Susan's Tale, Part 2

I remember I was in the wardrobe when the ship materialised. I loved that room; it was filled with so many clothes, so many identities, all of them far more interesting than anything I was allowed to wear on my own planet. I once asked Grandfather what they were all for, if our people never stepped outside their ships onto alien worlds. He confidently told me that they were there to help get into the mood, to feel a way into the heads of the people being observed. I could tell he was making it up, though. He just hates - hated - being caught out not knowing something!

I'd been trying on a long, complicated gown of vermilion and silver brocade with a kind of tall, spongy headdress. It was much too big for me and totally impractical for exploring, so I pulled it off as quickly as I could and ran for the control room. Ian and Barbara were already there, examining the scanner.

"I'm telling you, Doctor, either this thing's broken or there's nothing out there!" Mister Chesterton sounded frustrated. Again.

"Nonsense! You simply aren't using your eyes properly, young man. The focus needs a little adjustment, that's all."

I whispered to Barbara, breathlessly because of my hurried arrival. "What's going on? Where are we?"

"Somewhere hot and humid," she replied, lowering her voice too so that we wouldn't disturb the men. "The Doctor thinks we must be in a jungle, but Ian disagrees. He's sure we would be able to see some greenery, but the screen's just blank and grey."

"Could it be mist?"

"Possibly," she said, but I could tell from her tone that she doubted it. The others were getting hot under the collar, and I was fed up with them arguing all the time. Without a word I strode to the console and pushed the lever to open the main doors.

"Susan!" Ian and Barbara spoke as one, and I recognised the tone from my brief time at Coal Hill. Grandfather just glared at me.

"Well? Are any of you coming?" I strode out of the doors, the others hurrying after.

I still don't fully understand quite why I kept doing things like that. I knew Grandfather would lecture me on my impulsiveness, and I'd be contrite and promise not to act up again; after all, it had happened more than once. But I was growing up, and sometimes the urge to short-circuit pointless arguments was just too strong.

The humidity hit me as I stepped through the doors. I breathed deeply and jumped up and down a couple of times to get a feel for the place we'd landed. The air was rich in oxygen, and at a slightly greater pressure than Twentieth Century London; gravity was fractionally lower. I adjusted my autonomic responses accordingly and ran a few steps to check I'd got the balance right.

"See, Doctor? We're in an alley, and there's not a plant in sight." I turned to see Ian standing with Grandfather by the doors; Barbara was just inside, shedding her jumper.

"Raise your eyes, young man, raise your eyes. Look at that over there - that hill over there. Covered in jungle, and I should say a lot more significant than a couple of crumbling walls, hmm? No, this may be a built-up area of some sort, but I think you'll find it is a settlement set within a jungle, and it is the natural landscape that dominates."

Both teachers laughed. "Alright, Doctor," said Ian, "have it your own way."

I wandered back to the others and started to take a better look around. Barbara made a point of having to tread carefully around the rubble and grabbed Ian's arm, "for support". Honestly, the way they tiptoed around their feelings for each other frustrated me almost as much as Grandfather's baiting and the way Mister Chesterton always rose to it.

Speaking of which, it was time to distract Grandfather before he could find another reason to take umbrage, and there was an oddness to the alley that I could use. "Hey, look," I said, as brightly and enthusiastically as I could, "these walls aren't straight - they bend inwards!"

The others all turned to examine them more closely. Grandfather looked up, then down, and made a few mental calculations. "So much for your alley, Chesterton. See the curvature? Follow the line up and over. This used to be a tunnel, before the roof caved in, a little under five yards in diameter. That's why there's so much rubble all over the place."

"I think you're right, Doctor," acknowledged Ian. "The ceiling must have been pretty thin, though; it couldn't support much of a load. So why build a tunnel on the surface of the planet?"

I smiled. Grandfather loved an intellectual puzzle, and with Ian getting interested the pair of them would be working together rather than at cross purposes. For myself, I wasn't as interested in the answer as I was in keeping them happy. I just wanted a chance to explore without an argument over whether or not it was safe for Barbara and I to come along.

And because I was thinking about her in that way, it took me by surprise when Barbara joined in the investigation. "Just feel the walls," she said. "That's not plastered wood or brick."

Intrigued, I put out both my hands. The surface gave a little as I leaned against it, just a slight wobble but enough to worry Ian. "Hey, not so hard," he said, gently. "We don't want the rest of it coming down on us, do we?"

I stepped back. I wasn't annoyed - I knew it was just his way, and in any case he was considerably less over-protective than Grandfather. "It feels sort of like paper," I said. "Didn't the Japanese of your time build walls out of paper?"

I'd been looking at Ian but it was Barbara who answered. "That's right, Susan, they do; but only as partitions to divide up the living space. They are intended as symbolic barriers rather than a means of holding anything up - it's considered impolite to just walk through."

"Like breaking someone's window to get into their house," I suggested, giggling.

Ian did step in then. "Paper can be very strong, though; you just need to use enough layers. Leave the string on a rolled up newspaper, stand it on its end and it can hold quite a weight. Or interleave the pages of two thick books: you'll find them impossible to pull apart."

I loved that about humans; still do, in fact. Rather than simply working out the forces involved they come up with the most delightful demonstrations. So unnecessary, but endlessly fascinating. Grandfather was learning to do the same when he explained things to them, but I hadn't yet developed the knack. Still, it was time to seize the moment if we were going to see more of this world than one broken-down tunnel. I walked further away from the TARDIS, about halfway to the nearest junction, from where I could see a little way around the corner. "I think there's an undamaged section of tunnel over here," I called, and set off again.

"Come back here, child!" shouted Grandfather. Barbara was more realistic. "Don't go out of sight, Susan - wait at the corner 'til we get there." I smiled; disobedience gave me quite a thrill, but I knew there was a fine balance to be struck between getting them moving and making them so angry they'd shut me down. Barbara's response offered me a middle path. I waited.

"I've got half a mind to send you straight back to your room, young lady," grumbled Grandfather as he hobbled up; but he was out of breath, and the effort had taken the edge off his disapproval. As I knew it would.

"Sorry, Grandfather. But just look at this." I indicated the tunnel to the left, which was complete. We could only see a little way in because there were no artificial light sources and no ventilation holes which could let in the orange glow of this world's large, close sun. The walls were much smoother than the ones we had examined before; Grandfather and Mister Chesterton were instantly engrossed.

Barbara and I both took the opportunity to look the other way, which offered a much better view of the jungle.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I said, watching the distant greenery sway in the hot breeze.

"It certainly is."

"Imagine, all those thousands of trees breathing in and out, producing all this water and oxygen, then drinking it all in again, round and round, endlessly."

She looked at me, amused. "Well, I was thinking more of how it looked - all the different shades of green - and to be honest I could do with rather less water in the air, thank you very much. But yes, it is certainly remarkable."

A thought suddenly struck me. "Oh, Barbara, couldn't we go and explore the edge of the jungle? At least for a little distance?"

"I don't know, Susan; we'd have to ask the Doctor about that."

Ian walked up at that moment. "You're not going to get him away from these tunnels for quite a while yet," he said. "Still, I don't suppose there's any harm in seeing if we can pick up some food from the TARDIS. Maybe we could have a picnic on the outskirts of the settlement? With a forest view?"

"You just want an excuse to get rid of that jacket," said Barbara, prodding him companionably in the arm and giving him an I-told-you-so look. He laughed.

"That, too."

They strolled off together, leaving me calculating my next move with Grandfather. He'd gone some way into the tunnel and I ambled slowly towards him, brushing my fingers lightly along the wall as I did so. The texture was smooth but not quite even, certainly not machine-made; and as the light faded I felt more and more as if I was entering the lair of some vast, molelike creature. I listened to the echo of my footsteps - and felt, rather than heard, a faint rumbling.

"Grandfather? Did you feel that?"

"Of course I did, child! I think we'd better get back to the TARDIS. Right away." He had that tone in his voice: strong, commanding, yet afraid. I strained to see him ahead of me, and made out movement as he rose from an examination of the floor. As he did so, clinging to his cane for support, there was a louder rumble and the whole tunnel started to shake. Streamers of dust fell from the roof, and I stumbled forward.

"Susan! Go back! It's not safe!" Even as he spoke a thundering sound grew all around us. The floor cracked, tilted, and he began to slide backwards.

"Grandfather!" I screamed. Leaping towards him I grabbed onto his arm, realising as I did so that holding on would lead to me being pulled down with him. Logically, I should have let go; instead I tightened my grip, and we slid together into the darkness.