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Plague of the Cybermen is one of three Eleventh Doctor novels published in April 2013.
Publisher's summary
When the Doctor arrives in the 19th-century village of Klimtenburg, he discovers the residents suffering from some kind of plague - a 'wasting disease'. The victims face a horrible death - but what's worse, the dead seem to be leaving their graves. The Plague Warriors have returned.
The Doctor is confident he knows what's really happening; he understands where the dead go, and he's sure the Plague Warriors are just a myth. But as some of the Doctor's oldest and most terrible enemies start to awaken he realises that maybe - just maybe - he's misjudged the situation.
Plot
In the village of Klimtenburg, just as another storm is about to begin, Stefan is digging a grave for one of the many villagers who has been the latest victim of Klimtenburg's mysterious plague. His shovel strikes something which he unearths to find it is a metal arm – which starts moving. It grabs Stefan and strangles him to death.
In Gustav's tavern, the villagers finally begin to notice a stranger who they have seen around the village before but not paid him much attention. When they learn the man is a doctor – the Doctor – Old Nicolai and Klaus take the Doctor to investigate some of the deaths. Collecting a schoolteacher named Olga along the way, the group examines Stefan's body which is missing a leg, which the Doctor notes has been cut off expertly. They then go to examine Magda who is dying of the plague. Her body is discoloured and she is wearing a Talisman. The Doctor asks about it and Olga explains that Vadim, one of the first victims, found many metal pieces near the churchyard and his wife Nefta made them into jewellery. Many of the villagers have one. The Doctor identifies the Talismans as pieces of metal from a Hapthoid reactor unity and the plague if actually Hapthoid Radiation Sickness. They leave to collect the rest of the Talismans to stop others catching the sickness, leaving Magda who has already died.
In her living room which also acts as her classroom, the Doctor and Olga convince one of her pupils, Jedka, to give up her Talisman. With the help of the other children, all of the villagers' Talismans are quickly collected. The Doctor then decides to investigate the source of the metal and when Olga tells him Stefan wasn't the first to be murdered by the “Plague Warriors”, the Doctor fetches Klaus and Nicolai and goes to search the churchyard. They dig up Liza's grave and find her body stolen from her coffin and the entrance to a tunnel has been left open. Before getting the chance to search it, some town guards arrive and tell the Doctor he has been summoned to Klimtenburg castle.
Another storm begins as the Doctor and Olga arrive and the guard captain, Caplan, takes them to Lord Ernhardt who asks for help with his ill son Victor. Victor is found in bed, being tended to by his mother Marie Ernhardt (who is thought of as a witch by the villagers for never apparently ageing) but the Doctor is interrupted from examining him by the arrival of an old man known as the Watchman who has tended to Victor before the Doctor's arrival and is opposed to the idea of anyone else treating him. All are made to leave while the watchman tends Victor alone. In the passage way, the Doctor is full of questions but he asks too much for Lord Ernhardt who becomes stressed and angry. He punches a wall and manages to dislodge a brick. In response, the Doctor takes of Lord Ernhardt's glove, revealing that he has the hand of a Cyberman.
The Doctor and Olga make to leave the castle but the Doctor takes the underground passageways as a detour instead of using the main door. They discover the Watchman's workshop, containing clocks and watches (from which he derived his title) as well as more scraps of Cyber metal but they are forced to hide when two men – one named Worm and the other the village butcher Drettle – carrying Liza's body and they dump it on a table before leaving. The Doctor examines the body but hides again when the Watchman arrives and begins speaking to an unseen figure with the voice of a Cyberman. The Cyberman overheard the Doctor and Olga and warns him they are still present. The Doctor and Olga charge out the workshop before anyone can give chase.
The two run deeper into the passageways, eventually catching sight of Worm and Drettle again and they begin following them. As they do, Olga tells the Doctor the legend of the Plague Warriors. During an unusually ferocious storm, something fell from the sky and crashed into the church. The villagers did investigate but they found nothing and the church had been a ruin ever since. The Doctor believes this is more than a story. They end up at the crypt where they find Stefan's body missing as well. They exit the passages and tunnels at the ruin of the church. He finds a lightning conductor – guarded by a Cyberman. They retreat back into the tunnels and are rescued through a hole in the ground by Klaus.
Later, as the Doctor and Olga rest and recover, the Doctor goes for a quick walk and returns with [[|Anti-radiation pill|anti-radiation pills]] for all the villagers. He then reveals his plan to Olga of going back into the tunnels. On the way, he mentions Bubonic plague and how it came to be associated with the legendary Plague Warriors after the object, really a Cyber Ship, crashed into the church. The Doctor hypothesises that the Cybermen who survived the crash began scavenging any materials they could find in attempts to recover. They eventually come across the Cyber Ship where Drettle and Worm are scavenging Cyber parts for the Watchman. The ship is in emergency lighting as it stores power collected from the lighting storms, caused by the Cybermen seeding the atmosphere to create storms. The Doctor guesses the ship is either a colonisation ship or a military vessel as the two of the come across dozens of compartments containing hibernating Cybermen. Before too long, come Cybermen gain enough power to wake up and give chase to the Doctor and Olga.
One of the Cybermen is fought off but the other, aided by Cyber Wolves (converted dogs that had gone missing from the village), continues its pursuit. Caught off guard, Drettle is killed by the Cyberman and Worm is killed by the Cyber Wolves but the Doctor and Olga manage to outrun them and head back to the Watchman's workshop.
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Characters
References
- The Doctor states that he once knew the layout of a Cyber Ship like the back of his hand, but then he got new hands.
- The Doctor complains that he never wins the lottery unless he cheats and checks the numbers beforehand.
Notes
- This is the first New Series Adventure novel to feature the Cybermen, excluding the Quick Reads novella, Made of Steel.
- No regular companion is featured in this story (as is the case in COMIC: The Dalek Project, PROSE: Dark Horizons and PROSE: The Dalek Generation). Olga serves as a one-off companion.
- It is not made clear which variant of Cyberman the Doctor encounters in this novel. The Doctor's mention of the Telosian Cyber-tombs imply they are the ones from Mondas. However, the Cybermen are heard using the term "Delete" like the Cybus variant. As seen on the cover, they are the same Cybermen from TV: A Good Man Goes to War and Closing Time.
- Early in the book, the spelling "discoloration" is used. Later, it is spelled "discolouration".
Continuity
- The Doctor recalls the Cyber-tombs on Telos. (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen) Some of the dialoge from that story is used here, such as the Doctor yelling "It's got my leg!" as his second incarnation did and a Cyberman chanting "You belong to us. You will be like us" which echos the words of the Cyber-Controller.
- The Doctor claims he can speak seven-year old, similar to how he claimed to speak Baby in TV: A Good Man Goes to War and TV: Closing Time. The Cybermen also appeared in both of these stories and the latter story also featured the surviving crew of a crashed Cyber Ship attempting to recover.
- Olga claims the Doctor is bad at lying. (TV: Flesh and Stone, The Vampires of Venice, A Christmas Carol, Bad Night)
- The Cybermen use converted wolves, known as Cyber Wolves. The Cybermen on Centuria used Cyberdogs in their mines. (COMIC: Enemy Mine). Additionally, the brains of cats and dogs were also used for Cybershades. (TV: The Next Doctor)
Audio release
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External links
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