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Sixty, sixty-one, sixty-two... until seventy-eight, when
the torch lit another small chamber. Ian hauled himself
into it. He took the torch from his mouth and looked
around. Against one wall were some proper steps which led
to the ceiling. Ian mounted them, put his hands on the
stone immediately above his head, pushed it up and slid it
to one side. He took the two remaining stairs in a stride,
and shone the torch on Yetaxa’s skeleton on the slab. Then
he turned to the TARDIS and smiled.
‘Mid temples and barrackses though we may roam,’ he
sang quietly, ‘be it ever so humble, there’s no place like
home.’ And he went inside.
12
Wall of Deception
Barbara was in the antechamber trying to sleep, but every
time she closed her eyes she had nightmarish visions of
Susan’s punishment, Ian’s death in a fight with Ixta, her
own public denouncement as a false God, with Tlotoxl
cutting out her heart, and the Doctor driven insane
meandering in the garden babbling inanities to himself.
With her eyes open, there wasn’t much of an improvement.
Both the Doctor and Ian had impressed upon her the
importance of her role as Yetaxa, but the tension of playing
the part was bringing her close to breaking-point. She
needed to do something, not just be something, to help
them out of their plight. She sat upon the couch, put her
elbows on her knees and held her head in her hands.
‘Come on, Barbara Wright,’ she said aloud, ‘you must
not crack.’ She stood up and clutched her arms across her
chest Then she heard the Doctor arguing with the temple
guard outside.
‘But I must speak to Yetaxa,’ the Doctor snapped.
‘It is forbidden.’ The guard was adamant.
‘A damnation on being forbidden,’ the Doctor exploded.
‘Out of my way.’
Quickly Barbara opened the door. ‘Let my aged servant
pass,’ she commanded.
In obedience the guard stood to one side, but said that
the Doctor’s presence would be reported.
‘So be it,’ Barbara slammed the door in the guard’s face.
Then she looked at the Doctor. His face was ashen.
‘Doctor, those stairs...’ she began.
The Doctor shook his head. ‘It’s young Chesterton,’ he
said.
‘What about Ian?’ Barbara asked in alarm.
‘I think he’s dead,’ the Doctor replied in remorse,
‘drowned by Ixta. And it was all my fault’
For a moment Barbara was stunned, incapable of
grasping the enormity of the Doctor’s statement Then, as it
sunk in, one word came through to the forefront of her
mind. ‘You said “think”, Doctor. Does that mean you
don’t know, that you are not sure?’ she asked, clutching at
a straw.
The Doctor told her everything that had happened in
the garden.
‘Then there’s still hope,’ Barbara said, taking the
Doctor’s hand, ‘but this is not the place to be,’ she added
and led him up to the temple.
Inside the TARDIS Ian looked for some cord, string, even
a length of flex would do, but no, there were only printed
circuits. Enough of sophisticated electronics that keep
going wrong, he thought. Wherever we land next, lets get
back to Boy Scout basics: a length of string and a knife
with a thing for taking stones out of horses’ hooves. He
went out into the tomb and shone the torch around. Under
Yetaxa’s skeleton was a cotton sheet with a narrow silk
border sewn onto it. Ian found the join, unpicked it and
then carefully ripped the silk away from the cotton which
had rotted over the decades. He carried the strip of silk
over to the fresco and looked for a place to attach it. The
eagle’s neck stood proud from the wall, like the eye of a
needle, so Ian threaded one end of the silk through it and
tied a knot. He tugged the silk several times to make sure it
would hold. Then he pushed outwards on the wall and
stepped into the temple.
‘Chesterton, my dear chap, you’re alive,’ the Doctor
exclaimed and embraced him. ‘I was afraid you were
drowned.’
‘I very nearly was,’ Ian replied and began to recount his
adventure in the tunnel.
Suddenly, Barbara interrupted him. ‘The wall’s closing,’
she cried in alarm.
Ian held up the end of the strip of silk.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ he said, ‘the other end is attached to
the fresco on the inside and, as the wall is counter-
balanced, all we need to do is tug on this end and we’re
home and away.’
The Doctor thought this was an over-simplification but
he said nothing as he still felt guilty about the tunnel.
‘Why don’t you two go through to the TARDIS whilst I go
to the seminary and fetch Susan?’ Ian suggested.
‘No.’ The Doctor was firm.’ When we go to the other
side of that wall we all go together. Splitting up is not a
good idea.’
Barbara agreed and added that fetching Susan might not
be as simple a task as Ian imagined.
‘Why not?’ Ian asked.
Barbara explained about Susan’s refusal to marry the
Perfect Victim and described her punishment for denying
his wish. ‘Knowing Tlotoxt, she’s bound to be guarded,’
Barbara concluded.
‘And knowing Ixta, she won’t be in the seminary,’ Ian
added, ‘he’ll keep her a prisoner in his quarters. So, wait [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]

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