SEVEN
"The Lord (Yahweh/Jehovah) said "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by". Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper."
- Kings 1, 19:11 – The Bible
"Move!"
Martin finally heard The Doctor's voice and managed to kick his legs outwards and scramble to his feet. But the loose pebbles and stones beneath his shoes weren't helping him get his grip and Martin had to use his hands to steady himself as he frantically made his way back towards where the TARDIS was stood.
The terrifying, juddering scream of the Angels filled Martin's head as the wind around him became so intense it almost felt like it was picking him up and pushing him back into the Angel's grip.
As Martin reached out to grab hold of the blue panelled wood on the rear of the time ship, he turned his head once more to see how close the Angels were.
They were nearly upon him… and flying now as one unit. The tips of their metallic wings were joined to each other so they created a perfect, hollow square as they flew. Their 'bodies' faced outwards so every direction was covered and Martin could see their faces… their 'eyes'… looking straight down at him.
Suddenly Martin felt himself been pulled by the collar of his coat. It was The Doctor dragging him around to the other side of the TARDIS in a last ditch attempt to escape the Angels' gaze. Martin found himself on the ground in front of the TARDIS' doors. His ears and head were full of the deep scream of the four creatures and his eyes were streaming with tears from the tiny grains of sand that were being blown up all around him. He looked up to see The Doctor frantically trying to put his tiny 'Yale' key into the TARDIS' antiquated door lock.
Suddenly the Angels were upon them.
With a huge whooshing roar all four creatures swung into view and disengaged their wings from each other to become separated once more. They hovered majestically in a perfect line about forty feet away from the TARDIS, blowing sand in all directions creating their own private storm.
Martin scrambled to his feet as he took in the terrifying scene. He could see that the Angels were made of some sort of polished, bronze like metal. Each of their huge wings must have been at least thirty foot across and were full of turning, silver spheres. The Angels almost looked like giant, metallic butterflies with a human like occupant inside the 'body' of each machine, their faces behind a helmet like dome.
Martin stared intently at one of the Angels… or, more precisely, the living creature within it. The humanoid's eyes were a deep, penetrating blue and would be beautiful, Martin thought, if they were not so terrifying. He seemed to be a male and impossibly good looking with a strong jaw and well-defined features. Like a Greek god, Martin thought.
"You are,,, in the presence,,, of the,,, Mighty Lord,,, Yahweh,,, State your names,,, and your intentions,,,"
The Angel on the far left shouted with a loud, booming obviously amplified voice. It echoed around the valley with power and menace. The Angel carried what looked like some sort of staff and it was pointing it directly at The Doctor and Martin.
Martin shook with fear as he looked around at The Doctor who had stopped playing with the door lock and was now staring intently at the Angels too.
"Yeah, yeah, forget all the spiel …could you turn it all down a bit, please?" The Doctor shouted back, "It's a bit hard to hear with all your screaming and your whooshing and all your 'oh look at me with my big flying suit on' theatrics!" He even did the moves, flapping his hands out by his sides.
Martin could literally see the humanoid's eyes narrow. It's staff suddenly shimmered and spheres began detaching themselves from the creature's wings. The turning, silver globes flew towards Martin and the Doctor and swiftly surrounded the pair. They hovered a few feet above the men's heads and then, with a high tearing noise, suddenly seemed to suck all the air and sound away in one god-like breath…
Silence
The Doctor and Martin were cocooned in perfect silence.
The Angels remained hovering where they were and Martin could see the occupant's lips moving. They were either talking to each other or communicating with the Mother ship…. Maybe even talking to 'God' himself.
Martin turned to The Doctor and tried to speak. But no sound came out even though he could feel his throat was working.
Was he deaf? Had the Angels 'smitted' him? He could feel the ground beneath his feet but that's all he could feel. Well, that was apart from his heart beating so hard he could feel it in his mouth.
The Doctor looked at him directly in his eyes. For the first time since he had met The Doctor he could see fear reflected back. Sweat dripped from The Doctor's forehead, his head shook and his lips were moving as if in conversation.
But Martin could hear nothing.
Inside the eerie silence he suddenly heard a gentle voice as if someone was literally whispering in his ear:
"Who Are You?"
Startled Martin pressed his back hard against the TARDIS door.
Suddenly he found himself falling backwards… Falling into the TARDIS. The air and sound returned abruptly as Martin hit the floor with a loud thump and looked up to see The Doctor slamming the TARDIS door behind them.
"Yeah!" The Doctor shouted excitedly, "Well done, Marty! All it needed was a little push and we were in!" He ran over to the control area in the middle of his ship and began flicking switches and turning dials. "The TARDIS will protect us now!" He shouted confidently.
Bang.
A massive shock suddenly shook the whole room and Martin found himself knocked back down to the floor. The Doctor managed to remain standing but gripped the side of the console tightly.
"Whoah… They're not going to let us go without a fight!" The Doctor shouted. He grinned at Martin unexpectedly. Was he actually enjoying this?
"Surrender now,,, There is nowhere for you to go,,,"
The Angel's voice boomed commandingly from outside the ship.
"You are,,, the subjects,,, of the Lord,,, Yahweh,,, And therefore,,, in His command,,, Surrender now,,, or be destroyed where you stand,,,"
The Doctor's face fell once more. "Hold on tight, Marty!" He shouted, his teeth were clenched tight. He threw a switch and the column at the centre of the ship began to rise and fall slowly. With the deep, wind like sound that Martin had heard on his previous 'trip', the shaking of the room slowly faded and relief began to dawn across The Doctor's face. The two men looked at each other in anticipated silence for a few seconds. They both held on where they hands had been gripping as both seemed to be waiting for another violent shock to attack the TARDIS.
After a few seconds of calm both men smiled at each other with relief.
"Ah ha!" The Doctor was delighted, "Easy!" He laughed heartily, clapped his hands together and moved swiftly towards where Martin was. He extended his hand and helped Martin back to his feet. "Good one, Marty" He patted down the sides of Martin's jacket as sand and dust bellowed out and onto the TARDIS floor. "Getting us back in the TARDIS was a brilliant plan!" He beamed his big grin and hugged Martin tightly. "Brilliant!" He repeated.
"I just lent on the door, Doctor" Martin stated quietly as a simple matter of fact. He shivered to himself as he felt his spine start to relax for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. He laughed nervously as he ran a hand through his hair. "I've never been so terrified in my life", his voice was faint and broken and his hands shook uncontrollably.
"Haven't you?" The Doctor sounded genuinely surprised "Oh, you haven't lived!" He swung around, put his hands in his pockets and threw his head back as he marched back over to the central console. "You know, I've had a few scares in my time that makes that look like a walk in the park". He looked back at Martin, "But, you know, that was pretty close, I'll give you that" He smiled and grinned at him once more. "Now, what you need is a good cup of tea" he said, rubbing his hands together. "In fact, I could do with a cup myself". He clacked his mouth together and scrunched up his face. "It must be all of that sand… I'm parched!" He turned to face the console once more. He pressed a sequence of buttons and then looked around at Martin with a wide grin and gave him a sly wink. "There… That's the kettle on then", he said casually.
Martin moved slowly over to where The Doctor was standing. He stared blankly at the lights within the rising central column and tilted his head to one side. The lights inside the console flashed in Martin's eyes. Brilliant clear blues mingled with perfect whites as the energy forms danced inside their glass casing.
Martin thought back to the perfect silence he'd experience just moments before.
"That voice…" he said quietly, "Did you hear that voice?"
The Doctor was silent as he tapped away at his instruments. His eyes remained down at the controls.
"Yeah," he eventually whispered. He nodded his head gently in the affirmative. "That was Yahweh…"
He turned to look at Martin. His eyes were full of sadness and pain.
Martin finished The Doctor's sentence for him.
"That was the voice of God"
"The voice within is the loudest voice with which God speaks, because it is the closest to you. It is the voice which tells you right now whether the very words you are reading are words of love or words of fear. By this measure can you determine if they are words to heed… or words to ignore"
- 'Conversations with God' bk 1
