 t
was a public execution day in the little Romanian town of Trigoviste
and this aroused the usual excitement, so it was unlikely that any of
the towns folk would have heard the mournful 'vamping' sound which now
echoed around the dark mountains. Indeed, if heard, this sound would
probably have been taken as the roar of some awful demon, for the people
of the period were terribly superstitious.
However, the
sound, as you have guessed, was not that of a supernatural entity,
although its true origin was no less fantastic. This was a sound which
had been heard before on many worlds, and in many pasts and futures; on
each occasion, it heralded the arrival of the TARDIS - a time-space
vehicle of alien manufacture. And, now that the sound had died away, the
TARDIS stood - in a guise of a tall, proud Police Box - strangely,
almost at home, by a mountain pass overlooking Trigoviste.
Within the
machine, two figures hovered about a brightly lit instrument panel at
the heart of the TARDIS control room, although the 'pilot', so to speak,
would probably have used the term 'control' very loosely. He was a tall
and strikingly elegant man -dynamic; his companion, an attractive girl
in her twenties, was more appealingly pretty than beautiful.
‘Mmm. We appear
to have landed in the year 1457, Jo!’ said the Doctor in his uniquely
crisp tones, as he studied the array of knobs and switches and dials
before him.
‘Earth...?’ she
asked, hopefully. Jo Grant had not seen her native planet since the
god-like Time Lords had restored the ability of the TARDIS to escape the
co-ordinates of twentieth-century England, and the Doctor, to
compensate for lost time, had at once whisked her off with him through
the galaxies and eons. It was alright for him - he felt at home
anywhere!
|
‘Earth,’ he
replied with a smile. Right then, Jo would have been satisfied with
Earth in any century - just so long as she could look up into a big
blue, or rainy grey sky. Hurriedly, she followed the Doctor through the
TARDIS doorway into the open.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 anos
Volta, a Captain in the Wallachia Army, led his men on horseback
through the dark and lonely Alps towards Trigoviste. The soldiers had
heard the demonic groaning sound, even if the villagers had not. Volta
had assured the men that it had been nothing but the wind, but they,
like he, were a little frightened, nonetheless; tales were told that
their lord and master was in league with the devil. Certainly, his
punishment of Turkish captives, and anyone else who dared to step out of
line, was 'nasty' to say the least.
But this was
war, and Volta had himself witnessed the treatment of his own people by
the Sultan's men. Just the same, that dreadful groaning sound filled his
mind was a foul mist rolled off the mountain sides and swirled about
them.
The Doctor was
peering through a tiny pair of binoculars at the town just below them.
Jo stood next to him, shivering. So much for blue skies! How she wished
that the Doctor would just go back to the TARDIS, and that they could
take off and try somewhere else.
‘Ye gods!’ the
Doctor exclaimed. Through his glasses, he had just caught sight of a big
castle beyond a forest, and around which stood rows of blood-stained
stakes. He at once realised when and where they had arrived, he felt it
unwise to recall the scene to Jo, but they would have to leave at
once...
‘Hold there!’ boomed a voice from about one hundred yards along the way.
‘Come on, Jo!’
the Doctor shouted, grabbing the girl's arm and whisking the TARDIS keys
from his jacket. As they darted for the safety of their ship, a fleet
of arrows sped just past their heads, chipping lumps from some big rocks
nearby; as chance would have it, one of these stony splinters flew and
caught the Doctor just above his right eye. He sank to his knees.
Momentarily dazed, he got to his feet again and ushered his young
companion onwards to meet the advancing soldiers who, if they were to
come much nearer, would undoubtedly see the TARDIS which was hidden, at
present, behind some boulders. |
