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vents of the volcano.’
There was a light ahead of them and in a few moments the Doctor and Turlough stepped from the narrow fissure into the cave which sheltered the other dissidents. The new arrivals, shading their eyes from the sudden glare of the torches, were instantly surrounded by the Sarns, like missionaries amongst a group of South Sea Islanders.
The excited Unbelievers first stared, then touched, and, as they lost their shyness, fired salvo after salvo of questions at their unexpected guests. The Doctor tried to explain to the awestruck Sarns that there were worlds beyond their known world, civilisations beyond the city of Sarn, a whole universe of other people .
There was a sense of exultation amongst the Unbelievers. Their doubts, their speculations, their intuition, their inchoate struggling towards the truth had been validated by the testimony of this Doctor. The stranger also shared their fears of the volcano, but not unfortunately their choice of hiding place.
‘When that volcano blows,’ said the Doctor, looking round the cave and wishing he had taken a more accurate reading of the TARDIS seismic scan, ‘molten lava will pour in here and burn you alive.’ There was consternation among the Sarns. ‘I have a ship...’ said the Doctor rather hesitantly, wondering how many more Sarns there were above ground who would need to be evacuated in the TARDIS. He needed Turlough’s help.
The Doctor’s companion, who had ignored the previous conversations, looked up from his examination of the machinery in the corner of the cave. ‘A seismic energy converter,’ said the boy. ‘For powering the city.’
The Doctor was very impressed. `Built by your people?’
Turlough nodded.
‘Very old,’ observed the Doctor, examining the controls.
‘Your fellow Trions have long since abandoned the city.’
Turlough said nothing.
Amyand turned to the Doctor. ‘This ship of yours...’
Turlough had not heard the Doctor’s tentative offer of transport and didn’t like the idea at all. ‘We can’t turn the TARDIS into an orbiting refugee camp,’ he whispered aggressively.
‘Oh, I see,’ said the Doctor angrily. ‘Trions we help, Sarns we abandon. Quite a little racialist at heart, aren’t you?’ He glared at the boy. As Tegan had never been slow to point out, Turlough could be a rather nasty piece of work.
Turlough groaned; the Doctor had entirely misunderstood hirn. But how could he explain to the Doctor that they must find his own people before the real holocaust began? ‘These are primitives, and we’ve nowhere to take them,’ he blundered on.
‘I suppose you prefer the final solution of the volcano!’
What was threatening to become the most serious argument the two of them had ever had was interrupted by the rattle of feet on the metal staircase from above. A young Sarn who had been keeping an eye on events in the city jumped the last four steps into the cave. ‘Timanov has left the city,’ he announced breathlessly. ‘They’re all crowding into the Flail of Fire. The Outsider is expected at any moment...’ He forgot what else he had to report as he caught sight of the two strangers.
There was much jeering from the Unbelievers at the idea of the old men going out on such a wild goose chase, but Amyand did not join in the laughter. He remembered how excited the Watchman had been when he arrived in the Hall of Fire. The man had obviously seen something.
He tried to remember the lookout’s words. ‘A shining light... The sound of a great wind...’
‘Sounds a bit like the TARDIS,’ said the Doctor obligingly.
‘The Watchman wasn’t lying,’ exclaimed Sorasta.
‘That old fox Timanov is going to have a hard time looking for the messenger of Logan’ Amyand laughed and pointed triumphantly at the Doctor. ‘Because we have the Outsider here!’
7
The Misos Triangle
The six Elders of Sarn trudged wearily along the ridgeway path like a procession of Desert Fathers. ‘I
There was a light ahead of them and in a few moments the Doctor and Turlough stepped from the narrow fissure into the cave which sheltered the other dissidents. The new arrivals, shading their eyes from the sudden glare of the torches, were instantly surrounded by the Sarns, like missionaries amongst a group of South Sea Islanders.
The excited Unbelievers first stared, then touched, and, as they lost their shyness, fired salvo after salvo of questions at their unexpected guests. The Doctor tried to explain to the awestruck Sarns that there were worlds beyond their known world, civilisations beyond the city of Sarn, a whole universe of other people .
There was a sense of exultation amongst the Unbelievers. Their doubts, their speculations, their intuition, their inchoate struggling towards the truth had been validated by the testimony of this Doctor. The stranger also shared their fears of the volcano, but not unfortunately their choice of hiding place.
‘When that volcano blows,’ said the Doctor, looking round the cave and wishing he had taken a more accurate reading of the TARDIS seismic scan, ‘molten lava will pour in here and burn you alive.’ There was consternation among the Sarns. ‘I have a ship...’ said the Doctor rather hesitantly, wondering how many more Sarns there were above ground who would need to be evacuated in the TARDIS. He needed Turlough’s help.
The Doctor’s companion, who had ignored the previous conversations, looked up from his examination of the machinery in the corner of the cave. ‘A seismic energy converter,’ said the boy. ‘For powering the city.’
The Doctor was very impressed. `Built by your people?’
Turlough nodded.
‘Very old,’ observed the Doctor, examining the controls.
‘Your fellow Trions have long since abandoned the city.’
Turlough said nothing.
Amyand turned to the Doctor. ‘This ship of yours...’
Turlough had not heard the Doctor’s tentative offer of transport and didn’t like the idea at all. ‘We can’t turn the TARDIS into an orbiting refugee camp,’ he whispered aggressively.
‘Oh, I see,’ said the Doctor angrily. ‘Trions we help, Sarns we abandon. Quite a little racialist at heart, aren’t you?’ He glared at the boy. As Tegan had never been slow to point out, Turlough could be a rather nasty piece of work.
Turlough groaned; the Doctor had entirely misunderstood hirn. But how could he explain to the Doctor that they must find his own people before the real holocaust began? ‘These are primitives, and we’ve nowhere to take them,’ he blundered on.
‘I suppose you prefer the final solution of the volcano!’
What was threatening to become the most serious argument the two of them had ever had was interrupted by the rattle of feet on the metal staircase from above. A young Sarn who had been keeping an eye on events in the city jumped the last four steps into the cave. ‘Timanov has left the city,’ he announced breathlessly. ‘They’re all crowding into the Flail of Fire. The Outsider is expected at any moment...’ He forgot what else he had to report as he caught sight of the two strangers.
There was much jeering from the Unbelievers at the idea of the old men going out on such a wild goose chase, but Amyand did not join in the laughter. He remembered how excited the Watchman had been when he arrived in the Hall of Fire. The man had obviously seen something.
He tried to remember the lookout’s words. ‘A shining light... The sound of a great wind...’
‘Sounds a bit like the TARDIS,’ said the Doctor obligingly.
‘The Watchman wasn’t lying,’ exclaimed Sorasta.
‘That old fox Timanov is going to have a hard time looking for the messenger of Logan’ Amyand laughed and pointed triumphantly at the Doctor. ‘Because we have the Outsider here!’
7
The Misos Triangle
The six Elders of Sarn trudged wearily along the ridgeway path like a procession of Desert Fathers. ‘I
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