The Tardis is parked in a vast stretch of interstellar space where the nearest celestial body is millions and millions of light years away. If you think some podunk town up north like Odanah is a real Nowhereville, well, this spot has got it beat by orders of magnitude.
Never having been in such a spot, the Doctor wants to investigate in-person with a little extravehicular action. He and Ben suit up - funny how their hands seem to remain exposed in one illustration - and head outside.
In the Tardis control room, Polly keeps an eye on things and notices that the ship has begun to move slightly and that the biological probe has started showing signs of life. She radios her companions a la Lambert in Alien, though not hysterically. "Doctor, Doctor, the Tardis is moving!" And that biological probe? "Almost into the red band."
Ben sees it first - a giant, silvery, erector set thingy. He and the Doctor go inside and discover 12 gargantuan, hairy creatures slumbering away. Polly, sensing danger, flies the Tardis inside and rescues the Doctor and Ben.
The Doctor had been thoroughly entranced by the aliens and wanted to know more. And so he was royally pissed off that his research time had been cut short. He calls Polly a "crazy young idiot" when he should have been marveling at her ability to fly his ship better than he can.
The story ends with the Doctor having calmed down and asking Polly to show him how she flew the Tardis with such precision.
This is a creepy little story with a good premise that deserved to be fleshed out. Best story from the annual so far. Go Polly!
No comments:
Post a Comment