Read Online Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead by Peter Grimwade - Free Book Online
Authors: Peter Grimwade
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middle of the path. It was the strange feeling that he had been there before.
And indeed he had; not just that afternoon with Ibbotson, but six years ago. It was all coming back to him.
He had climbed the hill with Tegan in 1977. He remembered examining the Doctor’s homing device with which the girl was finding her way back to the TARDIS.
He remembered her sudden fear that the wounded man in the TARDIS might not be the Doctor after all. He tried to give an account of his conversation with Tegan as the young Australian rushed back to the obelisk to rejoin Nyssa and comfort the creature in the TARDIS.
The Doctor followed the Brigadier’s narrative as impatiently as if it was all happening in the present. ‘Tegan is absolutely right!’ shouted the Doctor. ‘I am not in the TARDIS!’
‘Then who is? Or do I mean was?’ The poor Brigadier was hopelessly confused.
‘You tell me!’ replied the Doctor, desperate for more news about the other time zone.
Nyssa stood outside the TARDIS looking down into the valley and willing Tegan to return with help. She turned to go back into the control room, reluctant to leave the Doctor on his own.
She entered through the double doors in time to see the injured man stagger to his feet. ‘Doctor, you’re better!’
He stumbled, and nearly collapsed on the floor again.
He grabbed at the side of the console for support, at the same time turning for a better view of the girl in the doorway.
His face had indeed begun to repair, but it was not that of the Doctor. Nyssa stood rooted to the spot.
‘Perpetual regeneration,’ the injured man muttered to himself, deliriously.
‘Regeneration?’ Was that what he was trying to say?
Regeneration! That would explain everything. Nyssa remembered Pharos and the terrible moment when the Doctor fell from the radio telescope. She remembered how, once before, they had comforted a Time Lord with the face of a stranger. ‘Doctor, you don’t mean it’s happening again?’
He groaned. ‘Life without end or form... changing...
changing...’
Nyssa had never seen the Doctor so wretched.
He tottered dizzily, and fell forward over the console.‘I shall regain strength soon,’ he stuttered.
Nyssa could see the wild, staring eyes desperately scanning the instruments.
‘My mind is clouded,’ he gasped. He focused on the girl.
‘You understand the navigation?’
‘Well, a bit,’ said Nyssa. ‘At the moment we’re still aligned with the ship,’ she added, trying to sound more positive.
‘Ah, that is well.’ It was as if he grew stronger. ‘Prepare to leave at once.’
‘We can’t leave without Tegan!’
‘At once!’ he screamed.
‘Doctor, you don’t know what your saying.’
But he was deaf to her pleading.
‘Tegan will be back soon.’
He was leaning over the console, struggling to breathe as Nyssa ran out through the double doors. He saw her leave from the corner of his eye. No matter – she would be back as soon as the Tegan person arrived, and then the TARDIS would be at his disposition.
How he relished the irony of it: he, Mawdryn, had been mistaken for this Doctor. Now, if the Doctor was the owner of the TARDIS he must be a Time Lord. Mawdryn reflected bitterly how it had been the Time Lords who abandoned him; condemned them all to eternal torment and despair. But now the ending would come.
He started to drag on the heavy red coat that Nyssa had brought with the blankets to keep him warm. He, Mawdryn, would be a Time Lord!
It was much safer, Nyssa decided, to wait for Tegan outside the TARDIS. The Doctor, in his half-regenerated state, was a frightening and unpredictable personality. If only Tegan would come back.
‘Nyssa!’
To her immense relief, Tegan came running from the trees. ‘Quickly!’ shouted Nyssa. ‘We’ve got to take off.’
‘Nyssa... that man in the TARDIS...’ She paused to get her breath back. ‘I don’t think he is the Doctor.’
‘But he is ! The transmat process
And indeed he had; not just that afternoon with Ibbotson, but six years ago. It was all coming back to him.
He had climbed the hill with Tegan in 1977. He remembered examining the Doctor’s homing device with which the girl was finding her way back to the TARDIS.
He remembered her sudden fear that the wounded man in the TARDIS might not be the Doctor after all. He tried to give an account of his conversation with Tegan as the young Australian rushed back to the obelisk to rejoin Nyssa and comfort the creature in the TARDIS.
The Doctor followed the Brigadier’s narrative as impatiently as if it was all happening in the present. ‘Tegan is absolutely right!’ shouted the Doctor. ‘I am not in the TARDIS!’
‘Then who is? Or do I mean was?’ The poor Brigadier was hopelessly confused.
‘You tell me!’ replied the Doctor, desperate for more news about the other time zone.
Nyssa stood outside the TARDIS looking down into the valley and willing Tegan to return with help. She turned to go back into the control room, reluctant to leave the Doctor on his own.
She entered through the double doors in time to see the injured man stagger to his feet. ‘Doctor, you’re better!’
He stumbled, and nearly collapsed on the floor again.
He grabbed at the side of the console for support, at the same time turning for a better view of the girl in the doorway.
His face had indeed begun to repair, but it was not that of the Doctor. Nyssa stood rooted to the spot.
‘Perpetual regeneration,’ the injured man muttered to himself, deliriously.
‘Regeneration?’ Was that what he was trying to say?
Regeneration! That would explain everything. Nyssa remembered Pharos and the terrible moment when the Doctor fell from the radio telescope. She remembered how, once before, they had comforted a Time Lord with the face of a stranger. ‘Doctor, you don’t mean it’s happening again?’
He groaned. ‘Life without end or form... changing...
changing...’
Nyssa had never seen the Doctor so wretched.
He tottered dizzily, and fell forward over the console.‘I shall regain strength soon,’ he stuttered.
Nyssa could see the wild, staring eyes desperately scanning the instruments.
‘My mind is clouded,’ he gasped. He focused on the girl.
‘You understand the navigation?’
‘Well, a bit,’ said Nyssa. ‘At the moment we’re still aligned with the ship,’ she added, trying to sound more positive.
‘Ah, that is well.’ It was as if he grew stronger. ‘Prepare to leave at once.’
‘We can’t leave without Tegan!’
‘At once!’ he screamed.
‘Doctor, you don’t know what your saying.’
But he was deaf to her pleading.
‘Tegan will be back soon.’
He was leaning over the console, struggling to breathe as Nyssa ran out through the double doors. He saw her leave from the corner of his eye. No matter – she would be back as soon as the Tegan person arrived, and then the TARDIS would be at his disposition.
How he relished the irony of it: he, Mawdryn, had been mistaken for this Doctor. Now, if the Doctor was the owner of the TARDIS he must be a Time Lord. Mawdryn reflected bitterly how it had been the Time Lords who abandoned him; condemned them all to eternal torment and despair. But now the ending would come.
He started to drag on the heavy red coat that Nyssa had brought with the blankets to keep him warm. He, Mawdryn, would be a Time Lord!
It was much safer, Nyssa decided, to wait for Tegan outside the TARDIS. The Doctor, in his half-regenerated state, was a frightening and unpredictable personality. If only Tegan would come back.
‘Nyssa!’
To her immense relief, Tegan came running from the trees. ‘Quickly!’ shouted Nyssa. ‘We’ve got to take off.’
‘Nyssa... that man in the TARDIS...’ She paused to get her breath back. ‘I don’t think he is the Doctor.’
‘But he is ! The transmat process
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