Doctor Who: The Maze of Doom by David Solomons

Author:David Solomons [Solomons, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2020-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

14. Climb Ev’ry Mountain

Their destination was in Switzerland, near the Austrian border, two days along their current timeline. The Doctor had said that the power plant was in the Alps but, until the TARDIS was on its final approach, Yaz hadn’t realised she meant it was inside an alp.

A moment ago, the granite peak had been a snowy dot on the horizon. Now, as they hurtled towards it at mind- and space-bending speeds, it filled the screen on the timeship’s internal display.

Graham eyed the fast-approaching mountain warily. ‘Uh, shouldn’t we be magically materialising inside the mountain about now?’

‘Magic? Magic’s got nothing to do with it,’ snipped the Doctor as she worked the controls. ‘The TARDIS is one of the universe’s greatest scientific triumphs, a perfect symphony of mind and technology, the pinnacle of the Time Lords’ – uh-oh.’

The TARDIS juddered and the rising and falling time-rotor in the centre of the console froze.

‘Something inside the mountain is interfering with the navigation system. We’re going down.’

Graham clasped his hands together and placed them on top of his head. ‘Brace! Brace!’

‘We’re not crashing, Graham.’

‘Word of advice, Doc. Better choice of phrase next time.’

‘Yeah. We’re just landing –’ she lowered her voice – ‘hard.’

With a collective yell, they veered off course, sliding so close to the craggy rock face that Yaz was sure she snatched sight of a very surprised mountain goat.

‘Ready?’ said the Doctor, hands poised over the controls like a concert pianist about to play the final notes of a symphony. ‘Here it comes. One, two, three and …’

Graham winced, preparing for an impact that never came.

‘Hey presto!’ the Doctor declared.

Graham threw her a dark look.

They had materialised in a valley at the foot of the mountain range. The TARDIS had touched down on the edge of a well-paved road above a small village. Neat wooden houses with peaked roofs clustered around a church at the centre. On one side of the village, alpine meadows shone with colourful wildflowers; on the other glowered a dense green pine forest. A freshening breeze swirled through the valley, ruffling the stalks of grass and rattling the leaves on the trees. The whole place looked to Yaz like something out of a fairy tale. One of the dark ones.

Above them, low cloud straggled across the mountainside, obscuring the distant summit. The road climbed in a series of switchbacks and vertical drops until it disappeared from view. A tricky prospect to drive, but that was irrelevant unless the TARDIS could sprout wheels. As she looked up, Yaz noticed a cable car emerge from the cloud, then travel down towards a point not far away. As it descended past them, she saw the Aénaos logo on the side of the gondola. That was their way into the plant.

It didn’t take long to locate the cable-car station. Employees of the company presented identification badges at a security checkpoint and boarded the next car going up. The Doctor flashed her psychic paper to the guard, explaining that she and

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