Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders

the morning sunlight. ‘We’ve done it,’ he said exultantly. ‘Will it
really give us power?’
Inside his head the voice said, ‘More power than you have
ever dreamed of.’
Even the icy tones of the Spider seemed tinged with
triumph, then she spoke again, sharply this time. ‘Veil your
mind, Lupton. Conceal your ambitions. If my sisters on
Metebelis Three could read your desires, they would kill you.’
It was Lupton’s first indication that the Spiders were not all
united in their aims. Before he could ask more questions, a
strange, high-pitched humming seemed to fill the room. He
staggered and collapsed on the bed.
‘Beware,’ said the Spider’s voice. ‘They seek to make the
link. Veil your mind!’
Lupton felt the room blur and dissolve around him. His
surroundings vanished. Not suddenly, as when the Spicier had
teleported him from the motorboat to the monastery, but slowly,
swimmingly. Yet all the time Lupton was aware that this was not
a real transformation. His body was still resting on the bed in his
room. Only his mind had moved. It was being drawn through
endless voids of space, away, away...
Suddenly Lupton seemed to be in – a place. Not a room or a
cave, but a vast gloomy hollow, criss-crossed with cobwebby
strands. In sudden terror, he realised that he was at the heart of
a giant web. Ranged in front of him he saw row upon row of
giant spiders. Their thin, clear voices set up a continuous highpitched
humming, causing the strands of the web to vibrate. He
was in the Council Chamber of the Spiders, Rulers of Metebelis
Three. They were all grouped in a semi-circle round one
particular Spider, larger and more powerful than all the rest.
Somehow Lupton knew that this was the Spider Queen. Her
voice, when she spoke, crackled with authority. ‘You were
successful?’