Harry stood with his back pressed against the curved wall of the shaft.  He was trembling, and his face was beaded with sweat.  He stared at the enormous 'insect' which lay crumbling at his feet.  The surface of its segmented body was a glossy indigo colour; here and there were patches of twisted and blackened tissue, like scorched plastic.  The six tentacular legs bristled with razor-sharp 'hairs'.  The creature's octopus head contained a huge globular eye on each side, and each eye was composed of thousands of cells in which Harry saw himself reflected over and over again.  The creature was fully three metres long from the top of its domed head to the tip of the fearsome pincer in which its tail terminated.

At last Harry managed to speak. 'At least it's dead,' he gasped.

The Doctor calmly picked up a shattered length of tentacle which powdered and crumbled in his fingers.  'Practically mummified,' he nodded.

'Just look at the size of its brain pan,' said Harry, his fear gradually giving way to fascination.

'Clearly a creature of considerable intelligence,' murmured the Doctor, taking out his magnifying glass and probe.  He knelt down beside the massive corpse.

'But what is it?' Harry asked, amazed at the Doctor's apparently fearless curiosity.  The Doctor always liked to have a ready answer for his insatiably inquisitive human companions, but this was one occasion when he found himself rather at a loss.  He did not answer, but became totally absorbed in an anatomical investigation.

Harry remained with his back firmly against the shaft, afraid to move.  He looked across at Sarah.  She seemed to stare straight back at him, her face an impassive mask.  Harry imagined the open eyes of all the other humans 'sleeping' in the vast chamber, staring sightlessly at their own reflections in the polished surfaces, for perhaps thousands of years the Doctor had said, their bodies without heartbeat or consciousness, yet alive.

Suddenly he felt a prickling sensation at the back of his neck.  In one of the pallets the phosphorescent glow seemed to have intensified.  It grew rapidly brighter until he could hardly bear to look at it, and the silhouette of the occupant appeared to undulate with the same rhythm as an eerie wobbling hum that filled the chamber and made Harry cover his ears.  The glare and the vibrations overwhelmed him for a moment.  When he came to, he saw the Doctor standing motionless in front of the pallet which was now quiet again.  The shield was open.  Harry moved cautiously round the central shaft to avoid the huge crumbling corpse, and padded across the chamber to join the Doctor.