‘Death rays, huh?’
‘Something like that,’ the Doctor said.
As he was speaking, Clara felt the jewel warm in her hand. ‘Doctor,’ she said, holding it out in front of her. ‘Someone’s trying to contact me.’
On the stream, an image was trying to form.
‘What should I do?’ Clara said. ‘Should I chuck it in the river?’
‘No, wait,’ said the Doctor. ‘I think this is someone I need to speak to, before we go.’
‘Mikhail,’ whispered Guena, as the young man’s face took shape and form.
‘Aunt,’ he said. ‘Have you gone?’
‘Aye,’ she said.
‘Good. I sent them to the north wing in the hope you would go the other way.’
‘Am I to thank you for your mercy, Mikhail?’ she said proudly.
‘No,’ he said. ‘I do not want your thanks. You did what you thought was best for me, throughout our lives together. I am grateful for that. I have no wish to see you dead. But you – and Bernhardt – should leave Varuz as quickly as you can. Conrad will be looking for you, and he will not show mercy.’
‘Mikhail,’ said the Doctor. ‘Listen to me. This is very important.’ Quickly, he explained his discovery: that the devices handed down by their ancestors were what had caused the decline of Varuz, and were what was making the land sicken. ‘You need to destroy this stuff – and quickly. Don’t use it again. I don’t think it’s reached the point of no return, but it might be soon.’
Mikhail listened to his story carefully. ‘I understand, Doctor,’ he said. ‘And I think that Conrad and his men will perform this task gratefully. Thank you for your warning.’ Mikhail spoke to Guena and Bernhardt once again. ‘Good luck, Aunt, wherever your road now takes you. And to you, too, Lord Bernhardt. I think you have achieved your heart’s desire – and a just reward.’ Then Mikhail smiled at Clara. ‘Goodbye, lady. Remember us.’
And then he was gone. The Doctor turned to Guena and Bernhardt, eyeing the pair thoughtfully. ‘So what are you going to do?’ he said. ‘You can’t go back down there. Conrad will know that you’ve escaped, Guena, and he’ll suspect you’re involved, Bernhardt. They’ll be hunting for you.’
‘Don’t say it like you’re relishing it, Doctor,’ said Clara. ‘Can’t we help, somehow?’
‘I’m not getting into a civil war, Clara, if that’s what you’re asking.’
‘No more war,’ said Bernhardt. ‘And what would we fight for? The country that we loved was not what we thought. I would not restore it, knowing what I know now.’
The Doctor looked at Guena. ‘And you, Duchess? Are you happy for this to be the end?’
Guena was watching the fire as it burned brightly. ‘Happy? Of course not. But…’ She gave a deep sigh. ‘Bernhardt is right. That is not a kind of rule that I desire.’
Bernhardt reached out and took her hand. ‘My lady,’ he said. ‘Beloved. We can make a new life for ourselves.’
‘Where would we go?’ she said. ‘There is nowhere now that does not belong to Conrad.’
‘But the world has many quiet corners,’ he insisted. ‘We can find a home, you and I.’
‘You can’t cross the mountains,’ said the Doctor. ‘The soldiers would find you. But I can take you across the border. Set you on your way.’
They accepted the offer gratefully and, in the middle of the night, had you been out on a quiet lane, in a quiet corner of the quietest part in Conrad’s great country, you might have seen a strange dark box appear from nowhere, and four people emerge. Two would stay, and two would go on their way: a pair of pilgrims, on their way to a distant shrine.
—
Clara had not wanted to return to the city, but the Doctor insisted, saying that he wanted to be sure that Mikhail had listened.
And it seemed he had: Conrad’s men were busy, gathering up all they could find in the palace, and throwing their collections onto the fire.
The Doctor and Clara stood near one small bonfire and listened to the people talking to each other. ‘Sorceries,’ she heard one woman say to another. ‘The nobles kept it all to themselves anyway. But Conrad’s people will bring new machines and new ideas. Maybe better days are coming now.’
Clara took the pendant and threw it on the fire.
Later, the townsfolk gathered in the main square, and Mikhail came to speak to them: the young lord; the heir of their old Duke. ‘I know this seems an unhappy time,’ he said, ‘but we have turned the corner now. The darkest days are over. The land, and the country, will start to get better now. I shall not be here as much as I would like, but I will be here when I can. And I will always speak for you. This country is my home – the land between the mountains and the sea.’
The Doctor took Clara by the arm. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘The future’s safe – or as safe as it can ever be.’
And they stole away into the darkness.
—
‘Was that really Lancelot?’ Clara said, later, when they were back in the TARDIS.
‘Clara…’
‘Yes, yes, he didn’t exist, but…’ She shivered, remembering that ancient knight, sitting in grim silence in the dark. ‘He seemed real enough to me.’
The Doctor stood before the console, contemplating infinity. ‘There’s room in the universe for many wonders,’ he said. ‘And stories must have sources. Arthur lived, that much is true. So perhaps those knights did come to Earth once upon a time. Perhaps they did pass through his court, when the old order was crumbling and the records turning to dust, already centuries into their quest, chasing a treasure they were carrying with them all along. And so they continue…’ He punched the controls. ‘I can only hope, Clara, that one day they can remember who they are, and rest.’
The TARDIS dematerialised. And the Quest went on.
—
I am the last, unless those strange wanderers who passed through Varuz in those last days remember something of us yet. But when I think of them, and reflect upon them, it seems to me that were cloaked in a kind of deliberate forgetfulness, as if their pasts were not to be admitted, keeping them mindful of nothing more than the present…Do they remember us? Do they remember me? Do they remember Varuz?
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Albert DePetrillo, Justin Richards, and Steve Tribe for their help in writing in this book.
My grateful thanks and love to Matthew, who gives me the space and time to be able to both write and be Mummy. And love to Verity, who likes Daleks.
Gary Russell
ISBN 978-1-101-90581-4
I’m an archaeologist, but probably not the one you were expecting.
Christmas 2015, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Imagine everyone’s surprise when a time portal opens up in Sydney Cove. Imagine their shock as a massive pyramid now sits beside the Harbour Bridge, inconveniently blocking Port Jackson and glowing with energy. Imagine their fear as Cyrrus ‘the mobster’ Globb, Professor Horace Jaanson and an alien assassin called Kik arrive to claim the glowing pyramid. Finally imagine everyone’s dismay when they are followed by a bunch of con artists out to spring their greatest grift yet.
This gang consists of Legs (the sexy comedian), Dog Boy (providing protection and firepower), Shortie (handling logistics), Da Trowel (in charge of excavation and history) and their leader, Doc (busy making sure the universe isn’t destroyed in an explosion that makes the Big Bang look like a damp squib).
And when someone accidentally reawakens the Ancients of Time – which, Doc reckons, wasn’t the wisest or best-judged of actions – things get a whole lot more complicated…
An original novel featuring the Twelfth Doctor, as played by Peter Capaldi
Trevor Baxendale
ISBN 978-1-101-90579-1
I do hope you’re all ready to be terrified!
The Phaeron disappeared from the universe over a million years ago. They travelled among the stars using roads made from time and space, but left only relics be
hind. But what actually happened to the Phaeron? Some believe they were they eradicated by a superior force…Others claim they destroyed themselves.
Or were they in fact the victims of an even more hideous fate?
In the far future, humans discover the location of the last Phaeron road – and the Doctor and Clara join the mission to see where the road leads. Each member of the research team knows exactly what they’re looking for – but only the Doctor knows exactly what they’ll find.
Because only the Doctor knows the true secret of the Phaeron: a monstrous secret so terrible and powerful that it must be buried in the deepest grave imaginable…
An original novel featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara, as played by Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Acknowledgments
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Acknowledgments
Doctor Who: Royal Blood (Glamour Chronicles, Book 1) Page 15