Chapter 1
The TARDIS materialized on board the Zarbi battlecruiser.
"Certain about the atmosphere, Doctor?"
"There is adequate oxygen for life support, Nita. It is exactly as they left it.
In the bottle."
The girls looked at him blankly.
"The ship... Good Lord, didn't either of you build ships in bottles when you were children?"
"We couldn't afford toys," said Ace.
"I played with dolls," said Nita.
"Let's proceed."
The child in the man had taken over his face as his eyes shone with anticipation. The trio stepped out of the TARDIS. As they did, there was a notable, brief dip in the power of the external light, a brown out. None of the trio were overly alarmed.
"What's that?" asked Nita.
"Not sure," answered the Doctor.
The trio proceeded onto the darkened ancient warship bridge. They moved around a corner. It was eerily still and dark…Ace switched on a powerful torch.
"Extraordinary," remarked the Doctor. He wanted to see everything, looked around like a kid in a candy store. Something caught Ace's attention and she turned.
"Admirable," said Ace. "They died at their posts."
The Doctor and Nita looked at Ace's discovery – the skeletal remains of an ancient crewman still in his chair.
"Hmm. You'd expect the bridge layout of this era to be clumsy, awkward," said the Doctor. "But look at this. It's a model of simplicity. Elegant. Functional. They built this craft for generations, and it worked."
The Doctor set Nita to work patching in a small power pack. She took a few calculations, then turned it on. Dim emergency lighting came on. They continued their exploration. The sound of the electronic distress signal was coming closer as they worked their way down a corridor. Ace was recording images with a camera.
"The source of the distress signal is twenty metres ahead," said Nita.
"Ace, be sure we get images of their tactical display."
"Yes, Professor."
"Look here, Ace. How well laid out it is. Humans went through how many different designs before they reached this kind of sophistication?"
"I believe it was four, Doctor," said Nita, remember something she had read in the TARDIS library. "We don't have fully integrated tactical command until the twenty-third century. In fact, several of the Zarbi innovations serve as inspiration for early Earth starship design."
"As well they should," said the Doctor.
Moving along, they observed large ducts.
"Positron ducts," the Doctor identified. "These channelled power from one end of the ship to the other."
They entered a communications room. It was a room with several visual monitors as well as radio and electronic equipment. The signal beeped from a console where another skeleton had died. Ace scanned the room.
"It's safe to enter."
"Let's put an end to their last cry for help," said the Doctor.
Ace moved to a switch on the console where a light blinked and turned it off.
"Doctor…" began Nita.
Nita had found a device that may vaguely suggest a playback apparatus. She examined a round wire coil that was in playback position. "I believe this is an information storage device, a crude analogue of our own iso-linear optical chip."
"Crude by our standards on the TARDIS, Nita. When this ship was built, humans on Earth had just perfected the mechanical clock, and were using steel crossbows in battle." The Doctor examined it. "Is there any way to see what's on this?"
Nita looked it over. "Questionable. I can supply power to the playback unit, Doctor, but the components are quite old. I could try to amplify its image with your Sonic."
The Doctor handed Nita the Sonic Screwdriver and she went to work.
Nita had patched in the power. A monitor lit up and the wire coil began to turn. The picture was poor and the sound distorted, but the image of a Zarbi commander faded in. He began to speak…
"I am Salek Gar, Captain of the Zarbi cruiser Pleconji. I wish anyone who finds this
to know...my crew has behaved courageously. I want it recorded for all time that I alone am responsible for the fate that befell us. I have failed as a captain... ...and as the man responsible for all the souls aboard my ship."
"Indeed, sir. Girls, I think we have seen all there is here. Let's return to the TARDIS."
As the trio entered the TARDIS, the Doctor was still enthused. "Thrilling. That was... absolutely thrilling. And I was right. There were ghosts on board. One spoke to us."
"At least it was a friendly one," said Nita.
"The captain's final message, praising his crew," said the Doctor.
"I hope you'll be as thoughtful," Nita teased.
"Nita, would you please advise the Astral-Five annex of the Smithsonian…this should be catalogued and scheduled for retrieval."
He caught Ace smiling at him. "What?"
"It's just a rare pleasure to meet this side of your personality, Professor."
The Doctor grunted, he didn't like allowing his feelings to show. He walked over to the console. "Let's return to our original coordinates," he said gruffly.
There was a slight dip of energy and a flutter in the light panels. Everyone reacted by moving to look at the console readings.
"Doctor, we're experiencing a two percent drop in our energy reserves. Compensating." She pulled a lever.
An alarm went off on the panel in front of Ace, concerning her. "The readouts indicate we're being bombarded with a field of high intensity radiation."
There was another dip in energy. The Doctor and Nita exchange a curious look.
"Doctor, the energy loss in increasing to five percent. I can't correct it."
The Cloister Bell began to ring.
"Energy loss increasing," said Nita.
"I'll try dematerializing," said the Doctor. There was no response.
"I'll try to increase our speed." The engines were not responding.
"We need more power," said Nita. "Power loss is now at twelve percent."
"Mauve alert," said the Doctor, as a mauve alert sounded.
"Radiation intensity increasing," said Ace.
The Doctor closed his eyes as the TARDIS communicated with him telepathically. "We better slow these engines down before we burn out the reaction chamber.'
Nita looked to the Doctor who acknowledged the TARDIS, "slow to idle."
Warning lights continued to flash and the cloister bell continued to ring. The Doctor was faced with the image on the view screen of the dead battle cruiser.
"Is it possible…have we stumbled into the same snare that killed them? A thousand-year-old…booby trap?"