Dodo was once again back in her room. She was still wondering about the Doctor's apparent inability to pilot the TARDIS. She had an idea that quietly scratched at the back of her mind...
Time continued to pass.
The Doctor turned to the Intruder, ‘I think it is time to make our move.’
Then from the console room door came a voice, ‘Are you absolutely sure, Doctor?’ He peered at Dodo, who was standing in the doorway.
‘Of course I am sure, my child. Please do not worry yourself unduly.’
Dodo went over to him. ‘Doctor, there's something that's been bothering me. It’s about the way you have trouble in piloting the TARDIS. It seems strange that the Intruder didn’t have a problem with getting it here.’ He looked at her and frowned.
‘That, my dear is complete nonsense.’ She started to object, but the Doctor raised his hands to silence her and said, ‘At this moment I cannot discuss this foolish idea, but I will after this escapade is over. Let that be an end to the matter for the moment!’
Dodo nodded in agreement, ‘Okay, Doctor. I'll look forward to it.’
There was a momentary silence between them both, when their Intruder decided to intercede. ‘I'm ready when you are.’
‘Very well my boy.’ The touchy old man returned his attention to the console and began to program the co-ordinate subsystem. After a moment he had completed his task, and reached for the main drive switch and flicked it on. In the centre of the console the column began its rhythmic rise and fall. They were finally on their way.
The cafe shuddered again in the inky, starry void. It had detected the movement of the TARDIS, and in a split second it increased its protective shield. Now nothing would be able to penetrate it. Nothing except the light of the stars.
The console room shook with the vibration, and sound of the over strained Demat-motors. ‘What's happening, Doctor?’ Dodo shouted over the noise.
‘Obviously Dodo, it would seem that the ship cannot penetrate that edifice!’ He pointed angrily towards the image of the cafe on the scanner. They all were suddenly flung across the console room.
‘We must carry on!’ The Intruder pleaded.
The Doctor responded, ‘If I push the ship anymore the motors could burn out completely! Then we would really be in a fine pickle indeed. I am not willing to be the cause of our being stranded, or worse still destroyed!’ With that said, he rose from the floor, where he had been flung, reached over and switched of the drive. The screaming motors lost their voice, and the normal sound of the console room returned. All TARDIS systems had settled down to normal. The Doctor addressed his companions, who were picking themselves up from the floor. ‘I think that we need to put our heads together, and come up with a new strategy!’ The Intruder and Dodo both, still woozy, nodded in agreement.
Still blissfully unaware of what was happening outside, the couple in the cafe sat happily smiling at each other. Still enveloped by a self-generated stasis field, they stared deep into each other's eyes.
The Doctor stood in deep thought, his silver locks ruffled in a serious way. To his rear were still Dodo and the Intruder. He looked once again at the cafe on the scanner, looking for the elusive way in. He zoomed in on the cafe's only window, and looked at it's interior.
Inside he could see a couple sitting at a table, as if deciding what to have to eat. The whole scene seemed tranquil. As he watched, he heard a voice behind him.
‘Have you managed to find a way in yet, Doctor?’
The Doctor replied, without turning, ‘I have not, young man, It would seem that, even with your faith in the TARDIS, that we cannot reach your friends.’
As Dodo heard this exchange, a thought occurred to her. ‘Doctor, if nothing can penetrate the cafe, how come we can see through the window into it's interior?’ On hearing this, the Doctor spun around to face her.
‘Out of the mouths of babes, my child! Eh? Out of the mouths of babes!’
Their Intruder friend also turned to face Dodo, and smiled. ‘Of course! If we can see it, then light must be able to get in!’ He exclaimed.
Dodo regarded them both with a look of puzzlement, ‘So, excuse me for being thick, what use is that to us? We can’t become a beam of light that can be sent into the café, can we?’
On hearing this, the Intruder's face dropped. He looked as if he had just dropped his ice cream. The Doctor was, strangely enough, still smiling. The news didn't seem to worry him in the least. ‘Odd as it may seem, my dear, we can, or could, do just what you suggest, if a certain component of my ship was functioning properly.’ Dodo and the Intruder glanced at each other, and then at the Doctor, in amazement.
Words echoed through the couple’s minds, like drafts in the rafters of an old cobwebbed barn, from one to the other. The female’s mind spoke: ‘Someone has tried to gain entry, but they have failed.’
The male's mind considered what she had thought, and replied,‘I'm sure they will try again. Do you know who it is?’
‘All I can sense is that it contains three beings: One is a human, another is a specialist of ours, and the third,’ she paused, struggling to identify the third individual. ‘I don't know. Wait! All I know is that he is ancient, and steeped deeply in time!’
There was a moment of silence before the male's mind asked, ‘Do we know the specialist?’
There was another pause, but she didn't answer instead she looked at him and smiled.
~~~
Time passes again.
The unceasing cogs of the universe turn. In a black void two beings sit by a table, at opposite sides to each other. On the table was a chessboard. The game doesn't seem to be going well for the black pieces; in fact it seemed that the game was all but lost. The owner of the white pieces smiled at his opponent. The owner of the black pieces looked at him and said, ‘I'm not beaten yet.’ His ominous laugh echoed around the void.
~~~
Pieces of the TARDIS chameleon system were strewn about the console
room, and the Doctor's legs could be seen protruding from under the central
plinth of the console. Dodo surveyed this scene of carnage. She moved over
towards Intruder, and spoke in whispered tones.
‘I hope he knows how to put it back together again.’ They both smiled.
Suddenly, the Doctor shot up from under the console, clutching a circuit board in his hand and suddenly announced to all and sundry, ‘NO! NO! NO!’ There was silence for a moment before he continued, ‘This will just not do! I cannot repair the chameleon system. We still have the same problem as before.’
‘Can I have a look at the board, please?’ The Doctor considered the request, and passed the board to the Intruder who, in turn studied it for a moment and then passed his hand over the board. He thought for a moment and said, ‘I think I can repair this board for you. But I will need some help.’ As he said this, a small silver spider scuttled from the Intruder's grey suit pocket. The spider yawned and looked at it's master and smiled. The Intruder stared at the spider for a moment, then the spider smiled again. Without a moment’s hesitation, the spider climbed onto the circuit board in the Intruder's hand. As soon as it was in place, the Intruder closed his hands together around the spider and the faulty board. There followed a great bright spark from his hands, and a moment later he tossed the newly repaired board back to the Doctor. ‘I think you will find that the board is now repaired. There is one problem though. I don't know how long the repair will last.’
The Doctor ignoring what he was saying, and eagerly plugged the board back into the console plinth. Almost immediately one portion of the console's six panels retracted, and with a shower of dust a keyboard slowly rose from the gap. The Doctor watched with anticipation. He looked like a child that had got something he had always wanted. As it fully extended itself, the Doctor went to the keyboard and began to type happily.
Meanwhile outside, the outer shell of the TARDIS shimmered unpredictably. The usual police box changed into, in quick succession, a Greek pillar, a Sedan chair, a comfy settee and then into a beam of light. It would seem that the Doctor was a little rusty in block transfer codes.
In the TARDIS, the Doctor, Dodo and their “Intruder” looked around the console room as the TARDIS finished the changes it needed to achieve. Looking quite satisfied the Doctor said with a smile, ‘Shall we go?’ Once more a familiar wheezing sound filled the console room, and they were on their way. This time the TARDIS met with no resistance and passed through the fabric of the cafe as easily as an elephant would pass through the eye of a needle, an elephant sized needle, of course.
The fabric of the wall to the cafe shimmered at the arrival of the beam of light. It tried to absorb it into its digestive tract, as it did with all light. After a moment, the cafe shook. This was it's equivalent of a hearty burp! It seemed to have a bit of indigestion. The same kind you get when visiting a Burger King on a Friday night! The indigestion problem was unusual for the cafe; it normally had no trouble extracting nourishment from light that penetrated it. As it recovered, it noticed that the blue box had gone. The simple nervous system of the cafe wondered if the two occurrences were linked. If they were, it would have to find a way to deal with it. To this end, as it was always hungry, the cafe decided to increase its nutrition cycle.
Within the beam of light TARDIS, the Doctor looked at the power level meters on the console. He frowned. They informed him that there was a steady drain on the usually endless power of the TARDIS. He just could not account for it. ‘Come over here and look at this, my dear fellow.’ The Doctor announced.
The Intruder crossed over to him and looked at the offending meters, and said, ‘I think the cafe is trying to absorb power from us. It would appear that our presence has made our host very hungry.’ The Doctor's frown deepened as their “Intruder” continued to speak, ‘We'll have to be very careful in rescuing my friends.’
The Doctor's mood did not improve and he replied, ‘Must you state the obvious, sir?’ With this, the Doctor decided to check the outside environment and after checking all the instruments continued, ‘The air seems to be breathable and there is no trace of radiation. I think now would be a good time to leave the TARDIS.’ The Doctor operated the door control. As the double doors crept slowly open, the console room lights dimmed as well. This was due to reduced power levels. The Doctor tutted as the trio left the TARDIS and entered the cafe. As they left, the lights in the console room died. In the corner of the room, above the fault locator, the display screen flashed and spoke a message:
++TOTAL POWER FAILURE: IMMINENT…BACK UP POWER: SYSTEM FAULT…TIME TRAVEL FACILITIES: WITHDRAWN…SPACE DRIVE SYSTEMS: INVIABLE++
‘I hope he knows how to put it back together again.’ They both smiled.
Suddenly, the Doctor shot up from under the console, clutching a circuit board in his hand and suddenly announced to all and sundry, ‘NO! NO! NO!’ There was silence for a moment before he continued, ‘This will just not do! I cannot repair the chameleon system. We still have the same problem as before.’
‘Can I have a look at the board, please?’ The Doctor considered the request, and passed the board to the Intruder who, in turn studied it for a moment and then passed his hand over the board. He thought for a moment and said, ‘I think I can repair this board for you. But I will need some help.’ As he said this, a small silver spider scuttled from the Intruder's grey suit pocket. The spider yawned and looked at it's master and smiled. The Intruder stared at the spider for a moment, then the spider smiled again. Without a moment’s hesitation, the spider climbed onto the circuit board in the Intruder's hand. As soon as it was in place, the Intruder closed his hands together around the spider and the faulty board. There followed a great bright spark from his hands, and a moment later he tossed the newly repaired board back to the Doctor. ‘I think you will find that the board is now repaired. There is one problem though. I don't know how long the repair will last.’
The Doctor ignoring what he was saying, and eagerly plugged the board back into the console plinth. Almost immediately one portion of the console's six panels retracted, and with a shower of dust a keyboard slowly rose from the gap. The Doctor watched with anticipation. He looked like a child that had got something he had always wanted. As it fully extended itself, the Doctor went to the keyboard and began to type happily.
Meanwhile outside, the outer shell of the TARDIS shimmered unpredictably. The usual police box changed into, in quick succession, a Greek pillar, a Sedan chair, a comfy settee and then into a beam of light. It would seem that the Doctor was a little rusty in block transfer codes.
In the TARDIS, the Doctor, Dodo and their “Intruder” looked around the console room as the TARDIS finished the changes it needed to achieve. Looking quite satisfied the Doctor said with a smile, ‘Shall we go?’ Once more a familiar wheezing sound filled the console room, and they were on their way. This time the TARDIS met with no resistance and passed through the fabric of the cafe as easily as an elephant would pass through the eye of a needle, an elephant sized needle, of course.
The fabric of the wall to the cafe shimmered at the arrival of the beam of light. It tried to absorb it into its digestive tract, as it did with all light. After a moment, the cafe shook. This was it's equivalent of a hearty burp! It seemed to have a bit of indigestion. The same kind you get when visiting a Burger King on a Friday night! The indigestion problem was unusual for the cafe; it normally had no trouble extracting nourishment from light that penetrated it. As it recovered, it noticed that the blue box had gone. The simple nervous system of the cafe wondered if the two occurrences were linked. If they were, it would have to find a way to deal with it. To this end, as it was always hungry, the cafe decided to increase its nutrition cycle.
Within the beam of light TARDIS, the Doctor looked at the power level meters on the console. He frowned. They informed him that there was a steady drain on the usually endless power of the TARDIS. He just could not account for it. ‘Come over here and look at this, my dear fellow.’ The Doctor announced.
The Intruder crossed over to him and looked at the offending meters, and said, ‘I think the cafe is trying to absorb power from us. It would appear that our presence has made our host very hungry.’ The Doctor's frown deepened as their “Intruder” continued to speak, ‘We'll have to be very careful in rescuing my friends.’
The Doctor's mood did not improve and he replied, ‘Must you state the obvious, sir?’ With this, the Doctor decided to check the outside environment and after checking all the instruments continued, ‘The air seems to be breathable and there is no trace of radiation. I think now would be a good time to leave the TARDIS.’ The Doctor operated the door control. As the double doors crept slowly open, the console room lights dimmed as well. This was due to reduced power levels. The Doctor tutted as the trio left the TARDIS and entered the cafe. As they left, the lights in the console room died. In the corner of the room, above the fault locator, the display screen flashed and spoke a message:
++TOTAL POWER FAILURE: IMMINENT…BACK UP POWER: SYSTEM FAULT…TIME TRAVEL FACILITIES: WITHDRAWN…SPACE DRIVE SYSTEMS: INVIABLE++