Doctor Who_ Dinosaur Invasion - Malcolm Hulke [13]
The radio operator shook his head. ‘Can’t do it, sir. The interference is too bad. Must be more monsters about, sir.’
‘All right, then,’ said the Brigadier. ‘I’ll go myself. Sergeant Benton, I don’t know what the Doctor thinks he’s playing at, but he’s going to have to answer to me!’
The Brigadier marched out of the classroom.
The Doctor smiled at the peasant from the Middle Ages. He was acutely aware of the man’s fear—and the knife clutched in his hand.
‘Tell me, old chap, can you remember what happened to you?’
‘’Tis a curse of the witches.’
‘Quite probably,’ replied the Doctor, wishing to sound agreeable. ‘But what were you doing when. when it happened?’
‘I were doing no harm to God nor Man,’ said the peasant. ‘I were about to slaughter a pig with this knife.’
Sarah recoiled. ‘Perhaps this is a vengeance on you for killing a poor defenceless animal.’
The peasant glared at her. ‘’Tis no crime to slaughter swine,’ he roared. ‘I have always been a good man, paying the tithes, tilling my master’s land three days of the week, and my own for three days. I go to church on Sundays and have my children christened.’
‘But you also believe in witches,’ said the Doctor.
‘They cast spells against good Christian folk,’ saidthe peasant. ‘Be a friend, wizard, and take the curse off me.’
‘Unfortunately I can’t,’ confessed the Doctor. ‘You see, I’m not a wizard—’
The man, without listening to the rest of the Doctor’s sentence, raised his knife high above his head. ‘Then I’ll slaughter you as I would that pig!’
As the peasant lunged forward with the rusted knife, the Doctor jumped back, tripping and falling. Sarah flung herself at the peasant, trying to grapple with him. All at once, as the knife was poised to slice into the Doctor’s throat, Sarah felt a strange force pulling her back to where she had been standing. At the same time, the peasant went backwards until he also was exactly where he had been standing. Then, as Sarah watched, the peasant became transparent—and disappeared.
The Doctor staggered to his feet. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Are you all right?’ she asked in return.
The Doctor felt his throat, and grinned. ‘He never touched me.’
‘I can’t understand what happened,’ she said, ‘I went backwards—and so did he. Everything seemed to go backwards.’
‘Fascinating,’ commented the Doctor, brushing down his frock coat. ‘A time eddy. Just for a moment, Time went into reverse.’
‘That’s impossible, Time can only go forward.’
‘Are you sure of that?’ queried the Doctor.
‘It’s the only way I can think,’ she said, lamely.
‘Then let me stretch your thinking a little,’ said the Doctor. ‘Light travels at about 186,000 miles per second. Right?’
‘Everyone knows that.’
‘I imagine our friend from the Middle Ages didn’t know that,’ continued the Doctor with a smile, ‘but let that pass. If you are looking at a distant star, you may be looking at it as it was at the time of the birth of Jesus. If that star, or sun, has a planet and there are people living on it with a telescope strong enough to observe events on Earth, what would they see?’
Sarah got the point. ‘The Romans invading Britain. But that doesn’t explain people and animals appearing from the past.’
‘No,’ said the Doctor, ‘but it puts to question the idea that Time is inflexible. On your planet, it was that chap Einstein who began to realise what was happening. Time, you see, moves at different speeds in different parts of the Universe. If I can find something to write on, let me show you some equations...’
The Doctor looked about for something to write with. But Sarah’s attention was focused on sounds coming from the mews outside.
‘I think you’ll have to continue the lecture tomorrow,’ she whispered. ‘I’m sure that’s soldiers outside—probably looking for us.’
The Doctor listened. Nailed boots were clattering on the cobblestones beyond the big double doors. ‘I think you’re right,’ he said. ‘I’ll try to bolt the door.’
He hurried over to the big double doors and looked desperately for some means to hold them fast. The approaching footsteps had now reached