Doctor Who: The Space Museum Read Free

to Barbara. ‘Do you?’ Barbara shrugged. He turned to Vicki.
    ‘It’s a communications satellite,’ she said, ‘From Earth. Russian by the look of it, about 1980.’
    ‘Oh, is it?’ said Ian sceptically.
    ‘Yes, it is,’ the Doctor concurred. Vicki smiled at Ian. If she hadn’t been a well-mannered young lady she might have been tempted to put out her tongue but, from the look on Ian’s face, it would seem the smile sufficed.
    ‘Now, what do we have here, hmm?’ the Doctor went on.
    ‘Obviously it got lost in space, went out of orbit and landed here, or crashed rather,’ said Ian.
    ‘Nonsense, my boy. It may be a bit tarnished with a dent here or there but it’s all in one piece. No, my opinion is, it was brought here, together with everything else.’ There was a hint of excitement in the Doctor’s voice and the tempo of his speech increased. ‘If you look at each of those objects beyond the satellite - each ship, each rocket - you will notice that each one is advanced in design. It’s a natural progression. And that is precisely why I know where we are. There’s nothing random about the positioning of any of these objects. They’ve been placed like that.’
    ‘You mean it’s like a... a museum?’ Barbara asked. ‘Precisely!’ The Doctor was at his most triumphant, ‘A space museum.’
    ‘Then there must be somebody to look after it,’ Ian said.
    ‘A distinct possibility.’ The Doctor rose to his feet. ‘Shall we go and find out?’ He nonchalantly flicked a switch on the control panel and the doors of the TARDIS slid open. No-one moved.
    ‘Well?’ the Doctor queried, ‘Have you no sense of scientific curiosity? No sense of adventure? Vicki, what about you? What about the glass? Aren’t you just a tiny hit curious?’
    ‘A little,’ Vicki said.
    ‘A little is enough. Come.’ And, without bothering to see who followed, the Doctor turned and led the way.

2 Exploration
    Unexpectedly, the air was quite mild. They stood outside the TARDIS and looked around. Ian squinted up at the sky. There were two suns, quite small and very far away, but two nevertheless. This would explain both the light and the coolness of the atmosphere. The silence was broken by the Doctor.
    ‘Close the door, Chesterton,’ he commanded. ‘You weren’t born in a barn. I believe that is the quaint colloquial expression.’ Ian bit his tongue and obliged and, with the TARDIS safely locked, they moved away, their feet making no sound and sinking quite deeply in the white dust that covered the surface. The Doctor rubbed his hand on a rock and looked at his palm.
    ‘Steatite,’ he muttered.
    ‘Dust, I’d call it,’ Ian replied, forgetting for a moment that he had determined to keep his opinions to himself for a while. Everything today - whatever day it was; probably some Friday the 13th - seemed to be conspiring against him. Maybe his bio-rhythms were at rock bottom. Certainly the Doctor seemed to have it in for him. But then, maybe he wasn’t feeling all that secure himself, and that would explain his testiness. But, for once, they seemed to be in accord.
    ‘Yes, that’s exactly what it is,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘I’ve never seen erosion in such an advanced stage. The whole planet would seem to be completely dead.’
    Once again Ian forgot his resolution. ‘How can you make such a sweeping statement?’ he challenged, ‘We’ve only seen a few square yards of it. I’ve always associated planetary extinction with extreme cold. You know, like the dark side of the moon. Our moon.’
    ‘Oh!’ the Doctor blasted back, ‘You’ve been there, have you?’ And then, on a quieter note but still with an edge, ‘No, no, of course not. I beg your pardon.’
    Barbara decided to intervene. She had no idea how long they had all slept but the rest obviously hadn’t done these two much good, hissing at each other like a couple of alley cats.
    ‘The climate seems quite pleasant..’
    Ian turned on her.
    ‘Maybe