"Quick, this way!"
"What?"
"This way, no wait, through here. Come on!"
"What? Where? I still can't see!"
"Well I told you to close your eyes."
"I did!!"
It was hard to hear through the sirens. In fact, with the wall of sound and the leftover blindness from the flash-powder explosion, it was almost impossible to think. That, and exhaustion was setting in, at least for Sarah. Not everyone has the stamina to be kidnapped, dragged through space and time by a madman who went back and forth between laughter and shuddering tears, held prisoner by a pack of aliens who enjoyed terrifying people and making them feel small, and then follow it all up with a marathon..they'd been running for hours! Well, at least an hour. Actually it had only been a few minutes, but it was just about her limit.
Pulling his friend along by the hand, the Doctor turned a corner and rushed down a series of corridors where the sirens were blessedly muffled. The return of hearing and, gradually, sight didn't make Sarah feel any safer. Sooner or later someone would think to look closer than halfway around the planet, and then there'd be two prisoners instead of just one.
She should remind the Doctor about this. She planned to do just that. In a minute. Once she could actually breathe..
"Hold it!" The Doctor had stopped without warning; Sarah almost had the wind knocked out of her when she ran into his arm. "This is the place! Where.." He looked wildly in all directions while Sarah struggled to catch her breath. "It has to be here!" The Doctor pounded the wall in frustration..
..except it only looked like that was what he was doing. The thumps had an odd cadence, all of them in a rough circle at a level with the Doctor's head. After a moment he paused, then pressed his palm flat on the wall and slid his hand clockwise.
Just when Sarah expected a secret door to open it..didn't. Before she could ask what was going on, the Doctor had taken her by the shoulders and turned her to face away from him.
"This will be a little difficult with two people," he muttered. "Lock-step with me now and look straight ahead. Right foot first: right, left, right, left, step sideways here.."
Sarah had traveled with the Doctor enough to be almost sure he hadn't lost his mind.
"..sideways again, right, left.."
Hands still on her shoulders, the Doctor steered them through what felt like the steps of a dance.
"Left here, step, now right. Back up just a little. All right now, walk!"
Sarah marched down the hallway, the Doctor close behind. Whatever secret code the Doctor had used in all that had an interesting effect: nothing. The hallway hadn't changed. Behind her, Sarah heard the Doctor say in a pleased tone, "Just the way I remember it."
"Doctor," She didn't dare to turn her head, and had to talk at him sideways. "They're still after us."
"It's all right, Sarah," he said, strolling along beside her, utterly unconcerned.
"But they're coming this way!" She halted, listening hard. "I think."
"No no, don't stop." Taking her by the arm, he pulled her along at a slow walk. "They can't see us, so long as we keep moving. We're in a Pause."
"What?" They reentered the main corridor, where the siren had been at its loudest. Now the alarm was oddly muffled, the piercing notes gone and the rest..dimmer. Stretched.
"A Pause, a variation of the TARDIS's transdimentional bridge. We're sort of off to one side of the time flow." His voice took on a note of pride. "It's something I put together in my Academy days. I would have liked to make it so one could actually hold still without becoming visible, but that would have involved creating a temporary link to the Vortex without a TARDIS, while superimposing the link onto the physical plane, all of which would be.." He had to search for the right word. "..tricky."
Ahead of them, a troop of soldiers came charging into view. Instead of people though, it swirled along the hallway as a wash of color and shifting forms. What had been a frantic babble of shouted commands was now a confused thrumming sound, something like voices heard from underwater.
"If we were to stop walking they'd be able to see where we are. In a vague sort of way." The Doctor continued his explanation as the flow of guards went around, and through, wisps of color breaking off and drifting like smoke. "As it is they won't be able to see or hear us, even when we talk." He looked down at Sarah and added dryly, "Or breathe."
Sarah blew out the breath she'd been holding. Looking over her shoulder, she watched the blurred images rush past, seem to flow up a wall as they rounded a corner, and disappear. "How many other people know about this?"
"None actually." He stared down at his feet, then said wistfully, "I would have liked to show this off, especially to certain Time Lord professors who insisted the mathematics needed to make it didn't exist." The idea made him grin. "But I couldn't risk it. They never would have let this stay, and I had to have it. I needed a place like this, someplace to disappear to when the Academy became too dreary. It was mine, my own section of the Tower, set at an angle in time. Never was able to duplicate the effect anywhere else." A sideways glance. "You're the only person I've ever brought here."
Sarah was watching the lamps as they pulsed slightly, their light settling to the ground like mist. "Mm," she said, not really paying attention.
"What?"
"This way, no wait, through here. Come on!"
"What? Where? I still can't see!"
"Well I told you to close your eyes."
"I did!!"
It was hard to hear through the sirens. In fact, with the wall of sound and the leftover blindness from the flash-powder explosion, it was almost impossible to think. That, and exhaustion was setting in, at least for Sarah. Not everyone has the stamina to be kidnapped, dragged through space and time by a madman who went back and forth between laughter and shuddering tears, held prisoner by a pack of aliens who enjoyed terrifying people and making them feel small, and then follow it all up with a marathon..they'd been running for hours! Well, at least an hour. Actually it had only been a few minutes, but it was just about her limit.
Pulling his friend along by the hand, the Doctor turned a corner and rushed down a series of corridors where the sirens were blessedly muffled. The return of hearing and, gradually, sight didn't make Sarah feel any safer. Sooner or later someone would think to look closer than halfway around the planet, and then there'd be two prisoners instead of just one.
She should remind the Doctor about this. She planned to do just that. In a minute. Once she could actually breathe..
"Hold it!" The Doctor had stopped without warning; Sarah almost had the wind knocked out of her when she ran into his arm. "This is the place! Where.." He looked wildly in all directions while Sarah struggled to catch her breath. "It has to be here!" The Doctor pounded the wall in frustration..
..except it only looked like that was what he was doing. The thumps had an odd cadence, all of them in a rough circle at a level with the Doctor's head. After a moment he paused, then pressed his palm flat on the wall and slid his hand clockwise.
Just when Sarah expected a secret door to open it..didn't. Before she could ask what was going on, the Doctor had taken her by the shoulders and turned her to face away from him.
"This will be a little difficult with two people," he muttered. "Lock-step with me now and look straight ahead. Right foot first: right, left, right, left, step sideways here.."
Sarah had traveled with the Doctor enough to be almost sure he hadn't lost his mind.
"..sideways again, right, left.."
Hands still on her shoulders, the Doctor steered them through what felt like the steps of a dance.
"Left here, step, now right. Back up just a little. All right now, walk!"
Sarah marched down the hallway, the Doctor close behind. Whatever secret code the Doctor had used in all that had an interesting effect: nothing. The hallway hadn't changed. Behind her, Sarah heard the Doctor say in a pleased tone, "Just the way I remember it."
"Doctor," She didn't dare to turn her head, and had to talk at him sideways. "They're still after us."
"It's all right, Sarah," he said, strolling along beside her, utterly unconcerned.
"But they're coming this way!" She halted, listening hard. "I think."
"No no, don't stop." Taking her by the arm, he pulled her along at a slow walk. "They can't see us, so long as we keep moving. We're in a Pause."
"What?" They reentered the main corridor, where the siren had been at its loudest. Now the alarm was oddly muffled, the piercing notes gone and the rest..dimmer. Stretched.
"A Pause, a variation of the TARDIS's transdimentional bridge. We're sort of off to one side of the time flow." His voice took on a note of pride. "It's something I put together in my Academy days. I would have liked to make it so one could actually hold still without becoming visible, but that would have involved creating a temporary link to the Vortex without a TARDIS, while superimposing the link onto the physical plane, all of which would be.." He had to search for the right word. "..tricky."
Ahead of them, a troop of soldiers came charging into view. Instead of people though, it swirled along the hallway as a wash of color and shifting forms. What had been a frantic babble of shouted commands was now a confused thrumming sound, something like voices heard from underwater.
"If we were to stop walking they'd be able to see where we are. In a vague sort of way." The Doctor continued his explanation as the flow of guards went around, and through, wisps of color breaking off and drifting like smoke. "As it is they won't be able to see or hear us, even when we talk." He looked down at Sarah and added dryly, "Or breathe."
Sarah blew out the breath she'd been holding. Looking over her shoulder, she watched the blurred images rush past, seem to flow up a wall as they rounded a corner, and disappear. "How many other people know about this?"
"None actually." He stared down at his feet, then said wistfully, "I would have liked to show this off, especially to certain Time Lord professors who insisted the mathematics needed to make it didn't exist." The idea made him grin. "But I couldn't risk it. They never would have let this stay, and I had to have it. I needed a place like this, someplace to disappear to when the Academy became too dreary. It was mine, my own section of the Tower, set at an angle in time. Never was able to duplicate the effect anywhere else." A sideways glance. "You're the only person I've ever brought here."
Sarah was watching the lamps as they pulsed slightly, their light settling to the ground like mist. "Mm," she said, not really paying attention.
