DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct.
"Are you sure you're all right, grandfather?" Susan called down, and Odie looked up.
"He's just out of breath is all, Susan! Keep going, check how far to the top!" she called back, as she climbed a bit up, getting closer to the old man. "Take your time, Theta, you don't need to strain yourself," she reminded him, patting his lower back.
"I'll be fine," he assured her, breathing heavily.
"We'll be there soon! Just about 10 inches more," Susan called back, and Odie smiled.
"Come on, Theta, last push," she begged, helping the old man the last piece of the way. Susan had already crawled out, so she could help her grandfather up by pulling on his arms. Odie followed closely behind, as the Doctor collapsed on the ground.
"Grandfather? Grandfather?" Susan called, wiping the old man's face with her handkerchief. When he opened his eyes ever so slightly, she grinned. "Grandfather, we made it!"
"Yes," the Doctor said with a tired smile, and Odie chuckled.
"Are you all right?" she asked, patting the old man's knee, and he nodded.
"Yes, I just need a minute," he promised. "I'll be all right in a while."
As the three sat for a while, waiting for the Doctor to get his bearings, Susan blinked.
"Grandfather, I think I heard some people talking just now," she said slowly, and the Doctor was soon sitting up, his eyes alert.
"What?" he asked.
"Yes, it was a low growl, just like Barbara said," Odie admitted, as she looked around herself. The three stood up, listening for any other signs of the large humans, but they found none.
"Well, come to think of it, our voices sound kind of odd," the Doctor muttered, supporting himself on the shoulders of his granddaughter. Suddenly, his face lit up with recognition. "It's this, this sink, of course! It's all working like an echo chamber," he announced, and Odie smiled. She was glad he was energetic enough to be this excited about a sink.
"I think we should try and find them, don't you?" Susan asked, looking around to see if Ian and Barbara had magically appeared in the sink with them. "You think there's a chance of them being here somewhere?"
"It seems like an awful lot of work getting out without using the pipe. They'd have to get down from the table the briefcase got placed on, and then wait until someone opened a door, or find a crack somewhere," Odie reminded her with a sigh, and the Doctor smiled.
"I'm not so sure."
"We can try and call for them. They should be able to hear our voices, right?" Odie asked, and the old man nodded.
"Yes... Yes my dear, this sink will boost our voices," he answered
"Ian! Barbara! Can you hear me?" Susan yelled, and Odie nodded, turning around.
"Can you hear us?" she called as well.
"Ian! Barbara!"
"You mustn't expect to hear their voices in return. While your voices may be boosted by the sink, they could be quiet a distance away," the Doctor reminded them, and Odie sighed deeply.
"How far can we expect our voices to go, Doctor?" she asked, and the old man shrugged.
"Oh, I'm not sure."
"But if we shout very loudly, won't the people here hear us?" Susan asked, and the Doctor shook his head.
"No no, Susan, our voices are much too high! It's a different frequency altogether, my child!"
"Ian! Barbara! Come on, we don't have all day!" Odie yelled, getting more than a little fed up about standing in a kitchens ink. The thought itself was appalling.
"Doctor! Girls! We're up here," a voice suddenly announced, and the three travelers looked up, smiles on their faces.
"Hello up there!" Odie called, as she saw Ian and Barbara looked down at them from the edge of the sink.
"Jolly good lad," the Doctor said happily, whilst being hugged tightly by his granddaughter.
"Oh, grandfather, we found them!" she announced happily, and the Doctor laughed.
"Yes, I know, my dear," he replied, patting her back.
"Climb down that chain, guys," Odie called to them, and Ian nodded, as he looked at the chain connecting the plug with the sink wall.
"Yes, all right, we will," he agreed, as the two began shuffling to join their friends.
"Good, he's started," the Doctor observed. "The quicker we get out of here, the better."
"Are you sure we can climb down the pipe again? It was difficult enough coming up," Susan asked, and Odie shuddered at the thought of climbing backwards. She'd prefer to find some other way.
"Well, it's a surefire way to the garden."
"Do you think we could use the pipe as a slide?" Odie asked hopefully, and the Doctor shook his head.
"I think it is too vertical, my dear, and it does not even out very well. Odds are we would crash against the bottom of it, rather than slide along," he answered, and Odie swallowed an imaginary lump in her throat. She didn't like that idea, at all.
"Barbara has started, look," Susan pointed, but Odie blinked as she heard an unknown sound.
"Stop guys!" she called, and their two friends froze on the chain.
"What's wrong, Odie?" the Doctor asked cautiously, and she held a hand to her ear, in hopes of boosting the sound.
"Listen... Someone's opening the door!" she pointed out, and panic ensued amongst the time travelers.
"Quick, down the sink again!" the Doctor ordered, and Odie quickly, and nimbly, swung herself down the drain again, Susan coming right behind her.
"Quick, grandfather!" Susan called, as the two girls pulled the Doctor down with them. They heard the footsteps of the giants approaching, and Odie, who hung onto the iron bars of the sinkhole, quickly climbed down the pipe, when she saw the dark shade of the plug coming towards her.
"They're using the sink, Doctor!" she called, and the Doctor looked around briefly.
"Quick, children, in here," he announced, as the three of them scurried, like spiders on a wall, into the safe hole of the overflow pipe. The Doctor pushed the girls furthest into the crevice, making sure they would be safe. A sound started, like powerful hailing, and Odie furrowed her brow.
"Is that the water?" she asked.
"Yes, they've turned the tab on..." the Doctor announced, pulling the girls closer to him.
It was a couple of long minutes they waited, and then, finally, light came to them again, as the plug was pulled, unleashing a torrent of reddish liquid.
"Wow! What in the," Odie exclaimed, staring at the minor waterfall.
"They pulled the plug," Susan answered, but the sheer volume of the raining water caused Odie to miss her comment.
"What?" she called, confused.
"I said- Oh, never mind," Susan relented with a deep sigh. All three of them were quiet until the water had passed through, so they would be able to hear themselves think.
"Was that all the water?" Odie asked cautiously, leaning out from the hole to look up through the sinkhole. The Doctor held onto her blouse, just in case she'd fall.
"Yes, we're lucky. If they had filled anymore water into the sink, it would have come in here," he pointed out, looking behind him.
"Of course! Through the overflow pipe!" Susan announced, realizing just where they were. Odie tried to ignore the two behind her as much as possible, and she smiled when she heard a familiar sound.
"I think it's safe to climb up now. I think I heard the door close," she announced, as she came back into the hole, and began climbing up the pipe again.
"I wonder if Ian and Barbara found a safe place to hide," the Doctor said thoughtfully, and Susan nodded, helping the Doctor finding safe foot holds.
"I'm sure they're fine, grandfather."
"Ian!" Odie exclaimed in surprise, as she came up from the sink, seeing the suitclad man as the first thing. Barbara was right behind him, of course.
"I said they'd be all right, grandfather!" Susan exclaimed, as she came up next. Barbara and Ian were so pleased to see them, they no doubt thought the three of them had drowned.
"Susan! Odie!" Ian called gleefully, helping the two up from the sink, to make way for the Doctor.
"Girls! I don't believe it," Barbara greeted, hugging Odie close to her, as Susan and Ian helped the Doctor climb out of the pipe.
"Here we are! You see, my friends, you can't get rid of us as easy as all that," he said with all the amusement of a delighted child, finally reunited with his favorite friends.
"But how did you survive?" Barbara asked surprised, as a minor group hug was shared.
"We climbed into the overflow pipe and stayed there," Susan shared, and Ian grinned widely.
"But that's brilliant!"
"Should be, it was the Doctor's idea," Odie said with a smirk, as she put an affectionate arm around the Doctor's shoulders. The old man was obviously pleased with the flattery.
"Oh, my dear, it just seemed the most logical action," he said with a smile at his young friend, and Barbara looked around.
"Well, let's get out of this sink, before those people come back!"
"Yes, good idea."
"Ian, come look at this," Susan called. She had run ahead of the rest of the group, and Odie looked up from her conversation with Barbara, to see Susan standing on a white platform. "What is it?"
"Well, it certainly wasn't here before."
"It's half drawing, half writing," Susan relayed, as the group reached her, Ian climbing onto the platform, now revealed to be a notebook. "Ian, it's a formula!"
"Yes, I believe you're right, Susan!" Ian said with a smile.
"A formula?" Odie asked confused, unfamiliar with the term. Ian looked up at her for a second, before realizing who was asking, and he smiled.
"A sort of recipe for chemical solutions. Imagine your mother wrote you a recipe for her best dish, and then transfer that idea to someone writing down how to make a certain brand of medicine, or poison," he explained, and Odie nodded then. That made some sort of weird sense, though the idea of her mom making poison made Odie terrified.
"Do you think it's the formula for the insecticide, Doctor?" Barbara asked curiously, making the old man nodded thoughtfully.
"Perhaps," he speculated.
"Well, if it is, it can tell us what we're fighting against; we might even find a cure!"
"A cure? What's the good of that?" Ian asked with a chuckle in his voice.
"I don't know," Barbara said, resigned, and Odie furrowed her brow. What was wrong with Barbara?
"Well, neither do I."
"Besides, this insecticide kills instantly, right? There's no cure for death," Odie asked, and the Doctor put an arm around her, making her look at him.
"Well, a cure might not be for the beings infected with the insecticide, but rather for the land that has been contaminated by it," he pointed out, and Odie nodded thoughtfully.
"I think the best cause for action is to stop the people here from using it."
"Ian's right, Barbara. You only need a cure if someone was infected. What we need to do, is stop it from being produced."
"Yes, all right," Barbara replied in a frustrated manner, and Odie gazed at her, suspiciously.
"Well, I think we should take a closer look at this oversized document. The more we know about the enemy, the better," the Doctor agreed, patting Barbara's arm to appease her, as he joined Ian at the notebook. The younger man made a quick survey of the notebook he was standing on, and he pointed to a particular area.
"Well, those things up there are definitely molecular structures"
"Yes, you're quite right, my boy," the Doctor agreed.
"Mole-" Odie began, but when the Doctor turned around, more than eager to start an explanation, Odie threw her hands into the air. "No! Never mind, I quit! I'll leave you science-y folks to figure this out, meanwhile, I'll just wander around!"
"Remind me to start you on basic education once we return to the ship, Odie," the Doctor said sternly, obviously very cross at not having his chance to explain the wonders of molecular structures to his young friend. Odie puffed up her cheeks.
"I have basic education! I can read and write and everything," she argued.
"Yes, you might have basic education by the standard in the 1940's, but as you have experienced, the education of African-American citizens, such as yourself, was not prioritized at the time," the Doctor pointed out, making Odie blink.
"You're right it wasn't. I still remember how shocked I was in Arkhaven, when I saw no difference in how the black and whites were treated," she speculated, thinking back to that wondrous place. She wondered how their old friends were.
"That's a bit in the future, I think. Even in 1963 there's still quite a bit of prejudice concerning Africans," Ian admitted. The common misconception in his time, was that black people were incapable of intellectual prosperity. A misconception he had to admit he had shared for a time. But after meeting Odie, it was clearer to him than ever, that the only reason there were no black professors, was the fact that the black were given no honest chance to study properly. Even if Odie didn't know even half as much about science and history as the rest of the group did, she was a quick learner, and very imaginative. Some of their explanations, which could have seemed preposterous to some people, Odie quickly accepted and incorporated into her view of the world.
"But Odie, you might be able to help me!" the Doctor said with a smirk. Odie pounced on the bait in a second.
"I can? With what?"
"You can read, right? It's difficult to view this document as a whole, and it's much too heavy for us to lift. Could you hand me the notebook, Susan?" he asked, and his granddaughter handed him the notebook from her pocket, as he smiled at Odie's curious face. "We shall have to make a map, see? Chesterton, I need you to make sections with your feet. Girls, you must read out what is written on the page in a line down from Chesterton."
"Yes, yes, this is the insecticide, quite clearly!" the Doctor said with a firm nod. "It's a bit rough, of course, but it tells us the story." The two men sat together around the notebook.
"Hmm... I'm not very well up in this, Doctor, but isn't that phosphoric acid?" Ian asked, and Odie smiled at the sight. It seemed as if Ian had become the student for the moment, with the Doctor being the teacher testing the student's knowledge.
"And this indicates the amount of organic esters," he said, pointing to the paper.
"Yes. And this is mineral nitrate, and... That's about as far as I go, I'm afraid," Ian admitted with a laugh.
"My dear boy, this formula is quite clear, look; We've one vital difference from normal insecticide. The creator has made the insecticide everlasting," the Doctor announced with a grave look on his face. Everyone knew that was bad news.
"But that would make it seep into the ground," Susan said with a desperate look on her face.
"And get into the drinking water," Ian continued.
"What about human beings?" Barbara asked, leaning forward. The Doctor looked back down at the formula.
"Well, given in sufficient quantities, of course it's capable of killing human beings," he admitted.
"Yes, if they drink and eat infected food and water," she speculated out loud, and the Doctor shook his head.
"Yes, or even get into contact with it."
"Penetrating the skin to get into the bloodstream," Ian explained. Barbara reaction was forceful.
"Then why do we go on just sitting here!?"
"Now now, my dear, gently, gently," the Doctor chanted, patting the woman's arm.
"I'm sorry..."
"Barbara, are you all right?" Odie asked cautiously, looking at the woman. Barbara smiled up at Odie, apologizing for her behavior.
"Yes, I, I feel a bit giddy. I think I must be hungry," she speculated.
"Yes, there's another point to consider, dear boy; Eating! We can't, even if we do find food here," the Doctor pointed out, and Odie groaned. She felt like she hadn't eaten for days.
"Yes, well the less we talk about food the more I'll like it," Ian agreed.
"We can go back to the sink, of course, the water in the tap is quite safe," the Doctor continued.
"Well, there's no need for all of us to go. I'll go and fetch some," Ian volunteered, but the Doctor stood up as well.
"Ah, but I want to go into that direction!" he maintained. "You see, there might be something over there that might be the solution to all this business."
"And what's that?" Barbara asked curiously, as the others stood up as well. If the Doctor was going, so were they.
"A telephone, my dear," the Doctor said with a wide grin. "Hm?"
"Well, come on then, let's go."
As the group approached the telephone, Odie was once again astounded by the size of things.
"It's huge!" she said, looking up at the building-sized object. Susan laughed at her.
"We're smaller, remember," she pointed out, and Odie made a face at the correction.
"Yes yes, but still!" She turned around to argue with the younger girl, and then smiled at the sight that met her. "Do you need help with that cork?"
"No, we're all right," Barbara said with a smile, as she and Susan carried a cork between them.
"Hmm, it's climbable," they heard Ian speculate from a bit ahead, as he looked at the phone cord all bundled up next to the phone.
"Yes, the thing is, my boy, how heavy is that receiver?" the old man answered, pointing to the phone.
"Grandfather?" Susan called. "I think I've got just the thing, look, we'll push this underneath the receiver," she said, putting down the cork in front of the others. Barbara breathed out.
"Yes, there, there are lots more just over there," she said, pointing in the general direction of the other corks in the distance. Ian's face was drawn to worried lines, as he approached Barbara.
"Hey," he said kindly, "are you all right?"
"Yes, I-I'm fine, I told you, I haven't eaten for ages, that's what it must be," Barbara avoided the worry, with a small smile. "Don't make a fuss!"
"Well Odie, you and I will do the climbing, eh?" Ian said, returning to the matter at hand, and Odie grinned widely at the prospect of some exercise.
"Of course," she exclaimed joyfully, as she began scaling the cord. Ian lifted the cork and handed it to the Doctor.
"Doctor, pass this up to Odie, and she can then pass it up to me," he asked, and the Doctor nodded.
"Very well."
"All right, I'll get started."
"You're slow, Ian," Odie teased, already having reached the middle of the cord, and as Ian passed, he pulled a bit on her ear.
"The cheek on you, honestly," he pointed out, making Odie chuckle as Ian continued onwards.
"Barbara, Susan, would you mind bringing me another one of these, please?" the Doctor asked, as he began lifting the cork to Odie.
"I've got it," Odie said as she attempted to grab onto the cork.
"You've got it?"
"Yeah," she affirmed, as she turned around. It was ridiculous - she remembered how light a cork was in her normal form, and now, it was like lifting a small child. She supported the cork with her knee, pushing it towards the young man. "Here you go, Ian."
They fought with the cork for a while, until it was securely up.
"All right, you'd better all come up now!" Ian called, and Odie nodded.
"Coming!" She turned around, to go down a bit, as she leaned towards the rest of the group. "Everyone, Ian needs our help," she beckoned, as she swiftly scaled the cord once more. The Doctor looked after her.
"We're coming up in a minute," he called, as he envied her athletic skills. His rheumatic knees were quite a problem at most times. A minute was a correct estimation, Odie would discover, as the Doctor arrived at the right end of the receiver.
"Do you think the four of us can manage?" he asked, and Ian furrowed his brow.
"Why?"
"I don't think Barbara is quite up to it," the old man admitted, and Ian nodded hesitantly.
"Oh, all right, we can try-" he began, but Barbara soon arrived behind the Doctor.
"It's all right! I'm here," she said with a tired smile, worrying Odie. Was it really just hunger? Sure, she was hungry herself, but surely it hadn't been that long since they ate?
"Ah, good," Ian greeted, turning to Susan. "Now, listen, Susan, we're going to try and lift this end. Now you, when we get it lifted up, push this cork underneath," he instructed, and Susan nodded.
"All right."
"Are you ready?" he asked the rest of the group, who unanimously agreed. "Right. Now, lift!" Odie and the others pushed their shoulders up against the receiver, and they all felt the receiver slowly, but surely, move with their struggle. Odie, who had squeezed her eyes shut, opened them the tiniest bit to see Susan succeed pushing in the cork. They all had a minor collapse, with the success of their work.
"Oh, it worked!" Susan said happily, and Ian nodded.
"Now for the other end." The group sluggishly moved to the other end of the receiver, none of them feeling particularly up to the task of lifting the other end, but it had to be done. "There we are! Same thing, Susan."
"Right."
"Steady now. Lift!" Another few moments of struggling was necessary, but at long last, the corks were in place, and Odie smiled happily. About time!
"We did it!" they all agreed happily.
"What's the plan now?" Odie asked, and the Doctor nodded.
"Now, we try to get in contact with the operator on the other end."
"Didn't you say we were speaking on the wrong frequency, or something?" Odie asked, and the Doctor nodded.
"Well, yes, but we should give it a try, shouldn't we?" Odie nodded, giving in, as she joined the rest of the group at the speaking end of the receiver. Barbara, who didn't feel well, was given the job of sitting by the hearing end of the receiver.
"Can. You. Hear. Us?" the group called in unison. A low growl replied. "Put. Us. Through. To. Police!"
"Any luck?" Ian asked, turning to Barbara.
"No. No, nothing at all."
"We can't have failed after trying so hard," Ian complained, and Odie sighed, sitting down with her back resting against the receiver handle.
"Yes, well, I'm afraid that we have, and it's my fault; I thought it would work trying," the Doctor admitted with a defeated attitude, and Ian reacted by becoming stubborn.
"Well, we must try again!
"Ian, I don't think it'll do any good," Susan pointed out, and Odie was inclined to agree with her, but Ian was adamant.
"Well, we must try! I'll go and tell Barbara."
"Yes, all right," Odie said, not liking being defeated herself, and she stood up, ready to take on the job with her head held high. "I'm worried about Barbara. She seems so out of it," she admitted to the others, and Susan nodded quickly.
"I agree. Let's go check on her."
"No, you mustn't touch it!" The three jumped at this yell, Susan widened her eyes.
"Barbara?" The group hastily ran to the other end of the receiver, arriving to see Barbara doubling over on the ground.
"No one must... Touch..."
"Barbara!" They all sat by Barbara, and Odie, who had been about to lean down towards the unconscious woman, stopped in her tracks. A sweet smell...
"Doctor, look at her hand!" she announced, causing the Doctor to focus. He pulled out a pen from his pocket, lifting out the handkerchief clutched in Barbara's fist. Catching on rather quickly, he sniffed the white cloth.
"There, it's the same aroma," the Doctor said, causing the other two to join in on the sniffing. "It's the insecticide! You didn't eat or drink anything?" he asked Ian with a stern look on his face, causing Ian to quickly shake his head.
"Well no, certainly not!"
"She's got insecticide on her hands, she touched it," the Doctor pointed out, and Ian looked down at Barbara.
"Well, she never told me!" he defended himself. "I never saw her do this! But she did borrow my handkerchief," he realized.
"Where were you then?"
"By that pile of seeds," he said, the reality of what had happened dawning on the entire group.
"Yes, you see, she's got it on her hands," the Doctor explained, showing the handkerchief to the group. They could all see the sticky substance on it. "And she rubbed it off on your handkerchief."
"Oh, why didn't she tell us?" Ian asked, clearly frustrated.
"She must've not wanted to worry us. Silly Barbara," Odie said with a sigh. It was so typical Barbara to worry about something like that. "You can help her, right Doctor?"
"Grandfather, we can do something, can't we?" At the pressure from the two girls, the Doctor got comfortable on the ground, obviously starting to think. Odie could practically see the cogs in his complicated mind turning.
"She's waking up!" They all looked at Barbara who, sure enough, had opened her eyes, and looked about her rather confused.
"What happened? Did I-"
"You fainted, that's all," Susan explained.
"The insecticide... Is that why I feel like this?"
"Yes, you've got some of it on your hands, and you didn't tell us anything about it. That was very wrong of you, wasn't it?" the Doctor asked with yet another stern look. He was really good at making those, Odie realized.
"Am I- Am I-" Barbara tried, and Odie was thankful he couldn't say the word. She didn't want to think about the possibility of Barbara dying.
"No, no, this attack you experienced is only temporary," the Doctor quickly countered. Susan smiled, as she and Odie helped Barbara up.
"Here, let's get you up from there. Sit here," she said, positioning her against the receiver handle closest to them.
"Thank you." Barbara looked at the worried faces turned towards her, and she smiled hesitantly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything," she apologized, making Susan smile.
"You didn't want to worry us, we understand," she quickly comforted Barbara, but Odie sat down, arms crossed over her chest.
"Yes, but I still wish you had. We would've gotten you out of here sooner, or gotten the Doctor to look for an antidote," she pointed out, attempting to mimic the stern look the Doctor had made, but when Barbara chuckled slightly, she assumed it didn't work.
"I'm sorry."
"Hey there," Ian said, as he joined the girls, an affectionate look on his face. "How are you feeling?"
"Oh, a bit groggy. Could do with a glass of water," she admitted. The others smiled a bit wider at this. It was such a normal want at this absurd time.
"We're going to take you back to the ship," Ian announced
"All right, just give me a minute," Barbara asked, and Ian shook his head, patting the woman's leg.
"Come on, Barbara. We've got a long way to go," he said, standing up, as the two girls got closer to Barbara, helping her to her feet. As Barbara assured the girls she could walk on her own, Ian and the Doctor joined them.
"Come on, Barbara," Ian said, making a move towards the power cord to get down.
"Wait!"
"Hm?" They all stopped moving, when Barbara called at them. She suddenly had a desperate look on her face.
"What about the insecticide?" she asked, and Ian groaned.
"Barbara, we don't have time to worry about that," he reprimanded, as he walked to her again, but Odie recognized the look Barbara had on her face. It was a stubborn one.
"We need to do something!"
"Barbara, you're ill! Let us take you back to the ship," Ian begged, but the look didn't change. "You could die! Doctor, make her see some sense!" The Doctor jumped a bit when the responsibility was passed to him, but in the end, he had to sigh and shake his head.
"There's nothing I can say, dear boy, Barbara's quite right!" Ian turned to the girls for help now.
"Susan! Odie!" Susan walked away, tears in her eyes, as Odie shook her head. The defeat was clear on ian's face, as he turned around.
"Ian, we must find a way to stop them. We must!" Barbara attempted to make him see reason, as Odie walked to the Doctor.
"Do you have a plan, Doctor?" she asked, stopping next to the old man.
"I'm not quite sure. We need to gain someone's attention," he wondered out loud, and Odie rolled her eyes.
"Well, that shouldn't be too hard. We always get others' attention someway or another," she pointed out with little enthusiasm. If it wasn't by stumbling into a warzone, it was by being at the wrong place at the wrong time, or simply looking at people the wrong way.
"Yes! That's it! We'll cause trouble," the Doctor said happily. "Start a fire!" Odie felt an inexplicable enthusiasm at this prospect, one that Red would've said was entirely unhealthy.
"Yes! That's a new one! We've never started a fire before," she said gleefully, as the two were now joined by the rest of the group, as Ian had apparently caved in to Barbara's pleas.
"Can we start a big enough one to do any real damage?" Barbara asked skeptically. The Doctor smiled widely, almost chuckling in expectation.
"Well, we can try, anyway. There's nothing like a good fire, is there?"
"You're starting to scare me, Doctor," Odie teased, making the Doctor laugh, and offer her his arm.
"Oh, nonsense, my dear girl, nonsense! Come along," he said, pulling along his young friend in a direction, in which he was quite certain he had seen a burner.
"What do you think, Barbara?" Ian asked his colleague, and she slowly nodded.
"I think it's a good idea. If we could manage to start a fire, it would certainly attract people here."
"Yes! They'd find that man's body!" Susan exclaimed with an equal excitement to her grandfather's.
"But how do we do it? It won't exactly be the easiest task in our current state to light a match or anything," Ian said, as the three began to follow the Doctor and Odie, who were already a significant distance away.
"Hmm..."
"Yes! That's it!" Ian exclaimed with delight, as the entire group came to a halt
"What?" Susan asked confused.
"If we could only turn it on," he thought out loud, and Odie looked at the Doctor with a raised eyebrow. He seemed to be thinking just as hard as Ian.
"Well, then what?"
"I'll soon show you," Ian answered Susan with a smile, before Odie perked up at the familiar sound.
"Someone's coming!" she called. The others looked around in surprise, as the Doctor
"Quick, behind this water tap!" Ian called, pulling the others into safety. They all pushed themselves against the tap as much as they could, Ian making sure to hold the girls safely behind him. They heard a long series of grumbles, and then a series of tones that sounded like the bells of a church tower. Odie realized that it was the phone ringing. A brief conversation went on, before the people left the room again.
"They've gone," she told the others, as she heard the, at this point, unmistakable sound of the door closing.
"What happened?" Susan asked, and Odie leaned out, sighing as she saw the two corks on the table.
"Well, they found out about our trick with the phone," she relayed, but she was quickly hushed by Ian.
"Never mind that! Help get this burner turned on," he said as he sprang towards the burner. The group followed, not entirely sure what Ian had in mind.
"What?" the Doctor asked indignantly, and Ian shook his head.
"Just do it!"
"Oh, all right," the Doctor said with a sigh, as the others walked to the burner. When he did get there, he squealed in glee, surprising the others.
"What's wrong, Doctor?" Barbara asked, but the Doctor didn't answer, he simply pointed in front of him. Barbara and Susan's faces lit up in recognition as well, but Odie was still confused.
"What's so special about that canister?"
"You'll see, you'll see," the Doctor said delighted, as he looked up at the handle to the burner. "Barbara, you just stand back, we'll take care of it," he told the tired woman, who nodded, and backed away a bit. The other three latched onto the tap, pulling it down to them... Or attempting to. Odie didn't feel like it budged at all, despite her best effort.
"Oh, I think it's moving a bit," Susan announced from behind Odie, and Odie pulled harder.
"Yes, it's coming!" the Doctor announced, and now even Odie could feel the tap giving in. She felt victorious. Finally, with a big 'click' the tap was all the way down, and Odie could smell the unmistakable smell of gas. "Susan, tell Chesterton we're ready!"
"All right." Susan charged off, as the Doctor pulled Barbara and Odie with him, to move the canister a little bit. If Odie had thought the tap on the burner was difficult to move, the canister was bloody impossible. But after a few minutes of fighting, the Doctor was satisfied.
"There, I think we're at about the right angle."
"So the flame from the burner will burn through the canister, and set it on fire?" Barbara asked curiously, as Odie breathed heavily. She liked exercise, no doubt, but this was getting ridiculous.
"Oh no, I've had a good look at this. It's pressurized, it's a spray kind. Our biggest problem will be, to get far enough away before it explodes."
"Explodes!?" Odie almost choked on her own saliva as she spluttered the word, and the Doctor chuckled.
"Yes, it is going to explode, and when it does it's going to go off to us like an, uhm, like a thousand pound bomb!" he said happily. The Doctor is having too much fun with this, Odie thought to herself. The group then saw that Susan and Ian were trying to light the match.
"Heave-ho!" "One more time!" "Heave-ho!" The group, who had now walked to the burner, ready for the next part of the plan, smiled at their efforts, and the Doctor shook his head.
"No no no, my boy, you must keep it at a sharper angle," he explained. "More force, more fib, hm?"
"Doctor, have you ever tried to lift one of these things?" Ian asked with a hopeless look on his face, and he turned his eyes on Odie, who sighed deeply. Oh, wonderful! "Odie, would you mind terribly?"
"No, I'm coming now." She didn't think Ian would take no for an answer anyway. She took ahold of the match behind Susan, nodding as Susan looked back at her.
"Ready?" Ian asked. "Charge!" Odie ran as along with the others, and maybe she was all the extra effort it took, because the match lit up like a bonfire.
"It worked!"
"Yes! Now, let's light the tap, eh?" Ian asked with a grin, as the three began marching towards the lit gasburner. Ian looked at it through a scientist's eyes, and then shook his head.
"Turn it down a bit! You don't want us burned alive!" he pointed out. Odie herself would prefer not to be roasted either. "And Doctor, Barbara! Get behind that tab! Get behind, that's it! Ready girls? Take it easy, very easy," he chanted, as they edged closer to the flowing gas, with the lit match held as far away as possible. A few seconds passed like this, and then there was fire.
"It's on!"
"Run! To the sink!" Ian said, as they all abandoned the match, and they all sought to the sink. "Behind the water tap, quickly," he ordered, as Barbara and the Doctor joined them, and they all sought shelter once more. That water tap had never seen so much excitement in one day!
"How long, Doctor?" Odie asked curiously, resisting the temptation to look out from cover to see what was going to happen.
"Oh, it can't be long now," the Doctor chuckled, casting a brief glance at the canister, before retreating into cover.
"Take as much cover as you can," Ian ordered, perhaps sensing Odie's curiosity. "When that thing explodes, there'll be metal flying all over the place."
"It'll be just like that air-raid, grandfather, do you remember?" Susan asked with a nostalgic look in her eyes.
"Yes, very well. What infernal machines those zeppelins were!" the Doctor said with amusement on his features. Odie looked up when she heard the door open, and she felt a grim smile spread on her face. She hoped the metal hit that conniving murderer!
A statement she had to rethink when the canister finally did blow. The sound was deafening, and she saw giant pieces of metal zooming across the table from where she stood. Of course, they weren't giant to the murderer, but she imagined they still hurt quite a bit.
"It's worked, It's worked! Everyone, back to the ship!" the Doctor ordered, as they all made for the sink. "Chesterton, you and Odie help each other get Barbara down through the pipe, Susan crawl ahead to assist them. I'll go last."
"All right."
Odie had never been quite so happy to be back in the TARDIS. Not only couldn't she wait to return to her original size, but Barbara was getting worse for every second. Susan and Odie moved Barbara to the chair as soon as they entered, while the Doctor headed for the console.
"We've got to repeat exactly what happened to us when we landed," he muttered to himself, as Ian and Odie joined him by the console.
"Is there anything we can do, Doctor?" Ian asked, and the Doctor looked up, nodding.
"Yes, take that seed by the chair, and take it to that table, where we can all see it. And wrap this around it while you do it," he ordered, and while Ian seemed quite unhappy with his allotted work, he none-the-less did as the Doctor asked. Odie looked back to the pale woman in the chair, worry in her eyes.
"How is she, Susan?" she asked hesitantly, and Susan shook her head, tears threatening to escape her eyes.
"Getting worse. She doesn't even open her eyes anymore,"
"We're dematerializing," the Doctor announced, and despite her heavy heart, Odie felt her mood lift with the familiar humming beneath her feet. Ian returned to the Doctor's side, having placed the seed on the table as requested. And just as Odie thought nothing more could surprise her that day, she widened her eyes.
"Doctor!" Ian said, shaking the Doctor. "Doctor!"
"I think it's working," the Doctor said, looking up. The seed was hastily diminishing in size. "Yes! I think it's working, my boy!"
"Doctor, look at that seed!"
"Yes! Yes! We've done it!"
"Doctor, it's incredible! The seed, it's completely vanished," Odie said while jumping around the console, getting closer to the table to take a closer look, see if it was just a trick.
"No, dear Odie, no." The Doctor joined her by the table, seeming to pick something up. "Look, it hasn't vanished at all," he informed her, holding out his fingers. She could just barely see the small seed in between his fingers. Odie smiled greatly.
"It's back to its original size!"
"Barbara?" they heard Susan ask, and they all looked back towards the sick woman. Odie smiled as she saw Barbara's eyes open.
"I'm so thirsty," she complained, and Susan laughed shakily, picking up the glass of water she had fetched earlier.
"Here you are, drink that!" she offered, giving the glass to Barbara, who eagerly downed the whole thing. A big, silly smile spread on Barbara's face.
"Oh... I had no idea water could taste so good," she announced, as the entire group joined around the chair.
"You're back!" Susan said happily, hugging herself to Barbara. The Doctor seemed pleased as well, holding his hand to Barbara's forehead.
"Well well, there we are. The patient is beginning to look her usual self again," he commented, and Ian smiled, his eyes a tad misty, if Odie had to say so.
"Thank you, Doctor," he thanked the older man, who smiled, bowing at the gratitude.
"Not at all, dear boy, always at your service!"
"Doctor, what happened in the laboratory? I don't remember much after the explosion," Barbara asked, and Odie smiled.
"Well, I'm happy to say our plan worked. We didn't start a fire in the laboratory, but we did attract attention," the Doctor admitted, turning to face the others as well. "Do you know a policeman came into that room, just as I was about to climb down that pipe?"
"Good! Now what about us, can you get us back to normal?" Barbara asked, and Odie jumped a bit on the spot, having accepted the seed the Doctor gave to her.
"But Barbara, we are back to normal! See?" she asked, eagerly holding out her palm, sporting the tiny seed of wheat.
"Grandfather, is that the seed you brought in with you?" Susan asked in a shocked tone, staring at the small, white spot on Odie's palm.
"The very same," the Doctor agreed.
"Then we are back to normal!" Barbara said happily.
"Completely, my dear! Now, before I check to see where we are, I suggest you all go and have a good scrub, hm?" he asked. Odie had to agree, that sounded like a marvelous idea. She didn't think she'd ever get the stench of chemicals out of her hair!
"Yes," the others agreed as well, and the Doctor made a wave of his hand.
"Off you go!"
The others quickly exited the console room, eager to get some R&R done, but Odie stopped when she heard the Doctor's annoyed voice.
"Oh! Now look at it, I can't see a thing!" She smiled as she walked back into the console room, leaning against the doorway.
"Theta?" she asked loudly, causing the old man to turn around, blinking confused.
"Hm?" Odie noticed the problem when she looked around the console room, and she couldn't keep a little grin off her face when she saw the glitch image on the scanner's screen.
"Oh, the scanner still not working?" she asked, and the Doctor threw an agitated gesture towards the scanner, shaking his head.
"No, I shall have to repair it, wretched thing!" he said in annoyance, and Odie giggled quietly, walking to him.
"Well, you know what, Theta?" she asked, as she stopped next to her old friend. He threw her a brief glance, indicating he was waiting, and she smirked. "I don't think the TARDIS is going to mind being repaired once in a while."
Done we are! I was hoping to keep this chapter a bit short, so if it felt a bit rushed at times, then it's because it was, in fact, rushed xD As you know, there will be an interlude once more, before we move on to the Dalek Invasion of Earth. In this interlude, there will be ONE book to write about, and then a bit of downtime in the TARDIS. Look forward to it!