Doctor Who and the Ark in Space - Ian Marter, ebook, CALIBRE SFF 1970s, Temp 1
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At a time in the far-off future, Earth has becomeuninhabitable. A selection of Humanity is placed, deepfrozen,in a fully automated space station, to await the dayof their return to Earth...Thousands of years later, DOCTOR WHO arrives. He findsthings going suspiciously wrong, and the station underattack from the giant WIRRN, deadly creatures who, intheir lust for power, now threaten the future of the wholeHuman Race...ISBN 0 426 11631 3DOCTOR WHOANDTHE ARK IN SPACEBased on the BBC television serial The Ark in Space by RobertHolmes by arrangement with the British Broadcasting Corporation.IAN MARTERpublished byThe Paperback Division ofW. H. Allen & Co. LtdCONTENTSPrologue: The Intruder1 The Second Invasion2 Sarah Vanishes3 Sabotage!4 A Fatal Wound5 The Wirrrn6 Time Running Out7 A Tight Squeeze8 A New BeginningPrologue: The IntruderOut among the remotest planets, in faithful orbit through theSolar System, the great Satellite revolved slowly in the glimmer of abillion distant suns, reflecting their faint light from its cold and silentsurfaces. All within remained utterly quiet and still, but primed andready: ready for the eventual moment of awakening. Deep in itsinnermost structure an atomic clock oscillated, waiting for themoment when it would cause a tiny electric current to flow,activating circuits which branched throughout the vast Satellite,bringing it to life once more out in the wilderness of Space.Patiently it waited. Then suddenly, after many centuries,something stirred within it: something alien, that was not part of itsintricate programming. Panels began to slide smoothly open. Faintestshadows ran over the gleaming walls. The deserted tunnels andchambers, forming the 'rim', the 'spokes' and the 'hub' of theenormous wheel, which was the Satellite, began to echo with rustles,hoarse squeaks and whistlings. Cautiously feeling its way into one ofthe spherical control chambers?positioned like gigantic pods alongthe 'spoke' sections?there crawled an intruder. It dragged itsmassive leathery body along on angular tentacle-legs, which bristledwith sharp hairs and scratched shrilly against the metallic walls.Swinging its domed head slowly from side to side, it pierced the halflightwith giant, globular eyes. At the end of its long, scorpion tailthere glinted a menacing claw which clattered in the creature's wake.As soon as it entered the control chamber, the alien intrudereagerly scanned the mass of inert instruments which covered thewalls, like exhibits in an abandoned museum. From the domedceiling there descended a shining metallic sphere. For an instant thecreature was reflected in its mirror-like surface; information wasflashed to a central computer bank, analysed, and a command relayedback to the sphere. It glowed brilliantly for a second. The startledintruder stared defiantly upwards, and at the same instant a fierceburst of energy sent it clattering against a control console, itstentacles contracting in agony.For a few seconds all was still. Then the creature moved.Again the sphere glowed, and with a sharp crack hurled it backacross the chamber in a blazing electrical discharge. The creaturecowered, uttering hoarse screams as a stream of brutal shock-wavespulsed from the sphere, blistering its body with burns. Staring at theclusters of delicate instruments, its huge eyes useless in the fiercelight, the creature began to flail at the wall panels as if searchingdesperately for something. All at once, a section of the panelling slidopen. Fighting the searing bursts of radiation from the sphere, thecreature dragged itself through the opening into a second, similarchamber. Out of range of the sphere, but now blinded and almostparalysed, the intruder fumbled among the control consoles lining thechamber until it somehow located the section it sought.With frantic, crippled, movements it ripped open theinstrument panel and pulled out a thick bundle of multi-colouredcables. Then, arching its segmented tail up over its head, it grippedthe cables in its huge claw and severed them cleanly with a singleslice. At that moment, all through the electronic nerve centres of theSatellite, certain vital systems were closed down.With an unearthly sigh of satisfaction the creature turnedaway, and in complete darkness now, crawled back through the firstchamber and out into the labyrinth of tunnels and chambers. Itsmission was almost completed; one final task remained. Slowly andpainfully, but with deadly purpose, it made its way towards thesleeping humans. The brittle, splintering sound of its movementsdied away as panel after panel glided shut behind it. The sphere hunginert in the darkness.When at last the atomic clock signalled the beginning of thegreat Awakening, no current flowed. The circuits remained dead, thesystems did not activate. The Satellite continued its eternal orbit, theSolar Energy Reservoirs absorbing and storing energy from thesun?though no longer for any purpose.Then there came a second invasion...1The Second Invasion'Clumsy, ham-fisted idiot,' cried the Doctor, striding out of theTARDIS into pitch darkness.'I'm terribly sorry, Doctor. I was only trying to... trying to openthe door...' stammered Harry Sullivan, just catching the door as itswung back in his face.'Come out of there at once, and don't touch anything else,'called the Doctor, pausing for a moment in the light streamingthrough the door of the TARDIS and staring about him.The Doctor was a tall, broad man with a riot of curly brownhair bubbling out from beneath a stylish felt hat. His generous facewas animated with intense curiosity as his enormous eyes peered intothe semi-darkness. His hands were thrust deep into the bulgingpockets of a voluminous red velvet jacket, and the trailing ends of along multi-coloured woollen scarf flapped around his legs as hemoved cautiously away from the TARDIS.Surgeon Lieutenant Harry Sullivan RN stood uncertainly in thedoorway, fiddling nervously with his cravat. He was an athleticyoung man in his late twenties, with a straight back and a square jaw.He wore a rowing club blazer and sharply pressed slacks.'Oh I say,' he exclaimed, 'we've gone.''Who's gone; Harry?' asked a bright, laughing voice behindhim.He turned to face the mischievous smile of Sarah Jane Smith,who was watching his confusion with evident delight. Sarah was aslim, level-headed journalist, about the same age as Harry, her trimfigure clad in a trendy denim trouser-suit, her short dark hair tuckedinto a saucy woollen hat.'Well, I mean this isn't... we aren't where we were when we...'began Harry, venturing a step or two into the gloom. A few minutesearlier, when he had entered the old, battered blue Police TelephoneBox, at the Doctor's invitation to have a quick look round, it had beenstanding in a corner of the Laboratory at UNIT Headquarters, inbroad daylight. 'I think I've gone mad,' he muttered at last.Sarah Jane touched his arm sympathetically. 'I know what youmean,' she said. 'That's exactly how I felt after my first trip. You'llfind it takes quite a bit of getting used to.'The door of the TARDIS swung slowly shut behind them. Inthe pitch darkness they could hear the Doctor moving stealthilyabout..'Where are we, Doctor?' called Sarah casually. A powerfultorch beam snapped on and swept round.'Do you know, Sarah, I have no idea,' replied the Doctor after apause. Sarah knew precisely what that little pause meant She felt herway cautiously over to the Doctor's side. The roving torchlightrevealed a large spherical chamber, its walls entirely covered ininstruments, with several flat control consoles, like circular tables,grouped around it.'Just a little trip to the Caucasus, or perhaps once round theMoon'?Sarah imitated the Doctor in one of his off-hand moods?'just to prove to Harry that the old Police Box really could travel in...''I didn't expect him to start fiddling with the HelmicOrientators, Sarah,' interrupted the Doctor sharply. He broke off asthe chamber was dimly illuminated again. Harry had opened the doorof the TARDIS and was staring into it open-mouthed.'It's bigger than a Cathedral... on the inside...' he gasped inamazement. The Doctor strode over and locked the door. Still in astate of shock, Harry mumbled away in the darkness, 'You know youcould make a fortune out of this thing, Doctor...' But the Doctor wasalready pacing about the chamber, sweeping the torch beam over thecurved reflecting walls and closely examining the dense clusters ofinstruments.Grotesque shadows flapped around them. Sarah shivered. Itwas bitterly cold, and the air suddenly seemed terribly thin. It wasquite an effort to breathe. Something loomed up against her. Shejumped. It was Harry.'Sorry, Miss Smith,' he mumbled, loosening his cravat, 'but I'ma bit disorientated...''Not much oxygen,' remarked the Doctor from the shadows.'Still,' he added cheerfully, 'nothing to worry about.'Sarah turned to Harry. 'So suffocation is nothing to worryabout,' she whispered sarcastically.'Oh, we can survive for quite a time yet,' boomed the Doctor,suddenly right beside them. He was concentrating on spinning a yoyoeffortlessly up and down its string in the torchlight.Harry decided it was time to speak up. 'Well, I've got quite afew patients to see at four o'clock;' he tried to affect a casual air, 'so ifyou don't mind, Doctor, I'd like to be getting...''A simple gravity reading, Harry,' grinned the Doctor, puttingaway the yoyo. 'It would appear that we are inside some kind ofartificial ...
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