As it completed the web, the spider jumped from its beautiful creation and crossed to the Intruder. The Intruder knelt down, let the spider climb on to his hand and then placed it on his shoulder and said, ‘Well done my little friend.’ He then went to the web, which now extended from the floor to half way up the doors, and touched it with an outstretched finger. There was an intense flash. Suddenly the web was gone, and in its place was a sturdy sheet of silver material. ‘There, that should hold for a while.’ Just as the sheet fully solidified, the juices rose to a level just below the top of the sheet and then slowly the fluid began to inch towards the top.
Dodo raced to the tool room, and pushed open the door violently. The tool room itself always reminded her of a vast hardware shop with rows of different tools and equipment. It suddenly occurred to her, how on earth was she going to find a crank handle in all this space? It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. There was then a strange noise, and as if by magic the shopkeeper appeared. It appeared that the TARDIS had read her mind and before her stood a strange sight: an old man with a moustache with a pair of round grandpa glasses perched on the end of his nose and wearing faded blue dungarees, check shirt, flat cap and hobnailed boots. He also wore a name badge, which simply read “MR. QUICK”. Dodo asked him where she could find a crank handle.
‘If you go to aisle 99, I think you will find what you are looking for.’ He said and paused, then asked, ‘Or would you like me to get it for you?’
Dodo considered this for a moment. She had decided against it because the old man looked very frail. ‘Its okay grandpa, I'll get it myself.’ She smiled at him and said thanks, and then made a quick dash to aisle 99. In a moment, she had found the object of her search. Dodo screamed, ‘YES!’, grabbed the crank handle and made a run for the door.
As she passed the old man, she shouted, ‘Thanks!’ He smiled at her and doffed his flat cap. Dodo rocketed through the door, down the corridor back to the console room. Back in the tool room, the old man said, to no-one in particular, ‘Youngsters today!’ and after a second, he faded away into oblivion once more.
As corrosive gastric juices threatened to engulf the console room, Dodo dropped the vital crank handle on the floor as she entered the console room, skidding to a halt, and narrowly escaping from head butting the console. The Doctor immediately dropped to his knees and started fumbling for the crank handle in the darkness. As he did so, a soft blue light softened the gloom. It seemed to be emanating from the palm of the blonde female.
‘I thought you might need a night light,’ she said smiling.
The Doctor looked up at this blonde beauty, ‘Thank you my dear. Your help is most illuminating!’ he chuckled at his little joke and suddenly his hand grasped the crank handle. Picking it up, he crossed to an area of roundelled wall near the doors. He quickly placed the handle into a small recess and began to try to turn it, but his efforts proved to be of no avail. He turned to his companions for help, choosing the blonde male and asked, ‘Would you mind having a go at turning this confounded handle. It would seem that I am too weak to do it.’ The Doctor glanced at the level of the juices, and barked an order at the blonde male in a tone of voice that would make an army sergeant weep, ‘HURRY UP MAN!’
On hearing this the blonde male crossed to the handle, and in one sharp circular movement began to turn the handle very fast. To everyone's relief the main doors slowly creaked shut. The Doctor slapped the blonde man on the back and said, ‘Well done, sir. You really have the strength as the man of steel.’ The man just looked at the old man and smiled.
The creature was most upset. It had just registered that it had been denied a meal, but it needn’t worry, all it had to do was to increase the acidity of its juices to penetrate the strange blue box that hid the tasty morsels of flesh. The creature would just have to wait for a little longer, something it was very good at.
The gastric fluids that now engulfed the TARDIS seemed to change. They were slowly becoming more destructive, and were beginning to eat away at the outer plasmic shell of the ship. Normally this wouldn't happen but due to its lack of energy, the TARDIS defence fields were not functioning. Without these, the safety of the Doctor's party would soon be violated and they would be destroyed. Their fates seemed to be in the lap of the gods.
~~~
‘It's your move.’ The owner of the black pieces announced to his opponent, who promptly frowned at him.
The owner of the white pieces replied, ‘My friend, if you wish to play the game, you will have to have a little more patience.’ He then paused for a moment and said, ‘Rome was not built in a day.’
His opponent considered this for a moment and said, ‘That may be so, but I do believe it was destroyed in less.’ The owner of the black pieces continued, ‘Your elementals are never a match for my transient beings. Just accept your forthcoming defeat.’ His opponent simply smiled and went back to contemplating his next move in the game.
~~~
From the gap between the console room main doors, liquid began to drip on the floor. On contact, it began to melt the fabric of the floor. An acrid smell wafted to the noses of the occupants.
‘What are you going to do?’ Dodo pleaded. All eyes in the room alighted on the Doctor.
‘Well, without any power, there is very little we can do.’ He stood with his hands on his lapels once more. He had a look of seriousness on his face. He went to the console and checked the power readings. All the meters were at zero. The Doctor turned back to his companions. ‘We seem to be stuck here. Trapped like pickled onions in a jar.’
The Intruder had listened intently to the Doctor, and said, ‘If it’s only a case of power, I think my colleagues and I can supply it.’
The Doctor seemed hopeful, but then a frown crossed his face. ‘The TARDIS needs a specific type of energy, it’s called Artron energy.’ The Intruder replied, ‘I'm sure I can synthesis the required energy, after all I am a specialist!’
~~~
Back in the void, the chess players were still locked in the mental combat of the game. The game was now proceeding better of the white pieces. The owner of the black pieces was now worried; it seemed as if the tables had finallybeen turned.
~~~
The Intruder and his two friends linked hands together around the console. Power flowed through them, and a shining glow surrounded them. The eerie light fully lit the console room, and all was deathly quiet. He suddenly rested his glowing head against the telepathic circuit receptors on the console, while the silver spider watched the proceedings from its usual place atop the central column.
Dodo's voice broke the silence. ‘I hope this is going to work. The acid is starting to flow faster and faster.’
‘So do I, my child, so do I.’ they both looked towards the human triangle that was formed around the console and the Intruder suddenly spoke, ‘If you set the co-ordinates, we are ready to supply the power.’ He paused and then asked, ‘Are you ready?’ The Doctor nodded his agreement as the Intruder and his friends tightened their grips on each other's hands.
The glow that enveloped them passed from the Intruder's head into the receptors and then into the TARDIS circuitry.In seconds it had reached the power core, which began to pulse with new life. ‘Now, Doctor!’ The Intruder screamed.
The Doctor rushed to the drive switch and flicked it on. There was a bright burst of light, and then everything went black, all except for the rising glow from the central column as it happily rose and fall. Five figures were shaking each other's hands silhouetted in the column's glow.
~~~
‘I do think you'll find that you are in checkmate.’ The owner of the white pieces announced to his opponent. ‘You lose again, I'm afraid.’
The owner of the black pieces looked at him in disgust. He suddenly got up and swept all the pieces from the board in a fit of pique.
‘Care for another game?’
In one fluid movement, the owner of the black pieces sat back down. He clicked his fingers, and all the pieces were back in place on the board. ‘Same game, different pawns.’
His opponent nodded his agreement. ‘As always, my friend.’ They both smiled at one another.
~~~
The creature that used to be the cafe convulsed with pain, ripples of complete agony coursed through its very being. As it's prospective lunch departed, the creature was turned inside out and sucked into the rift created by the TARDIS. The creature’s component molecules were scattered all over the space-time continuum. It simply ceased to be. It had expired. It was a dead cafe. Still, that's what you get when you have eaten something that disagrees with you.
The lights in the console room were now at their normal level. After leaving the cafe and its energy-damping field, the usually limitless energy of the TARDIS had quickly returned. The TARDIS now hung, quietly spinning, in the vortex. The Doctor had his arm around Dodo as he addressed their former Intruder, ‘Well done my boy,’ he said, ‘Not to forget your colleagues,’ who in turn smiled at the Doctor.
‘Well one good deed deserves another.’
The Doctor left Dodo and crossed to the console once more. He said to the Intruder and his friends, ‘Now that we are out of trouble, where can I take you?’
The blonde woman spoke, ‘This is as good a place as any.’
The Doctor looked puzzled. ‘Please make some sense, my dear.’
She just smiled at him and said, ‘This is our home.’ She paused for a moment, reconsidering what she had said. ‘No. This is our workplace.’ The Doctor looked even more puzzled and she smiled again. ‘I think I may have said a little too much. All that remains is to say thank you.’ Her words fading away as the Intruder clicked his fingers. The Doctor and Dodo watch in amazement as the main doors opened of their own accord and the blonde man and woman walk towards them, disappearing through them and vanishing into the vortex. The Doctor and Dodo heard the blonde female call out, ‘Are you coming?’
‘I'm coming. Tell him that as well.’
The blonde man's voice echoed back with a reply, ‘I'm not deaf.’ The Intruder smiled and crossed the console room to join his friends in the vortex. Just before he crossed the threshold of the doors, he stopped, turned and looked at the console. He had the look of someone who had forgotten something. Suddenly he put two fingers to his lips. A sharp whistle echoed around the console room and almost immediately, there was a flash of movement from on top of the central column. The silver spider jumped from the column and scuttled towards its master. It ran up the Intruder's trousers and across his jacket, and took pride of place on his right shoulder. The Intruder waved the Doctor and Dodo a fond farewell and then walked through the doors to join his friends in the vortex.
~~~
Moonbeams permeated the stillness of the garden. They reached two abandoned deck chairs.
All was quiet.
All was still.
The sudden arrival of the TARDIS shattered the silence. As it solidified, the door suddenly opened and a head furtively glanced about. The Doctor stepped out and crossed over to the deck chairs, and folded them up. With one deck chair under each arm, he re-entered the TARDIS. Moments later, it melted from view once more.
~~~