11

The Doctor made his way out of Njord’s settlement towards the river and the temple, and, beyond it, Odin’s village.

He moved quietly and, though the night should have been dark with the last quarter of the month’s moon dying overhead, the sky was lit by an eerie glow. Looking up, he saw the comet in the sky and knew how much store the Vikings put against such portents: the perfect moment for Odin to make a sacrifice to ensure victory in the war that everyone knew was brewing.

He hurried onwards, down the slope, through the trees and across the river. In the gloom, the waterwheels were still turning on and on, and now the Doctor knew they had some hideous purpose of the Master’s making, but there was no time to stop and investigate. In the distance the lights of Odin’s village twinkled, and he pressed on.

As he came towards the hilltop where the temple stood, he stumbled over something. He looked down. More of that heavy electrical cabling, snaking its way through the trees, and though time was against him he followed it.

It wasn’t long before he saw where it was going. It headed into a small tunnel cut into the hillside, right underneath the side of the temple.

He crawled in and, although it should have been totally dark, light came to him. Hand over hand he edged further along the cable and down the tunnel until, suddenly, it opened up into a small man-made cave. At its centre sat another blank metal box, like the one in the wheelhouse, but this one pulsed with lights set in its side, and it seemed to throb from the power within.

Jo had managed to slice through her bonds easily, remarking that Viking table knives were more like lethal weapons than cutlery.

The night was still and the village strangely quiet, although she could hear the sounds of people in various houses as she passed by. She knew where she was going. Since the chameleon circuit of the Doctor’s TARDIS was still broken, his ship had to be in a building large enough to house a 1963 police box, and there was only one of those: the hall in which she’d met Njord earlier.

She crept towards it and saw that it was in darkness. She found a door and slipped inside, finding that the central hall was in fact surrounded by corridors and galleries. She began to make her way along the first of these, looking for the familiar shape of the TARDIS.

She turned one corner, and another, but found nothing, and then came to a room where a little of the weak moonlight spilled down from a glassless window set high in the wall.

The light showed her something very beautiful – a large wooden model of a Viking longship, almost as long as she was tall. It was open-decked, low and sleek, and very finely detailed, and despite herself she found herself staring at it as if it had some magical attraction that pulled her in.

She reached out a hand to stroke the carved dragon’s head that served as the prow, and saw there was even more detail inside the model: the benches on which the oarsmen would sit, the tiller that controlled the rudder. She couldn’t resist the temptation to touch the tiller, and as she did so she gasped, because the thing snapped off in her hand.

‘You!’ cried a voice in the dark. ‘You! What are you doing there?’

Someone was approaching.

She spun round and hastily shoved the small piece of wood in her back pocket, turning a guilty face to a large Norseman glaring at her.

‘Oh no,’ she said.

‘I just tied you up,’ said the Viking. He grunted. ‘Come with me. Njord and Frey will want to know of your escape.’

The Master laughed.

‘Didn’t like your quarters, Miss Grant? No matter, I was about to fetch you and the Doctor, anyway. Sadly, it seems that he has also seen fit to leave us. For the time being only, no doubt. You wouldn’t like to tell us where he is, would you?’

‘I have no idea,’ said Jo, wondering if that were actually true.

‘Oh, I doubt that,’ said the Master. ‘But it needn’t matter. His time is very nearly run, no matter what. And you will make just as good a sacrifice as him. Come along. We should be going.’

Two men grabbed Jo.

Njord stepped forward and clapped his hands, and suddenly a host of Viking warriors appeared in full battle gear.

The Master pointed to the corner of the hall behind Jo. She turned, and there she saw the TARDIS.

The Master slipped the key from his pocket, strode over to the blue police box and opened the door. He beckoned to Njord, and then he and his men and Jo all followed him inside.

‘I always was a better pilot than the Doctor, you know,’ said the Master, his hands on the controls of the central console as the TARDIS began to dematerialise. ‘I have no idea why he makes such a fuss.’ A few seconds later they had materialised.

The Master left the console and the press of Viking warriors silently stood to one side to give him access to the door. He sauntered over and opened it. ‘Or maybe she just likes me better than she likes the Doctor, hmm?’

Outside the TARDIS was a vast room, even bigger than Njord’s hall, which seemed to Jo to be like a church or a cathedral.

The space was full of people and, although a few seemed alarmed by the sudden arrival of the TARDIS, most seemed unconcerned by it, as if they had seen something similar before.

Jo looked around. There he was. The one-eyed king. The living god. Odin, High King of all Sweden. He was holding Gungnir and was flanked by his sons. There was Thor with his hammer, and another man, whom Jo guessed was his younger brother, Balder. Ranks of Odin’s warriors stood on either side of them, and so the Aesir and the Vanir faced each other.

In between them stood a man alone, dressed from head to foot in a floor-length white robe. In his hands he held a long and wicked-looking knife; he was both the priest and the executioner, ready to make his sacrifice.

‘So!’ roared Odin. ‘You come, Njord, to observe our ancient and noble blessing here in the temple, tonight of all nights.’

Njord stepped forward. ‘I do.’

Odin smiled, but there was treachery in that smile. ‘And have you, Frey, also come? Have you come to keep your promises to me?’

Njord flicked his head sideways at the Master questioningly.

The Master nodded. ‘I have.’

‘What is this?’ cried Njord. ‘What have you agreed with this man?’

Odin laughed. ‘And yet we should still have a sacrifice! Yes!’

There was a roar from his people, and then his men parted as the Doctor was led forward into the middle of the assembly.

‘You, Healer!’ declared Odin. ‘The owner of the magical ship that is now mine!’

Njord roared, a great cry of betrayal and anger. ‘What? What is this?’

He waved to his men, but, before they could react, more of Odin’s warriors emerged from the shadows of the temple and surrounded them, weapons drawn.

‘And now, Odin, O great king!’ said the Master. ‘It is time for you to keep your side of our bargain. The spear, if you please.’

Again, Odin laughed. ‘You foolish little man! I have the ship. And I have the spear. What need have I of you any more?’

The Master’s face darkened. ‘You! How dare you! You know nothing! You need me. And you will give me the spear, or I will not show you how to operate the ship.’

‘You will show me!’ Odin shouted. Then his voice dropped to a low, menacing whisper. ‘Or I shall kill you, along with the Healer and the woman.’

The Doctor looked at the Master. ‘Nice work, old boy,’ he said, then turned to Odin. ‘Now, look here, my dear sir, you need to listen to me. You need to listen to me very carefully.’

Odin turned to face the Doctor, surprise and amusement spreading across his face. ‘I do? And why is that?’

‘Because this man has betrayed you, just as you have betrayed him. But his betrayal is far more potent than yours. Those waterwheels he’s had you build. No doubt he told you they would benefit you in some way?’

Odin’s eyes narrowed. He glanced from the Doctor to the Master, who now stood helpless, his arms held firmly by two of Odin’s men.

‘He told us it was some great power. Power that would light and heat our houses and halls.’

‘And so it will, just not in the way you imagine. What you have created for him is sending power to a box hidden underneath this temple. This device has been storing the power from the wheels for a very long time, and it will explode when he wants it to, at his command. If it does so, it will not only destroy you and everyone here, your temple and your village, but also create a wound in the time stream, preventing anyone from ever travelling in and out of here ever again. No doubt that was his intention: to steal the spear and cover his tracks.’

Odin stared at the Doctor. ‘You are talking nonsense, Healer.’

‘I speak the truth. You may not understand everything I’m telling you, but understand this: Frey has betrayed you! Do not trust him!’

‘Enough of this,’ cried Njord. ‘It is Odin who has betrayed us!’

‘No!’ roared Odin. ‘You and Frey have been angling for war from the very start, and you shall have it!’

He waved Gungnir above his head and seemed about to hurl it at the Vanir.

‘Doctor!’ cried Jo. ‘It’s the start of the war!’

‘Not yet, it isn’t,’ he said. ‘Odin! Aren’t you forgetting something? Shouldn’t you make your sacrifice for victory before going to war? That must come first, correct?’

Odin wheeled round, his eyes wide with rage, but he lowered his spear as he spoke to the Doctor. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘You are right. You are right … Very well! And which of you shall I sacrifice first? The traitor, Frey? Or your woman?’

‘No!’ cried the Doctor. ‘You will take me. I give myself to you, upon one condition.’

‘Which is?’

The Doctor waved a hand at the priest. ‘Do not insult me with this man. If I am to be a sacrifice, I request – no, I demand – the honour of dying at the hand of the king, and by the power of Gungnir itself!’

‘Doctor! No!’ screamed Jo, fighting but failing to break free of the men who held her.

Odin stared at the Doctor as the seconds ticked by, and then he began to chuckle. He lifted his spear high above his head and bellowed its name: ‘Gungnir!’

His shout was taken up by his men, and Odin stepped forward. The Doctor began to edge sideways, backing away, backing away. Odin smiled, relishing the game – the cat and mouse, the hunter and hunted – as the Doctor opened up some distance between them.

‘No!’ cried Jo again. ‘No!’

And then she fell silent, because she saw what the Doctor had done, and where he was now standing.

Odin pulled back his arm and flung Gungnir with all his might. The spear flew from his hand and headed straight for the Doctor. It could not miss. It would not.

Jo screamed as she saw the Doctor watch it for a split second. Then he took two neat steps backwards and pushed through the unlocked door of the TARDIS, disappearing from sight.

The spear hurtled in after him, it too vanishing.

Everyone gasped, and then fell silent.

Nothing and no one moved for three long heartbeats, and then the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, holding the spear.

His voice was deep and strong. ‘You threw the spear that cannot miss, Odin. And you missed. Now it is my turn.’

He pulled back his arm, then paused and grinned. ‘Or, I can give you Gungnir back on one condition.’

Odin began to roar his displeasure, but the Doctor again made as if to throw the spear. ‘Are you so sure I will miss, too?’ he asked.

Odin’s roar settled into a rumble, and through clenched teeth he hissed, ‘What is it that you want, Healer?’

The Doctor turned to Jo and smiled.