AUTHOR'S NOTE: Grant Markham is the creation of Steve Lyons and was introduced as a companion in the Virgin Missing Adventure "Time of Your Life." (1995) He appeared again in, "Killing Ground." (1996) All you really need to know about him is he has a morbid fear of robots. If you have never seen him, he looks like a twenty-year old version of Harry Potter. Seriously.
CHAPTER 34
IN THE DARK
As soon as the TARDIS dematerialized, Grant vanished to be replaced by Peri. The Doctor groaned inwardly, dreading having to go through the explanation of the current situation yet again. He was saved the trouble when, upon rematerializing Grant reappeared completely unaware of the fact that he had disappeared at all.
"Well, that's encouraging—I think," the Time Lord muttered as he pulled the door lever. He cautiously peered out of the TARDIS before exiting, his companion close behind. They had materialized in an underground chamber that seemed to have been converted into a storage area. There were wooden desks pushed up along one wall with chairs stacked up on top of them.
"No one here to meet us," the Doctor observed in a surprised tone.
"You're sure this is the right place?" Grant asked quietly.
"No, but these are the coordinates Torr gave me."
l'X'el was at the door, nervously looking around the room. "What now?" he asked.
"I think Grant and I will have a little look round," the Doctor replied. "You wait here. If any of the Imperial Guard turn up before we return, you can give them the information in that box on the console. It's a copy of the scan Jason took of your genetic makeup." He nodded toward the open doors and the control room beyond.
"How will I know them?" l'X'el asked. "I didn't see any of the soldiers close up."
"Oh, you can't miss them," the Doctor said airily. "They're uniforms are blue with black and red flashes, and they usually act as if they own the place."
"Just like you, you mean?" Grant injected quietly.
The Time Lord gave him a dark look. "They also have a large gold insignia on the left side of their uniforms." He drew the Imperial seal in the dust. "Makes them rather difficult to miss."
Also like you, Grant thought, keeping this one to himself.
l'X'el gave a small smile, exchanging a nervous look with Grant. "I'd better get back to Kay," he said quickly, turning towards the door. "He may be waking up soon."
"Just remember," the Doctor called after him, "plenty of rest and no undue excitement. I know Jason seems a miracle worker, but he wasn't kidding when he said your brother wasn't completely out of danger yet. Brain surgery is nothing to trifle with."
"Yes, sir, I'll remember."
"Doctor," the Time Lord corrected pointedly.
"Sir?"
"Not sir, Doctor. I'm all for politeness, l'X'el, but please stop calling me sir. Makes me feel like I'm in the military."
"Yes, sir—er, Doctor," l'X'el replied before vanishing back into the TARDIS.
The Doctor sighed heavily. "Well, that's him sorted out." Looking around, he added, "Now, let's see if we can't find the Imperial Guard, shall we?"
"You're sure they're down here?" Grant inquired meekly, giving his surroundings a dubious look. He had been uncertain of everything since he dashed into the console room to find it full of strangers, the explanation having done nothing to ease his mind. If anything, it had only made matters worse.
The Doctor crossed to an archway, a small cry of triumph escaping him as soon as he stepped through it. "Well someone's been here. Take a look." His companion came over to join him and looked around in awe. The enormous room was filled from floor to ceiling with electronic equipment of all shapes and sizes.
"What a mess," Grant observed, stepping into the room. "Is this a stockpile or a junk pile?"
The Doctor took a cautious step toward the heaped equipment. It teetered and groaned and he immediately stepped back, fearing that it might collapse on top of him if he were to disturb its delicate balance. "Perhaps both. Spare parts, do you think?"
"I think we'll never get through that without a bulldozer," his companion pointed out.
"Agreed," the Doctor said as he led the way back into the other room. "Plan B."
"What's plan B?"
"We go the other way."
Jason was deposited outside the deserted nuclear site and waved as the hover car returned to the command center. There was no light showing anywhere within the building, which would have made continuing impossible had he been human. Pausing just long enough to change his eyes from human to the crystalline sensors of his true self, he strode through the main doors and began casually strolling through the building. From what SorRell said, he had expected to find the site stripped of all essential equipment, or completely gutted, but as he went deeper into the complex, it seemed much of the site was virtually untouched.
Entering what had once been a control room, Jason was relieved to see the site truly had been deactivated. He found only backup power available, possibly for the crews that had been dismantling the site. They must have been pulled off quite suddenly, he thought, to leave so much intact. Then he wondered if any fissionable material had been left. If the wrong person were to discover that, it could be utilized in a more destructive manner; like a nuclear explosive.
"Now that's a pleasant thought, Krystovan," Jason muttered darkly as he peered around a corner. "You're getting to be a real bundle of laughs in your old age." A sign on the far wall indicated the way to the main reactors and he decided to go in that direction, hoping he would find nothing at the end of his journey but a dead reactor with no core.
The Doctor and Grant were slowly making their way through the tunnel system. They had found a stone stairway that seemed to lead to the surface but discovered it had been blocked part way up. Continuing on, they followed one branch after another, sometimes coming to a dead end, other times having to decide which fork to take. In a rare moment of caution, the Doctor decided to be consistent and kept to the right fork whenever a choice had to be made. By the time they reached a second blocked stairway the Doctor had pulled a couple of torches from his pockets, the lights in the walls having started to flicker. Once or twice they had gone out altogether, which they had done only moments after they entered the tunnel they were currently in, the light from their torches throwing eerie shadows onto the walls and ceiling.
"I don't know if it's the dark playing tricks, Doctor, but they seem to just go on and on," Grant observed.
The Doctor gave a small grunt. "Deeper and deeper," he agreed.
"I don't think we should've come this far," his uneasy companion said finally. "How is anyone ever going to find us?"
"They may not have to. I think we've found the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Look." he announced, pointing on ahead. His companion looked in the direction indicated, seeing what he meant. The tunnel ended at a shaft that had a ladder affixed to the side, a dim light glowing beside it. The shaft went straight upward, vanishing into darkness.
"Looks like we climb again," Grant sighed. "At least it won't be blocked with rocks this time." He switched off his torch and stuck it in his back pocket before beginning his ascent.
The Doctor waited until he was several feet above him and was about to start up himself when he saw a set of switches on the wall. Calling to his companion to stop a moment, he tried them and was rewarded with a row of lights coming on all the way up the shaft.
Grant blinked against the sudden glare and then looked up, seeing just how far he had to go. "I think I liked it better when I couldn't see where I was going," he moaned before continuing the long climb.
By the time the two reached the top they were hot, sticky, thirsty, and completely exhausted. They sat for several minutes just catching their breath before looking around the room they had climbed in to. It was large and empty. It also had a metal door at the far end. "That looks promising," the Doctor remarked.
"That's what you said about the last stairwell we found," his companion pointed out as he slowly got to his feet.
"Yes…" the Doctor muttered. "Odd them all being blocked. And recently, too." He pulled the door open and stepped out onto a metal gantry that overlooked an enormous room filled with pipes going in all directions. The room was in almost total darkness, the only illumination coming from the sunlight that was streaming in the large multi-paneled windows set high in the walls. "Now I didn't expect this," he said quietly, his voice holding back none of his surprise.
"Any idea what this place might be? Or rather, what it was?"
"Not in this light. It has a familiar feel to it, though. It'll take a bit to place it in my mind. I do get around, you know." Looking around, the Doctor saw a metal stairway further on ahead and slowly moved towards it. "Watch your step, Grant," he said as he started downwards.
Grant felt like he was back in the tunnels, the darkness at the bottom of the stairs seeming to envelope them. He gave way to an involuntary shudder, the looming pipes looking like the arms of an enormous metal monster. He closed his eyes tightly and turned away, trying very hard to push the thought from his mind that they had emerged into the domain of a giant killer robot. "I'm almost afraid to wonder why a bunch of poorly lit tunnels would lead into an abandoned building," he said finally.
There was a noise further on ahead and the Doctor stopped short, switching off his torch. "Possibly because it isn't abandoned," he whispered, backing up slowly. "Back to the stairs." They turned around just as two doors in what they had thought was a blank wall opened, one ahead and one behind. Light poured through the openings along with several rather rough looking and heavily armed individuals who were dressed in a vaguely military style. They also had their weapons drawn. Since these were obviously not Imperial Guards, the Doctor felt certain they were Gres-Fa-Raayn mercenaries and threw a quick glance in his companion's direction before putting up his hands in surrender.
"Looks like we got ourselves some intruders," the apparently leader snorted.
The unresisting time travelers were searched for weapons; something Grant felt had been a little too enthusiastic in his case, he being a far less imposing figure than the Doctor.
Having seen this, the Doctor put a protective arm around his companion, steering him in front as they were ordered through the open doors. "Might I ask where you're taking us?" he inquired practically.
"You're going to see Mr. Buckley," said the leader. "He doesn't take kindly to strangers, Buckley doesn't. Says they get in the way of efficiency."
The Doctor and Grant exchanged a long-suffering look before continuing in silence.