Eight
Basalt led the Doctor, Ryan and Ash back down to where they had left the little train standing on the platform. Beyond the platform, there was another tunnel, which led to lift shafts similar to the one that they had used before to come up to this level. The Doctor stood beneath one of the dark shafts, and lifted the sonic screwdriver.
“Yes,” she said, “this’ll take us up to the surface.”
“Are you sure it’s safe, Doctor?” said Ryan.
“I think we have to take the risk,” she said. “We’ll go slow, and try not to put too much strain on the lift and the shaft. What do you think – ready for a ride? See where we end up?”
Ryan found he was more than ready. Now that the chance of going outside had presented itself, he realised suddenly how much he was missing sunlight, and a limitless sky, and the feeling of fresh air upon his face. This was a marvellous world down here within the sphere; it was vivid and unusual, but it also felt static and unchanging. Claustrophobic. He would be glad to stand outside again – even not knowing what they might find up there.
“I’m ready,” he said, and turned to Ash. “Are you coming?”
She shook her head. “I’m needed here,” she said, “to help shore up the fissure.” She suddenly folded her arms around him. Ryan hugged her back. He’d expected her to feel cold and hard, but instead she was warm and supple. He was going to miss her. She was so strong and so calm. “Take care of yourself, Ash,” he said. She nodded, and then turned to the Doctor and hugged her too.
“Come back safely,” Ash said.
Basalt and Ash watched as the Doctor and Ryan climbed into the big wire mesh cage. They were soon on their way, heading upwards. The Doctor found a keypad, and played with some of the buttons until they were going at a steady pace. Ryan, looking down, saw Ash, her face flecked with glints of silvery mica, waving up them, until the darkness took her, and he and the Doctor were alone, heading up to uncertainty.
Yaz was keen to go and find the TARDIS but Onyx refused to help. “Emerald is waiting for you to come for it,” he said. “It’s locked away, and it’s guarded. We need to go to Basalt’s study.”
“Oh,” said Graham, “you know about that? I thought it was a big secret.”
“It is a secret,” said Quartz. “Only a handful of us know where it is.”
“And has anyone told that to Emerald?” said Yaz, pointedly.
“Absolutely not,” said Onyx. His tone, which was usually playful, was deadly serious. “She would destroy everything in there. She is more desperate than she has ever been.”
“So what if we’re followed there?” said Graham.
“We won’t be,” said Onyx.
“It’s a long way,” said Yaz, doubtfully.
“But there might be something there that can help us,” said Quartz.
Reluctantly, then, Yaz and Graham agreed. Onyx proved to be a capable guide. When they reached the tunnel, everything was quiet and, inside, the big chamber was very much how they had left it, all that time ago. Yaz wondered how many days it was – Earth days – since they had set out on their expedition, and been forced to split away from the others. She had lost track of time completely in this strange, lightless world, catching sleep when she could, resting when either she or Graham got tired.
“Is there something in particular you were looking for, Quartz?” Graham said. “Perhaps there’s a file somewhere.”
Quartz waved his arms hopelessly, taking in the chaos. “If Basalt had a filing system, it was known only to him,” he said. “And looking at this mess, I’m not sure he knew where everything was either, or why he kept things anyway. Who in their right mind has a ruby rat as a pet?”
“Basalt always seemed to have a thousand projects going on,” Onyx said. “Who knows what we might find?”
“You’ll know what you want when you see it, eh?” said Graham.
Quartz and Onyx busied themselves at the long stone table, hoping to find what Basalt had been working on most recently. Graham explored some of the display trays, where strange crystals were laid out in no immediately decipherable pattern. Yaz walked through the chamber to the far side, where she found an alcove containing long sets of crystals hanging by threads from the roof. They swayed as she moved close to them.
“Hey,” she called out. “What’s this?”
Graham came for a closer look. “Look like wind chimes,” he said.
“I always found them annoying,” said Yaz.
“Grace had some,” Graham said, more to himself than anything.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Graham, I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t worry, I know you didn’t!” Graham thought for a minute, and then grinned. “Do you know what – I found them annoying too.”
Yaz reached out to touch the nearest hanging crystals. They swayed and struck each other, and they did indeed sound out, melodically. “Much nicer than wind chimes,” she said.
“Yes, but what about at three o’clock in the morning?” said Graham. “Never quite got Grace to understand that. She slept like a queen.”
Yaz put her arm around him and gave him a hug.
Quartz came to join them. “Ah,” he said. “Basalt’s library.”
“His library?” said Yaz.
“The combinations of sounds are meaningful,” said Quartz.
Quartz’s hands were moving quickly across the chimes, a sweet symphony. Like skim-reading, Yaz thought.
“You do know what you’re looking for, don’t you?” she said.
He frowned. “You have to know how to strike them in the same way. I wish Basalt hadn’t always been so keen on using so many codes!”
“To be fair,” said Yaz, “there was someone informing on him.”
Quartz looked embarrassed, and stopped skimming the chimes. “He was working on something new before he left,” he said. “But we hadn’t tried it out, and I’m not sure whether it works. It was a way to use certain properties of crystals to be able to speak at long distances…”
Yaz and Graham exchanged a look. “A communicator?” said Graham. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”
Quartz looked shifty. “For one thing, I didn’t know if Basalt had got it to work.”
“Oh yes?” said Graham. “And the other thing?”
“Emerald knows about it,” said Quartz.
“Because you told her, I suppose?” said Yaz.
“It hasn’t been easy here,” Quartz said, defensively. “I knew Basalt was leaving. And Emerald knew something was going on. I let her know about the speaking crystals so that she wouldn’t get wind of his plans to leave.”
“It wasn’t a simple matter, you know,” said Onyx, “getting a dozen people out of the City and on their way. I’m amazed we got away with it.”
“All right, let’s not get into judging right now,” said Graham, peaceably. “Let’s keep ourselves focused on the job. If there is a way to get in touch with Basalt, then that’s a big help.”
Quartz carried searching through the library, and then, he and Onyx picked out a couple of crystals and took them over to the cluttered stone table. He made them play some sounds to him, and nodded. “Basalt’s notes on the project,” Quartz explained to Yaz and Graham. He and Onyx hurried around the chamber, finding other crystals and bringing them back to set up an elaborate structure. Quartz warmed a few of them within his hands and, slowly, that heat diffused through the other crystals, powering them up. He set up the crystals in a line, facing the stone wall, then placed the largest of the stones in front of him, and began to shift it around in his hands. The crystal began to hum. An image appeared on the wall opposite, hazy at first, but slowly coming into focus. It was a face, dark and stony, with flecks of mica.
“Is that Ash?” said Yaz, and then the image became clear. “No, it’s—”
“Basalt,” said Quartz.
Basalt’s eyes flicked from one side to the other, taking in the room, and who was present. “Ah, Quartz,” he said. �
��I wondered when you’d get this working.”
“You didn’t make it easy, you know.”
“No, well, it’s been a difficult time. Tell me, have you picked sides yet?”
Quartz opened his mouth to speak, but Basalt hadn’t finished yet.
“Don’t worry, old friend,” he said. “I know what you were trying to do. I forgive you, and you must forgive me for making good use of all your power and possessions to be able to do the work I wanted to do. I kept you close, and I told you what I wanted Emerald to hear.”
Quartz’s mouth was opening and closing without making any sound. Graham chuckled. “You’ve been well and truly played, mate!”
Basalt’s eyes flicked over to look at him. This was very odd, Yaz thought; like watching an old lantern show.
“Ah!” said Basalt. “Now that is a most unusual face. I imagine that these must be your other friends, Ash.”
The image on the wall blurred and shook, and then a familiar face appeared where Basalt’s had been. “Hello, Graham. Hello, Yaz,” said Ash. “Isn’t my father clever?”
“Extremely clever,” said Yaz. She glanced at Quartz, who looked very subdued. “Even cleverer than people thought.”
“It’s so good to see you,” said Graham. “Where’s Ryan and the Doctor? Are they OK?”
Ash looked worried. “They’ve gone up to the surface.”
“How did they manage that?” said Yaz.
Quickly, Ash explained about the lifts, and the shafts, and the tunnels – and the bodies. “We know that someone else has been here. The Doctor and Ryan have gone up to the surface to make contact.”
Graham sighed. Yaz put her hand on his arm.
Quartz leaned in to speak. “Basalt.” He sounded grief-stricken. “I tried my best…”
“You thought you were acting wisely,” said Basalt. “What matters is what you do now.”
Quartz was not consoled. “It’s all gone so far.”
“Much further than you realise,” said Basalt. “Listen, all of you. We’re in a great deal of danger.” Speaking quickly, he explained about the deep fissure that his people were only just holding closed.
“So that’s what we can see in the roof of the sphere are,” said Yaz. “What happens if the fissure cracks wide open?”
“You’ve seen the steaming pools, Yaz,” said Ash. “More of that – much more, flooding the City and all our islands.”
“The end of the world,” said Graham. “Blimey.”
“And the Doctor has gone off to see what she can do,” Yaz surmised. “But can we do in the meantime?”
“We need help,” said Basalt. “We need materials, people – whatever you can send to help us shore up this fissure and prevent it cracking wide open. Quartz – can you help us? Will you?”
Yaz turned to Quartz. His grand and smooth confidence had completely gone; he seemed a much humbler, sadder creature than the one she had first met. “Of course,” he said, “although we have to avoid Emerald and her people.”
Onyx, from one side, said, “I can help with that.”
“There’s one more thing,” said Basalt. “We need to be careful how much we use these communicators. Quartz, I don’t know how much you told Emerald—”
“Most of it,” admitted Quartz.
“Then she might have worked out a way of knowing when we use them. You should only use them in real need.” Basalt sighed. “Though the situation is becoming critical here. We might be past that point already… Be careful!”
The picture faded.
Ryan felt a gentle bump, and then the click of buttons on a keypad. The doors to the lift opened, and they walked out of the cage into the grey light of an alien dawn. Ryan, stepping forwards, found himself looking out across a heathery landscape that whispered with small but busy life. The wind blew through trees and grasses that no human had ever seen, and which did not have – had never had – any name.
Ryan’s mind turned to a school trip to Haworth, sandwiches on the bus… He’d almost forgotten, in the fun and mucking about of the day, and the crush and boredom of the big forbidding house, that there had been a brief moment looking out across the empty moors, when his heart was quietly but suddenly moved by the wild beauty of it all. He wondered now whether all his mates had felt the same, but would have died rather than admit it. Daft what you do, he thought. When you were a little kid, you didn’t mind getting excited and enthusiastic and gobsmacked when things amazed you, and telling everyone around you how brilliant things were. And then you got older and you tried to forget about all that; you pretended that you were bored or nothing was impressive. And then one day you found yourself, nearly every day, seeing something that blew your mind. He hoped he would never forget this feeling. Perhaps a large part of being really grown-up was remembering to be amazed.
“All quiet, and untouched,” he said. “Nobody’s spoiled it.”
The Doctor stood beside him, looking out across the untamed land.
“Lonely, though,” he said. “Big and empty… And yet right beneath our feet there’s a whole secret world happening. All that worrying and fighting and keeping secrets. All those amazing creatures and sights—”
“And mushrooms.”
“Right, yeah. But out here, there’s just the wind and the sunrise, and…”
The Doctor grinned. “There’s a poet in you.”
Ryan laughed. “Don’t be daft!”
Behind them, situated beyond where the lift had come out, a series of low buildings had been constructed. Ryan counted half-a-dozen. Around these were various kinds of machinery, similar in design and feel to the lifts and the train, and the bits and pieces of gadgetry they had seen cluttered below around the foot of the first life. All from the same manufacturer, whoever or whatever that was.
“Hmm,” said the Doctor. “Quiet, isn’t it?”
“Looks abandoned,” Ryan said. “And there was I, all ready for a first contact or a close encounter…”
The Doctor had the sonic out. “No life signs. Energy sources, yeah, and power supplies, but not people…” She frowned. “Let’s have a closer look.”
They walked towards the nearest building. Close up, it looked half-built: there was no door, and when they peered inside, it was empty. Grasses had grown through the space where the window should have been, and were trailing down the inside walls. The next two or three buildings were in the same state: half-constructed, half-overgrown. When they reached the next building, the biggest, the Doctor’s interest was piqued. “Ah, now, this is more like it. A locked door. Signs of life at last.”
Ryan watched as she worked at it. “Doctor, this was a mine, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, but whoever came here abandoned it. Maybe because of whatever accident killed those poor miners.”
“So why is the drilling still going on?”
“Dunno. Let’s get inside here and see if we can find out.”
The door popped open. The Doctor grinned. And then her expression turned to alarm at the sight of a huge golden swarm bursting through the door, buzzing and fizzing.
“Get down!” the Doctor yelled to Ryan. “Cover your face!”
He did what he was told, peeping through between his fingers to see what the Doctor was doing. She was standing with the sonic held up, apparently unafraid of whatever these things were and what they could do to her. After a moment or two, Ryan saw the golden haze around the creatures flicker, like Christmas tree lights on the blink, and then go out. There was a moment’s silence, and then a clattering sound as the things fell to the ground. Ryan covered his head completely; the thought of being buried under a pile of dead wasp-like creatures did not appeal. “Doctor!” he shouted. “What’s going on?”
“It’s all OK,” said the Doctor. “You can get up. I’ve switched them off.”
“Switched them off?” Ryan jumped up, shaking off the creatures that had fallen on him. “Aren’t they, like, bugs or something?” He peered at the pile of them; a heap of little
grey…
“Nanobots,” said the Doctor. She looked round. “Huh. That’s impressive.”
“Impressive?”
“They’re tiny robots,” She knelt down by the pile, waving the sonic around. “Pretty advanced, too. These little things are responsible for building most of what you’ve seen here. The shafts, the lifts, the buildings, maybe even the railway and the tunnels.”
“How does that work?” said Ryan.
“Well, dragging loads of equipment across space is a real hassle. Takes loads of fuel and it’s really boring. So you send along nanobots – tiny robots, you can’t see them – that are programmed to use the materials they find here to make the buildings and so on.” She struggled for an example. “Like flat-pack furniture. You assemble on arrival.”
“A flat-pack mine,” said Ryan. “Cool.”
“Yup. The nanobots do it all. By the time the people arrive, the place is all set up.”
“Why send people at all, when nanobots can do all this?” said Ryan. “And there aren’t people here now, are there?”
“No,” said the Doctor. “And yet the mine is still running.” She peered through the open door, and then grinned back at Ryan. “Shall we find out why?”
They crept inside. It was dark, and windowless, and the Doctor had to hold the sonic out in front of them like a torch.
“Spooky,” said Ryan.
They wandered along a corridor, checking out rooms as they went past. “This looks like a command centre,” said the Doctor. “Places to sleep, rec rooms, workplaces… Oh, now, this looks useful!”
They had entered a big room with workstations, some with tech and gadgets, recognisably tools or screens where people could do their jobs. Ryan looked around in amazement, while the Doctor started fiddling at a control panel.
“I see it’s all right for you to press buttons,” Ryan said.
“Yeah, but I’m great at pressing buttons,” she said. “When it comes to pressing buttons, I’m the best.” She thumped a few more, and a little holographic display popped up. Ryan saw strange symbols and diagrams scrolls past. “Here we are,” said the Doctor. “Business plan. Yep, this was a mine. The first set of miners arrived. They were here a few weeks and….”
Doctor Who: Molten Heart Page 11