Search for the Doctor (novel)
Search for the Doctor was the first in a series of "choose-your-own-adventure" style gamebooks, titled Make Your Own Adventure with Doctor Who in the UK and released in the US in Ballantine Books' Find Your Fate line. The novel was a sequel to TV: The Three Doctors by Dave Martin, the co-writer of the original serial, and depicts the Sixth Doctor facing Omega (seemingly) for the first time since the events of the story.
The main character of the story is a 2056 teenager who comes into possession of K9 Mark III, and soon crosses paths with Drax, who is on a mission to save the Doctor. The elements of Omega, K9, and Drax were all owned and licensed from the Bob Baker estate.
Publisher's summary
UK and Australian editions
Have you ever longed to climb aboard the TARDIS and enter another dimension? Meet the Doctor and join him in outwitting his enemies? Well, now's your chance! All you need is a pair of dice, a pencil, a little bit of luck and all your wits about you. Ready?
Search for the Doctor The year is 2056, and the Doctor is trapped in toroidal stasis by arch enemy Omega. But help is at hand from the Doctor's old friends Drax and K9 — and you! Now open the covers and join the Doctor in an adventure through Time and Space...
US edition
YOU are the only hope for the salvation of the Doctor in SEARCH FOR THE DOCTOR
The year is 2056. From the Fern Spacelab orbiting above the Fusion Energy Research Network in California, OMEGA has mounted a devastating attack.
OMEGA plans to take over the Doctor's mind and body. By controlling the Doctor's awesome power, OMEGA can take revenge on the Time Lords, who sacrificed him to obtain the secret of Time Travel.
YOU will join forces with DRAX and K9 to free the Doctor and defeat OMEGA. As DRAX uses his secondhand TARDIS (cleverly disguised as a 1956 Cadillac) and K9 uses his impressive electronic skills, YOU must use all your wits to FIND YOUR FATE
Plot
Marker 0
You were visiting the Natural History Museum, in the year 2056. There, a guard brought you to an obscure part of the archive. In the corner is a gray-flecked fibreglass crate. The crate reads Property of Sarah Jane Smith. Not for Exhibition. The guard asked you if Smith was a friend of yours, and you respond she was a family friend that you never knew. You signed for the crate, thus beginning the greatest adventure of your life.
Hours later, you study the crate, which has been dragged to your hotel room by two porters. You grow angry at how it is impossible to access the crate, and kick it. Then, a mysterious man appears and begins speaking to you. The man is dressed it outlandish clothes, and somehow got into your room despite it being locked. He tells you his name: Drax.
Drax studies the crate, lifting it above his head with ease. He tells you it won't be of any use to you, and asks how much you want for it. He then asks for the time and, strangely, the year. He offers you €25,500 for the crate.
- If you take the money, go to Five. If you decline it, go to Two.
Marker 5
After Drax leaves with the crate, you study the money left behind. €30,000. You ask the hotel receptionist to help you store the five gold plaques in the hotel safe, and convert the sixth into street currency. As you walk out of the hotel lobby, the receptionist makes a call...
As you study the window of a Park Lane Skyrider showroom, you're approached by a large youth, who claims he knows one of the salesmen, and he might be able to get you a demo run in one. He asks you to follow him into an underground garage.
- If you accept the youth's invitation, go to 8.
- If not, go to 13.
Marker 8
You follow the youth down into the underground garage. There, you see a figure rush through the shadows. You feel a blow hit the back of your head.
When you come to, you learn the hotel receptionist handed in his notice as soon as you left. The plaques you asked to be put in the safe are gone. Your parents come to pick you up the next day. You never hear of the crate, Drax, or the robbers ever again.
- For you, the adventure is over - this time. Next time you start, be more careful. To try again, go back to 2.
Marker 13
You suddenly realise that the youth scares you. You run, hearing him follow behind you with increasing speed. As you reach Park Lane, you realise you've escaped the youth's grasp.
Later, you return to the hotel to find Drax in a scuffle with the hotel receptionist. Drax forces the receptionist to open his hand, revealing that he has stolen the remaining five gold plates. Drax warns you to keep your money close, and you immediately deposit the gold into the National Bank.
You maintain your wealth, and live well enough. But not a day goes by where you do not think of Drax, and what was inside the crate. You can't be sure, but you always suspect that by choosing the money, you missed out on the greatest adventure of your life.
- Next time you start, remember too much caution can sometimes be as bad as too much risk.
- To see how you get on, go back to 2
Marker 2
You decide not to give in to Drax's offer. He ups his offer to €50,000, then €100,000, but you continue to turn him down. Finally, Drax asks what you want. You tell Drax that you refuse to barter until you see what's in the crate, and you have a hunch that Drax knows how to open it. Drax agrees to help you see what's inside, and hits the crate with a hammer. This reveals a number pad, which Drax suspects is set up only for your use. You press your hands against the pad, which releases the container, revealing a robot shaped like a Doctor. A letter is included from Sarah Jane, identifying this as K9 Mark III. Sarah Jane tells you that K9 will connect with a Gallifrey databank as soon as he is activated.
While K9 boots, Drax tells you a story that he had once been trapped in 1950s London after his TARDIS broke down. He attempted to steal the Crown jewels, and was put in prison for this. This was where he met K9 Mark III, who came with the Doctor to bust Drax out of prison. Drax has recently learned that the Doctor is in trouble, and has come back to get K9 in order to save him.
K9 finishes his scanning of the situation and announces that the Doctor is in toroidal stasis in the Mojave Desert. Drax indicates that his TARDIS is parked on the hotel roof, but he hasn't been able to get it to work properly.
On the roof, you find a 1956 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. Drax explains this is his TARDIS, the disguise specially chosen to blend into Los Angeles in the 1950s, as he initially thought the the Doctor was in 1956 and not 2056. Drax believes the ship can't leave, and suggests they get it off the roof and drive it to Los Angeles. To get it off the roof, you suggest he rents a Skyrider Crane.
After Drax leaves, K9 finishes his analysis of the TARDIS revealing it is still capable of dematerialisation. He suggests you leave Drax behind and "borrow" his TARDIS, as saving the Doctor is more urgent than waiting on Drax.
- To do as K9 says and leave without Drax, go to 17.
- To wait for Drax to return, go to 6.
- If you want to see what has happened to the Doctor, go to 10.
Marker 17
You follow K9's advice, and leave in Drax's TARDIS without him. You find yourself at a military base in Mojave Desert in the 20th century. A sharp whistling sound is heard, and K9 identifies that the TARDIS has brought you two a Nuclear bomb test site. He insists that dematerialisation is essential. Before you can even reach for the key, the bomb lands. You and K9 are killed instantly.
- More haste, less speed! Try again from 6.
Marker 6
Drax soon returns, and recounts that he found two men working on a Skyrider Crane. He helped them fix it, and they will be over in a few minutes. Drax asks how the repairs are going, and K9 states that interfacing with the Model 40 TARDIS is difficult, in spite of K9 claiming the TARDIS was functional minutes before.
As the Skyrider Crane arrives, Drax tells you to go down and wait for them to be lowered. At the bottom, Drax attempts to leave without you, believing he can't bring a kid on his mission. K9 interferes with this, threatening to blast the crane, killing them all.
Ultimately, Drax relents and you join him and K9 again as you drive through the night. You stop at the plastic Stonehenge which has long replaced the original, destroyed by vandals. K9 analyses the situation, and notes that Omega has escaped from his Anti-matter realm once again. The Doctor is still in stasis, and K9 theorises that if they dematerialise elsewhere, Omega will be able to track them and immediately destroy them as they arrive. However, if they dematerialise specifically at Stonehenge and arrive at the Amargosa juganetic complex at Death Valley, they can disguise their dematerialisation as juganetic wave traffic.
As K9 connects to the TARDIS guidance systems, a moth flutters between K9's disc-tipped probe. Before you can comment, the process begins and everything goes hazy. K9 exclaims that there has been a computer malfunction, and the TARDIS materialises in the wrong place. The group are now inside of an Enterprise 21 space freighter, about to attempt re-entery after a satellite-servicing trip. The extra weight of the TARDIS and the group causes the freighter become unbalanced, as it begins a dive downwards...
- Roll two dice. Score 6 and up to stay in orbit and go to 7. Five and below the story's over.
Marker 7
The extra weight of the Cadillac TARDIS has shifted the weight of the freighter forwards. It veers towards the Earth, shuddering from the gravitational pressure. K9 instructs Drax to reverse the Cadillac. In a moment of chaos, you find yourself grabbing a metal lever underneath the control panel. Drax exclaims "Don't pull that! It's the master demat-"
You are knocked out, and come around to the sound of waves tapping against the outer hull of the freighter. As they retrieve K9, he reports that they were in an unstable temporal anomaly. They look out, spotting three men in white space coveralls walking along the top of hull, all armed. They are the shuttle's crew, Captain Evans, Navigator Grundy, and Engineer Floyd. The men identify that you and Drax caused their ship to fly off-course, and threaten you with their guns until they are disarmed by K9.
You theorise that the moth landing between K9's probe caused them to land in the wrong place, and you pulling the dematerialisation master switch caused the entire shuttle to arrive in its current location. As the fog clears, the group realise they are surrounded by countless crashed ships of all eras. Fish swim through eras of skeletons. The Engineer identifies where they are: the Bermuda Triangle.
Drax notes he thought it was the Great Sargasoo Sea. K9 identifies that both are terms for the same phenomenon. K9 identifies the area as an unstable segment of time-space, left shifting between temporal matrices or universes. Any unfortunate objects which enter the segment find it impossible to leave. The Captain identifies it as a Time trap.
The group are left wandering through the shuttle, looking for any solution. You are left shocked that with all this great technology, a simple moth foiled everything. Eventually, the Engineer discovers a mass pile of gold and treasure sitting just below the shuttle's wing. The three crew members strip their clothes and jump in to retrieve the loot, but are soon overtaken by a school of small black fish. The fish latch onto the men's flesh, and after a few moments, nothing is left of them.
You see a single gold coin, sitting at the edge of the wing. You crawl towards it, before it begins to slide off. You grab it, then begin to slide off yourself, suddenly noticing the sea of black fish patiently waiting for you to fall into the water. Drax barely saves you, pulling you to safety.
You study the coin. One side depicts a woman with snake-hair, the other a Greek warrior with a sword and shield. You identify that it is Medusa the Gorgon and Perseus. K9 identifies that it might be a means of escape. Drax considers this, and theorises that if the Greek gods were really astronauts, then the coin could be a metaphor. To be trapped in the segment is to turn to stone. The fish are the serpents of Medusa's hair. And now they have a chance to stand up to Medusa.
- To find out how to escape, you have to solve this puzzle: What six-letter English word can the letters in 'Medusa' be made to spell? If you solve this puzzle correctly, go on to 9.
Marker 9
- The solution is Amused.
You and Drax set up a satellite dish at the end of the cargo-bay while K9 runs his computer program. K9 sets his blaster to its most powerful setting - dematerisalise. If all works, K9's blaster (the sword) will reflect off the dish (the shield) boosting the power of the TARDIS-dematerisalisation system. This will create an even less stable reality, potentially pushing them back into the real universe. If it doesn't work, Drax says they won't be around to find out.
K9 shoots the dish, causing a brilliant sunburst of light and then blackness.
THE END
- While this book marks this as an "ending" these events are depicted as happening to the group preceding them arriving in the desert at Marker 14.
Marker 10
The Doctor hangs, suspended and weightless in a transparent prison. He has been trapped inside the Fusion Energy Research Network. The Doctor looks out at the scientists walking amongst the center. However, they can not see him, for Omega has encapsulated his cel in anti-matter, making him invisible. The Doctor reflects on how he ended up in this circumstance.
Three days before, he had arrived at Death Valley and traveled to the FERN Spacelab. After giving a lecture on the caution in fusion research, he had met a young scientist named Rolf Aarup. Aarup explained to the Doctor that he had been studying anti-matter. Ever since then, he had been occasionally seeing a black cloaked shape, which he described as being like a member of the Klu Klux Klan, but in all-black. The Doctor began asking questions, before Rolf saw the figure inside of the tortus. He rushed inside with a camera and the Doctor followed. After a bright flash, the Doctor found Rolf lying down. As he turned him over, Rolf's clothing and body crumbled to white ash.
The Doctor stood, facing Omega. The Doctor reflected that Omega had become a being of pure will, self-created from the anti-matter from which he had been created. The Spacelab anti-matter experiments had lured Omega to Earth, and created an environment for his powers to grow. The FERN fusion lab, imitating the clean nuclear energy of the sun, was a perfect place for Omega, a Solar Engineer, to formulate a plan.
Omega intends to use the FERN complex to turn Earth into a boiling 'mini-sun'. The transmitter would be the nearby Amargosa juganetic complex, which would beam its power from Amargosa across space, destroying the Earth but giving Omega a connection to Gallifrey. He will then have his revenge on his home planet, not by destroying it but by conquering it. Then he will destroy time itself, leaving all in a perpetual state of the now.
Omega unleashed a stream of anti-matter, trapping the Doctor in his stasis. The Doctor offers to help Omega, believing that seeing his race enslaved is better than the death of the entire population of Earth. Omega ponders this, and states that the Doctor only has to reveal the secret to his TARDIS...
- What do you think the Doctor should do?
- If you can decide what then?
- To find out roll two dice.
- If you roll 6 to 9, go to 1.
- If you roll less than 6, go to 4
- If you roll 10 or more, go to 12
Marker 1
The Doctor continues to face Omega, and decides that the TARDIS is only a machine, and not worth the weight of a single human life. He agrees to give in to Omega's powers and demands. Taking him to the TARDIS, he reveals to Omega the secrets of the vortices of time.
As Omega stands at the TARDIS controls, the Doctor feels himself diminish. His life-force fades, his power of regeneration fades. "I am yours Omega," he says, "You have won." The Doctor is absorbed into Omega's inner darkness. Omega triumphs.
Marker 4
The Doctor knows that once Omega has possession of the TARDIS there would be no freedom to those who peopled the universe. What right was he to put the weight of the human race above all other beings? He decides he must allow Earth to be destroyed to save the universe. The Doctor tells Omega that he refuses to help him take control of the universe, and that he will never give up the secrets of time.
So be it. You shall watch the destruction of Earth and all its people. You shall watch my triumph over Gallifrey. And you shall watch your great High Council surrender. They will hand over the secrets of Time, because they will see reason. I shall triumph and you will be my witness!
All that Omega predicts comes to pass. The Earth is destroyed and Gallifrey seized. The Doctor remains in stasis forever, mute witness of Omega's bloody conquest of Space and Time.
THE END
Marker 12
The Doctor smiles, knowing Omega has fallen for his ruse, and he had tricked Omega into the process of bargaining. The Doctor tells Omega that since he was exiled to Earth following his trial, the Time Lords wiped his knowledge of time travel (failing to mention that the knowledge was restored after their first battle). The Doctor says the Time Lords could restore his knowledge, but certainly only if there was an immediate thread to Earth itself. The Doctor suggests the two pretend to battle again, gaining the attention of the High Council. The Doctor then instructs Omega to bring him to where he parked the TARDIS, Lot 38, International Holovision Productions.
As they enter the TARDIS, Omega tells the Doctor that he knows of his ruse, and orders the Doctor to tell him the secrets of time. The Doctor states that now they are inside his ship, Omega's will does not effect the outside universe, as the TARDIS is another dimension on the inside. Omega strides to the TARDIS door, which merges into the wall.
Omega orders the Doctor to allow him to escape, and threatens to kill him. The Doctor says that if he does, Omega will never be free again. Omega attempts to attack the Doctor with anti-matter, but it has no effect inside the TARDIS. The two are at a stalemate, as the Doctor can not escape from Omega's stasis, but Omega can not escape from the TARDIS. Omega begins strangling the Doctor, and the Doctor admits that he has a mental link with the TARDIS. As he wills it, the TARDIS doors reappear, and Omega storms through the doors, which lead to the other side of the control room.
Omega decides that as the Doctor controls the TARDIS, he will control the Doctor. Omega wages a mental battle with the Doctor. In a final attempt to avoid being swallowed by the darkness of unbeing within Omega, the Doctor flung himself across the TARDIS console, reaching the master dematerialization switch-
- In order for the struggle to continue, you have to assist the Doctor. He tries to send a request for help, but Omega intercepts the signal. The Doctor telepaths to the TARDIs transmitter and scrambles the order of the words and the letters of which they are composed. This is the message you must decode:
- EHT GHHI OT FO NCOLICU LGAYEFIRL: GRUNTE TURESSQ SSSIAATENC
- When you have solved it, go on to 14
Marker 14
- The decoded message reads: TO THE HIGH COUNCIL OF GALLIFREY: REQUEST URGENT ASSISTANCE: THE DOCTOR.
As the Doctor's TARDIS vanishes from Lot 38, nearby Drax's Cadillac TARDIS arrives in Death Valley, en route to the FERN Spacelab. K9 orders Drax not dematerialise further, as he has sensed a Type 40 TARDIS in Vortex crisis. Drax explains this is when a TARDIS' pilot attempts to materialize mid-flight, while the TARDIS is still in motion. The TARDIS is unable to follow the command and begins "falling to pieces," which can be disasterous.
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor and Omega and flung from wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor. The Doctor reflects that just as he had dematerialised the TARDIS, Omega had attempted to rematerialise, causing the crisis. The Doctor tells Omega that the Second Law of Time was to never attempt rematerisliation inside of the Time Vortex. Omega is pinned against the Doctor, and together they pull the master switch and the TARDIS lands.
At the FERN Spacelab, Duty Engineer Bose is shocked to see a vintage Police box appear in front of him. Noting the security guarding the floor and the lack of alarms, he assumes it's some kind of joke being pulled by the other staff members. There is a flash of light, and Bose turns to ash.
Security at the complex goes into high alert just as Drax drives up to the front gates of the FERN complex, causing the group to be turned away. The group park by a riverbed, and as you move K9 outside of the car, Drax instructs K9 to shoot a hole through the electric fence. Drax drives through the hole, immediately chased by Skyrider gunships. The gunships soon shift their focus to you, and K9 blasts a hole in the rocks of the river bed for shelter.
You have to make a move. Where will you go?
- Will you dive across the river-bed to shelter with K9? If so, go to 16.
- If you decide to hide under the rocky overhang on your side of the river-bed, go back to 11.
Marker 16
You throw yourself desperately across the flint-strewn river-bed. You see K9 looking at you, then your path and the trajectory of the gunfire intersect. You feel the first round hit you, slamming into you with the force of a sledgehammer. You feel no pain, only surprise, and regret that your attempt to help the Doctor had ended. As you topple over towards the flinty sand, the world turns black. You never feel the other bullets.
- Next time, don't run into danger, run away from it. Start again from the end of 14.
Marker 11
You hide under the narrow ledge of the overhanging rocks and attempt to wrap your arms around your head to shut out the noise. Suddenly, the rock formation begins to collapse and you are buried.
You wake an hour later, in the dark, covered in soot and debris. Your surroundings are unrecognisable, the river bed scarred black by the warfare. You can not find K9. In total shock, you stumble away from the FURN center, walking for hours. You see who you think is a stranger, before realising it is a cactus. You consider trying to cut it open, remembering an old cowboy story about cacti holding water. You reach for what you think is a blunt object, only for it to turn out to be a rattle snake. The snake bites your shoe, just barely missing penetrating your skin with its venom. You throw the shoe away.
You wander down to the road below and fall asleep. This is where they find you the next morning, as a half-truck arrives and puts you on the back of the truck, driving you back to FERN. After a while, the radio crackles: 'Contact!'
- This may be your chance to escape. To take it go to 15.
- If you decdide to wait until later go back to 3.
Marker 3
As the half-truck accelerates through the scrub at full-speed. While you have the chance to escape, you decide that you don't have a solid chance in the open desert against a Skyrider and armed guards.
The radio cackles again: 'Lost contact.' Without Drax and K9, what can you do?
The truck drives through the gates. You are taken into a low building with bars on all the windows and doors, and put into a prison uniform. You are led to a cel, with a bucket in one corner and a mattress on the concrete floor. You lay on the mattress and wonder when food will come.
- Things are not as bad as they look. Although you are going to miss out on a lot of adventures you will have another chance to rejoin the action at 22.
- Otherwise you can go back, take your chance to escape and go to 15.
Marker 15
As the half-truck accelerates through the scrub at full-speed. You leap from the half-truck, expecting it to crush you at any moment. Then, there is silence. You turn, and see K9 atop the crest of the ridge above.
As K9 leads you to the road, he tells you his story. He attempted to track you through the night, but was unable to keep up with you in the desert. You soon see Drax, sitting in his Cadillac. Drax explains that he was brought away to safety by the HADS - Hostile Action Displacement System - although the gunship did blast a hole into the passenger door of his TARDIS.
As Drax drives, he attempts to put a positive spin on the situation. They're all still alive, and the Spacelab is still there. As he says this, the Spacelab vanishes, and the surface of the desert turns to glass.
The Doctor wakes in the TARDIS, and is informed that he has been in a coma. The Doctor asks why Omega did not destroy him, and Omega says the Doctor must witness his victory. The Doctor sees the truth: Omega has been alone so long that he demands company. The Doctor again attempts to send telepathic instructions to the TARDIS, but finds it impossible. Omega has synched the TARDIS controls to the FERN fusion reactor, now under his control. The Doctor and Omega battle their minds for control of the TARDIS.
Drax's TARDIS slides across the glass plain which had formerly been the Mojave Desert. K9 indicates that a temporal shift has caused you to be sent half-a-million years into the future. As you reach the end of the glass, you see the dark blue sea is all that is past the formation. Drax attempts to pull the dematerialisation switch, but is stuck. His head is struck, and he passes out from concussion. As the car plummets towards the sea, K9 counts the seconds until impact...
- If you decide to use K9's blaster in some way, go to 20.
- If you decide to do something for yourself, go to 19.
Marker 20
You use K9's blaster to shoot a hole into the sea below, and K9 soon is able to alternate his settings to create a continuous pocket of air for you to drive along the sea bed in. You soon notice large rocks which resemble the shape of buildings, before you realise they are buildings. This is the city, swallowed by the sea. You are unable to wake Drax.
You soon find the Cathedral of St Peter the Fisherman, and inside are what appear to be beautiful humans, still worshipping the church, breathing underwater. The humans come to greet you, and announce they are the "sons and daughters of the Angels." K9 identifies that they are clones, before his power depletes due to being cut-off from solar power. As K9 shuts off, you find yourself drowning as you are watched by the staring faces above.
- To continue this part of the adventure, roll two dice.
- A roll of 6 or more takes you to 23.
- A roll of 5 or less means that for you, this time, it's all over.
- But you can go back to the end of 15 and try again.
Marker 23
You wake in a brightly lit, circular room, surrounded by other members of the Church. You face is sore, and you are told the change will take time to heal. You begin to ask about the others you arrived with, but can not remember their names. You are told they had to go, and that you do not need to worry about them. You immediately agree. The members of the church say that your arrival was foretold.
As your gil implants heal, you settle into your new life among the sons and daughters of "the Angels." You soon learn that "the Angels" were who gave the members of the Church life after the great flooding, and you theorise they were actually biomedical research teams, attempting to adapt human beings to marine life. The Angels treat you as a Sheppard of the Angels, and you learn to not denounce their beliefs. Soon, you forget much of your own time.
After some years, the city discovers another visitor, an astronaut from the 24th-century who had been "warpsnatched" out of orbit during a freight run. 'Red' is foul-mouthed, angry, and middle aged. The other members of the church soon take to seeing him as a vengeful god. He soon makes you his slave, along with all other sons and daughters of the Angels. From that day, until the day you die as a result of his beatings, he makes your life hell.
- Maybe it was too good to last. Or, perhaps, after 'Red' passed on, things returned to normal in the City of the Angels.
- To get going again, go to the end of 15.
Marker 19
You fall upside down, beneath the dashboard. There you see what has happened - when Drax activated the HADS, he had pulled the level so hard that it had become caught in the switchboard of the dematerialisation control. Drax momentarily groans to consciousness just as you free the control, and Drax pulls the dematerialisation control just as the car impacts with the dark water. You learn that you have avoided the crash, but for some reason everything has gone dark...
In the TARDIS, the Doctor feels the intense pressure of Omega's will give away. He programs the TARDIS with a new set of coordinates. The Doctor plans to drain Omega's fusion reactor by shifting through time. He tells Omega that he has chosen the past, as Omega chose the future. If the Omega can best the Doctor in the future, he wins. If the Doctor can best Omega in the past, he wins. Omega agrees to the terms.
Drax drives his Cadillac TARDIS through the Great Plains, now fully devoid of any sign of human life. As you find a herd of grazing Buffalo, K9 identifies that the year is 1826. As he repeats this, the images around them change suddenly, flickering moments across all of time. You are trapped in "a whirlwind Epcot ride through past and future." Eventually, the car is split between two moments: the desert near the start of time, and again near the beginning. Drax suspects that someone is playing tug of war, and you are caught in the middle.
In the TARDIS, the Doctor notes that despite the great excersises done by the TARDIS, Omega's fusion reactor power source has barely been depleted. He decides he needs a way to distract Omega and push things further...
Traveling into the future side of the divide, you, Drax, and K9 discover a series of pyramids seemingly formed by dust cluttering around electricity pylons. Drax suspects that there is no point in trying to leave through time, as the group are clearly not in control. The Cadillac soon runs out of gas, forcing the group to search for fuel.
You soon encounter the People of the Dust, who have survived on future Earth thanks to the electricity stations. The People of the Dust worship Om, and grow furious when they learn you are not him. As K9 enters the hall, the People of the Dust identify him as Om. Mah, an elder woman, claims that Om once visited them from a big circle in the sky, and the prophecy foretells that he will one day return to take them to a promised land. You soon deduce that Om was Omega, and the circle was the Spacelab being transported through time.
Studying the land on the TARDIS scanner, Omega is shocked to discover the Cadillac TARDIS alongside K9 and Drax. The Doctor too is surprised, and from within the ship, begins instructing K9. Despite the distance, K9 immediately receives all orders sent by his Master. Some are passed on to Drax.
The Doctor tells Omega that he has yet to win, as he still does not know the secrets of time. Omega contemplates destroying the Doctor, but the Doctor tells him this is something he can not do. Omega is willed into being by his willpower alone, and without the Doctor to be his antagonist and his balance, Omega would either cease to be or return to solitude. Furthermore, the Doctor has begun a new plan; to travel through time to the scene of their first meeting. As the TARDIS dematerialises, Omega calls the Doctor a fool. "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you," the Doctor responds. Omega repeats one phrase several times: "You are me!"
Outside, K9 and Drax finish setting up Drax's TARDIS to the Doctor's orders. As thunders crashes through the sky, and Omega's likeness consumes the river nearby, Drax materialises his TARDIS. At this moment, you are filling up the Cadillac's tank with a gas jerrican, and find yourself being pulled into nothingness. You are drawn into non-existance...
- What happens next is up to change.
- Take two dice. If you roll a double, go to 21.
- If you do not roll a double go back to 18.
Marker 18
You wake to find Mah above you. She says that Om has lied, and that they have not been brought to a great place. You soon deduce that you have been drawn into the world of anti-matter. The rest of the People of Dust are also there, huddled and shivering. You ask if Mah has seen Om, and she states that she has not, but Om is all around them.
You figure the way aout is to reach the center of his labyrinthine being. You explain this to Mah and the group begin the journey into the interior. You hardly notice that time has once again has begun reversing, as the further you travel the younger you become. Soon, Mah is a young woman leading a group of children towards their freedom. You are the first to gain it. The first to escape Omega by being born.
- This escape, however, means that you have wait a few years before you get to meet K9 and Drax and become involved once again in the search for the Doctor.
- To pass the time, take the two dice and throw until you reach a score that equals your age in years. Add up the scors until you reach your exact age. If you throw over, deduct the score of both dice from your previous total and throw again until you get exactly the right number.
- When you do, go to 21.
Marker 21
You find yourself in a void, being sucked further inside. K9 appears and extends his probe towards you. You grab hold and pull yourself into the back seat of the Cadillac. Drax's TARDIS arrives at a hydraulic Skyrider ramp in the transport station. It is Day 222, Year 2056.
Meanwhile, the Doctor discovers that he is back at the FERN Spacelab, now in the body of Omega. Omega has stolen the Doctor's body, and trapped his mind inside of Omega's antimatter form. The Doctor can not control Omega's body. The Doctor studies the situation, and decides that as Omega was able to free himself from his anti-matter world through pure will-power, he must be able to do the same. He meditates, briefly creating a transparent circle in the lab.
This is just enough for K9 to detect, who announces that the Doctor is in the Spacelab anti-matter section. You find yourself growing tired and pass out in the back of the Cadillac. You wake in the morning of Day 223 to find a note attached to the rear-view mirror. Drax and K9 have gone off without you. Suddenly, two Skyrider pilots pass the Cadillac and identify it as the car that a group of Skyrider gunships supposedly destroyed days before. The pilots decide to steal the car as it is worth a lot of money in the 21st century. They hide it in F Shed, which you try to sneak out of before you are quickly caught.
Speaking to the Doctor from within his stolen body, Omega explains that he has studied black holes, which he contends are matter and anti-matter meeting at a point of collision. After studying for a millennia, he discovered how to use the same concept as a gateway. He calls this the Singularity. He used this practice to stop Drax and K9 form orchestrating K9's plan, and to steal the Doctor's body.
Today is the day of the FERN fusion test, and Omega has already killed the Chief Executive. The complex will new a new person to lead the experiment, and Omega intends to do so himself as the Doctor.
The Skyrider guards arrest you and take you to a prison complex near FERN. You are taken into a low building with bars on all the windows and doors, and put into a prison uniform. You are led to a cel, with a bucket in one corner and a mattress on the concrete floor. You lay on the mattress and wonder when food will come.
- Go to 22.
Marker 22
An hour after you arrive you are dragged out of your cel and forced to exercise in the main yard with the other prisoners. Despite their shaven heads and baggy clothes they look intelligent, just defeated. You soon sight K9, being guarded by the several armed prisoners, and Drax. Both are imprisoned. Drax becomes excited when the prison is visited by the Chief Executive, who he knows as the Doctor. However, unbeknownst to Drax, Omega has actually stolen the Doctor's body.
The Chief Executive orders that Drax and any of his allies be brought to him. As you were not arrested with K9 and Drax, the guards do not know that you are with them. As Drax is taken away he gives you his watch and a ring. Listening to the watch, you learn it is coded with his vital signs. This will allow you to pilot Drax's TARDIS, but only if you also wear the ring. If you are caught, he instructs you to throw the ring out.
The Doctor, inside Omega's anti-matter form, continues to practice conjuring images through willpower. He is able to create an image of his floating head, but is barely able to make it speak before he loses focus. He ponders what Omega meant when he said "You are me."
Drax and K9 are taken to Fusion control. Drax identifies it as the future lair of the People of the Dust. Omega reveals that through this chamber he will rise the temperature of the Earth's crust. Earth will be destroyed as it becomes hotter than the sun, and Omega will use this energy to travel to Gallifrey and enslave the population. As they are left alone in the chamber, K9 indicates that they have four minutes until the reaction begins.
Speaking to other prisoners, you learn most of them were arrested for claiming to see the black spectre which had been haunting the Spacelab. You meet a Geophysicist named Arjay, who is convinced the entire situation is a military scheme to take control of the FERN lab. He works in the prison's laundry system, and reveals to you that he has dyed a prison uniform black to resemble that of the prison guards. He tells you to hide in a cupboard and run once he raises dust into the air with a stolen Skyrider. As he does, you wait for the dust to spread.
- Roll two dice to see how many seconds you are going to wait. Over 6 takes you to 25.
- Five and under means you go to 24.
Marker 25
You leap onto the Skyrider and Arjay makes a break for the prison entrance. However, bullets reign out from the prepared guards. You see something damp spread across Arjay's back. He exclaims that he'll at least take a few guards out. This is the last thing you hear.
- You waited a few seconds too long and gave the guards a chance to get ready. As a result, neither you nor anyone else could find the Doctor, and Omega obtained the victory and revenge he sought. Earth and all of its peoples perished, and Gallifrey was enslaved.
- To prevent this sequence of events, go back to the end off 2 and the dice again until you get the right score to rejoin the story at 24.
Marker 24
You leap onto the Skyrider and Arjay makes a break for the prison entrance. The guards are not prepared and you break through. However, Anjay is shot and the Skyrider begins running out of control. You manage to take control and crash into F Shed, landing in a heap of packing materials. As the Skyriders outside reach you, you manage to enter the Cadillac TARDIS and connect to the controls...
The Doctor has perfected his projected head. He tells it to "fetch" and it floats out-of-view.
The Cadillac materialises in the orb of the Spacelab torus. Nearby is the Doctor's TARDIS, guarded by armed men, and a countdown with 9 seconds left. You point an automatic weapon you have stolen at the men, who lower themselves to the ground. You then see the Chief Executive on a screen, announcing that the fusion process has begun.
Inside the fusion room, Drax feels the air grow thicker and hotter. He asks K9 if there is any way to halt a fusion. He begins processing the question.
You race through the Spacelab, hunting for the anti-matter research sector K9 had mentioned. The facility is nearly abandoned as most everyone focuses on the fusion in the lower station. Eventually, you see a head turn towards you and point your gun at it. But the head is the Doctor's!
K9 identifies that the room is being heated via 32 cavities which emit a heated light. He uses his blaster to destroy one, and continues on to the others. As this happens, the Chief Executive orders the coils be switched on. This increases the heat substantially, and causes K9 to be immobilized by the electronic interference. Drax says this is the end, and K9 responds "Affir-" before shutting down.
The Doctor's projected head directs you to open a wall cabinet. You find files relating to the anti-matter experiment. The Doctor's head tries to explain further but states only "Quake" before it fades. As you walk through the empty facility, you realise Arjay was right. FERN was always a cover to produce fusion weapons for the military. That's why the base was so heavily guarded.
You hear footsteps approaching. By this point, you have figured out what the Doctor meant by "quake"...
- If you think that 'Quake' means that the Doctor knows an earthquake is imminent, go to 27.
- If you think it means you should in some way try to engineer an earthquake, go to 26.
- If you think that the Doctor is giving you a codeword that will lead to the defeat of Omega if you solve it, go to 28.
Marker 28
You know that "Quake" is a computer command. You go back to the Cadillac and enter the command into the computer, causing the TARDIS to rewind time from your perspective. You "continue" your adventure to when you, Drax, and K9 were parked outside of Stonehenge. As the moth lands on K9's probe, you brush it away, meaning Drax's TARDIS arrives at the Amargosa juganetic complex as expected. However, when you go to confront Omega, he has been expecting you.
As Omega blasts you away, you realise your mistake. While all futures are possible, only one out of the millions that take place, will actually happen. If more than one could co-exist, there would be even more chaos. But it doesn't matter. Omega destroys Earth, conquers Gallifrey, and you spend the rest of your existence alone trapped in his Anti-matter universe.
- Now you know a little more about the nature of the problems you have to face. You can, if you like, start again at the end of 24. No No matter what the danger, it will be more interesting than hanging around in anti-matter.
Marker 27
Everything becomes clear. You figure that, if the Doctor is a Time Lord, he must know the future like the back of his hand. He knew, therefore, that an earthquake would destroy Omega. You take to the Cadillac and avoid guards by activating the HADS each time they fire at you. What you do not realise is that activating the HADS three times in quick succession puts the TARDIS into "panic mode." The TARDIS dematerialises, and arrives on Gallifrey in the Technicenter where Drax's TARDIS had been built. You try to explain what has happened just as Omega begins his attack on the planet.
The Time Lords believe you to be the lead accomplice of Omega. Thus they put you on trial and find you guilty for the deaths of the Doctor, Drax, and K9. Your destiny is long, lingering, and fatal.
- To try again, go back to the end of 24.
Marker 26
Following the Doctor's implication, you rush through the Spacelab and sneak into the anti-matter lab. The lab is now once again staffed and you ask the Doctor's head to help you surprise the group. As you enter, the Doctor's head appears and you instruct all personal to get on the ground. You tie them up with tape and then ask one technician to charge on the fusion beam. He tells you that doing this will drain the entire base of power. You order him to do it anyways.
The lights of the base and the fusion reactor turn off. The technician tells you that you have one good shot.
- This is the most vital decision of all.
- If you decide to go for Omega, go to 29.
- If you decide to split the torus, go to 30.
- If you decide to go for the fusion center, go to 31.
- If you decide to stick to the Doctor's 'Quake' idea, go to 32.
- Whatever your choice, good luck!
Marker 29
You order the technician to fire a blast at the Chief Technician, secretly Omega in the Doctor's body. The Doctor's head shakes wildly in the air, telling you not to do this. As the blast is fired, the Chief Technician glows bright white. Little did you know that by firing that blast, you would be forcing the contact of the matter and anti-matter within Omega. The Doctor's body soon became a massive black hole, consuming you, the FERN base, the Earth, and the entire solar system. Omega, however, is able to survive due to his understanding of the "Singularity" gate. You delay his attack on Gallifrey by 4.7 seconds.
- For you, this is the journey's end.
- For another version of events, go back to the end of 26 and choose another path.
Marker 30
You decide that shooting the fusion chamber would crack it like a bell, freeing Drax and K9. Together, the three of you would be able to find a way to free the Doctor. This is, in theory, the correct idea. However, using the beam actually vaporises the unit, including Drax and K9. The resulting fireball sinks into the Earth's crust, as Omega predicted, giving Omega the energy source he needs. Additionally, the angle you fire at causes the entire Fusion center to collapse. As you watch the ground come closer, you have all the time to reflect. But it is too late.
- A little more thought beforehand would have avoided your ultimate demise. Nevertheless, you were on the right lines. Now that you know cracking the vacuum chamber torus is the thing to do, go back to the end of 26 and take another decision.
Marker 31
Despite the pleas of the technicians and the shaking of the Doctor's head, you decide to attack the Fusion Centre. You figure attacking the control mechanisms is less risky than going for Omega or the vacuum chamber.
The entire Spacecenter comes crashing down. You do not survive the impact. Omega, however, does, reverting to his anti-matter form. Back-up systems take over, and the fusion reaction continues as if nothing happens. You have delayed Omega's revenge on Gallifrey by 1.6 seconds.
- Although your idea was good it was not sufficiently thought through. Fail-sake and back-up systems were bound to have been installed.
- Bring yourself back to life, learn from your mistakes, and go back to the end of 26 for another attempt.
Marker 32
As you look down at the technician, you see him as a human for the first time. You learn his name is Norman Kovax. You tell him your story, and he believes you. He says they have to stop Omega. You respond that he said earlier that charging the fusion beam would drain the power. Norman admits he was lying. He figures that they have one good shot to bring an end to Omega's plan. He puts aside attacking the chamber, the fusion center, or Omega.
The Doctor's head states: "Quake." Norman immediately understands. At that moment, guards begin attempting to break through the lab's doors. As you free Norman, he explains that he is going to create an earthquake with the fusion beam. As the guards break through Norman takes the shot.
Deep within Amargosas, a geological fault had created a huge underground lake. It was this lake the provided water for the FERN complex. As the beam hit the lake, it vaporized the water in an instant. The shake of the earth follows along the line of least resistance: the pipeline to FERN. The desert cracks and bulges, creating a gigantic mushroom cloud of dust. The destruction continues through the FERN center.
Inside the Fusion chamber, Drax impatiently awaits death. He feels the ground shakes, believing this is the end, until the bell of the chamber cracks open. K9 regains operation and the two "leave their nest."
You and Norman reach the Cadillac. You consider stopping to rescue the Doctor from the anti-matter lab, but his head tells you to go. You take Norman to the top of the Fusion Centre. You reach the Operations Room just in time to be reunited with Drax and K9.
Omega grows furious that someone has attempted to bring an end to his plan to lock Gallifrey in stasis. He meditates, finding the Singularity, and uses his powers to repair the vacuum chamber.
Drax decides to "give him a taste of his own medicine," locking the vacuum changing and beginning the fusion with Omega still inside. Omega immediatley abandons the Doctor's body, fighting for his life against the force of the fusion. Suddenly, a mass waves bursts through the cavern. The last remnant of the underground like is dumping itself in FERN.
The four of you jump into the Cadillac, and Drax activates the HADS just as the ceiling collapses. Afterwards, all that remains is the black surface of the lake which had overwhelmed all.
- Go to 33.
Marker 33
It is two days later, and you are with the Doctor, in the flesh, for the first time. You stand by the lake, with Drax splashing around. You look at the shattered remains of the Fusion center. The Doctor tells you that if it wasn't for the flood, things would have been much worse, as the molten fire would have burned through to the Earth's crust. You ask if Omega has been destroyed, and after K9 confirms that Omega is not on Earth, the Doctor suspects that destroying Omega is impossible. The Doctor says he reflected on what Omega said earlier, about them being the same. He initially thought they were literally reflections of the same person, "like Jekyll and Hyde."
He has since met with the Keeper of the Rolls on Gallifrey, who debunked this as Omega was born many generations before the Doctor. However, archives show that it's possible that Omega is actually a direct ancestor of the Doctor. So, the Doctor comments, if it wasn't for Omega, he wouldn't be here.
When you ask how the Doctor survived, he explains that when Omega and the Doctor swapped their bodies back, the Doctor did not remain in the fusion reactor. The Doctor then raced to his TARDIS before the Spacelab "made a big hole in the ground." It is noted that the Spacelab crashed into the Pacific Ocean. You ask if the fusion process would ever work. The Doctor invites you into the TARDIS to come and see.
When you exit the blue box, you find yourself once again in the Fusion Center, reclaimed and in a museum. An elderly man shows the room to his two grandchildren. His badge reads 'Chief Executive,' and despite his grey hair, you immediately recognise him as Norman. 20 years have passed.
You exit the man gates to the Centre. All around you is the lake, now populated with ceramic and metal structures. The Doctor tells you is it modelled photosynthesis. This is how scientists have managed to capture the energy of the sun, safely, without any threat at hand. You ask why humans didn't try this earlier, instead of causing so much pollution and making so many bombs? The Doctor says humans are an awkward lot. But he adds that it makes life more interesting.
You ask where you're going next, and the Doctor says he's taking you home. As he drops you off close to where you live, you ask if you'll ever see the Doctor again. "Who knows? says the Doctor. "Everything is possible."
Drax and the Doctor vanish, and you walk home feeling extraordinarily pleased with yourself. You tell yourself next time would be something else again.
THE END
Characters
- Sixth Doctor
- Dinah
- K9 Mark III
- Drax
- Omega
- Guard
- Hotel receptionist
- Youth
- Captain Evans
- Navigator Grundy
- Engineer Floyd
- Rolph Aarup
- Robot
- Bose
- Red
- Mah
- Arjay
- Norman Kovax
References
- By 2056, months have faded from use. The start of the novel is set on Day 220 (implicitly 7 August) 2056.
- In the future, Stonehenge has been replaced by a plastic replica, as the original was destroyed by vandals.
- Duty Engineer Bose wonders what "an old Limey Police box is doing in his control room?"
- The Doctor struggles to remember how many bodies he has had. He's pretty sure he is in his sixth or seventh incarnation.
- K9 has been programmed to not harm his Master, the Doctor. This even applies when Omega has stolen the Doctor's body.
References to other stories
- Drax claims that while both he and the Doctor were found guilty of being renegades by their home planet, the Doctor was pardoned after defeating Omega the first time. (TV: The Three Doctors)
- In one potential path, a malfunction in Drax's TARDIS sends the shuttle it has landed in to the Bermuda Triangle. Another source suggested that the implosion of The Monk's TARDIS had created the Triangle. (COMIC: Follow That TARDIS!)
- When Drax is unconscious, the telepathic connection he shares to his TARDIS is broken, and certain features stop functioning. A similar situation happened when the Tenth Doctor faced a post-regeneration coma. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)
Notes
- There is a brief explanation of fission, written by the Doctor, in the back of the novel.
Alternative covers
US cover
Australian cover
Illustrations
The Doctor succumbs to the power of Omega. (Marker 1)
Drax attempts to abandon you (Marker 6)
The crew of the shuttle are eaten by black fish in the murky sea. (Marker 7)
The Doctor stands over the ashes of Rolf Aarup, coming face-to-face with Omega. (Marker 10)
The Doctor and Omega battle within the TARDIS. (Marker 12)
You take the leap. (Marker 14)
Drax, K9, and you watch as all of time flickers around you. (Marker 19)
K9 blasts a hole into the dark sea as Drax's TARDIS falls inside. (Marker 20)
Omega (front) steals the Doctor's body, leaving the Doctor trapped in anti-matter. (Marker 21)
Drax throws you his watch and ring. (Marker 22)
Arjay pilots a Skyrider over the prison walls, with you as a passenger. (Marker 24)
The Doctor appears to the protagonist. (Marker 24)
You blast Omega, destroying the Doctor's body and creating a black hole. (Marker 29)
As the Centre begins to flood, you, K9, and Drax flee. (Marker 32)
