Doctor Who_ Interference_ Book Two - Lawrence Miles [76]
‘Back to the TARDIS,’ Guest heard somebody say. It was the last real sound he heard before he walked into the heart of the Cold.
* * *
Sam watched the Doctor punch the door control. Kode, Compassion and the Ogron had all shuffled back into the TARDIS, a variety of shocked expressions on their faces. In any other circumstances, Sam would have found the Ogron version of a shocked expression quite amusing. Kode had lowered the gun, clearly not knowing what he was supposed to be pointing it at. Meanwhile, the businessman had curled himself up into a ball in the corner, and was now whimpering.
The Doctor adjusted the scanner controls, to get a better view of the Cold. The black sphere hung below the TARDIS ceiling, bubbling and gibbering, with its tendril sliding back into its body. Even from here, it was enough to make you want to wee yourself.
One of the Doctor’s hands was flying across the controls, but his eyes were fixed on the image. Sam guessed his fingers were moving automatically, trying to keep themselves busy, not actually doing anything useful. ‘This is wrong,’ the Doctor was saying, and there was an edge of sheer panic in his voice. ‘Wrong, wrong, wrong. He can’t free the Cold like this. Can he? Doesn’t make sense. Doesn’t make any sense at all.’
Then he stopped. Sam saw him look down at the navigational display.
‘What does this say?’ he asked.
It took Sam a while to realise that it was a serious question. He seemed to be asking Kode and Compassion.
Kode shuffled over to the console. ‘What’s the problem?’
‘The algorithm Guest fed into the console. The coordinate equation. It doesn’t make sense. Look at it. It’s too simple. Even coordinates for a basic planet-to‐planet hop would make more mess than that, let alone a transdimensional jump. What does it say?’
‘“Relative 101 by 4E”,’ Kode said.
The Doctor stared at him. ‘What?’
‘Those are the coordinates of the Cold,’ Kode explained. ‘Guest told me.’
‘He told you that?’ Compassion said, cynically.
Kode looked at his feet. ‘He just mentioned it. Y’know. In passing.’
‘Shh! Shh!’ The Doctor waved his hand at them until they shut up, but he kept his gaze fixed on the console. Sam glanced nervously up at the scanner. The tendril had vanished now. The Cold had swallowed Guest whole.
‘Anathema,’ the Doctor said. He still sounded like he was panicking. ‘Your city. Where is it? What planet?’
Compassion opened her mouth to reply, but Sam beat her to it. ‘It’s not on a planet. It’s on a ship.’
‘Ship?’
‘A Time Lord warship. Listen, Doctor. I’ve seen it. It’s like a giant Seal of Rassilon. And it’s heading –’
‘That’s it!’ The Doctor thumped the console, and it duly warbled at him. ‘Don’t you see?’
‘No,’ said Compassion.
‘Ugh,’ said the Ogron.
‘I have to talk to Guest,’ the Doctor snapped. ‘I have to talk to him before he can talk to that… thing properly.’ He pointed at the monstrosity on the scanner. ‘His receiver. I’ve got to open a link to his receiver. Fitz, can you program the TARDIS to… no. Never mind. No time. We’ll have to use the transmitter back in Anathema. Hold tight.’
‘“Fitz”?’ queried Sam.
The Doctor ignored her, and let his one good hand tap-dance its way across the navigational panel. Sam folded her arms.
‘Hold on,’ she said. ‘We’re in another dimension, remember? The transmitter won’t be powerful enough to reach him.’
‘Oh yes it will,’ the Doctor grumbled. Then he gave the dematerialisation switch a massive whack, and the rotor at the centre of the console began to move.
* * *
Guest had lost all sense of space, but he doubted he’d be needing it for much longer anyway. The Cold seemed to be parting around him, making way for him, letting him get right to the heart of its body. He’d lost all sense of physical form as well, and there