Doctor Who_ The Algebra of Ice - Lloyd Rose [100]
‘No, I’ve bypassed the firewall. The Doctor created a door that goes both ways. He must have known that, but counted on our not having the power to push through it. And he was right, as far as that goes. But I –’
‘But you were a source of power. That thing inside you fuelled up before it went back –’
‘And gave us just enough energy to get me through as the Doctor went out.
As a program, of course, so that I have a place to survive. This image is only a projection.’
‘So the rest of you – the real you. . . ’
‘Is at work even as we speak.’ Brett turned his head, as if listening. ‘It’s an enormous task. Might take years.’
‘The Doctor will stop you.’
Brett turned an amused eye on him. ‘What makes you think the Doctor is coming back?’ Then he vanished.
‘I don’t understand,’ said Molecross. ‘Are they hacking the TARDIS?’
‘They have hacked it.’
‘What are we going to do?’ Molecross’s voice rose. ‘How can we stop them?’
‘I don’t know!’ Ethan booted up another computer and leaned over the keyboard, working frantically.
‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m trying to find the worm, or at least its trail. As I don’t know what I’m doing, I’d say it’s hopeless.’
Molecross watched him, feeling useless. Even with his pedestrian computer skills, he could see that what was happening on the screen was extraordinarily Chapter Twenty-five
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complex. He suspected it transcended full human comprehension. ‘Perhaps you could try one of the console computers.’
‘What?’ Ethan mumbled, not really hearing.
‘The console computers. They might have their own system, and separate data storage. Perhaps some sort of owner’s manual.’
Ethan stood bolt upright. ‘Yes,’ he hissed. He grabbed Molecross and ran for the door.
‘But we don’t know how to get there,’ Molecross objected as he was hauled down the corridor.
‘Trust me, we’ll get there.’
Ace charged up and down the hills. She hardly noticed their strangeness. She was so angry that she had to run or she’d explode. Damn the Doctor! Damn these whatever-they-weres!
Finally, she stopped, gasping for breath. How far had the Doctor gone? How far could you go in this place? She gazed down the hills to her right, seeing how they shrank and shrank and finally flattened to an endless plain. This was bloody maths: you could go on to infinity.
If this were actual snow and ice, there would be some tracks. But it wasn’t, it was some naff construct. How could she find him? Use your head, idiot. He hadn’t gone down to the plain – she could see it was empty. He might have gone up the peaks to her left, but why? The simplest thing would have been to continue on straight ahead, and there didn’t seem to be any reason not to have done the simplest thing.
She started running again.
Molecross looked over Ethan’s shoulder. ‘What’s that?’
‘The directory of files and folders. This machine is ludicrously user friendly.
The Doctor must have set it up for humans at some point. I wonder. . . ’ Ethan looked around the console board. ‘Why don’t you see if you can call up that user’s manual? I’m guessing it’s easy to access.’
‘Here’s a button that says “Manual”.’
‘Not funny, Molecross.’
‘No, honestly, it says “Manual”.’
‘Then for God’s sake, push it.’ Ethan found the last previous version of the directory and began comparing the size of its files with the new ones. Please, he thought, let there be a difference. Let me find where the damned thing’s hidden itself.
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The Algebra of Ice
‘This is in English,’ Molecross said in amazement.
‘Just read it, will you?!’
‘What am I looking for?’
‘A virus scan, if there is one.’
Molecross scrolled through the pages. ‘I wonder if there’s an index?’
‘Why don’t you bloody find out!’ Ethan yelled. ‘I swear, if I didn’t have to stay with this I’d wring your neck.’
‘All right, all right!’ Molecross sulked for a moment, then said morosely, ‘I wish Ace hadn’t gone – she must know how to do some of this.’
The Doctor heard himself make a moist, muffled sound. ‘The situation is obviously damaging to you. I will reverse it.’
The Doctor returned to himself.