Doctor Who: The Visitation Read Online Free PDF Page A

and Nyssa made their way along the front of the house, pausing momentarily to peer in at the windows.
     
    'Doctor? If there isn't anyone at home, then who was the miller visiting?'
     
    They turned the west corner of the house.
     
    'He could have been making a delivery.'
     
    'Didn't you see his wagon? It was fully loaded.'
     
    Pausing, the Doctor started to wipe the dust from a small leaded pane with the cuff of his jacket. 'Then he must have been collecting.'
     
    'From whoever brought the polygrite to Earth?'
     
    'Perhaps.'
     
    The Doctor stared through the polished glass into the main hall of the house. Before the unlit fireplace stood Sir John's favourite chair. Nearby was the small table, playing cards spread across it as though hurriedly abandoned by the players. Lying next to the table, like dead sentries, were two stiff back chairs.
     
    At the far end of the room was a long oak dining table on which stood a large wedge of stale cheese, dark and cracked with age. Next to it was a loaf of bread covered with mildew.
     
    The Doctor was about to continue making his way round the house, when he noticed that the window he was looking through wasn't fastened properly.
     
    'Doctor! What are you doing?'
     
    With the window open, the Doctor pulled himself up, and climbed in. 'Come on, Nyssa,'
    he said jumping down into the main hall. 'There isn't anyone here.' And before she could argue caution, he had gone.
     
    Nyssa followed unenthusiastically. As she climbed through the window, she saw the Doctor moving methodically around the room.
     
    'What precisely are we looking for?'
     
    'Alien artefacts.'
     
     
    'Why are you so worried about an alien landing? They might be friendly.'
     
    Nyssa jumped down from the sill.
     
    'If I'm right,' the Doctor said, opening a large wooden linen-chest, 'the comet that Mace saw was their ship burning up. They're probably stranded here, desperate. They could wreak havoc.' Finding the chest empty, the Doctor closed it and idly ran his fingers over the lid, leaving a snail-like trail in the dust. 'It looks as though there hasn't been anyone here in weeks.'
     
    'Perhaps they're on holiday?'
     
    'It's the first of September, Nyssa. Harvest time. The busiest period of the year.'
     
    'That doesn't mean the aliens have been here. For all we know, they could have gone to the village.'
     
    'I know. They could also have died of plague. It's all guesswork. But as we're here, let's look a little further.'
     
    The Doctor opened the door leading to the back landing and disappeared. Nyssa followed and found him squatting before the open armoury cupboard examining spilled gunpowder. 'Someone has been careless.'
     
    But Nyssa wasn't listening. 'Look, Doctor,' she said, pointing at a hexagonal scar burnt deep into the baluster. 'That's been made by a high energy beam.'
     
    The Doctor slipped on his half-frames and studied the mark. After a moment he said,
    'It's been fired from a weapon.'
     
    'So much for my friendly aliens.'
     
    'Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it was an accident...' But the Doctor's voice trailed off as his gaze wandered beyond the baluster and down the stairway. At the bottom was a brick wall.
     
    He rose, quickly made his way down the stairs, and started to examine the wall. After a moment's thought, he said, 'You only build a staircase to lead somewhere... That being so, why should anyone build a wall here?' He tapped the wal as a professor might a specimen when emphasising a point to a student.
     
    'Does it matter?' said Nyssa, descending the stairs.
     
    The Doctor looked at her, surprised his deductions were being so calmly dismissed.
    'This is a very important staircase. It connects the kitchen to the main hall.'
     
     
    'Perhaps there's another way.'
     
    The Doctor sat down on the bottom step. 'There's something wrong. I can feel it.'
     
    And he was right. If he had looked up at that moment, he would have caught a brief glimpse of a shadow