Read Online Doctor Who: The Mark of the Rani by Pip Baker, Jane Baker - Free Book Online
Authors: Pip Baker, Jane Baker
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instead of pushing the trolley uphill away from the pit, she pushed it downhill.
‘Wrong way!’ The Doctor’s cry came too late. Gathering momentum, the cumbersome vehicle sped down the slope.
She sprinted after it, but her pace could not match the runaway.
The trolley bumped on, shaving trees, threatening to collide with boulders and posts that would capsize it with bone-fracturing impact. Able only to raise his head, the Doctor was scared. Above, foliage became a blurred mass punctuated by dazzling rays of sunlight.
Then luck smiled on him. A group of miners stepped onto the path. To his relief, they caught the trolley and brought it to a halt.
‘Thank you, gentlemen. I’m most grateful. Now if you’d release me –’ He faltered. The neck of the nearest miner had the tell-tale crimson mark.
Peri, still chasing, was approaching.
‘Stay back, Peri! Stay back!’ The Doctor had identified another of the saviours – Jack Ward.
‘Now it’s your turn! You can join your diabolical box!’
They swung him in the direction of the shaft and began running... faster... and faster...
‘Let him go! Let him go!’ Peri’s pleas had no effect as she tore after them. Their death lust was not to be denied.
From his hilltop position, the Master felt sure the humiliations of the past were about to be avenged.
The trelliswork of timbers and the giant wheel above the shaft loomed ominously into the Doctor’s restricted view. A final mighty thrust – and the hapless Time Lord accelerated inexorably towards the yawning black hole...
10
A Change Of Loyalty
Sleeves rolled up, a man was concertinaing creaking bellows to rekindle the forge fire. As he paused and dragged a rag from his thick leather belt to wipe the sweat from his brow, he heard Peri’s screams.
In reflex, he turned, took in the situation and sprang for the pit.
The trolley’s momentum would have made arresting it a physical impossibility. Astutely realising this, the man ran for the shaft.
It was even money who would reach the gaping hole first. The stake? The Doctor’s life.
Lungs pumping. the man kicked the bulky cover into position. Relentlessly the trolley came on. He fumbled with the stay. It clicked home as the wheels jarred into he cover, braking...
When the reverberations subsided, the Doctor’s vision came into focus. Despite the agape mouth king in air, there was about his rescuer a piercing telligence emanating from rugged, plebeian features.
The Doctor’s thanks were profuse. But for this anger’s quick thinking, he would now be spinning to death in the bowels of the earth.
‘Are’t tha’ hurt? Harmed at all?’ The solicitude was genuine.
‘No. A trifle cramped.’
‘Aye... Aye. Tha’ would be.’
‘It’s these straps.’
Instead of releasing the damps, the stranger was feeling their texture. ‘Aye, I suppose... Intriguing.’
‘The straps? Yes, well that’s a long story.’
‘This metal. I’ve nay seen the like of it afore. Dost know which foundry forged it?’
In the midst of a calamity, what sort of individual would be so diverted as to enquire about the composition of a metal? Recognising only too well the impulse, the Doctor beamed.
‘George Stephenson, I presume.’
‘Aye, I’m Stephenson.’
‘An enormous pleasure to meet you, sir.’ The Doctor lifted a shackled wrist as far as he could and Stephenson gripped the fingers in a warm handshake. ‘Would you be kind enough to undo these straps?’
Stephenson complied. ‘Forgive me. T’were metal that took my attention.’ This was understandable. The titanium the Rani had used was not known in the nineteenth century. If it had been, many inventors would have benefited. Especially George Stephenson who was experimenting with steam engines and would eventually design the famous Rocket.
‘Run, Doctor! Run!’ Peri’s warning preceded her panting arrival.
The Doctor looked back as he slid from the trolley. Jack Ward and the aggressors
‘Wrong way!’ The Doctor’s cry came too late. Gathering momentum, the cumbersome vehicle sped down the slope.
She sprinted after it, but her pace could not match the runaway.
The trolley bumped on, shaving trees, threatening to collide with boulders and posts that would capsize it with bone-fracturing impact. Able only to raise his head, the Doctor was scared. Above, foliage became a blurred mass punctuated by dazzling rays of sunlight.
Then luck smiled on him. A group of miners stepped onto the path. To his relief, they caught the trolley and brought it to a halt.
‘Thank you, gentlemen. I’m most grateful. Now if you’d release me –’ He faltered. The neck of the nearest miner had the tell-tale crimson mark.
Peri, still chasing, was approaching.
‘Stay back, Peri! Stay back!’ The Doctor had identified another of the saviours – Jack Ward.
‘Now it’s your turn! You can join your diabolical box!’
They swung him in the direction of the shaft and began running... faster... and faster...
‘Let him go! Let him go!’ Peri’s pleas had no effect as she tore after them. Their death lust was not to be denied.
From his hilltop position, the Master felt sure the humiliations of the past were about to be avenged.
The trelliswork of timbers and the giant wheel above the shaft loomed ominously into the Doctor’s restricted view. A final mighty thrust – and the hapless Time Lord accelerated inexorably towards the yawning black hole...
10
A Change Of Loyalty
Sleeves rolled up, a man was concertinaing creaking bellows to rekindle the forge fire. As he paused and dragged a rag from his thick leather belt to wipe the sweat from his brow, he heard Peri’s screams.
In reflex, he turned, took in the situation and sprang for the pit.
The trolley’s momentum would have made arresting it a physical impossibility. Astutely realising this, the man ran for the shaft.
It was even money who would reach the gaping hole first. The stake? The Doctor’s life.
Lungs pumping. the man kicked the bulky cover into position. Relentlessly the trolley came on. He fumbled with the stay. It clicked home as the wheels jarred into he cover, braking...
When the reverberations subsided, the Doctor’s vision came into focus. Despite the agape mouth king in air, there was about his rescuer a piercing telligence emanating from rugged, plebeian features.
The Doctor’s thanks were profuse. But for this anger’s quick thinking, he would now be spinning to death in the bowels of the earth.
‘Are’t tha’ hurt? Harmed at all?’ The solicitude was genuine.
‘No. A trifle cramped.’
‘Aye... Aye. Tha’ would be.’
‘It’s these straps.’
Instead of releasing the damps, the stranger was feeling their texture. ‘Aye, I suppose... Intriguing.’
‘The straps? Yes, well that’s a long story.’
‘This metal. I’ve nay seen the like of it afore. Dost know which foundry forged it?’
In the midst of a calamity, what sort of individual would be so diverted as to enquire about the composition of a metal? Recognising only too well the impulse, the Doctor beamed.
‘George Stephenson, I presume.’
‘Aye, I’m Stephenson.’
‘An enormous pleasure to meet you, sir.’ The Doctor lifted a shackled wrist as far as he could and Stephenson gripped the fingers in a warm handshake. ‘Would you be kind enough to undo these straps?’
Stephenson complied. ‘Forgive me. T’were metal that took my attention.’ This was understandable. The titanium the Rani had used was not known in the nineteenth century. If it had been, many inventors would have benefited. Especially George Stephenson who was experimenting with steam engines and would eventually design the famous Rocket.
‘Run, Doctor! Run!’ Peri’s warning preceded her panting arrival.
The Doctor looked back as he slid from the trolley. Jack Ward and the aggressors
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