Doctor Who: Molten Heart

by Una McCormack

“It all seems to be true,” said Quartz, mildly. Yaz was grudgingly impressed at his calm.

  “No! It’s lies!” said the silver-veined one.

  “It’s worse than that,” said Lapis Lazuli. “It’s heresy.”

  A heated argument followed; some denying what they could see; others demanding more proof; one or two trying to calm the rest, to no avail. At the back, the onyx one sat quietly, and, catching Yaz’s eye, smiled at her. At length, Lapis Lazuli left, angrily, and the others followed shortly after. Last to go was the onyx one, who looked back at Graham and Yaz, and smiled again, and nodded.

  At last, Yaz and Graham were alone, with Quartz.

  “Right then!” said Graham. “I think that went well!”

  Six

  Quartz stood looking over at the door through which all his friends had left. He seemed to be at a loss as to what to do next. He shook his head. “I’ll speak to them all again,” he said. “Perhaps one-by-one… That might make things easier. Some of them were more sympathetic than others, I thought… But it’s a huge shock.” He stared at his guests again and shook his head. “You’re so…”

  “We know,” said Yaz. “Alien.”

  “We understand,” said Graham.

  Yaz and Graham took the chance to rest. Quartz showed them to a pleasant side chamber where beds had been laid out for them.

  “Look, Graham,” said Yaz, “cushions.”

  He lifted one and pretended to throw it at her. “Hey, I wonder what these are made out of. Can’t be wool or anything like that, can it? Or do you think they have sapphire-sheep and lava-goats?”

  “I’d love to see a lava-goat,” said Yaz.

  “I’m not so sure myself,” said Graham.

  Yaz ran her hand across the cushions, and the covers on the bed. They had a fibrous feel, like the rope they had used, but more finely woven. “Could be the fleece of a lava-goat, for all we know,” she said. “Or the hide of a ruby rat, or mushrooms… Oh, this place is so strange – and creepy! I miss the sunlight, and the fresh air… I feel like we’ve been stuck indoors forever. Even when we’re outside, it just doesn’t feel right! And I wish – I really wish – that we could contact the Doctor.”

  Graham put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It won’t be long. You know what the Doctor’s like. She always finds a way. Let’s have a bit of kip, eh? Things always seem better in the morning.”

  Yaz lay down on the bed. She didn’t think she would be able to rest in this strange room, beneath strange blankets, but all the walking they had done caught up with her, and soon she was soon sleeping deeply. She woke, suddenly, to the realisation that somebody was shaking her. She opened her eyes to find Quartz looming over her. She shrank back – from his bulk, his weight, his sheer and overwhelming difference.

  “Don’t be afraid,” he said. His voice was gentle, but urgent. “But you must get up now – both of you.”

  “What’s going on?” Yaz said. She got up and went to the other bed to shake Graham awake.

  “I’ve had a message from a friend,” Quartz said. “He was here last night. It seems that another one of the people you met last night took fright at the sight of you. Didn’t like what you were saying. Reported you for heresy.”

  “Who was it?” said Graham.

  “I bet I can guess,” said Yaz. “The blue one, or the silvery one.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Quartz. “What matters is that you and I still have friends, and that they’ve warned me that the Greenwatch is coming.”

  Graham, who had been rubbing his eyes, snapped awake. “What?”

  “I can get you away, I think,” Quartz said. “But we have to leave now.”

  “Where will we go?” said Yaz.

  “Back to the tunnels first,” said Quartz.

  “And then?” said Graham.

  Quartz hesitated. “I’m not sure. Maybe… Maybe back to Basalt’s study.”

  “That’s a long way,” said Graham.

  “Do the tunnels go that far?” said Yaz.

  “No…” Quartz admitted. “But we’ll think of something.”

  Yaz and Graham, both wide awake now, followed Quartz as he raced them through his home, and back out through the secret door into the tunnels. He was going at a very fast pace. Yaz, struggling to keep up, thought that the passages were much darker than she remembered from their earlier journey.

  “He’s in a hurry,” said Graham. He was a little out of breath.

  “Can you run?” said Yaz.

  “Yes, but—”

  “Come on then!” Yaz started to jog off, anxious about losing Quartz, but conscious of Graham, straggling behind her. She was aware, as she chased after Quartz, of dark tunnels opening every so often on either side, leading – where? She hadn’t the faintest idea. She saw a purplish gleam ahead – Quartz’s crest, she thought – but it was disappearing quickly into the distance. She looked back over her shoulder for Graham, who was coming as quickly as he could. Yaz looked ahead.

  “Wait!” she shouted. “Quartz, wait!”

  There was no reply. Yaz stopped, and waited for Graham to catch up. He bent over for a while, catching his breath, muttering about having a stitch. When he was able, he looked up again, and blinked. “Where’s Quartz?”

  “Gone,” said Yaz, grimly. “Brought us exactly where he wanted us, I imagine.”

  Behind them, they heard footsteps; low voices calling out: Have we missed them? Which way did they go? Yaz, looking back, thought she caught a glimmer of green in the darkness. The Greenwatch.

  “Come on,” whispered Yaz. “We’ve got to try and get away.”

  Graham sucked in a deep breath. “All right, Yaz, love, doing my best!”

  “I know.” She patted his arm. “Are you going to be OK?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  They hurried through the darkness, listening out for any pursuers.

  “This is like that film of Ryan’s,” Graham said.

  “You know a lot about Ryan’s films,” said Yaz, with a small laugh. “Almost like they’re your films too!”

  “Well, you try to take an interest, don’t you? Keep an eye on what they’re watching.”

  “So what happens next?” said Yaz. “In that film of Ryan’s.”

  “Bloomin’ big spider,” said Graham.

  “Not again!” She shuddered. “Imagine what the spiders must be like round here. They’d have diamond claws or stony shells or something.”

  “We’d get past it somehow,” said Graham.

  “At least I was right about something,” said Yaz.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Quartz wasn’t to be trusted.”

  Graham frowned. “He might just have lost us. It might have been a mistake…”

  “Do you want my theory?” said Yaz.

  “Go on.”

  “I think he’s playing both sides,” said Yaz. “Powerful people do that all over, don’t they? Keep in with both sides so that they’re always backing the winner. Why should here be any different?”

  “We’ll see,” said Graham, peaceably.

  They could hear the footsteps, drawing closer; the voices, getting louder. Yaz looked around wildly. “We could run up and down these tunnels forever,” she whispered.

  “Come on,” said Graham, comfortingly. “You never know what’s round the next corner.”

  Round the next corner, the passage ended at a T-junction. Yaz peered into the darkness, both ways. “Take your pick,” she said.

  “May as well go right,” said Graham. “Better than wrong.”

  They crept down the right-hand passage. After a little way, it began to curve round ahead of them. “I don’t like this,” said Yaz. “Never a good idea to be walking without knowing what’s in front—”

  They saw a flicker of lights on the wall. “Is that from the rocks?” said Graham. “Or something else?”

  “I don’t know,” said Yaz. She gestured to Graham to stand still, and then inched her way forwards. Sh
e stopped dead when she heard voices up ahead.

  “Not good news, I suppose?” whispered Graham.

  Yaz ran back to him. “No. Bad news. Let’s go back.”

  From behind her, Yaz heard someone call out. “That’s them!”

  “They heard us!” she said to Graham, and, grabbing his arm, pulled him off. “Run!”

  They ran as quickly as they could, but their pursuers were soon gaining ground. “Stop! In Emerald’s name, stop!”

  “No chance!” shouted Graham. “Come on, Yaz, put a spurt on!”

  Something came rustling through the air behind them; a shower of small stones. One or two hit Yaz on the arm; they were razor-sharp, and she cried out.

  “You all right?” Graham shouted.

  “I’m fine, just – watch out!” she yelled. Another shower of stones came at them. “Cover your face, Graham!”

  Graham did what she said, but it sent him off balance. He came crashing down on the ground. Yaz pulled up and dashed back to help him. He wasn’t even back on his feet by the time their pursuers reached them. Yaz looked up and round. Half-a-dozen rock people, huge and deeply alien, moving into a circle around them. Some were carrying the long crystal weapons; others had handfuls of gravel.

  “Sorry, Yaz,” said Graham. “Not as quick on my feet as I used to be…”

  “It’s all right,” she said. “They would have got us eventually.” She turned to face their captors, her eyes flashing. “All right!” she said. “You’ve got us!! What are you going to do to us?”

  The forest ended, suddenly. The trees and plants came to a stop, and so did the Doctor, Ryan, and Ash. They could simply go no further.

  The way ahead was barred by what seemed, at first look, to be a waterfall, blue and white rippling as far as the eye could see, up and down and left and right. But there was something eerily still about the whole display.

  “That’s funny,” said Ryan. “It’s not making any noise.”

  The Doctor was already halfway towards it. “Ah, good, you noticed that.”

  “Careful!” Ryan called to her. “It could be hot.”

  “I don’t think so,” said the Doctor. She reached out and touched the waterfall, and, at her touch, some of it crumbled away and fell to the ground. “This is all stone,” she said. “Chippings, or shavings. Ash, did your people make this?”

  Ash, coming to join her, shook her head.

  Ryan grabbed a handful of chippings and took a closer look. “You know what this reminds me of, Doctor? One of those big slag heaps you get near a mine.”

  She nodded. “I was thinking that too.” She frowned. “Who dumps a whole pile of chippings in the middle of a forest…?”

  Suddenly there was an ominous rumbling from above. “Oops,” said the Doctor. “We might have.”

  Ryan felt some small stones land on his head. The Doctor grabbed his hand and they started to run back towards the edge of the forest. Ryan looked round wildly. “Ash,” he said. “Where’s Ash?”

  “Oh no,” murmured the Doctor.

  Looking back towards the slag heap, Ryan saw that Ash had walked further along, and was rummaging around in some foliage there. “Ash!” he cried. “Get away!”

  She started at the sound of his voice, and then saw where he was pointing and looked up. Her sharp eyes widened.

  “Get away!” yelled the Doctor, but too late – the face of the stony waterfall began to slip, and a huge pile of stones came cascading down. Ryan watched in horror as Ash fell to her knees under their weight, and was soon covered. After what seemed like an age, the rock fall stopped, and there was another, terrible silence.

  “We’ve got to get her out!” said Ryan.

  “Wait a moment,” said the Doctor.

  “She might be hurt!”

  “We’ll be no use to her if we find ourselves beneath a secondary fall!”

  The Doctor pulled out the sonic, and Ryan tried to be patient while she took some readings. “All right,” she said, “I think it’s safe now. Come on!”

  They both dashed off. They were partway there when the pile of rock under which she was buried began to shift. Two strong arms pushed and punched up, and then the top of Ash’s head emerged, and by the time Ryan and the Doctor reached her, she was standing there, unharmed, but blinking. “Wow” said Ryan, “you’re tough.”

  Ash looked over her carapace. “A few scrapes and scratches. Nothing major. Doctor,” she said. She pointed to where some foliage was still visible behind the rocks. “I was tugging at this. I’m sure there’s a passageway behind it.”

  The Doctor peered towards where she was pointing, and grinned. “We should take a look,” she said.

  “But how do we move all this?” Ryan said. “Without bringing another avalanche down on us?”

  “Well, we’re gonna have to risk it if we want to keep on!” the Doctor said.

  Ryan looked up doubtfully. “Maybe there’s another path somewhere? Off into the forest again?”

  But Ash was already tugging again at the foliage. “Here!” she said. “Look!”

  She was right. Just visible through the threads and squishy thick veins of fungi, was a passage, narrow, and very dark.

  Overhead, there was another rumbling sound. Ryan, Ash and the Doctor pulled wildly at the foliage, then dived inside the passage. Looking back, Ryan saw a small fall of stones, like a spring shower. “We’re not going to get sealed in, are we?” he said, anxiously.

  “I can force a way through,” said Ash, confidently.

  “Not if that whole pile comes down!”

  “Don’t worry, Ryan,” the Doctor said, cheerily. “Look, it’s already stopped.”

  She was right. Ryan heaved a sigh of relief. He could still see a way back.

  “Well,” said the Doctor. “What are we waiting for!”

  She plunged on, holding her sonic up so that it shone a faint light ahead. Ryan followed, and Ash came behind. It was comfortably wide and high enough for even Ryan to walk upright, although he still felt claustrophobic. “Any chance of some more light, Doctor? What’s the battery life on that thing?”

  “Good enough,” she said, and the light became brighter. “Oh,” she said. “Look up.”

  Ryan looked up. They were standing underneath a huge hole and, even with the light from the sonic, he couldn’t see how high it went. The Doctor held the sonic up into the hole as far as she could reach, and took some readings. Ryan took the chance to look around.

  “That,” the Doctor said at last, “goes up very high. Very high indeed…” She touched the walls of the shaft. “And this is smooth, as if a machine had made it… Hmm.”

  “Doctor,” Ryan called over to her, “what’s all this?”

  She came to look. He pointed with the toe of his boot to some bits and pieces of clutter that were lying on the floor. “These are metal,” he said. “Not rock.”

  “I think they’re pieces of broken tech,” said the Doctor. “Temperature gauges, that kind of thing. Ash, does any of this look familiar?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing I recognise.”

  “Hmm,” said the Doctor. “Could you take another look up that shaft? See what you think?”

  Ash nodded and went ahead. Ryan lowered his voice. “All this stuff. Those gadgets there, and that hole over there… Ash’s people couldn’t have made them, could they? Everything they make is from rock or crystal, or those fibres.”

  The Doctor smiled. “Well worked out. No, they’re not from in here, I think; not from inside the sphere. And…” She ran the sonic over them. “Judging from the metals they use, they’re not from up on the surface either. There’s not enough of any of this kind of metal on this world to make all this.”

  “So someone else has been here already,” said Ryan. “From up on the surface.”

  “Beginning to look that way, isn’t it? Question is – are they still here? The TARDIS didn’t scan the whole planetary surface,” she said. “Just enough to make sure it could sustain li
fe – our life.”

  “So up that shaft we might come face to face with an invading army?”

  The Doctor frowned. “Just cos they’re aliens doesn’t mean they’re invading.”

  “Well, no—”

  “We’re aliens, and we’re not invading,” the Doctor said.

  “No, of course we’re not!” said Ryan.

  “Your films and your telly give you a really funny idea of aliens, you know,” said the Doctor. “It’s really alienist, your culture. Always seeing a threat when there isn’t one.” She thought about that. “Isn’t always one. I mean, there have been quite a lot of alien invasions of Earth, but that doesn’t mean every single species is hurrying about space looking to invade the next planet they come to. I mean,” she held out her hands, “I’m not, am I?”

  “No,” said Ryan, “but people here are still suspicious of us, aren’t they? They see us as a threat.”

  The Doctor sighed. “All I’m saying is – you can’t leap from a couple of bits of metal on the floor to full-blown imperialist aggression. Leave that kind of thing to archaeologists.”

  Ash came back, smiling. “I think I’ve found something,” she said. “Come and see.”

  They followed her.

  “There’s something up there,” she said. “Some kind of box, I think. I found these strange tendrils, hanging down.”

  They were metal chains. Ryan tugged at one, gently. High up above, something clanked, rustily.

  “Ryan,” said the Doctor, “it’s not always a good idea to stand underneath a huge shaft and pull the first chain you lay your hands on.”

  The rusty clanking grew louder.

  “Drums in the deep,” said Ryan.

  “Also, I’ve been meaning to have a word with you about your policy towards buttons—”

  “Doctor!” Ryan yelled. “Move!”

  He practically jumped into her arms, and both staggered away as a huge metal cage came rattling down and crashed on the ground where he had been standing. When the dust had settled, they all peered inside the cage. On the floor lay another stone tablet.

  Ash reached inside the cage and pulled the tablet out. Ryan and the Doctor peered over her shoulders to look. Ryan thought he could only make out a few flecks of mica this time.