Doctor Who: The Space Museum Read Free Page B

shuddered. ‘It’s so dead,’ she said, ‘Let’s get away from here.’
    ‘Yes, yes,’ the Doctor agreed, ‘Come on, you two.’ And he and Vicki moved away.
    Barbara turned to Ian. ‘I think we should go back,’ she said. Ian shook his head. ‘We can’t now.’ He looked around, at the motley collection of obsolete and decaying high-tech that surrounded them, from satellites that would fit comfortably in the back of a shooting brake to the huge ships from which, he imagined, a thousand or more ghosts were silently mocking him. ‘I have a terrible feeling that to go back would be more dangerous than to go on,’ he said. The Doctor and Vicki were now some distance away and he remembered the Doctor’s admonition to stay together. ‘Come on, Barbara,’ he urged, and they set off after the others.
    The building was further from their landing point than had appeared on the scanner and it took the little group some time to reach it. It was also much larger than they had expected. There appeared to be no fenestration and they found themselves standing before what appeared to be the only entrance: sliding doors, now closed, and with no indication of how they could be opened.
    ‘I wonder how we get in,’ the Doctor mused. ‘There seems to be absolutely no way of opening these doors.’
    ‘No bell marked Caretaker?’ Ian chuckled. But, like Queen Victoria, the Doctor was not amused.
    ‘Don’t make jokes, Chesterton,’ he snapped. ‘Make yourself useful instead. Look around for something.’
    ‘Like what? Like what?’ Ian gasped. He was finding it more and more difficult to breathe and was beginning to feel distinctly light-headed. ‘Maybe you’d like me to call the AA: "Excuse me, we’re stranded on this planet. There isn’t a living creature in sight. Would you come and pick us up please? How long will it take for you to get here? Oh, I see, about a hundred light years. Well, that’s fine, we’ll wait. We’re not going anywhere."’ Suddenly he wished he’d taken the Doctor’s advice and kept his mouth shut. He gasped for breath and the light-headedness turned into dizziness. There was a ringing in his ears and a myriad tiny lights flashed and danced before his eyes. His knees suddenly buckled and Barbara and the Doctor reached out just in time to stop him from falling.
    ‘Easy, my boy, easy,’ the Doctor said.
    ‘Sorry,’ Ian mumbled, ‘sorry.’
    They supported him for a few moments until the dizzy spell passed.
    ‘I’m all right now,’ he said, ‘Thank you.’ His breathing was still laboured and shallow, through the open mouth, but he moved away from their supporting hands to show that all was well.
    ‘Perhaps Ian is right,’ Vicki said, looking uneasily about her, ‘perhaps there isn’t anything alive here.’ She was beginning to feel a slight tingling sensation in her nostrils and the back of her throat and, almost unconsciously, caressed her neck with thumb and forefinger.
    ‘And there’s something else,’ Barbara added, ‘Something very peculiar. Have you noticed?’
    ‘Everything is peculiar,’ Ian said, but Vicki and the Doctor were both intrigued by Barbara’s question and wanted to know more.
    ‘It’s the silence,’ she said. ‘When we stop talking there isn’t a sound. Listen.’
    Ian closed his mouth to stop the sound of his own breathing and they listened.
    ‘It’s the kind of silence you can almost hear,’ Barbara concluded.
    ‘More and more like a graveyard,’ Ian said.
    ‘Now, stop it! Stop it, the both of you,’ the Doctor ordered sternly. ‘You’ll all start imagining things. There’s always an expla -’ He stopped short as he noticed the sudden reaction on the faces of his companions and, looking around, saw the doors behind him slowly and silently sliding open.
    ‘Quick!’ he hissed, and the four darted to one side and flattened themselves against the building.
    ‘Did you see anything?’ Barbara whispered to Ian.
    He nodded. ‘A very