Claws of the Macra (novel)

Claws of the Macra
Doctor:	Eleventh Doctor
Companion(s):	Amy
Main enemy:	Macra
Key crew
Publisher:	BBC Books
Writer:	Trevor Baxendale
Release details
Release number:	14
Release date:	29 April 2010
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-4059-0685-2
Decide Your Destiny
← Previous	The Coldest War
Next →	Judoon Monsoon

Claws of the Macra was a Decide Your Destiny book released in 2010.

Publisher's summary

Join the Doctor on his travels through time and space and influence the story with your decisions. Choose a direction and let the adventures begin...

Danger and adventure await you on a school trip to a gas refinery infested by giant alien crustaceans!

Only you can help the Doctor and Amy put a stop to the Macra's plans and save Earth!

These interactive stories continue online. With links to exclusive animated scenes and an exciting online game, there's a new adventure waiting for you with every read.

Plot

Page 1

The gas refinery is huge - two square miles of giant steel storage tanks, filters and chimneys. Industrial pipes surround the refinery like a gigantic nest of metallic snakes - some are no thicker than your arm, others are wide enough to stand upright inside. It all looks overwhelmingly complex.

Rising up from the centre of the refinery site is the Control Tower - a huge concrete cylinder topped by a ring of windows overlooking the entire development.

A long underground corridor leads from the car park to the reception area at the base of the Control Tower. It's busy here - full of people going about their business. Engineers, scientists, company executives, all on their way somewhere important.

Your school party is standing in front of the main reception desk, waiting for visitor passes to be issued. There are two teachers and about fifteen kids in your group. Everyone seems a little nervous - and no one is looking forward to the tour. A school trip to a gas refinery? No thanks!

But your attention has been caught by something on the far side of the reception area - a door marked NO UNAUTHORISED ACCESS. It's been left open.

No one seems to have noticed it except you.

But now your school party has been given their passes and are being led away for the tour of the factory. They're waving at you to come and join them. Someone's shouting out, full of excitement. They've found something already. Perhaps the tour won't be so bad after all...

You glance back at the open door and read the sign again, wondering...

If you decide to stick with the tour party, go to 89.

If you decide to go through the open door, go to 50.

Page 89

After only a moment's hesitation, you follow the tour party. The refinery is huge and you don't want to get lost.

At least not yet.

In the next room, there's a presentation by the owner of the gas refinery, Sebastian Quipe. The GasTech refinery, he claims, is the very latest in liquid gas conversion. The energy it produces is clean and economically perfect.

OK, so you're already bored. Most of the kids are as well. But you've noticed something they haven't.

On the other side of the room it a tall blue box with little white-framed windows and a lamp on the roof. A notice above the doors says POLICE BOX. It looks completely out of place.

You're about to wander over for a closer look when someone brushes past you. At first you think it's a teacher - he's young, with a shock of unruly dark hair, and he's wearing a tweed jacket with elbow patched and narrow trousers.

If you decide to see what the man does next, go to 139.

If you investigate the police box, go to 42.

Page 50

You slip quietly through the door. No one has noticed.

You don't intend to be long - this is just a quick look around, nothing more.

You're in a short corridor. It's brightly lit, but featureless. There's a strange antiseptic smell in the air, like a hospital, and the floor is made from rubberized tiles. It looks strangely futuristic and a little bit scary. But then this is a brand new gas refinery, that's why your school have come on a trip here - to find out how modern science is coping with the energy shortage, and what can be done to process gas and oil safely and efficiently. It's not a bad project really.

In fact, you can hear the distant sound of the refinery in operation - the low hum of machinery and computers, and you can even feel it through your trainers: a faint vibration.

There's no one about, so you venture a little further.

At the far end of the corridor is a junction with two doors. One is marked with a red triangle, and the other is marked with a green triangle. There is no writing on either and although they are closed, they don't appear to be locked.

Surely a quick look behind one of the doors couldn't do any harm?

But which?

If you choose the red door, go to 72.

If you choose the green door, go to 13.

Page 72

You push the door open, and it leads into another corridor. There is a different smell here - something industrial, like the exhaust fumes of a car.

The corridor isn't as bright and clinical as the first. In fact it's pretty dark, because the lights aren't working properly.

"Hang on a mo," says a voice from the shadows. "I'll fix the lights."

There's a shrill whine and suddenly the whole corridor is illuminated by powerful strip lighting.

Standing in the middle of the passage is a man in a tweedy jacket and elbow patches. He's sporting a bow tie and narrow trousers and looks like he might be a teacher or a professor, except he's so young. Bright eyes turn to look at you from beneath a heavy black fringe.

"Oh dear," he says, his shoulders slumping. "We've got company.

A red-headed girl in a short skirt steps out from behind him. "Are you lost?" she asks you with a smile.

"No," you reply. "Are you?"

"More often than not," says the man. "But, if I'm honest, I prefer it that way. Makes life so much more interesting, don't you think?"

You nod in agreement, warming to him straight away. He's not smiling, but there's a twinkle in those deep-set eyes all the same.

"How did you get the lights to work?" you ask.

"Ah! Inquisitive, good, like that." He holds up a slim metal device. "Sonic screwdriver, multi-purpose, multi-function, multi-multi. Like it?"

You nod again.

"Great! We're going to get on really well." The man holds out his hand. "I'm the Doctor and this is Amy."

You tell him your name but he's already withdrawn his hand and is peering back down the corridor. "Can you smell something?" The Doctor asks.

"It's not me, honest," says the girl, Amy.

"Or me!" you add quickly.

The Doctor's sniffing loudly like a dog with a scent. "Definitely not me either. Well, that's a relief. Could be embarrassing otherwise. But on the other hand..."

He sniffs again.

"Don't mind him," advises Amy with a smile. "He's always like this."

"Wait!" exclaims the Doctor suddenly, holding up a hand. "Can you hear that? Listen!"

You all strain to hear - a strange, distant hissing noise echoing along the corridor.

"Still not me," says Amy.

"Or me!" You say at the same time as the Doctor.

The Doctor runs down to the end of the corridor and is calling you to follow. The passageway branches off in two directions.

"The noise came from down there," the Doctor says, pointing one way.

"The smell's coming from the other direction, though," says Amy, wafting a hand in front of her nose. "Yuck."

Page 13

You push open the door. Beyond is a darken corridor. There are cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and you can feel the grime underfoot. No one's been down here for years - probably not since the refinery was built.

You're about to turn back when you hear something. What is it?

Some sort of grumbling noise - like a giant machine working away in the depths of the refinery. Or perhaps it's an animal - a guard dog, growling in the shadow.

You creep forward.

At the far end of the corridor is another door. You can feel the door handle in the dark. And you can hear the low, rumbling growl from the other side. It's definitely not machinery.

But what is it?

And do you dare open the door to find out?

to be added

Characters

• Eleventh Doctor
• Amy Pond

Worldbuilding

to be added

Notes

to be added