• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 571 0

it closely. After a couple of seconds he stood up, removed his hat and balanced it on top of the adjacent stone. He crouched down by the stone again and looked at it at close range. It was covered on one side by moss that had crept up in a mat from the ground, and on the other side by explosions of lichen, yellow, green and brown. From his pocket he took a small knife and clicked it open. He scratched at the surface covering and sniffed at the fragments of plant material that fell into his hand Then, methodically, he started to remove the lichen from a large area of the surface. Finally, satisfied with his work, he sat back and gazed at the exposed area.

Gradually, as though the sunlight falling on the bare rock was the cause, small, moving flashes of light on the rock became apparent. But were they on the surface of the rock? Was it merely a strange optical effect that made them appear as though they were buried deep within its heart, following stress lines within the silicon itself? One flash in particular drew the Doctor's attention It sped across the rock and, like an electron passing through a cloud chamber, it left a track behind itself which slowly faded.

And just when the pathway had almost gone, the flash repeated itself. The Doctor extended his forefinger and ran it along the abrasive surface, pressing it so that small particles of his skin were left behind. He pulled his finger away, waiting until just before the flash was about to appear and then with reflexes timed to the millisecond he pressed his finger in the path of the flash. And when it hit, it was diverted, sparking off along a new trajectory, setting off bright new flashes as it went. Behind him, the Doctor felt a shifting in the air. He took his finger away and allowed the flash to resume its former pathway; the disturbance behind him halted. That was the confirmation he needed; further affirmation could be dangerous to acquire and the TARDIS's tracking systems, providing they were operational, could be used to get the information he needed with greater reliability and safety.

A feeling of excitement touched the Doctor's thoughts. He had here a device which, if it could be linked into the TARDIS's circuits could restore the ailing link with the Eye of Harmony on Gallifrey.

There was the problem of finding an adequately sensitive organic matrix to provide the connection which could regenerate the block transfer circuit, but here at least was a partial solution to the TARDIS's problems.

He stood up from his work and turned to survey the circle.

‘Ace!' he called.

‘Yes.’ Her voice was muffled by the intervening foliage and came from beyond the far edge of the circle.

‘Come here, Ace, I've got something to show you,' he shouted to her.

‘Oh, right, coming!' she replied. He heard her making her way towards him and eventually she appeared from amongst the trees.

'I couldn't find another stone,' she said.

‘No, I didn't think you would.'

‘Then why did you ... never mind. What did you want to show me?'

‘This.' He gestured towards the stone.

She started across the clearing to look. 'Oh yeah, what is it?'

‘What we have here is a semiorganic silicate computer transfer device that has ... no, Ace, don't go through the centre ... '

The air stirred briefly. In the woods a branch fell from a tree, but there was no one there to hear it.

Old Davy paused, one leg over the stile. He cocked his head to one side. His eyes eased shut and he took a suck on his upper lip. Slowly his head began to nod as ancient motors in his mind connected thoughts together.

Suddenly he completed the movement over the stile and continued his journey down towards his regular appointment with the bench outside the pub. He knew what he had heard - gossamer touch of a butterfly's wings crashing together and silenced in a moment.

4:

Arawn's Wheel

She was falling into darkness, and her very being became as one with the night. Her memories blurred, streaked across the canvas of infinity. Her soul was torn apart but she could not voice her pain or anguish for she was without substance.