The Coming of the Teraphiles

  combine like this, everything is confused. Space is affected

  by time. It's a dimension of time and it also has its own

  dimensions. It has to obey whatever rules apply. In Chaos,

  these storms are usually benign. In Law they aren't. Far from

  it. So if this quadrant is controlled by Frank/Freddie Force

  and his Antimatter Men, we're probably in serious trouble.'

  'Is there anyone out there who can save us?'

  'Probably.' He was helping her into her suit. 'Like I said,

  it depends who's in control. I've already sent out a wide-

  band SOS. Well have to wait and see who picks it up. If it's

  Frank/Freddie or Lady Peggy the Invisible, don't hold your

  breath. I'm trying to get us into the Second Aether. If that

  works, at least well be in territory occupied by both Law and

  Chaos, Matter and Antimatter. You'd better hope Captain

  Abberley and the Bubbly Boys hear my SOS first. The sonic

  screwdriver's been set to that signal for ten minutes.'

  The ship stopped bucking. Outside, the strands of the

  black tide had vanished. They were drifting against a field of

  intense scarlet. Cosmic no man's land, thought Amy.

  The Doctor was gleeful. 'I did it! Didn't think I could. Are

  you amazed?'

  'But where are we, Doctor? Have you any idea?'

  'I certainly have, Amy. See over there?' The blurred outline

  of what looked like a seagoing yacht, somehow behind one

  layer of scarlet with many more layers on the other side of it.

  'That's old Quelch's ship, as I live and breathe.'

  'Who's Quelch?'

  'Captain Quelch? Chaos Engineer. A possible enemy if

  there's something in it for him. But then he'd do pretty much

  anything if there was something in it for him. Good rule of

  thumb - don't trust him. Don't believe a word he says. He's

  as likely to be in league with Frank/ Freddie Force as not.'

  'And where are we?'

  'Oh, sorry. I got us into the Second Aether. It's how we

  escaped from the storm. It was so violent it might even have

  destroyed us. I've never known a time storm like it. Not in

  this region, anyway. That ship was built to survive the hearts

  of stars and she's about to be smashed to bits! I don't know

  if I can get us out.' He peered through the observation V.

  'Ouch! It hurts your eyes, doesn't it?' He turned, frowning,

  pursing his lips, thinking hard. 'We're in a rendezvous point.

  You have to have them in this kind of environment.'

  'Which is?'

  'Didn't I tell you? Should be obvious.' He allowed himself

  a hint of self-congratulation for getting them there. 'That,

  Amy, is Ketchup Cove!'

  Chapter 17

  The Red and the Black

  KETCHUP COVE GLITTERED WITH a thousand shades of scarlet, twisting

  and rolling. Amy made out tiny specks drifting in it, specks

  which converged and came closer. Soon she realised that

  each one was a vessel of some kind. Yet not one of the ships

  resembled anything she had ever seen in space before. These

  were old-fashioned schooners and steam tugs and slender

  yachts. They moved up and down slowly as if riding at anchor

  upon some gentle sea. Other ships fashioned of ebony and

  ivory, onyx and coral were not so familiar but were as bizarre

  and beautiful as anything she had ever seen in all her travels

  with the Doctor. She realised she was outside the Gargantua

  standing on her endless hull.

  'We can't be in the Second Aether long,' the Doctor was

  saying. 'Not now. We might be able to get back here. In fact

  we have to get back here at some stage. But those plates have

  popped and others could still go. They need time to make

  repairs.'

  'Why, Doctor, why?' / 'Why, Doctor, wh-?'/ 'Wh-?' She

  shook her head, trying to clear it of the echoes filling it.

  A small skiff skipped past, skimming the scarlet and pink

  waters of a bloody lake. A great roaring of surf filled her ears,

  growing louder and louder, yet still her own voice continued

  to echo as she watched his lips moving, forming words she

  could not hear. It was her own voice roaring.

  'Nowhere else is as safe,' he said, very clearly and calmly.

  'And even here we are going to find as many enemies as

  friends.'

  'What is, what is, what is, what is...' She drew a deep

  breath and forced herself to stop.

  'The Second Aether? It's the space between. It's where

  I think we'll find the Roogalater. The Regulator. In that

  space.'

  'Between what?'

  'Between everything. Between the First Aether and the

  Third. Between Law and Chaos. Between Life and Death.

  Between Matter and Antimatter. Between Dreams and

  Waking. You name it, Amy...'

  'Me name it? I can't name anything. I don't even know

  where we are.'

  'I told you.'

  'The centre? The centre of the multiverse? The centre of

  reality? The centre of nowhere? How did we get here?'

  He brandished his sonic screwdriver and winked. Reflected

  light gave his face a bloody appearance. Then he vanished.

  Suddenly she was terrified. She had no resources left, no

  courage, no intelligence, no physical energy. Nothing.

  She felt that she was buoyed up on water. She was

  swimming. Doing her best to stay afloat. A mist was rising

  and there was something coming up under her feet. A ship?

  No. It was a man. A man she had never seen before. He had

  a sallow hatchet face with cold, mocking eyes. He wore a

  crumpled linen suit, a white cotton shirt, a dark blue bow tie

  and on his head was a white naval cap. At first he seemed to

  be standing on a small wooden platform but, as he rose up

  towards her through clouds tinged with pink, she saw that

  he was standing on the deck of a small seagoing launch.

  He raised his hat and held out his hand to help her aboard.

  'Good day to you, Missy.' His voice was oddly cultivated,

  sarcastic. 'Welcome aboard my little ship. Captain Horatio

  Quelch at your service. What brings you to our part of

  Creation?'

  Amy felt frightened. Where was the Doctor? Had

  something happened to him? She hardly knew how to

  respond. 'We were in a storm. I'm looking for my friend,' she

  said. She desperately wanted the Doctor to find her. She had

  no idea what to do here. 'I'm looking for the Doctor. Do you

  know him?'

  'Know him? Why, of course. He's an old pard. Is he

  here?'

  'He's somewhere around.'

  Suddenly she heard the distant sound of an engine. She

  tried to see through the mist.

  'Well,' said Horatio Quelch. 'Let's get you to a place of

  safety.' Raising his cap again, he opened the wheelhouse

  door for her but she held back, calling towards the sound of

  the engine.

  'Doctor! Doctor! I'm here.'

  Lifting and falling on invisible waves, a small paddle-

  wheeler, like the old Thames pleasure boats, came chugging

  towards her, its engines clanking, its funnel pouring grey

  steam against the scarlet. She could make out a
big, hearty,

  bearded man wearing an old naval cap on the back of his

  curly hair, standing in the wheelhouse, his meaty hands

  steering the boat towards her.

  And, gathered on the foredeck, waving their hats, were

  the three boys she had seen before. What had the Doctor

  called them? No. They had named themselves. The Bubbly

  Boys? A crazy little rhyme they'd sung which she couldn't

  remember.

  'Bah! Oh, blooming bah!' With a pettish spin of his wheel,

  Quelch and his boat vanished, leaving her sinking into scarlet

  goo.

  Then her feet were on deck again.

  Not Quelch's deck, however. The Bubbly Boys stuck their

  faces around a funnel. They were still singing. She could hear

  them now:

  We're the Bubbly Boys from Relish Ridge

  That's Old Grandpa Quelchy on yonder bridge

  Hot as an oven, cold as a fridge.

  The voice that boomed out of the wheelhouse was not one

  of theirs. It was a big, rich Yorkshire voice. 'Make way there.

  Look lively, yon lads. How do, Doctor. Dost tha know me?

  It's Cap'n Brian Abberley. Abberley, come to visit. And here's

  me boys. Tha knows t' Chaos Kids, 'appen.'

  The Doctor was beside her on the deck of the Now the

  Clouds Have Meaning, laughing. 'What's all this about, Captain

  Abberley? Have you come to do us a good turn?'

  'Wish I could, Doctor. Anything to disoblige the Original

  Insect. Anything to help an old pal. And I'd be helping the

  Spammer Gain herself, what's more. But we're only just in

  alignment here. We need to be in deeper space than this. Old

  Quelchy's got your Roogalator. That's my guess. Got it off

  his lady friend, Peg the Unseeable. I'll look out for that, never

  fear. Meantime tha ship's about to give at t'seams. Big 'un,

  too, she looks from here. Oops. Sorry. Dialect. Just trying to

  fit in, lad.'

  'We can't drop any deeper, captain. Not with the storm so

  bad. Have you any idea where you're heading?'

  'Back to the centre. Too fast. Too soon. Why?'

  'You know why. I think Quelchy's pinched the Roogalator,

  but he can't want to destroy everything including himself,

  can he? So who would?'

  Abberley drew his great grey brows together, took off his

  cap, yawned. 'Only the Force.'

  The Doctor took her hand. 'Come on, Amy.'

  They were back on the hull of the Gargantua. The little

  paddle-wheeler chugged alongside.

  'Madness.' Amy held on to the Doctor as he inched his

  way up the slick coppery hull of the Gargantua.

  'Do you still have the beads they gave you?' he asked.

  'Not yet,' she said.

  'Here,' said Captain Abberley. 'I'll take those for you.'

  'Take what?'

  'Doesn't she know yet?' The captain stepped outside his

  wheelhouse.

  'How can she?' said the Doctor. 'I don't. Time's all over

  the shop and so are we! Without the Regulator in place it's

  only going to get worse! Trust is all we have now, Cap'n

  Abberley.'

  The big Yorkshireman stuck his cap on the back of his head

  while the three Chaos Kids, grinning, grouped themselves

  on the deck.

  We are the merry Chaos Kids

  Our friends are all around us.

  The very merry Chaos Kids

  Old Quelchy's out to hound us.

  'Where are we, captain?' Amy asked. 'Can't you help us?'

  'Just told yer, Miss!' he shouted over the swelling sound

  of the Bubbly Boys:

  Well spinyer there capan, never fear

  For we're the mighty Bubbly Boys,

  No system can confine us

  Or even wine and dine us

  So ask us what and ask us why

  Don't ask us Who in case we cry

  Toot oo ta toot

  How's the future looking down there, cousin?

  They held up cages containing four lizards wearing smart

  little spacesuits. One of them squeaked at Amy. 'If you

  can understand me, you must help. We're well educated,

  ma'am, and captives of barbarian lunatics, as you can tell.

  We had never heard of a Roogalator until recently. We have

  no business in the Second Aether. We lived peaceful lives

  u n t i l - '

  'Until t'little buggers blew themselves up trying to destroy

  a rival asteroid,' chortled Captain Abberley affectionately,

  steering in alongside. 'We'll drop 'em somewhere safe. Beg

  pardon, Miss.'

  'We really do need help,' said Amy. 'The outside air's

  getting thinner.'

  'In the soup, are we, Missy?' Captain Abberley scratched

  his chin. 'We can't help you out. But we can help you in.'

  He felt around in his pockets, found what he wanted, and

  threw them to her.

  She caught them one by one. Five - or was it six - beautiful

  glass marbles.

  'Old Q's lost his marbles again. Try those! Sort of ball

  bearings.'

  She lifted them close to her face. They began to spin in the

  air, four around the fifth, and maybe cycling around a sixth,

  she couldn't be quite sure. She saw that they were a necklace

  strung on a strand of pure silvery energy and she put it on.

  A brilliant mustard yellow spread across the scarlet. 'If

  old Quelchy's gone off with it, well find him. He doesn't

  know we pinched his maps. He probably pinched them from

  someone else. You'll have it in time for the Big Match. Ho

  yus! Don't worry. He'll lead us to Force.' And the paddle-

  wheeler turned, sending up a swirl of scarlet spray, and

  pounded off.

  'That's the Second Aether for you,' said the Doctor.

  Wearing her suit, Amy waited in the big control cabin

  watching the beads flickering and turning and then snatched

  them off and put them in her pocket. Captain Snarri stood in

  the centre issuing orders to his bots and crew.

  'Please make sure all surviving passengers gather at the

  central core. In the gymnasium. It's the safest place in the

  ship.'

  She still felt a little sick but she knew somehow that the

  worst was over. Captain Abberley and the Bubbly Boys had

  got her back to the Gargantua.

  How can these weird people manipulate matter like that? she

  wondered. But for some reason she was now even more

  frightened than before. What's happened to the Doctor?

  The Doctor hung somewhere outside space and time, drifting,

  drifting...

  He had fallen asleep. He hung above time, above space,

  and he looked down towards the scarlet expanse that wound

  into the quaking greenness of Emerald Edge. Here was now

  and no longer. Here, only the scarlet expanse of Ketchup

  Cove was stable, the old rendezvous point of the Chaos

  Engineers. Here were four quasi-planets circling a heavy

  sun. A star circling a black spot. One place. One time. Into

  which everything used him as the node. The focus of all the

  worlds of the multiverse. Stretches of yellow-silver spread

  everywhere. The so-called moonbeam roads. Summer,

  Autumn. Everything else was lighter or darker. Sooner or

  later. Bigger or smaller. This was where it focuse
d and from

  where it all radiated. And he thought his thoughts, reviewing

  a million or more options. The Roogalator. The Silver Arrow.

  Four planets circling a single star. Miggea, Circling a tiny

  black sun. The time vault. A bucky ball, stronger than any

  known metal. The - He considered his action. Acted. It would

  kill him one day. Again.

  Amy was gone. Captain Abberley and the Chaos Kids were

  gone. Quelch had gone. Where was the Roogalator? It could

  only be here, surely? He could smell it. But the ship itself was

  gone. Somewhere unseen overhead came a grating squeal.

  The Doctor awoke; looked up. He saw nothing there but a

  slurry of grey-white. A conjunction of galaxies and a fine rain

  falling. He wiped his eyes clear of the water and clambered

  along the slippery outside of the space liner, a tiny figure like

  a flea on a cat. Was Amy all right? He scratched the back of

  his hand.

  He was still in his spacesuit. He recognised a time-twister

  when he was caught in one. Well, what had got him into this

  would very likely get him out. He reached into his pouch for

  his sonic screwdriver. So far it had served him well.

  He had no idea how he had found himself outside the

  ship, but the screwdriver should get him in. Amy was the

  one to worry about. The Gargantua was safe for the moment,

  drifting in the Second Aether, where neither rule nor misrule

  applied. Captain Abberley and the Chaos Kids had guided

  them out of immediate danger. Now the entire ship drifted

  against the glaring scarlets and crimsons of Ketchup Cove,

  the safest rendezvous for everyone who cruised the Second

  Aether.

  Barley sugar melted out of his mouth and coiled into

  space.

  But how were they going to get back? Was the big ship still

  spaceworthy? She looked pretty battered. That was the worst

  storm he had ever lived through. Assuming he was alive.

  He found a little one-man airlock in the big ship's hull and

  set to work with his screwdriver. A series of lights flashed as it

  undid the locks from inside. A pressure from his gloved hand

  and the circular hatch opened away from him. He slipped

  in, closing the hatch behind him, rebolting it manually. He

  slipped back down the hull's companionways and found

  a lock into the main ship. The spacesuit and helmet were

  slowing him down a little, but he decided to err on the side

  of caution for now. He headed for the gymnasium as quickly