DOCTOR WHO AND THE CLAWS OF AXOS

by Terrance Dicks

  Chinn was shaking with fright. 'Where will it end, Doctor? When will that thing leave us alone?'

  'When there's nothing left for it to feed on, Mr Chinn. By that time unfortunately the surface of the Earth will be like the surface of the moon—dead!'

  Sergeant Benton and Captain Yates sprinted for their Land Rover, trying not to look at the ever-growing bulk of Axos dominating the skyline behind them. Yates jumped into the driving scat, Benton climbed into the back. 'What about the equipment, sir?'

  'Just cast off the cables. We'll have to abandon it all.' Benton obeyed, and Yates started the engine. 'Hold tight,' he yelled and jolted through the trees at top speed. They swerved out onto the road that led back to the Nuton Complex.

  A line of waving-tentacled Axon monsters barred their path. Benton grabbed a Sten and sprayed bullets into the heaving mass. Yates slammed his foot down hard and the Land Rover ploughed straight through the Axons, sending them flying in all directions.

  The Land Rover sped on. Benton yelled, 'Think we've lost 'em, sir?'

  Yates shook his head. 'They'll probably try again. Get those grenades ready just in case.'

  There was a crackle of energy from the woods beside the road and an enormous tree toppled straight across their path. The Land Rover screeched to a halt. Benton looked behind them. The pursuing Axons were coming up fast. He lobbed a grenade, and blew the nearest into twitching fragments. But more Axons were emerging from the woods...

  Yates swung the Land Rover in a tight curve and drove back the way they'd come, while Benton flung grenades to clear their path. Some of the trees were on fire now, and smoke drifted across the road. A circle of Axons was closing in on the car.

  Yates put his foot down again and drove straight into the ring of Axons, smashing a way through yet again.

  As they sped down the road Benton yelled, 'I think we've made it. sir. We're through!' A tentacle groped down from above—one of the Axon monsters was sprawled on the canvas hood.

  Yates shouted, 'Time to abandon ship! Jump!' Deliberately he swung the Land Rover into a ditch. Yates and Benton leaped from their seats just before the vehicle struck. They landed beside the road, rolling over and over to break their fall. They picked themselves up and looked back. The Land Rover had turned over and the Axon was trapped beneath it, tentacles thrashing frantically.

  Benton ran forward a few paces and lobbed his last grenade with deadly accuracy. The grenade rolled inside the wrecked Land Rover, exploding seconds later. There was a crurnp and the Land Rover went up in a roar of flame.

  Yates drew a gasping breath. 'Don't know what the Brig'll say about that, Sergeant Benton! '

  Benton grinned. 'Me neither, sir. But at least we got one of them! What do we do now, sir?'

  'We try to make it back to the Brigadier—on foot!'

  Jo came into the laboratory, a long strip of computer print-out in her hand. She was studying the figures in puzzlement when the Doctor emerged from the TARDIS and took them from her. 'Ah, thank you, Jo. Just what I was waiting for!'

  'Those figures, Doctor...'

  'Yes, Jo?' The Doctor paused in the TARDIS doorway. Was she wrong or was there something furtive in his manner?

  'What are they, exactly?'

  'Oh, just a few course co-ordinates,' said the Doctor vaguely.

  Filer came to join them. 'Why course co-ordinates? Not going anywhere—are you, Doc?'

  The Master appeared in the doorway of the TARDIS. Quickly the Doctor passed him the figures, saying, 'Everything ready?'

  'As a matter of fact, it is.' The Master looked curiously at the Doctor, wondering how he would react now that the moment of decision had finally come. The Doctor hesitated.

  Deliberately the Master raised his voice. 'Time we were on our way, Doctor!' Just as he'd hoped, the words provoked a crisis. Filer snatched out his gun.

  'Not if I can help it!' he yelled.

  But the Master's laser gun was already in the Doctor's hand. Before Filer could level his gun, the Doctor had him covered. 'Drop it please, Mr Filer.' Filer obeyed and the Doctor kicked the gun out of reach.

  Heart-brokenly Jo said, 'Oh, Doctor...'

  The Doctor looked away, as the Brigadier came clattering down the ladder. 'Doctor, we're being attacked! Main gate says the Axons are swarming everywhere...'

  'Ah, there you are, Brigadier. Just in time to say goodbye!'

  'But, Doctor, you can't...' cried Jo.

  'I'm afraid we must, Jo.'

  'We?'

  The Doctor gestured towards the Master. 'After all, we are both Time Lords. Goodbye, Jo. Good-bye, Brigadier.' He stepped inside the TARDIS.

  The Master was already busy at the console. 'Neatly done, Doctor. You know, I never really thought you'd go through with it.'

  'If we're going, let's go,' snapped the Doctor. 'If we can go, that is.'

  The Master smiled. His hands flew over the console. Slowly and uncertainly at first, the central column of the TARDIS began its rise and fall.

  From outside the laboratory came the rattle of gun-fire, and the thud of grenades. There were shouted orders, dying screams. The sounds became louder. The battle was moving closer...

  Jo pounded on the TARDIS door, tears streaming down her face. 'You can't go, Doctor. You can't... We need you...' The blue light on top of the police box began flashing steadily and a wheezing, groaning sound filled the air.

  A weary figure staggered into the laboratory, uniform grimy, face black with smoke. It took Filer a moment or two to recognise Captain Yates. Yates saluted hurriedly. 'The whole Complex is being over-run, sir. Those Axon things chased us right back here.'

  Sergeant Benton followed him into the lab. 'They're right on top of us, sir. I've gathered a few of the lads.'

  The Brigadier took charge. 'All right, Benton, get them in here.'

  'Right, sir.' Benton dashed out to reappear seconds later with a handful of UNIT troops.

  The Brigadier barked, 'Close the doors and get those blast-doors across.' Besides the everyday doors, the laboratory had additional blast-doors of heavy reinforced concrete. They were kept folded back, used only during particularly dangerous experiments. The UNIT soldiers worked hard heaving them into place.

  Suddenly Yates noticed the groaning, light-flashing TARDIS.

  'What's happening, sir? Where's the Doctor off to?'

  'You can forget about the Doctor,' said the Brigadier curtly. 'He's no longer involved in our problems. Get the men into cover, and watch those doors!'

  The TARDIS's groaning rose to a higher pitch, the light flashed brighter. Jo found herself pounding on thin air. The TARDIS had vanished. Filer led the sobbing Jo to cover.

  They heard a rattle of gunfire from outside the laboratory, and a chilling scream as some unlucky straggler was destroyed by the Axons.

  There was a terrifying silence. With no real hope, but with a determination not to give in, the Brigadier and the rest of the besieged waited for the final battle.

  The Doctor thrust the Master away from the TARDIS console and began operating the controls. The Master tried to drag him off, but suddenly the little laser gun was in the Doctor's hand. 'Just be sensible, old chap... I didn't tell you all my plan, you know.'

  The Master saw the central column begin to slow down. 'You can't dematerialise here,' he screamed. 'We've scarcely moved—we're not even in Space/ Time!'

  'Nevertheless, this is as far as we're going—for the moment.'

  'But where are we?'

  The Doctor grinned. 'Don't worry. You'll recognise it when you see it.' The central column stopped. 'Here we are then. Come on!'

  Reluctantly the Master stepped outside. The first thing that met his eye was his own TARDIS. He turned to find himself gazing into the single Eye. They were in the Brain area—back inside Axos.

  The Master heard the familiar whispering voice. 'Why have you returned, Time Lords?' Tentacled Axon monsters appeared to surround them.

  The Master shrugged. 'You'd better ask my f
riend here.'

  'It's really very simple,' announced the Doctor. 'I've realised how invincible is the power of Axos. I'm prepared to give you the power of Time travel on one condition.'

  'Well?'

  'That you take Axos to Gallifrey, the planet of the Time Lords. I mean to take my revenge on those who exiled me—by destroying their planet.'

  'If we agree—how can you keep your promise?'

  'All we have to do is link drive systems. The TARDIS will become part of Axos. Axos itself will become a TARDIS.'

  The Master looked at the Doctor in horror. Clearly the fellow's exile had affected his brain. An attack on the Time Lords themselves was beyond even the Master's audacity. How the Doctor must hate those who had captured and exiled him!

  The Master panicked. 'This has nothing to do with me,' he shouted. 'My part is finished. All I ask is the return of my TARDIS. I leave you to your new alliance, Doctor.'

  As he headed for the gleaming white dome the Doctor shouted, 'Stop him. I need his help for the setting-up of the link.'

  A line of Axons barred the Master's way 'Help him,' ordered the Voice of Axos. 'You may have your freedom when the link is finished.' Slowly the Master followed the Doctor back inside the TARDIS.

  Crouching in what little cover they could find, the Brigadier and his party stared at the concrete door. For some time now they had heard the crackle of energy as the Axons outside the laboratory sought a way in. Suddenly a tiny glowing spot appeared in the centre of the concrete door. It turned into a tiny hole. A hole which grew steadily larger. Somehow the Axons had focussed their energy into a kind of thermic lance...

  Yates said, 'They'll soon be through, sir.'

  The Brigadier's voice was calm. 'All right, everyone. Be ready with the grenades.'

  When the hole was about a foot in diameter, it stopped growing.

  Jo whispered to Filer. 'What's happening, Bill? Why have they stopped?'

  Chinn mopped his streaming brow. 'Surely we ought to try and negotiate a surrender?' No one listened to him.

  An arc of blazing light shot from the hole in the door to the Particle Accelerator. Immediately the half-wrecked machine started humming with power.

  The Brigadier moved across to Ericson. 'What's happening?'

  'They've managed to energise the Particle Accelerator. Look at the readings!' There was terror in Ericson's voice.

  The Brigadier studied the dials on the control console—every dial was creeping up to maximum. 'Can't you shut it off?' he shouted.

  'Not without the trigger mechanism. Your friend the Doctor took that!'

  'So what'll happen?' The hum of power was rising to a roar.

  'The particles will just go on accelerating and accelerating until—bang! The whole place will go up!' Yates tugged at the Brigadier's arm, raising his voice above the throb of power. 'Look, sir. The door.' The hole had begun growing again. Many-tentacled figures could be seen massing on the other side.

  The roar of the runaway Particle Accelerator rose higher still...

  12

  Trapped in Time

  The Master straightened up. 'There—it's finished! Your link's complete.'

  'Not quite!' Thrusting the Master aside, the Doctor began adjusting controls at feverish speed, his hands flickering over the console like some demented pianist.

  The Master watched him, a light of dawning comprehension in his eyes. 'Why are you changing the settings? That's a Time loop! Doctor, don't switch on—we'll be trapped too...'

  The Master tried to pull the Doctor away, but a hearty shove sent him reeling out through the still-open door of the TARDIS. Quickly the Doctor closed the doors. He touched the controls and the materialisation noise began.

  Outside in the Brain area the Master yelled, 'Stop him, you fools! Don't you understand? He's committing suicide and taking us with him. It's all a trick. He's doing this for Earth, not you... He's putting you in a Time loop and you'll stay there—forever!'

  Even if the Axons had been prepared to listen to him, they were in no state to act. The sudden wrench through Time had totally disorientated them. They staggered wildly about the Brain area, tentacles flailing helplessly. The Eye revolved furiously on its stalk. 'Stop them! Stop them!' screamed the Voice of Axos.

  The Master thrust his way through the Axons and disappeared inside his TARDIS.

  The Doctor leaned over the TARDIS console like a man setting a reluctant horse to a jump. 'Come on, old girl.' he muttered. 'You can do it. Don't let me down now. We've got to drag Axos into that Time loop!'

  He flicked more switches and a final surge of power poured through the TARDIS...

  The concrete door crumbled away, and a flood of Axon monsters poured into the laboratory. The UNIT troops hurled their last grenades. The wave of Axons checked, they surged forward again.

  Jo screamed as an Axon loomed over her. The Brigadier emptied his revolver into another, and he flung the gun in a last, useless gesture.

  Yates and Benton lashed out, using empty rifles like clubs. Filer grabbed a lab stool and raised it above his head.

  The Axons vanished.

  Axos vanished. The heaving mountainous mass disappeared into thin air.

  All over the world, the rampaging masses of Axonite vanished too.

  In the Space/Time continuum Axos traced an unending spiral course, whirling forever in an endless figure-eight.

  Inside his TARDIS the Doctor readjusted controls once more. 'Come on, old girl. One final effort! We must break free. You got them in the Time loop—now get me out!'

  From outside the TARDIS he could hear the Voice of Axos. 'Your sacrifice will not save you, Time Lord. You are joined to us forever in the loop of Time. Your fate is ours!'

  'Come on,' urged the Doctor. 'Come on!'

  The Eye of Axos glared in hopeless malignant rage as the TARDIS dematerialised.

  And Axos continued its journey through Space/ Time—a journey that would never end...

  It took the dazed survivors only a moment to realise that although the menace of the Axons was gone, the menace of the roaring Particle Accelerator was still on top of them.

  'Outside, everybody,' yelled the Brigadier. 'It'll go up any minute!'

  Chinn led the dash to the door by several yards.

  They made it just in time. Even as they all got through the door there came the first explosion. Its force caved in most of the outer wall, and the en-trance behind them was blocked by falling rubble.

  Ericson grabbed the Brigadier's arm. 'Come on,' he shouted. 'That was only the first one. There'll be a whole series of them before it finally blows' ' They ran for shelter.

  In the laboratory, there was a wheezing, groaning noise. Blue light flashing, the TARDIS materialised. The door opened and the Doctor stepped out beaming. 'Hullo, everybody, I'm...' His smile faded as he took in the desolation around him, the shuddering, roaring Accelerator.

  There was an explosion and then another. Part of the roof caved in and the TARDIS was showered with rubble. 'Dear me,' said the Doctor mildly, and ducked hurriedly back inside.

  He ran to the console and quickly operated controls. For a moment nothing happened. The TARDIS rocked with the force of another, greater explosion. 'Come on,' begged the Doctor. 'Take me somewhere—anywhere!'

  Slowly the central column began to move.

  As a final terrifying explosion destroyed the laboratory forever, the TARDIS dematerialised yet again...

  Ericson led them to the shelter of one of the specially constructed blast-walls which surrounded the laboratory area. Almost immediately they were thrown to the ground by the final, shattering explosion. Ears ringing they looked out from shelter. There was a smoking, rubble-filled crater where once the laboratory had stood. Slowly they walked towards it.

  Jo's face was white. 'What about the Doctor? Suppose he decided to come back after all and materialised inside the lab?'

  The Brigadier shook his head. 'Let's hope he didn't, Jo. Nothing could have survived that.'<
br />
  As if to prove him wrong there came a familiar groaning sound. The TARDIS re-materialised, balanced precariously on top of the heap of rubble. The door opened and the Doctor stepped out. Perched on a shattered beam, he looked down at the astonished faces below him. 'Well, there's a fine welcome, I must say! '

  Much, much later, back in Hardiman's office, the Doctor was still trying to explain. 'It's perfectly simple, Brigadier. A Time loop is, well—it's a Time loop.' He made a complicated figure-of-eight gesture with his hands. 'You pass continually through the same fixed points in Space/Time.'

  'And that's what Axos is doing?'

  'That's right. For ever and ever. They wanted Time travel—and now they've got it! '

  There was just one question occupying Filer. 'What about the Master?'

  'I sincerely hope he's trapped in Axos too.'

  'Hope?'

  The Doctor looked a little uneasy. 'I can't be absolutely sure,' he said defensively. 'I was a little busy at the time!'

  Filer just looked at him.

  The Doctor cleared his throat. 'I'm ninety per cent certain, though.'

  'How much?'

  'Well, pretty certain. Fairly positive, really.' Faced with Filer's unwinking stare the Doctor threw up his hands. 'Oh, I suppose it's possible he got away—just possible.'

  Filer heaved a deep, deep sigh.

  The Brigadier took up the questioning. 'So how did you get out of this—Time loop thingummy?'

  'I boosted the temporal circuits and broke free,' said the Doctor impatiently. 'Nearly blew up the TARDIS—but the old girl made it in the end.'

  Now it was Jo's turn. 'Never mind the scientific stuff, Doctor. Why did you have us all think you'd made a deal with the Master to do the dirty on us?'

  The Doctor put an arm round her shoulders. 'I'm sorry about all that, Jo—really! But I needed the Master's help—and I knew he'd never give it unless he thought I was as big a villain as he was! '