From whofic.com
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The room resembled a spacious hallway, bright and simple looking, but there was a strange humming noise constantly throughout and a console of some sort in the middle, that revealed that it was not quite what it seemed to be.
By the console stood a white-haired, old looking man, clutching his lapels in rather an authoritative pose.
“And you think it is him, do you, hm?“ He asked with an interest.
“Yes, grandfather,“ dark-haired girl nodded. “It surely is Mr. Chesterton, but…“
“Good! Bring him here, child, bring him here,“ said the old man avidly. “It will make the talking easier, hm?“
“I think they’ve followed me here,“ said the girl with somewhat unhappy expression, that the old man didn’t seem to notice at the moment.
“Good! Good!“ he uttered contentedly. “If he is The Alchemist, we could finally deal with the thing and leave this dreadful planet, yes! Good!“
The girl looked troubled. “Yes, but…“
“Go outside and wait there, hm? Go, child, go,“ the old man hurried her, obviously not listening to her properly in the joy of possibly leaving soon.
The girl sighed and left without any other word.
“See? It’s nothing here. Just an old junkyard,“ said Barbara, gesturing at their surroundings.
“Maybe the secretary muddled it up after all,“ replied Ian thoughtfully, when suddenly a girl’s voice sounded behind them.
“You shouldn’t come here.“
They turned around surprised.
“Susan! What are you doing here? You’re not really living in a junkyard, are you?“ exclaimed Barbara in shock.
Susan didn’t answer, now turning directly to Ian. “Grandfather wants to talk to you, Mr. Chesterton,“ she said with a serious face.
“To me?“ Ian looked at her surprised and unwittingly glanced at Barbara as if he was asking her for advice.
Susan pointed to a nearby corner where a blue police box stood. “Through that door. Grandfather is waiting for you.“
“In the police box?“ asked Ian doubtfully.
“Just go inside, Mr. Chesterton, the door is open,“ said Susan. “Grandfather will tell you everything.“
“Ian,“ Barbara held his arm warningly, but Ian gently released himself and smiled at her triumphantly.
“The mysterious Doctor Foreman seems to be willing to talk to us finally. Fine, there are lots of questions that shall be answered,“ he said determinedly, not realizing that he had been the only one invited in. The next moment he walked through the indicated door so eagerly, that he didn’t notice that Susan had held Barbara’s arm to stop her from going there too.
The door of the police box closed and Barbara and Susan stayed standing outside.
“Susan? What are you doing? Why did you stop me?“ Barbara turned to her student angrily.
“I told you not to follow me, I told you!“ Susan blurted out unhappily and Barbara’s anger faded away at once.
“What's going on, Susan?“ Barbara asked again, more calmly now. “First you refuse to say anything and you tell me your grandfather won't talk to anyone, now suddenly he wants to talk to Ian?“
“I wish you didn’t ask me anything. And I wish you hadn’t come. None of you. I told you not to follow me; to let us be. I knew Mr.Chesterton would come with you this time. And now grandfather will speak to him and everything will change.“
