Out of Time

Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

 Professor Raynor pounded the blue box with frustration; he had tried everything to get inside: crude laser fire, pulley devices to wrench open the doors, manufacturing replica keys and even asking the sentient time ship “nicely” to open the doors. But the Doctor’s TARDIS was indifferent to his efforts and so the Time Lord’s greatest piece of time machine engineering was proving resistant to his efforts.

 “If only I could get inside…There would be so much I could learn to refine my techniques to harness the powers of the untempered schism…”

 Professor Raynor could see his other colleagues waiting expectantly behind him, a bead of sweat rolled down his face the pressure was beginning to get to him. The entropic wave was spreading out across the Arteyu galaxy, soon other planets would follow the fate of Sinda Callesta but as long as Verdopolis was safe…Though he knew he could control the effects of time, it was within his grasp then his galactic neighbours would forgive him, well they would have nothing to forgive for their planet and lives would be miraculously brought back to existence. Nobody need know what had happened and then Raynor would triumphantly tell them all how he could prolong their existence indefinitely, make them immortal like Gods….Though first Raynor needed the Doctor’s help and his expertise would be dragged out of him by force if necessary. One of his colleagues nervously cleared their throat to attract his attention, the only reason they were still here, was there was nowhere else to go and they were frightened. Zan Raynor was also a little afraid of what events he had set in motion and he was missing the calming effect of the gifted and practical Ida but for the time being she needed to be taught a lesson. Raynor clutched his head; one of ancient ones were telepathically communicating with him via a psychic link…This was the breakthrough he was waiting for. The Professor turned his back on the TARDIS and shrugged away his frustration, so he couldn’t get inside but the Doctor could not get anywhere near his beloved TARDIS either…The Professor was about to walk away when he heard a ringing sound from somewhere within the TARDIS, it was a strange archaic sound of a primitive planet’s communication system. He glanced up at the police telephone box and mused to himself on the oddness of the thing, an exact copy of a relic from that strange little blue planet that the Time Lord was so inexplicably fond of…Earth.

 “I suppose I should have known that’s where the Doctor would end up.”

 Raynor smiled to himself, it was cold and calculating, his fear receding only to be replaced by his old arrogance. The ancient ones would have the Doctor within their grasp soon. The Professor turned to his people with an air of authority he addressed his “troops”, installing false confidence into them.

 “Come, there is nothing more we can do here…The Doctor shall be joining us soon. Let us begin the first stage of reversing the entropic wave.” And so Professor Raynor left the TARDIS behind, firm in his righteousness to continue what he believed to be his “good” work.

 Within the shimmering bronze TARDIS control room, amidst the ad hoc household appliances and dolly mixture of Bric-a Brac controls on the console panels the phone rang and rang but there was no one in the control room to pick up the receiver… Adam Tallis was wandering down the TARDIS corridors of infinity and was lost, badly lost. The Doctor said he was popping outside for five minutes, that was three hours ago… Adam who had made a great effort not be offended at being left behind had waited very patiently for ten minutes before he decided to go outside, certain that the Doctor had already gotten himself into trouble. Though when Adam had tried the TARDIS doors he had discovered much to his annoyance that they wouldn’t open…No matter how many times he pushed and pulled. The Doctor had actually locked him inside the TARDIS like he was some kind of troublesome kid! Now Adam Tallis knew he and the Doctor hadn’t been the closest of friends but when the new and slightly insane incarnation had showed up five minutes after he had said goodbye to the other one he thought that this would be a new beginning, the start of a beautiful friendship. Adam Tallis smiled to himself, of course he would never be as close to the Doctor as Anna and he wouldn’t want to get in the way of their unbreakable bond. Anna Bailey… At the thought of her name Adam’s heart skipped a beat, the Doctor had come to bring him to Anna and said that he had some important news for both of them, that was all Adam knew…Beyond that he didn’t even want to think what it could be, didn’t dare hope…But something else had come up, the next thing Adam Tallis was aware of was the Doctor setting a course for the glass towers of Verdopolis, banging on about entropic waves and time distortion. And three hours later here he was, sitting on the ground with his head resting against the TARDIS corridor wall, every section of corridor identical to the last. Adam wished he hadn’t wandered off now, he had been hoping to find a secondary control room, containing another set of doors and therefore another exit outside the TARDIS but he had failed miserably. Just at the moment, echoing in the distance could be heard the sound of ringing, if Adam’s knowledge of old Earth’s communicators was correct it was a telephone. He jumped to his feet and began to run frantically towards the sound, this must surely be the Doctor either way it was his only chance out of these maze like corridors. Following the persistent shrill ringing Adam had made it to the balcony of the control room, he dived down the stairs, with a manoeuvre worthy of an Olympic gymnast and was just about to pick up the receiver when it stopped…Adam collapsed on the glass surface of the central dais beside the console in a sweaty heap with his chest heaving as he cried out.

 “No Doctor!”  Adam Tallis was from the 51st century and therefore had no knowledge of the telephone service Last Call Return and dial back otherwise known as “1471.”