"TerranceDicks-DoctorWho-StateOfDecay" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dicks Terence)

02 The Strangers


The Doctor was lost.

It was not the first time in his many lives, but on this occasion he was rather more seriously lost than usual, not just on the wrong planet or in the wrong time but in the wrong universe.

At the conclusion of a recent adventure, the TARDIS had been sucked through a kind of whirlpool in the fabric of Space/Time, and had emerged into something the Doctor called the exo-Space/Time continuum - E-Space for short.

Now he was studying the instrument readings on the many-sided central control panel of the TARDIS, trying. to work out some way of getting the TARDIS back into normal Space. Romana, his Time Lady companion, and K9, a small mobile computer who just happened to look like a robot dog, watched him gloomily. Both suspected, quite rightly, that prospects were not very good.

The Doctor straightened up, running his fingers through a tangle of curly hair.

'Well, Doctor?' asked Romana impatiently.

The Doctor chose to take her question literally. 'Yes, I'm fine thanks. The poor old TARDIS is feeling a bit queasy though.'

'Really!'

'Still, so would you be if you were warping about in E-Space.'

'That's just what we're doing, Doctor.'

'Yes, I know, but not personally.' The Doctor patted the console. 'Poor old girl.'

It always infuriated Romana when the Doctor spoke of the TARDIS as if it was a living creature. 'But we are personally trapped here, Doctor;' she said, through gritted teeth.

The Doctor said optimistically, 'There's a low probability we can slip off home the same way we got here.'

'But meanwhile we're trapped,' said Romana with gloomy relish.

'Don't keep saying that, Romana.'

K9 interrupted them. 'Master?'

'Not now, K9.'

Romana switched on the scanner, which showed nothing but empty space, tinged with a rather sinister shade of green. 'Well, we are trapped, Doctor, admit it. Marooned in the exo-Space/Time continuum!'

The Doctor remained infuriatingly cheerful. 'Well, you never know, it might turn out to be quite nice here. Once we've seen the sights, met a few people ...'

Romana waved towards the scanned. 'Supposing there aren't any planets here?' 'Come on, Romana, E-Space isn't that small. There must be planets here - we'll find one sooner or later.'

Despairingly Romana turned away. It was almost as if the Doctor was enjoying the situation. 'Doctor, you're incredible.'

'Well, yes, I suppose I am,' said the Doctor modestly. 'I've never given it much thought.'

'Master!' said K9 again.