Doctor Who: The Many Hands (15 page)

It had been a good long while since Ben Franklin
had found himself in Edinburgh. With his duties in
London and the two-week coach ride, it was very easy
to put off coming to the city.

A lot had changed since he had last been here, with
the work to build Craig's 'New Town' well under way.
Ben wondered how the city would survive, splitting
itself in twain like this, poor on one side and rich on
the other. All those he had spoken to were optimistic,
but then all those he had spoken to were also rich.

The door opened. Ben looked round to see his host,
David Hume, entering the room.

'Your visitor from the University is here,' said
Hume.

Ben looked uncomfortably at the ebony box sitting
on the table beside him. Then he nodded to Hume.

'Show him in, please,' he said gently. 'And one other
thing...'

'Don't worry, Ben,' Hume said. 'I'll leave you in
peace for your spy-making.'

Ben nodded, and gently smiled as Hume left him
alone again. The fire crackled nicely in the grate, and
Ben looked at his cold ebony box and shivered.

The door opened, and the gentleman came in.

'Mr Franklin, thank you for coming,' he said
without preamble.

'Your letter was insistent,' Ben said.

'You have it?' the gentleman asked. 'My father was
keen to have your opinion on the... matter, given your
expertise with electricity. But... well, my situation
has changed recently, and it is time to reclaim the
property. You do have it?'

Ben nodded to the box on the table.

'Don't worry,' he said. 'I have no qualms about
giving it away. It is a strange specimen, and more than
a little unnerving.'

The gentleman opened the box without comment,
keen to check what was inside. Even in the gloom
of the fire, Franklin could see the disembodied hand
scuttle a little in its tiny prison. The gentleman smiled
at it, clearly glad to have it back in his hands again.

'I was sorry to hear about your father's death,'
Franklin said politely.

Alexander Monro smiled coldly.

'He is never truly gone so long as I am in the world,'
he said.

And Ben Franklin shivered again.

My surprised gratitude to Justin Richards and Gary
Russell for thinking kindly of the guy who wrote that
one with the dolphin. Thanks also to Cathy Howkins,
Nick Wallace, Mark Michalowski, Simon Forward
and Jonn Elledge for all their help and suggestions
throughout the writing process. Thanks to Mum,
Dad, Darren, the Quibblers, the Copley-Robertses,
the Channel Twelve collective, the Howkinses, Blade
and my least attentive fan for their support, and to the
kind Wikipedians who have helped keep my entry up
to date.

Thanks to John Kendell and Glyn, who hopefully
won't mind that I stole their names, and the kind
people at St Cuthbert's, who hopefully won't mind
that I stole their church. Thanks also to 'Aggie' from
Mary King's Close for telling me lots of interesting
things, including the bit about pantaloons.

And lastly, with respect and gratitude to the friends
and family members who made up my supporting
cast. In particular, thanks to the late Craig Hinton,
who was in my thoughts whilst writing this and who
would have been the first to congratulate me on my
good fortune.

THE CLOCKWISE MAN
by Justin Richards

THE MONSTERS INSIDE
by Stephen Cole

WINNER TAKES ALL
by Jacqueline Rayner

THE DEVIANT STRAIN
by Justin Richards

ONLY HUMAN
by Gareth Roberts

THE STEALERS OF DREAMS
by Steve Lyons

THE STONE ROSE
by Jacqueline Rayner

THE FEAST OF THE DROWNED
by Stephen Cole

THE RESURRECTION CASKET
by Justin Richards

THE NIGHTMARE OF BLACK ISLAND
by Mike Tucker

THE ART OF DESTRUCTION
by Stephen Cole

THE PRICE OF PARADISE
by Colin Brake

STING OF THE ZYGONS
by Stephen Cole

THE LAST DODO
by Jacqueline Rayner

WOODEN HEART
by Martin Day

FOREVER AUTUMN
by Mark Morris

SICK BUILDING
by Paul Magrs

WETWORLD
by Mark Michalowski

by Paul Magrs
ISBN 978 1 84607 269 7
UK £6.99 US $11.99/$14.99 CDN

Tiermann's World: a planet covered in wintry woods
and roamed by sabre-toothed tigers and other
savage beasts. The Doctor is here to warn Professor
Tiermann, his wife and their son that a terrible danger
is on its way.

The Tiermanns live in luxury, in a fantastic, futuristic,
fully automated Dreamhome, under an impenetrable
force shield. But that won't protect them from the
Voracious Craw. A gigantic and extremely hungry alien
creature is heading remorselessly towards their home.
When it gets there everything will be devoured.

Can they get away in time? With the force shield
cracking up, and the Dreamhome itself deciding who
should or should not leave, things are
looking desperate...

by Mark Michalowski
ISBN 978 1 84607 271 0
UK £6.99 US $11.99/$14.99 CDN

When the TARDIS makes a disastrous landing in the
swamps of the planet Sunday, the Doctor has no choice
but to abandon Martha and try to find help. But the
tranquillity of Sunday's swamps is deceptive, and even
the TARDIS can't protect Martha forever.

The human pioneers of Sunday have their own dangers
to face: homeless and alone, they're only just starting to
realise that Sunday's wildlife isn't as harmless as it first
seems. Why are the native otters behaving so strangely,
and what is the creature in the swamps that is so
interested in the humans, and the new arrivals?

The Doctor and Martha must fight to ensure that
human intelligence doesn't become the greatest danger
of all.

by Trevor Baxendale
ISBN 978 1 84607 348 9
UK £6.99 US $11.99/$14.99 CDN

The old village well is just a curiosity – something
to attract tourists intrigued by stories of lost
treasure, or visitors just making a wish. Unless
something alien and terrifying could be lurking
inside the well? Something utterly monstrous that
causes nothing but death and destruction?

But who knows the real truth about the well? Who
wishes to unleash the hideous force it contains?
What terrible consequences will follow the search
for a legendary treasure hidden at the bottom?

No one wants to believe the Doctor's warnings
about the deadly horror lying in wait – but soon
they'll wish they had...

by Simon Guerrier
ISBN 978 1 84607 347 2
UK £6.99 US $11.99/$14.99 CDN

The Doctor's been everywhere and everywhen in
the whole of the universe and seems to know all
the answers. But ask him what happened to the
Starship
Brilliant
and he hasn't the first idea. Did it
fall into a sun or black hole? Was it shot down in
the first moments of the galactic war? And what's
this about a secret experimental drive?

The Doctor is skittish. But if Martha is so keen to
find out he'll land the TARDIS on the
Brilliant
, a
few days before it vanishes. Then they can see for
themselves...

Soon the Doctor learns the awful truth. And
Martha learns that you need to be careful what
you wish for. She certainly wasn't hoping for
mayhem, death, and badger-faced space pirates.