3

‘We believe that the spear is not all it seems,’ explained the Doctor as they headed back to UNIT headquarters. ‘There have been a few temporal anomalies in the area.’

‘What kind of anomalies?’ asked Jo.

The Doctor turned Bessie into the drive that led to UNIT, and she chugged happily over the gravel as if eager to be done for the day. It was getting late, the sun starting to dip behind the tall trees that lined their way.

‘Small things. Like several watches all losing time at once; a rash of people getting a feeling of déjà vu; a clock striking thirteen. Small things, so small that they might have gone unnoticed, were it not for the fact the museum is opposite the bridge club of a friend of ours. He told me; I spoke to the Time Lords; and here we are …’

‘And who’s this friend of ours?’

The Doctor smiled. ‘The Brigadier. Ah! There’s the old greyhound now. Shall we make our report?’

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart was just walking out of the front doors as they pulled up, tugging his cap on to his head as crisply as ever. He saw Bessie and strode towards them. ‘Doctor! Miss Grant!’

‘You were quite right, Brigadier. The spear has every indication of being a PTN.’

‘A what?’ asked Jo, but neither the Doctor nor the Brigadier were listening.

‘You’ve informed the High Council?’ asked Lethbridge-Stewart.

‘I already have their authority to remove the object for analysis. Immediately.’

‘But why not just ask them for it?’ said Jo. ‘The museum, I mean.’

‘We tried,’ said the Brigadier. ‘They refused. This chap, Moxon, the owner of the collection. Total recluse. Billionaire. Not used to taking orders.’

‘But can’t you make him?’

‘Private collection. We have no power to order him to do anything.’

‘But surely if you explain what it’s all about …?’ Jo asked. She stopped. ‘What is it all about, anyway? What’s a PTN?’

‘Physical Temporal Nexus,’ said the Doctor. ‘Very dangerous things indeed. Their origin is unknown, but they are certainly alien and certainly ancient. There are believed to be only a few in existence, and the High Council is – how shall we put it? – more than keen to keep them out of circulation.’

‘I see,’ said Jo, ‘I think. We’d better get on with it then.’

‘Well put,’ said the Doctor.

They headed into the UNIT building. ‘What’s the plan?’ asked Jo. ‘Do you have a nice black burglar suit in your wardrobe, Doctor? One with frills?’

The Doctor paused briefly, started to raise a wagging finger towards Jo, then thought better of it. ‘The museum stands between a bank and an embassy building,’ he said. ‘Both of which will be well protected. However, with all due respect to my friends here, this is 1973.’ He smiled at the Brigadier and then walked on. ‘The room in the museum is without CCTV, laser sensors or other motion detectors. It would be child’s play to walk in and out, with a minimum of broken glass, but there are simpler ways of entering and exiting a building without being noticed …’

They’d stopped by a certain familiar police box. The Doctor patted the side of the TARDIS. ‘… if you have one of these.’

Jo laughed.

‘What is it?’ asked the Brigadier.

‘I just realised,’ she said. ‘Banks. Safety-deposit vaults. Museums. Art galleries. You could get very rich in a week with this.’

‘Some of us have nobler aspirations,’ said the Doctor sternly.

‘Oh, me too, me too,’ said Jo, grinning. ‘Really noble. The noblest. It was just an idea. So, we materialise in the room on the second floor of the museum, smash the case, grab the spear and dematerialise again, yes?’

‘Not quite,’ said the Doctor. ‘If I may make one small adjustment to your otherwise excellent plan, Jo? I took the trouble of getting the UNIT boffins to prepare this.’

He stepped inside the TARDIS and reappeared a moment later with a spear that looked just like the one they were going to steal – with one small difference.

‘It has no runes on it,’ said Jo.

‘Quite so,’ said the Doctor. ‘We made this from photographs in the exhibition catalogue, but the runes were unclear – hence the need for our visit today. As soon as we complete the work on the spearhead, we can be off. Later tonight, I hope.’

‘And we replace the spear with this copy!’ said Jo. ‘That’s brilliant. They won’t even know they’ve been robbed!’

The Doctor smiled. ‘Well, as long as we don’t break any glass, they won’t.’