PART I
by John Seavey
It is a realm beyond comprehension, an interstitial void that links
all times, all places. Only the most heavily shielded vessels can
enter here without being ripped apart by the winds of time; that, and
beings whose power is such that the forces of the vortex are nothing
but a minor irritation.
If such a being had been watching, it would have seen an oblong, blue
box about two-and-a-half metres high. But many strange things appear
in the Vortex, and such a being wouldn't have given it a second
thought.
But the old-fashioned gramophone that was playing within might have
confused it for a moment.
"Time--Time--Time--Time--Time--Time--"
"Oh, no--not again!" exclaimed the Doctor, leaping to his feet. He
stormed over to the gramophone and lifted the arm, anxiously exploring
the record for damage.
Luckily, it was just a bit of fluff on the needle. He blew it off,
and was about to replace the record arm when a soft chime sounded on
the console.
Sighing in exasperation, he walked over to the console and pulled an
archaic lever. Instantle, a three-dimensional image of a woman
resolved itself in front of him. She had long blonde hair, an
aristocratic bearing (assisted somewhat by the ceremonial robes of a
Gallifreyan President that she wore), and a sweet smile that softened
her entire face.
"Hullo, Doctor," she said, "that's a new look for you, isn't it?"
The Doctor's face lit up in a smile. "Romana!" he exclaimed. "How
goes the Interventionist movement?"
"Oh, quite well, actually," she replied. "Better, it would seem, than
your mission to return the Master's remains." Her face took on a
concerned look. "What happened?"
"The Master wasn't dead," explained the Doctor. "He'd done something
to himself...supercharged his mental abilities to the point where he
was able to exist for short periods of time as pure psionic energy--an
ectoplasmic being. He forced a landing on Earth and possessed an
inhabitant; then he tried doing the same to me."
"But that's impossible!" she responded. "Even with enhanced powers,
he'd need an enormous source of energy to--"
"He had one," said the Doctor. "He used the conduit to the Eye of
Harmony as a booster element. He would have succeeded, too, if it
wasn't for Grace."
"Grace?" Romana said archly, raising her eyebrows.
"A girl--an Earthling," responded the Doctor. "Don't look at me like
that! We've been over for 200 years, and jealousy is not becoming of
you."
"Not jealousy, Doctor," she said, "curiousity. She meant something to
you?"
"She could have," the Doctor said quietly.
"So where's the Master now?" asked Romana, tactfully changing the
subject.
"He fell into the Eye," said the Doctor. "I tried to save him,
but..." he let the sentence trail off. "But there won't be any more
trouble from him."
Suddenly the entire TARDIS rocked, as though battered by unseen
hands. Books fell from their shelves, and the Doctor had to grab
desperately at the console to keep from being flung across the room.
Romana looked panic-stricken. "What's happening to you?" she asked,
her image flickering.
"I don't know!" shouted the Doctor as he frantically pulled levers,
twisted knobs, and turned cranks. "It feels like we collided with
something!" Another booming crash rocked the TARDIS, followed by a
dull clanking noise.
The Doctor and Romana looked at each other. "The Cloister Bell!" they
both shouted simultaneously.
The Doctor raced over to one of the monitors, pulling it down to
check the information displayed on it.
<<Focussed disruption of outer plasmic shell, cause unknown,>> it
read. <<Vortex breach imminent.>> Then the screen went blank, to be
replaced by a single word: <<HELP.>>
The Doctor's hands moved across the console like a ragtime piano
player, while he ran around it like a particularly manic sprinter. All
around him, alarms he didn't even know existed were going off.
Romana's voice could be heard tinnily over the din. "Doctor, look
ou--" she was cut off abruptly as a section of the console exploded in
a shower of sparks, cutting transmission.
The Doctor looked up, his face transfixed by sheer horror. A gaping
hole stood where the wall had been, and various objects were being
sucked out--into the Vortex.
The Doctor barely had time to grab onto one of the support struts
before he was sucked out as well.
Wind rushed past him as the hole widened, the very fabric of the
TARDIS rending under the stresses inflicted on it. The Doctor was
managing to cling to the support strut, but the console itself was out
of reach.
Over the rush of wind and the din of the alarms, the Doctor heard
mocking laughter...laughter that was somehow familiar. He gritted his
teeth and tried as hard as he could to reach even a single switch...
The console exploded. Momentarily startled, the Doctor lost his grip
on the support strut and went flying towards the hole. He grabbed at
the edge in a last effort to stop himself, but it dissolved under his
fingers.
With a cry, the Doctor fell into the Vortex.
TO BE CONTINUED...