The Doctor was fading again.  For some time now he had been pulsing in and out of existence, sometimes completely real and solid, at others insubstantial as a ghost.  Tegan and Turlough knelt beside him, doing their best to will him back into being.  It appeared that the Doctor could arrest the process by some kind of mental effort.  The problem was to keep him conscious, and to persuade him to exert his will.  In the Doctor's weakened condition, it wasn't easy.

'Come on, Doctor,' urged Tegan.

'Hold on,' shouted Turlough.  'Hold on!'

As if responding to the urgency in their voices, the Doctor opened his eyes, suddenly becoming real and solid again.

'Doctor, what's happening to you?' asked Tegan desperately.

The Doctor's voice was faint.  'Being sucked into the time vortex...  Part of me there already... pulling the rest.'

He began to fade again.

'No!' shouted Tegan.

Suddenly the Doctor became solid again.

He started struggling to his feet.  'I mustn't sleep.  Don't let me sleep...'



Susan and the first Doctor were still running through endless metal corridors, the angry Dalek at their heels.  Its metallic voice echoed close behind them, shrieking orders, threats and warnings.  'Halt at once!  You will be terminated.  Obey the Daleks!'  And always the old, chilling battle-cry.  'Exterminate!  Exterminate!  Exterminate!'

They had been running for what seemed a very long time now, and the old man was almost exhausted.  For the later stages of their flight, Susan had been helping, almost dragging him along.  Sometimes the Dalek was close enough to fire at them, at others they managed to shake it off for a while.  But Susan was all too aware that in the long run it was steadily gaining on them.  The end was only a matter of time.

They turned a corner, only to find themselves in a kind of cul-de-sac, a metal wall barring the way ahead.

'It's a blind alley,' gasped Susan.  'Turn back, quickly.'

The old man's body might be exhausted, but his mind was as alert and active as ever.  'That may be precisely what we need.'

Susan tugged at his sleeve.  'Grandfather, let's get out of here.  Please!'

The Doctor refused to move.  'Don't argue, there isn't time,' he said imperiously.  'Now, listen carefully, Susan.  When I shout "Now!" help me to shove the Dalek down that alley.  And when I shout "Drop!" - then drop.  Understood?'