Doctor Who_ Delta and the Bannermen - Malcolm Kohll [7]
Down on the tollport surface the bus rumbled out of the hangar onto the apron and stopped beside the TARDIS. It was guided into position by the tollport navigator waving what resembled huge ping-pong bats. As the bus went through a pre-launch check the sky was split by the scream of a jet engine. Using maximum reverse thrust, Delta managed to stop her craft within metres of the cruiser. Her ship’s hatch flew open and she sprinted across the runway to the bus, tightly clutching the silver orb. Delta jumped aboard, avoiding the searching looks of the other passengers. Murray simply assumed that she was a latecomer and continued feeding power to the engines.
As the bus started its run, Delta glanced out of the window catching the Doctor’s eye. He was standing beside the TARDIS, his forehead wrinkled in thought. Satisfied with the checks, Murray opened up the engines to full thrust.
The Doctor blocked his ears against the high-pitched whine and clutched at his hat as the strong backwash enveloped him. There was a brief incandescence and a screech of afterburners, then it was gone. In the sudden silence which followed, the Doctor turned his eyes skywards, scanning the void, searching for a clue. Seeing nothing unusual amongst the constellations and distant star clusters, he entered the TARDIS.
Meanwhile, in outer space, the bus was heading towards Earth, its cargo of holiday-makers looking forward to their trip. The inky blackness outside the windows provided no clues as to their destination. A star cluster occasionally lit up the void as they hurtled through time and space. But the tourists inside the bus didn’t seem to notice; they were only concerned with having fun. The excited buzz of conversation filled the air as snacks and liquid refreshments were consumed at an alarming rate – the Navarinos were well known for their enormous appetites, Murray thought he’d create the right ambience for the journey by putting on a recording of Bill Haley’s ‘Rock Around the Clock’. He leaned forward to the microphone and addressed his passengers. ‘Please keep your lapstraps fastened during the flight, and no dancing in the aisles.
Now, are we all feeling fine?’
‘YES!’ they chorused.
‘All right,’ said Murray, setting the time indicator,
‘1959, here we come!’
Chapter Six
Meanwhile, on Planet Earth, Hawk and Weismuller had stopped beside a small picturesque stream strewn with mossy rocks and shaded with trees. Perched on the edge of a large rock, Weismuller was trying to operate a heavy-valve radio set, which was connected to the Morris’s battery.
Balancing it precariously on his knees, he clamped the Bakelite earphones to his head as he tried in vain to pick up a signal from the invisible satellite. Hawk was up a tree, trying to locate the aerial wire as high as possible. Three curious sheep watched these strange proceedings, their dull faces turned towards the odd couple.
‘That better? You hear anything yet?’ shouted Hawk irritably, his shins already skinned from the rough tree-trunk.
All I get is ‘Housewives’ Choice’. I can’t even find any doo-wop,’ said Weismuller glumly. ‘Here, you try...’
He took off the headphones and offered them up. Hawk slowly climbed out of the tree, awkwardly feeling every step of the way. Weismuller was irritated by Hawk’s painful progress, and snatching up the brass telescope he extended it skywards. ‘It’s hopeless, Hawk. It could be anywhere...’ said Weismuller gloomily.
High above them on the fringes of the stratosphere, an American rocket boosted its crude artificial satellite into a higher orbit, while the glowing metal fuselage dropped back into the ocean.
In another part of the galaxy, Murray was trying to get the bus passengers into a holiday mood. ‘Come on all of you.
SING!’ he shouted.
Mel, who was sitting beside Delta, joined in with the chorus, but out of the corner of her eye she was watching the beautiful, sad woman seated beside her. Someone