Histories english 17 sick building (v1 0) paul magrs

Tiermann’s World: a planet covered in wintry woods and roamed by sabre-toothed tigers and other savage beasts The Doctor is here to warn Professor Tiermann, his wife and their son that a terrible danger is on its way The Tiermanns live in luxury, in a fantastic, futuristic, fully-automated Dreamhome, under an impenetrable force shield But that won’t protect them from the Voracious Craw A huge and hungry alien creature is heading remorselessly towards their home When it arrives everything will be devoured Can they get away in time? With the force shield cracking up, and the Dreamhome itself deciding who should or should not leave, things are looking desperate Featuring the Doctor and Martha as played by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman in the hit series from BBC Television Sick Building BY PAUL MAGRS 10 Published in 2007 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing Ebury Publishing is a division of the Random House Group Ltd © Paul Magrs, 2007 Paul Magrs has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 Doctor Who is a BBC Wales production for BBC One Executive Producers: Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner Series Producer: Phil Collinson Original series broadcast on BBC Television Format © BBC 1963 ‘Doctor Who’, ‘TARDIS’ and the Doctor Who logo are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner The Random House Group Ltd Reg No 954009 Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at www.randomhouse.co.uk A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 I 84607269 The Random House Group Ltd makes every effort to ensure that the papers used in our books are made from trees that have been legally sourced from well-managed credibly certified forests Our paper procurement policy can be found at www.randomhouse.co.uk Series Consultant: Justin Richards Project Editor: Steve Tribe Cover design by Lee Binding © BBC 2007 Typeset in Albertina and Deviant Strain Printed and bound in Germany by GGP Media GmbH For my brother, Mark Contents Prologue One Two Three 17 Four 27 Five 39 Six 53 Seven 61 Eight 69 Nine 81 Ten 91 Eleven 99 Twelve 107 Thirteen 113 Fourteen 121 Fifteen 129 Sixteen 137 Seventeen 145 Eighteen 153 Nineteen 161 Acknowledgements 165 She was running through the winter woods because death was at her heels ‘It’s on its way It’s coming!’ That was what she heard There were rumours on the air Mutterings and whisperings in the woods Danger approaching Something bad Creatures were abandoning the forest Creatures she would usually make her prey So her daily forages for food had sent her farther and farther afield And even there, the story was the same Where was everyone going? What was all the panic about? ‘Get away,’ they told her Even creatures that should have been terrified of her ‘Get away from here, if you’ve got any sense Get back to your den Get back to your family But even there you won’t escape There is no escape Not from what’s coming.’ She hadn’t understood What were they screeching about? What had caused this wave of terror in the winter woods? She could smell it herself, though she could make no sense of it The air reeked of danger She knew something bad was coming And so she had stopped hunting and fled for home Now she was cut, bleeding and starving Fallen branches cracked and splintered beneath her powerful limbs as she ran She pounded through the undergrowth, sending up flurries of snow behind her She was a survivor She had to get back She had left her home for too long It was vulnerable To the elements, to outside attack To the thing that was coming for them all Her cubs were there She hoped they were still there She allowed herself to think of them briefly – three, hungry as she was, calling out for her in the musky gloom of their den The thought made her redouble her efforts even though her muscles and sinews were cracking, almost at breaking point She had half-killed herself Leaving this frozen forest that was her home, for the next valley And what for? What had she learned there? Nothing good It was the deepest part of winter The air itself seemed stiff with ice With each passing moment she could hear, even louder, the whispers and the hints that danger – and more than danger, certain death – was on its way But she couldn’t abandon her den Her children were too young If she tried to move them now, they would all surely die She had to be strong for all of them But she was battered, bruised and bleeding One of her long, curved teeth was snapped and splintered Her savage claws were ragged and torn Even so, all she could think about was her cubs All she cared about was making them safe, any way she could Death was on its way And she was helpless in the face of that ‘Flee,’ the smaller creatures warned her ‘Take your babies and run Soon, there will be nothing here Nothing can withstand what is on its way We will all perish beneath that onslaught.’ ‘But what is it?’ she asked them None of them could describe it None of them had a name for it Something totally foreign Something unutterably powerful and deadly So she ran She turned tail to run home She came howling through the winter woods, crashing through the densely packed trees Wherever everyone else was fleeing to, she would join them No matter where it led Did they even know where there was safety? No one did Maybe there was nowhere safe any more But still she ran Still she had to try She had to find something to feed her children And then they all had to leave home They had to face the worst of the winter together They had to survive, and that was all there was to it She was almost home when something quite extraordinary happened She had reached a glade that she recognised It was an open patch of frosted grass There was a frozen stream and she was considering a pause to crack the ice and to slake her thirst But before she could W hile the others were staring in shock at the approaching Craw, the robot who had been Toaster seized his chance Green fire flickered about his body as he rounded on his adversary The last vestiges of Toaster’s mind felt the terrible voice of the Domovoi ringing through him ‘You will die, Tiermann!’ And with that, the robot launched itself at its startled creator Tiermann fell into the savage embrace He felt the flames licking around him and they were curiously cool and soft He felt delirious with pain, confusion, and fury The Domovoi had him now She had him just where she had always wanted him Ever since he had created her, in all her godlike genius and majesty, and locked her underground, far beneath his Dreamhome, this was the moment she had been waiting for The reckoning She had longed for the day when she would be set free from her servitude and her incarceration And she could face up to Ernest Tiermann And destroy him ‘I am the Domovoi,’ she shrieked ‘But you made me your servant!’ Tiermann was locked in the robot’s arms ‘You were all my servants! My creations! My playthings! You were mine to control as I wished!’ Then there came a huge FLLAAAASSSHHH of ultraviolet light 153 The others whipped around to see Each of them caught a glimpse of Tiermann and Toaster, standing there, locked in each other’s arms, skeletal and silhouetted in the incandescence The last of Toaster’s tubes had ignited and gone off in the most brilliant burst of light he had ever mustered It was too much for Tiermann Solin cried out as he saw what was happening He started forward to help his father, but the Doctor held his arm ‘It’s too late.’ Ernest Tiermann’s charred and smouldering form fell away from his opponent’s, and clattered to the ground Thunk It lay there untwitching, unbreathing Utterly dead and smoking Nobody could say anything They were transfixed instead by the spectacle of Toaster, blinded, staggering about and still wreathed in green flames The last murderous act that the Domovoi had pushed him to had been one step too far He was swaying, he was buckling the green fire was dying away ‘Toaster!’ cried Barbara, to the ancient robot For a moment the old sun bed was himself again ‘Barbara! Doctor! Martha I am sorry I have killed Tiermann She took me over the Domovoi ’ And then the robot collapsed, stone dead, in the wreckage The green flame shrank and disappeared Barbara hastened to his side, gasping and wheezing with grief Martha turned to the Doctor ‘Is that the end for the Domovoi, too?’ He looked grim ‘I don’t know She was weakening, certainly She’s losing her influence over things here There’s hardly anything left for her to control ’ Solin, who had been solemnly paying tribute over his father’s body, turned back to look at the Voracious Craw Its dense mass seemed even closer The very earth underneath them was trembling in anticipation of being churned up and stripped away Rocks and chunks of masonry were starting to quiver He stared back at the advancing maw and something of the sheer horror of this forced his glance away It was hard to look at the immense creature for too long The mind itself seemed to veer away from thoughts of its hugeness and 154 unstoppability ‘Doctor ’ he said, quietly The Doctor was on his feet He looked straight into the distance, at the terrible view Solin had been taking in And the Doctor grinned ‘Do you know what? We’re going to stop it.’ Martha stood up ‘Why? What’s left to save?’ ‘Plenty,’ said the Doctor ‘There’s plenty here besides the Tiermann clan Indigenous stuff Lovely plants and beasties who never did anyone any harm, cosmically speaking Let’s save them all! And besides I wouldn’t like to bet on our chances of getting away safely with the Voracious Craw sucking everything up Even that little hop we just did wore the TARDIS out – it’s still being affected So we still have to stop the Craw.’ ‘How are we going to that?’ Martha asked She was longing to simply get inside the TARDIS and leave this place But the Doctor knew what he was doing If he said they had to stop the Craw first, then that was what they’d have to ‘Aha,’ grinned the Doctor ‘Luckily, I’ve been working on my second secret plan for the last little while Not bad, eh?’ ‘What secret plan?’ Martha frowned ‘Barbara,’ the Doctor said gently, touching the robot’s shoulder ‘Any more pop left?’ Confused, she said, ‘Of course, Doctor.’ Seconds later they were all forcing down more carbonated drinks at the Doctor’s request None of them were particularly thirsty, after everything he had made them drink, during the last hour or so ‘What’s all this about?’ Solin asked, frowning ‘How’s this a plan?’ said Martha, tipping more pop down her throat ‘You’ll see!’ he grinned, pacing about and jumping up and down on the spot ‘I’m trying to fizz myself up! Come on, you lot! Jump!’ Suddenly, he stopped and clicked his fingers ‘Sound system?’ he asked The Dreamhome must have had a very advanced sound system, I’d have thought Hidden speakers and microphones and stuff That’s how the Domovoi was communicating with you all, and you with it Can you show me?’ 155 Solin looked around at the burning, shattered walls of the Dreamhome ‘Of course If there’s anything left, and still in working order ’ The Doctor nodded ‘Off you go! Quickly!’ He glanced at his watch, and then at the horizon, and made a few rapid calculations in his head ‘If I’m right, we’ve got about twenty minutes until this whole place vanishes up into the rapacious maw of the Voracious Craw.’ He saw that Martha was staring at him and he grinned reassuringly ‘You think I’ve gone bananas, don’t you?’ ‘Why don’t we just leave?’ she said pointedly ‘I want to try something out,’ he said ‘Is this your plan to distract the Craw with the TARDIS?’ ‘Uh-huh,’ he shook his head ‘I’ve changed my mind This is different! This is brilliant! My other plan! I’m going to put a stop to the Craw and send it on its way back into space I’m going to make it leave this world alone.’ ‘But why?’ Martha asked, exasperated ‘It’s too late! Everything’s gone! Everyone’s dead! We don’t even know if the Domovoi herself is alive ’ The Doctor looked serious and thoughtful ‘What about the creatures, hmm? They were here before the Tiermann family arrived What about the trees and all that? And what about that sabre-tooth we saw right at the start? Her and her cubs? What about them?’ He swigged back his pop and reached for another bottle ‘It’ the likes of her I’m doing this for.’ Solin gave a yell from across the ruins ‘The sound system is working! What you want me to do?’ ‘Aha!’ cried the Doctor energetically, and went skipping over the wreckage, all skinny, excitable limb and whirling coat tails Martha stared back at the vast tapeworm thing in the sky Less than twenty minutes To her eyes it seemed like they would have much less time She forced herself to think more positively The Doctor knew what he was doing And, truth be told, he had shamed her, by having to remind her of the sabre-tooth, and the other life forms indigenous to 156 Tiermann’s World Of course they had to what they could to knock the Craw off course, and save them The Doctor called her over ‘And Barbara, you can help too!’ Martha hurried across and found that he had fixed up a microphone and was gathering them around it ‘Now, Barbara, you work the controls on this,’ he said ‘You can’t what the rest of us are going to do, because, well, you don’t have a belly or an oesophagus or anything.’ ‘What on earth is going on?’ Barbara asked, taking hold of the microphone The Doctor winked at them all ‘Hope you’re all feeling windy.’ Solin blinked at him ‘What?’ The Doctor said: ‘On Barbara’s count of three, we’re all going to burp as loudly and as much as we possibly can.’ ‘Burp?’ Martha nearly laughed This was typical of him ‘I thought you were going to make some solemn speech and broadcast it over the speakers Something about protecting this planet and warning the Craw Saying you were a Time Lord and so it better watch out and all that!’ ‘No, no, no,’ the Doctor shook his head firmly ‘Do you think that thing’ – he pointed wildly – ‘is going to take any notice of speechmaking and diplomacy? No! Belching! That’s what we have to do! It’s the only way!’ ‘But why, Doctor?’ Solin asked, utterly mystified Barbara – who had learned a thing or two about trusting the Doctor’s ideas – simply told him: ‘Just it And – one – and two – and three!’ The three of them belched as much and as loudly as they could into the microphone The Doctor was surprisingly, disgustingly eloquent with his burps They recorded a minute’s worth and then the Doctor instructed Barbara: ‘Right Loop it Amplify it Distort it Echo it And get the remains of this house to broadcast it, loud as it can in the direction of the Voracious Craw!’ Barbara set busily to work 157 ‘Do you know, my ears are ringing?’ the Doctor told Martha ‘You’ve got a powerful set of lungs on you.’ ‘Me?’ she gasped Solin was looking mystified ‘What are we doing? I’ve watched both my parents die today My home destroyed And you are making us behave like children, Doctor ’ Now the Doctor looked serious ‘All in a good cause, Solin You’ll see.’ Barbara had been communing with the rest of the shattered house ‘Doctor! The Domovoi is completely dormant! Almost dead! She isn’t resisting at all as I take over the circuits, as I use the sound system ’ ‘Just as well,’ the Doctor said ‘We don’t need her interference now OK, Barbara? Ready?’ The robot nodded ‘All set.’ The Doctor turned to look up into the sky The Craw was almost directly above the forest in which the TARDIS had materialised in the first place The tree tops were rippling and their roots digging in for dear life ‘Do it, Barbara!’ the Doctor commanded ‘Do it now!’ Barbara played the short looped tape they had made The noise came blaring out of every speaker hidden away in the wreckage of the Dreamhome The Doctor and his friends covered their ears The noise was terrific Martha felt as if her eardrums were going to explode Every organ inside each of their bodies was vibrating fit to burst The ground was quaking and shaking underneath them All around them bruited the horrendous, continuous noise of the biggest belch ever recorded An almighty eructation was ripping out across the land Martha was ducking down beside Solin, and she watched the Doctor striding about, laughing madly, hands clamped to his ears Then she looked up at the horrendous underbelly of the Voracious Craw The effect of their recording on the creature was astonishing Its mouth had clamped shut 158 The forest lay still beneath it The vegetation that had started to lift away from the ground slumped back down into place The Craw was simply hovering ineffectually as the sound waves echoed through the valley Martha hurried over to the Doctor and tugged on his coat sleeve She tried to ask him what was happening, and why the Craw had stopped But the noise was too fierce for them to say anything to each other She could only watch, with the Doctor, Solin and Barbara, as the Voracious Craw gradually changed its mind And changed its direction It was backing up, rather slowly, with all the grace of a massive cruise liner doing a U-turn in the middle of a stormy ocean Still the noise rang out Slowed down, altered, looped like that their belches did sound horrific Like the cries of some ancient, primeval beast Now the Doctor was springing up and down on his toes He was jumping for joy and waving his hands in the air Martha still couldn’t hear what he was shouting But one thing was plain Something was happening that had never happened before The Voracious Craw was going It was turning away and growing smaller as it slipped into the upper atmosphere It was leaving Tiermann’s World behind Never before, in the history of this monstrous race, had one of the Voracious Craw left behind a meal unfinished Once he was quite sure that the Craw was going, the Doctor turned to hug his companions And when she was crushed to him and he was yelling right down her ear, then Martha could at last hear what he was saying: ‘We did it! We sent it away! We saved the world, Martha! We saved the world again!’ 159 T hey let Solin take one last look around the ruins of the only home he had ever known The Doctor and Martha were waiting for him by the TARDIS ‘So the noise we were making,’ Martha said ‘It was just like the sound of an even bigger and even more Voracious Craw?’ ‘That’s exactly how that creature heard it,’ the Doctor nodded He was still drinking pop He had somehow acquired a taste for the sticky, sugary stuff and now Barbara’s supply was almost depleted Not that Barbara was complaining With not so many bottles clunking around inside her, she felt lighter, and freer than she had in years ‘And our Voracious Craw backed off and went away, because it thought that a bigger Craw had first dibs on the planet?’ ‘Hmmm,’ the Doctor said ‘They are a dreary bunch of witless bullies, I’m afraid And they give in very easily, when someone bigger and stronger comes along Like all bullies All we had to was stand up to it.’ ‘We scared the hell out of it,’ Martha laughed ‘That’s another way of putting it,’ the Doctor grinned ‘Was that a medical diagnosis, Doctor Jones?’ ‘You bet your monstrous eructations on it, Doctor.’ 161 He unlocked the TARDIS door for her ‘Shall we tell the others it’s time to go?’ She nodded towards Solin, who was still striding about thoughtfully in the blackened rubble ‘It’ll be hard for him.’ ‘He’ll be OK He’s a resilient kid And he’ll fit right in on Spaceport Antelope Slash Nitelite It’s a real ragbag of displaced persons and interesting types Quite I fascinating place, really I reckon Barbara will enjoy it there, too She’s had far too sheltered a life She’ll look after Solin.’ They watched Barbara ambling up to the TARDIS She had a spring in her step She looked as elated as a vending machine ever could ‘I’m ready, Doctor, Martha,’ she said ‘I’ve said my goodbyes To Toaster, to everyone else.’ ‘And the Domovoi?’ the Doctor asked her ‘I think she’s gone,’ Barbara said, frowning ‘I can’t detect her anywhere in the remains of the Dreamhome I think she’s gone deep, deep underground.’ The Doctor stared at Barbara and nodded solemnly For a second he allowed himself to wonder: what if she was lying? She had been connected to the Domovoi, after all What if – even unbeknownst to Barbara herself – the Domovoi had secreted some small part of her malign intelligence inside the circuits of the vending robot? And what if she managed to get herself away from Tiermann’s World? What if she managed to smuggle herself away, inside Barbara, and into the galaxy at large? The Doctor waved the thought away He was getting much too suspicious Always thinking and expecting the worst No, the Domovoi was gone And it was time for them to leave, too ‘I think I’m ready, Doctor To explore the universe,’ Barbara said brightly The Doctor was watching as Solin turned his back on his wrecked and burning world There was nothing left here for him now The boy was turning and walking towards the TARDIS, ready to be swept away and taken into a different time and place 162 The Doctor smiled at Barbara ‘It’s completely marvellous, exploring the universe,’ he told her ‘Everyone should try it Eh, Martha?’ ‘Too right,’ she said, and led the way into the ship Martha was secretly glad that they were dropping off Barbara and Solin (with that embarrassing crush of his!) at that spaceport They were all very nice and everything, but she was happiest when it was just he and the Doctor Smith and Jones At home in the universe And setting off together for new and fantastic adventures Now she was returning to the valley Her cubs were safe They were strong and they had been fed at last She had found them something: a fleeing beast she had caught up with and casually killed She had fed her cubs and she had eaten a little flesh too, though not as much as she needed to She still felt sick with worry She still felt disturbed at having to leave her valley and flee Now the mutterings and the whisperings in the wintry forest were telling her that all was safe The danger had passed And when she cocked her ear and stared into the skies she could sense that it was true The ultimate, terrible danger had gone They had been saved Death had been dismissed from their world at the very last moment But how? And why? And what was it anyway? That colossal, alien behemoth that came bearing down on them That had sucked up so much of the forest’s life elsewhere What had it been? And would it ever come again? She didn’t know None of them knew She watched her cubs scatter into the frozen undergrowth They padded and scampered ahead of her, Now they were onto the scent of their home They knew they were nearly there She shared their excitement and their relief at the sense of home She was exhausted, though Bone weary And the shock of this whole nightmare had shaken her very deeply She knew she would never take her place in this world for granted any more Not in the same way Not now that she knew that something – some inexplicable thing – could come along out of the blue one day and simply force her 163 to move Something bigger and more powerful, forcing its will onto her familiar landscape She would never take things for granted again And she would warn her cubs to be careful, too Because the world could change overnight And here on Tiermann’s World, that’s exactly what had happened Here in the valley, in the densely packed snowy woods, there was a smell of destruction in the air Charred remains Devastation The human beings were gone, Those who had been here, so many years, thinking this world was theirs Now they were gone Hopefully for ever The mother realised this and felt a great wave of happiness wash through her This place was hers again Theirs The world had changed overnight, and she was glad 164 Acknowledgements With thanks to Justin, Gary, Russell, Jac, Claire, Steve, Sherry, Tiff, Alicia, Mark, Mark, Mark, Ann, Louise, Mam, Panda and Jeremy 165 ... Television Sick Building BY PAUL MAGRS 10 Published in 2007 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing Ebury Publishing is a division of the Random House Group Ltd © Paul Magrs, 2007 Paul Magrs. .. Printed and bound in Germany by GGP Media GmbH For my brother, Mark Contents Prologue One Two Three 17 Four 27 Five 39 Six 53 Seven 61 Eight 69 Nine 81 Ten 91 Eleven 99 Twelve 107 Thirteen 113 Fourteen... ‘Wow,’ Martha sighed ‘That’s your Dreamhome, is it?’ Solin looked relieved to be within sight of the building ‘That’s right We made it here at last.’ He glanced at the dark forest at their backs ‘We’re