Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker (13 page)

'At least you two can get away safely.'

The Doctor looked at his companion for
a moment, moved. 'That's very kind of you but I absolutely forbid it.
You have done more than enough to get the TARDIS back.'

'Well, something's got to be done,'
said Steven. 'We can't just sit here and talk our way out of this
place.'

The Doctor wheeled on him, his eyes
flashing. 'Of course!' he shouted. 'That's just what we can do! Talk
our way out of here!'

For a moment Steven and Dodo stared at
the Doctor wondering if he had lost his wits. Then the Doctor turned
around, speaking into the TARDIS's microphone. 'Listen to me,' he
said. 'I will make the final move.'

The Toymaker turned around to face the
scanner and smiled a smile of triumph. 'How sensible of you,' he
said.

'Go back over to the trilogic table and
take your seat there,' said the Doctor.

The Toymaker smiled, shrugged his
shoulders, and then walked over and sat down by the table. 'Are you
ready?' asked the Doctor.

'Whenever you are, Doctor,' replied the
Toymaker.

'Very well. Go to move 1023,' he said
into the microphone.

Nothing happened.

The Doctor frowned, then his face
cleared. This time, he pitched his voice high, imitating the high
sharp tone the Toymaker had used when he had issued his directions to
make the pieces move round the board in the trilogic game: 'Go to
move 1023.'

Taken entirely my surprise, the
Toymaker glanced quickly at the board. The final piece rose up in the
air and started moving over. He quickly brought his hand up to try
and stop it, but it was too late. The piece hovered for a moment,
then settled on the top of the triangle.

Inside the TARDIS, Steven was
activating the controls at the split second the Doctor spoke.The
familiar sound of the TARDIS dematerialising started up. The screen
went black and then gradually resolved itself to the disintegration of a star.
White clouds of debris flew in every direction. The Celestial Toyroom
was no more.

Almost unable to believe their luck,
Steven and Dodo shook their heads in astonishment. 'You did it!' said
Dodo. 'You did it! We've got away!'

'Well done, Doctor,' said Steven. 'Well
done. But how did you manage it?'

The Doctor turned back, looking very
pleased with himself. 'Your idea, my boy,' he said. 'When the
Toymaker wanted to move the pieces, he told them to move in a certain
tone of voice, and they moved by themselves.'

'But you had to do it twice,' said
Dodo.

'Ah, well,' said the Doctor. 'The first
time didn't work because I used my own voice. The second time I
remembered, and imitated the Toymaker's voice to make them obey me,
and they did.'

'We'll never meet him again, will we,
Doctor?' asked Dodo.

'Ah, I wish that was so,' said the
Doctor. 'But the mind is indestructible and so is the Toymaker. I'm
afraid the world is full of destructive toymakers like him.'

'Do you mean that he and his like can
never be destroyed?' said Steven.

'Even though you defeated him?' said
Dodo.

'This time yes, but there will be other
meetings in other times,' said the Doctor. 'There will always be a
Celestial Toyroom in the universe.'

Revision Notes:

Ver 1.0: Converted to html and proofread by ST7