Doctor Who: Ultimate Treasure Read Online Free PDF Page B

against the inside of the hatch, recovering his composure and dabbing the sweat from his forehead with a fine lace-edged handkerchief. Then he hauled his impressive bulk upright and made for the control cabin. Once seated in the pilot's seat, he slid down his shirt cuff, and began entering the figures he had scrawled upon it into the ship's autopilot.
    Myra Jaharnus looked about at the spacious console room of the Doctor's craft in disbelief. Shaking her head, she walked back out through its open doorway, across the short docking tube and into the docking bay itself. The constable who had accompanied them looked at her curiously as she peered out of the bay's observation port. The end of the docking tube still appeared to connect with a battered rectangular blue box not exceeding three metres in any dimension. It could have been an oddly designed station shuttle or escape pod. At the most it might have held four people. She re-entered the craft's impossible interior where Peri and the Doctor waited patiently.
    'What did you say it was called again?'
    'A TARDIS,' the Doctor said brightly.
    'And how does it all...' She waved a hand uncertainly at her unlikely surroundings.
    'Ah, well according to hyperdimensional engineering theory, space-time continua can be folded by the application of -'
    'Enough - I shouldn't have asked.'
    'I did say it was spacious, didn't I?' said Peri with a grin.
    'Nothing illegal about having a spaceship that's bigger inside than out, is there?'
    'No... I just haven't seen anything quite like it before.'
    'You're welcome to search for anything linking us to Hok or his killers, said the Doctor, waving a genial hand at the doorway that led to the rest of the ship. 'Any antiques you find are mine.'
    'Can you prove that?'
    'Inspector,' the Doctor said with quiet dignity, 'I've had some of them since they were new.'
     
    Myra couldn't tell whether he was joking or not. 'You two stay right there,' she said firmly, and disappeared through the doorway.
    While Jaharnus was making her inspection, Peri turned anxiously to the Doctor.
    'Is that identity card of mine you gave the cops OK? I didn't even know I had one for here and now until you handed it over.
    Suppose they check back with Earth and find I was born over a thousand years ago?'
    'Don't worry, Peri. Both it and the data on Earth will show your real place of birth and all the other necessary details, but simply with appropriately adjusted dates.'
    'But where did you get it made up? And how did you fix the records back on... oh. Dumb question. Did you drop in there while I was asleep?'
    The Doctor smiled. 'The details are unimportant. For now let's just say there are certain optional benefits to travelling in time of which I have decided to take advantage.'
    A new thought struck Peri. 'But what about your documents?
    You're not from Earth.'
    'No, but I did live there for a while in your century - as a resident alien, you might say - when I was provided with official identity papers. I've simply ensured they've been kept up to date over the intervening years. You never know when the right references may come in useful.'
    'Did you ever think of the killing you could make on Wall Street with tricks like that?'
    The Doctor looked appalled. 'Really, Peri. That wouldn't be cricket.'
    Inspector Jaharnus returned to the console room.
    'Just how many rooms are there in this ship?' she demanded.
    'Well it varies,' admitted the Doctor. 'I had to shed a few thousand tonnes a while ago, but the TARDIS has regenerated most of the lost mass, I think -'
    'Forget I asked. You can lock off the controls if you want, but I'll have to ask you to hand over the main hatch key. Just in case, may the gods forbid, we have to search this ship properly.'
    'But the key is sensitised to my body pattern.'
    'Very security conscious, Doctor - now desensitise it.'
    The Doctor sighed, pressed the key to his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment, then handed it over to Jaharnus.
    'We're