!’ Zoe exclaimed, slightly huffily, ‘I mean, this is self-evidently an alien environment - is it just luck that they breathe the same atmosphere as we do?”
“Oh! I see what you mean, Zoe.’ The Doctor replied, nodding his understanding. ‘Well, under normal conditions, I do try to check the scanner before exiting the ship. That wasn’t possible on this occasion, obviously… I just had to trust in the Tardis. The ship usually looks out for me - indeed for all of us - to the best of her abilities, after all.’ He glanced back once more at the dilapidated looking blue box, almost like an anxious relative stuck in a hospital waiting room: both hoping for - and simultaneously dreading - news from the operating theatre. ‘And let’s face it, Zoe, it’s not as if we had much choice… I don’t think we could have survived in there for much longer.”
Jamie, a little perplexed by this turn of discussion, felt compelled to come to his friend’s defense. “Aye, Zoe. You have to admit that the air is much fresher out here. I don’t think the Tardis has ever landed me anywhere that I couldnae breathe! Well, apart from that time we landed on the Moon… But we had special suits to wear then… Can ye creid it? Walking on the Moon!’ Jamie seemed to get caught up in his recollections, and continued enthusiastically. ‘That was when I first met the Cybermen! Although for a lot of the time I thought I was being haunted by The Phantom Piper…’ He slowly trailed off, as he realized that Zoe was staring at him as if he’d forgotten to put his kilt on. ‘Aye, well - it’s a long story, Zoe.”
“And one that can wait for another time, I’m sure, Jamie!’ The Doctor interjected, much to Jamie’s relief. ‘Right now, we have some more immediate puzzles to solve! Do you have any suggestions as to how we might go about that, Zoe?”
Delighted (and a little proud) to be asked for advice by the Doctor, Zoe’s face lit with a brilliant smile as she indicated up at the pilots’ seat/control desk combination. “Of course I do, Doctor! I think that one of us needs to get up there! If there is any useful information to be discovered, surely that control desk is the best place to look for it - don’t you think?”
Recognizing a task that was well suited to his own skills, Jamie jumped in before the Doctor could reply. “Och, weel, now you’re talking! I was climbing bigger obstacles than that when I was no more than a bairn - I can be up there in two shakes of a lamb’s tail!” He grinned happily at the Doctor and waited for his approval. To his surprise, the Doctor was not looking particularly enthusiastic.
In fact, he was regarding Jamie with a slightly worried expression, whilst stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Yes… Indeed… I have absolutely no doubt that you could. But… and please don’t take offence when I say this, Jamie… but would you be able to understand the controls once you reached them?”
Zoe stifled a giggle at Jamie’s crestfallen expression, as visions of displaying his manly prowess slowly faded from his eyes. ”Ah, I see what you mean…’ he admitted, nodding to himself slowly, “I’m not saying that I couldnae do it mind - but it would probably be better if I just gave you a bunk up. Aye.”
The expression of alarm that crossed the Doctor’s face at this... nearly defeated Zoe’s desperate attempts at maintaining her composure, but his reply so surprised her that she forgot to laugh. “Me! Oh come now, Jamie, do be serious! Naturally it must be Zoe that goes up to examine the controls.” He gifted the startled girl with a smile that was no doubt intended to be ingratiating.
“Why me?” Zoe squeaked.
Affecting a hurt expression at being ‘so misunderstood’, the Doctor reached once more for his handkerchief. “Well, with your expertise in parapsychology and advanced mathematics - not to mention your familiarity with hi-tech scientific systems - you are undoubtedly much better qualified for the task than Jamie.’ He then glanced quickly at Zoe, as if in sudden realization, a startled expression of innocent surprise on his face. ‘Oh! You weren’t thinking that I… Oh no… No, my dear - you can’t hardly expect me to go gallivanting about like that!’ He dabbed his hanky tenderly on his forehead with exaggerated care. ‘Not in my condition…”
Zoe stood with her hands fisted on her hips. Although her mouth hung open, she was actually stunned speechless by this display of blatant manipulation. However, when she saw the way that the Doctor was surreptitiously peeking out at her from under cover of his handkerchief - and the huge grin that was threatening to crack Jamie’s face in half - she couldn’t maintain her indignation. Shaking her head ruefully, Zoe threw her arms up in resignation; totally unable to resist joining in as Jamie gave way to laughter.
All trace of infirmity forgotten, the Doctor beamed at his friends, rubbing his hands together enthusiastically. “Splendid! Splendid! Well, now that’s all settled - let’s get on, shall we?”
The atmosphere in the amphitheater/auditorium was alive with speculation and anticipation; practically everyone present was engaged in animated - yet thankfully hushed - conversation with their compatriots. The Archivist First tuned out the comforting murmur, letting it blend into the buzzing inside his own head: the disparate thoughts that clamored and vied for his attention. Out of the corner of his eye Valmik noticed Nandamar lean towards him, perhaps intending to address him. Valmik shook his head sharply, and his Second wisely took the hint.
Now that the presentation had finished, and Silandor had ushered his crewmen from the room - presumably to return to his precious Command Hub - the Visi-Sphere was blank. Valmik had requested this. He did not need any distracting reminders. What they had just been shown (and told) was indelibly etched into his memory. He now chose to study those etchings, careful to maintain rigid control over his facial colourations. As the young female had resumed speaking, a much shaken Valmik had decided to simply listen - as if to a story told by an Imagineer. In truth, he acknowledged, he really had no alternative; he could have no influence over these events now. So he had just watched passively as the small survey shuttle appeared in the Visi-Sphere.
The shuttle - no more than an egg-shaped pod really - had a crew of two, they were told. This was considered sufficient for what was intended to be a brief fly-by. The pilot would orbit the Ship of the Ancients, while her co-pilot carried out his tests and observations. Everything proceeded smoothly, until they reached a point about halfway between the two larger ships - then all signals from the shuttle were lost. Everything! But the hugely magnified image on the command hub’s main view-screen clearly showed the little vessel continuing serenely towards its destination.
From this point, the playback on the Visi-Sphere was manually accelerated by the Tec-Op. Apparently this was to keep the image in synch with the Specialists narrative. Valmik kept quiet, considering this to be sensible compromise. He certainly didn’t want to sit through a ‘real-time’ recounting of this ill-considered mission. When the shuttle, now a mere speck of light against the vast bulk of its target, appeared to be slowing down; it was assumed that Pilot Second Tomovol was simply showing due caution. However, concerns were raised when it became apparent that the closer the tiny speck grew to the Ship - the slower it was travelling!
When it finally went into its pre-planned ‘downward’ spiraling orbit, the shuttle was moving at a crawl in comparison to its normal cruising speed. (Now would have been a good time to involve this assemblage of experts! Valmik had thought. He already had a suspicion as to what was happening here: glancing round he had also seen members of the Theoretical Possibilities Enclave engaged in whispered discussions.)
The man operating the Visi-Sphere slowed his playback to real-time at this juncture. The image, no longer at variance to the time the Specialist was taking to deliver the information, slowed sharply. Everyone blinked at the abrupt transition. The tiny star appeared to come to a halt… But gradually - as his vision adjusted - Valmik could see that it was still moving. Just very slowly. He began to suspect that he and the others had been excluded - deceived - for much longer than Silandor had thus far admitted. He would just have to wait and see…
“You will no doubt be pleased to hear,’ the Specialist had then said, ‘that our crewmates returned to the Indigo Flame without encountering any difficulties - of which they were aware. They were both extremely surprised to find out that their mission of five Tendecad’s duration actually took a little over two days!”
When communications from the war mantis had been lost; Pilot Second Tomovol and her co-pilot, Eskabrade, had put it down to the increasing proximity of the Ship of the Ancients. Unable to detect any other more major problems, Tomovol had decided to continue the mission. According to her report, the approach and subsequent orbits went off without a hitch. Co-pilot (and Mission Specialist,) Eskabrade was able to execute his examinations and recordings as planned. They had even taken the initiative to launch and plant a magnetic probe on the hull of the giant Ship, before making the return flight.
Clade Commander Silandor had immediately ordered engineering crews to examine the shuttle down to its component parts - if that’s what it took - to see if any damage had occurred. The protesting pilots were subjected to a similar - and no less thorough - examination in the Medi-Bay. The results of the various scans and sensor readings had been studied carefully, but proved disappointing. Although the ship registered clearly in proximity, no readings were possible through its hull; any energy pulses were either absorbed, or simply ‘bounced’ off - this too was difficult to determine.
(That would explain why the visual records the crew had obtained showed such a pristine surface to the Ship’s hull, Valmik had concluded. He would have expected a lot more ‘wear and tear’ to be in evidence - surely some… Some at least, on a vessel as ancient as this was believed to be. Curiouser and curiouser…)
This was, in fact, the reason that the pilot took the decision to launch a probe directly at the hull - to see if tactile contact could be made. (The Archivist was sure that he was not the only person present who would have balked at this, had he been given any say in the matter!) As it turned out, the probe deployed its magnetic grapples successfully - even now it maintained its vigil - although no more useful telemetry had been received. At the very least, Valmik mused ironically, this proved that the Ship was not just some bizarre space mirage.
Once the shuttle and her crew were fully examined and pronounced unharmed; (Valmik noted that no mention was made of how long this had taken), Silandor decided that it was safe to approach to the mid-point, where sensor contact had originally been lost with the shuttle. This unilateral decision was taken in order to deploy the ‘Contact Craft’, and the following few decads of the briefing were both startling and fascinating - as were the visuals displayed in the Visi-Sphere.
Of course, everyone was aware of the contact craft, which had been snuggled against the Indigo Flame’s belly the entire flight: a parasite hitching a lift. It had been designed and constructed specifically for this mission of hope, and was essentially a mobile airlock. As no-one had known what condition the Ship of the Ancients would be in if - when - they found it, she was also a multi-purpose invasion tool. Valmik’s first glimpse of the craft, magna-clamped to the hull of the huge Ship, had only re-enforced his impression of the ugly thing as some kind of blood sucker.
Inside this innocuous looking growth, gripping limpet-like to the alien hull, the business of effecting an entry was reportedly taking place. Since energy tools - even weapons - had no visible affect, primitive physical assault had been resorted to. The engineers and mech-tecs of the crew were actually drilling into the Ship’s hull! Valmik really wasn’t sure how he felt about that particular revelation. (Sacrilege? Unfortunate necessity? Or something more disturbing - something that they were still not being told?)
They were shown visuals from inside the contact craft - shuttled back to the Flame - documenting Tecs in vac-suits entering the sealed off lower deck through an airlock. This was promptly dogged down behind them before anything of note could be observed - so very irritating! At this point Nandamar had risked an interruption of his own - in the politest manner possible. “If I may request clarification, Specialist? Why are those crewmen wearing vac-suits? Is it just a precaution, or have you made more progress than is evident from what you have told us so far?”
“You anticipate me, Archivist Second,’ replied the Specialist, accepting his questions with good grace, ‘I was about to explain that - as we had no knowledge of the strength or thickness of the Ship’s hull at the time - suits were worn from the outset. It seemed the only safe way to proceed. However…’At this point she broke off and looked uncertainly to her Commander. At his gesture of permission, she continued. ‘The deployment of crew that you have just witnessed is of particular significance. Before those images were shuttled back to us here, they appended a report. They had achieved partial breakthrough.”
The Specialist (Plamasar? Paralam?) had paused and visibly braced herself at this point. To Valmik it looked as if she was expecting them all to start climbing the walls, skittering across the ceiling, and generally behaving like hatchlings fresh from the egg. If so, she was to be disappointed! Everyone remained silent, stunned by the news - and the fact that they were only now hearing it! Perhaps thrown off guard by this total lack of pandemonium, she coughed at the back of her throat, then continued. ‘And I must emphasize that when I say partial - I mean that this particular team managed to create some small openings only. Just large enough for probes and sensors to be fed through - we will shortly be able to make those readings available to you all.
Thank you all for your kind attention. That is the end of my prepared information feed, but I know that Clade Commander Silandor would like to add a few words. Commander?”
Exchanging places with the girl, Silandor had then calmly delivered the biggest shock of all. “I realize that this is all quite a lot to take in, but please bear with me a little longer. What Specialist Palasar did not mention, on my instruction, is the fact that we are currently physically docked with the Ship of the Ancients. I issued that order on receiving the report just mentioned. Being in physical contact has enabled us to maintain a real-time link and, as I stated earlier, we plan to send in the first exploratory team tomorrow. This room is now your own base of operations. The technical aspects are still being worked on, but presently you will have full access to everything that we know - as we know it.”
“Commander Silandor’, Valmik had been surprised to hear his own voice so calm, so bereft of anger, ‘just how long have we been this, ah… close to the Ship of the Ancients?’ Then he added, ‘By our terms of reference, I mean.”
Silandor had nodded, as if expecting the question. “The Indigo Flame has actually been docked with the Ship - via the contact craft - for just over a day and a half. However, we have been within the Ship’s… sphere of influence, I suppose you might call it, for over six.” (A day and a half! The Archivist had thought numbly, focusing on this startling slice of information. No wonder the Commander was so insistent on ejecting us from the Hub yesterday!)
An unfamiliar voice then drew his attention. Somewhat weakly, Dotalane, of the Theoretical Possibilities enclave, had enquired. “And just how much time has passed outside this ‘sphere of influence’, Clade Commander?”
The man actually had the audacity to smirk, to try to make light of the situation! “I’m really not sure - I was rather hoping that the Mathematician’s enclave would be able to work on that! No further questions for now, thank you. You all have much to discuss, I’m sure, so we shall leave you to it.”
Bringing himself back to the here and now, Archivist First Valmik studied his comrades thoughtfully. Like himself, they didn’t appear to be angry, but in their cases any anger had been subsumed by intellectual enthusiasm. For his part, Valmik fully expected his rage and fury to manifest itself with a vengeance - once he had recovered from his shock at the sheer magnitude of Silandor’s deception. He also found himself unable to completely believe the Commander’s brutally sparse - and distinctly unilluminating - explanations.
What if there was even more that the man was not telling them?
Rising to his feet, he demanded everyone’s attention, so that all eyes in the room were following him as he strode onto the central stage.