The interior of the cafe pulsed as it detected the footsteps of the Doctor's party. It thought about this invasion of it's interior and decided to re-naturalise back to its proper form; it did this very quickly. Gone was the form of the quaint little cafe, and a sickly gold, red and yellow hue of organic tissues seemed to melt from the walls. This was it's true interior.
The Doctor, Dodo, and their Intruder friend felt a change. They found themselves not in the cafe, but in the interior of a living being. The Doctor looked around and commented, ‘This reminds me of the story of,’ he thought for a moment, ‘What was his name? Ah, I remember, Jonah, yes. Jonah and the whale!’
‘Let’s hope we survive this like Jonah did,’ replied Dodo.
The grey suited Intruder appeared puzzled by this exchange. He asked them both, ‘What are you talking about?’
‘It's not important really. It's just a Bible story about a sailor that was eaten by a whale.’ Replied Dodo.
The Intruder shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘Okay. Thanks. It would seem that in your reality I have a lot to learn.’
The Doctor's party paused for a moment as they took in their new surroundings. The only things that had remained recognisable were the friends of the intruder. They seemed to be sitting on two fleshy nodules that had grown from the floor of the creature. The only other thing that was unchanged was the TARDIS itself. It was almost the same, but it had reverted to its police box shape. Strangely enough, because of the length of time it had been stuck in this shape it had become the chameleon circuits default setting. There just seemed to be no getting away from its blue painted looks. The Doctor frowned as he noticed the familiar looks of the TARDIS and turned toward the Intruder. ‘Young man, I thought you said you had managed to repair it?’
‘Well nobody's perfect!’
Suddenly there was a ripple in the fabric of the floor. The Doctor announced to all and sundry, ‘Well, It would seem that we are inside something's stomach.’ He paused, and then said with a sly grin, ‘Let's hope we don’t give it belly ache. Eh?’ The Intruder and Dodo stared at each other, and then at the Doctor in disgust but he simply smiled at them with a chuckle.
~~~
Back within the TARDIS, in the very heart of the console, the silver spider detached itself from the faulty chameleon system board. It had sensed something was wrong. It stood still for a moment. It appeared to give the impression that it had a headache and felt a distinct lack of energy. A few seconds had passed since its detachment, and the spider was regaining it's former strength. It waited for a few more moments, and then formulated a plan of action. It would interface with the TARDIS master computer and find what the problem was. To this end, the spider decided to convert its structure into a form that could easily navigate the endless trails of TARDIS circuitry. There was a flash inside the console and within seconds the spider entered the veins of the TARDIS. It only took nanoseconds to reach the master computer it sought, and a few more to establish a link. The spider like device had found almost no power. In fact the computer was about to totally shut down. The spider took stock of the situation, and it decided to use some of its own energy to instigate a back up program to protect the computer against the cafe's energy absorbing field. At least there would be some power left to affect an escape. After doing this, the spider disengaged from the computer and resumed its usual “spidery” countenance. It regained its familiar size and scuttled from the innards of the console, making it's way to the top of the central column. It sat in the middle and waited for the return of its master.
~~~
The two strange beings were still playing chess in the void. Only this time the tables had turned. ‘It is almost over. I said I wasn't beaten.’ The owner of the black pieces announced smugly.
‘There are still a few avenues open to me.’ The owner of the white pieces replied, as he smiled politely at his opponent. Only time would tell, as it always did.
~~~
The Intruder from the TARDIS crossed to his friends; they didn't seem to notice him. He ran his hands near to them, and the thin blue glow that enveloped them. The Doctor addressed him, ‘Are you sure that your colleagues are all right in there? They seem to be quite still, my boy.’
Dodo also looked on at them, and said, ‘They seem calm to me. Just like they were safe and warm.’
‘They are perfectly safe for the moment,’ said their Intruder friend, ‘The “blue glow” is self generated.’ He suddenly stepped back form the couple. ‘I think I just felt the walls start to contract,’ he said, alarmingly.
With this, the Doctor decided to scrutinise their surroundings once more. After a moment he said, ‘I really think that we should move with more haste. I would be most relieved if you could hurry up, sir!’
On hearing this, the grey suited being before them, suddenly clasped both hands together and a familiar glow returned to them. He reached toward the enveloped couple, and touched the haze that covered them. After a second the blue aura that surrounded them disappeared, it simple melted away. Then, moments later, the couple arose groggily. The Doctor and Dodo looked on anxiously.
Tap. Tap. Tap. The silver spider tapped one of its eight legs on the top of the central column in a show of impatience. How long was his master going to be? Would he be unharmed? Thinking about those questions was making the spider even more impatient. It suddenly spun around to look at the open doors of the TARDIS, cocked its head to one side and waited eagerly for any sound.
The couple's eyes popped open, they were finally fully aware. They stared at each other for a moment, and then at their grey suited friend, who smiled back at them. After a short while, the couple saw the Doctor and Dodo. The Intruder asked the couple, ‘Are you feeling better?’
‘All the better for seeing you,’ said his female friend.
The Intruder glanced towards the female's companion, ‘I’m happy to see you too.’
Their blonde, male friend said coldly, ‘You took your time. Didn't you?’
The Intruder looked most hurt and responded, ‘Well, what a nice attitude. I could have left you trapped here forever.’
There was a moment of silence and the Doctor decided to make his presence felt. He gripped his lapels and spoke with a voice of command, ‘If both of you have finished, I think that now would be a good moment to effect a departure from here. Don't you all agree?’ The couple took note of this but found themselves wondering who the old man was.
Gastric juices flowed towards their final destination. It wouldn't be long before they reached the bile ducts that lined the walls of the creature's stomach. Once the acid arrived it would start to seep in where the food still irritated. Having an upset stomach would be worth it, just for the meal.
The Doctor frowned and walked up to the stomach wall. He peered intently at something that had caught his eye. He noticed that a large bulge was appearing from the tissue of the wall. He called the Intruder from the TARDSIS over to get his opinion. As they looked, a liquid started to leak from the bump. The Intruder touched it, and with a cry of pain quickly withdrew his hand.
‘Are you hurt, my boy?’ asked the Doctor.
‘I've had worse. Doctor, that liquid seems to be highly corrosive,’ he said showing the Doctor his hand. All the flesh had been stripped from the fingers, and red shreds hung from the bone. The Doctor pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and held up to his mouth at the sight before him
‘Don't worry it’s not as bad as it would seem.’ He then held his damaged hand in the grip of his other, and as he gripped, a deep golden glow flooded from his hands. With in a second, he held out his damaged hand towards the Doctor, and to the Doctor's relief and amazement, found that the hand was completely regenerated.
The blonde female crossed to the pair of them. She put her hand tenderly on the Doctor's shoulder. She said, ‘Don't worry about him, he really likes to show off!’ The Doctor frowned at the Intruder, who smiled back at him and decided to put what had just happened down to a strange sense of humour. He considered the bumps, which had now appeared all over the stomach wall, and came up with an analysis.
‘I have just realised that the bumps must be bile ducts, therefore the liquid must be some sort of digestive fluid.’ The Doctor paused to take in the look of fear on the faces of his companions. ‘Unless we all want to be items on a menu, I suggest we all make our way to the TARDIS.’ There were no objections, and once they reached the TARDIS they entered just as all the bumps on the walls began to split. The corrosive fluids slowly oozing down the walls and beginning to fill the floor area. Luckily the Doctor and his friends were safe inside the ship, the console was in complete darkness.
‘This will not do at all!’ the Doctor said and operated the closing mechanism to the doors but there wasn't enough power to close them.
The creature started to feel it's fluid starting to flow into its stomach. It wouldn't be long before it could enjoy the taste of organic matter again.
The doors stayed defiantly open. The seemingly endless power of the TARDIS had stopped. As he stared out of the doors, the Doctor could see the corrosive juices, they were beginning to reach the step at the foot of the TARDIS. It would soon be seeping into the console room. From its position on the central column, the silver spider could also see the sight seen by the Doctor and so it selflessly decided to do something about the situation.
The spider scuttled down the side of the console and began to make its way towards the open doors while the Doctor considered the problem, looking very worried. He shouted to Dodo, ‘Go to the tool room and get me the manual crank handle. Hurry my child, or we will all die!’