End of the World
A short story by Keith Redhead

Part of the Seventh Doctor Fiction collection

Brother Jones had finished transcribing the last page of the manuscript. At last the chapter had a new copy of the sacred text. He genuflected to Abbot Hogu as he entered. "Abbot, I have finished the manuscript."

"You have done well Brother Jones. Place it upon the altar I will conduct the service of blessing tonight."

On his way to the altar Brother Jones reflected upon the strange and mysterious characters mentioned. Indeed it was a story of wondrous miracles about angels and demons and terrible sickness but it also spoke of hope and renewal.

***

Benny tried not to look suspicious as she and the Doctor infiltrated the monastery. They had found spare robes which they had put on. Benny had tried to drop several hints to the Doctor concerning her figure but he seemed not to notice. He was either very enlightened or very, very stupid she thought. "What are we looking for again Doctor?"

"An alien artefact. It was accidentally left here by a race of visitors who surveyed Earth thousands of years ago. It could be very dangerous in the wrong hands."

"That would be anyone on Earth except us two right?"

"That's a fair assessment Benny, now if I only knew what it looked like."

For the rest of the day they followed the monks, copying their rituals and practices.

At sunset they all gathered in the main hall. Abbot Denari was preparing to address the brothers (and sister, Benny thought to herself). "Tonight marks the end of obscurity for our order. We will bring teaching and understanding to all those who need our guidance. I have recently discovered a relic from our Lord's time. It will bring enlightenment to everyone who sees it." He pulled out a simple looking sphere of metal.

The Doctor tried not to look shocked. "A Yeti sphere." He tried not to shout it out.

"Yeti? Come on Doctor, the abominable snowman's been a proven hoax since before my grandparents were born."

"I have defeated them before. They are robot servants of a long since departed alien consciousness. It liked to call itself The Great Intelligence."

"Typical megalomaniac self labelling. Pretty common among Earth leaders of the second millennium," Benny quoted from one of her academy texts; well, one of the ones she had 'borrowed' after she left.

"I thought all traces were accounted for. There's nothing about this in any history books."

"None that have been found anyway. Otherwise I could have told you about it." Benny allowed herself a little smile at the paradox.

"Witness now Brothers the coming of salvation!" The Abbot held the sphere close to his chest. He was surprised when it thrust forward suddenly through his ribs and into his chest. He screamed and fell to the floor.

Microcircuits and lots of wire erupted from the metal ball into the dying Abbot's body. They consumed the flesh and bone, transforming his body into a tough and strong robotic version. Tufts of artificial fur sprouted to cover the bare metal until the complete figure of a Yeti stood up and roared. Methodically it started to attack all the humans. In it's mind the remnants of long forgotten commands whirred into life. It opened the communication frequency for The Great Intelligence to command it but no commands were forthcoming.

"It's confused, there's no operator anymore. It only has it's basic commands."

"How can we defeat it, Doctor?"

"Remove the metal sphere from it's chest Benny, that will deactivate it. Give me your flask."

"What for?"

"It's fur is flammable. It sees partially in infrared. The heat will blind it for a few minutes."

"It will also prevent us from getting near it."

The monks had now exited the hall, leaving behind the dead and the wounded.

"Typical priests, it's all share and care one minute and when the chips are down it's every monk for themselves."

The Doctor pushed his handkerchief into the neck of the flask and produced a box of matches from his pocket. "Now block your ears and close your eyes. Only the Yeti will get a surprise." He threw it at the hulking beast and caught it square in the chest. He ran over to it while it was on fire and thrust his hands through the burning fur into the chest compartment. "Got you." He pulled out a hammer from another pocket and proceeded to pound on the metal sphere.

Benny walked over, having discarded the rough habit for a white silk cloak she had found. "That was very brave Doctor. I'd better get you back to the TARDIS and put some burn cream on your hands."

Later on the Doctor handled the smashed remains and gave it a final check to make sure it was destroyed.

"It's a pity no one saw what we did. We could have made a fortune with the movie rights."

"We stopped a danger to humanity. Earth needs time to rebuild if it is to reclaim it's place in the galaxy. The Daleks Invasion a century ago caused society to regress to medieval levels but a rampaging Yeti could have caused serious ripples in the continuum."

***

Brother Elgar had been the only one not to run. He had hidden and watched as the two strangers fought the beast and won. He wanted to commemorate their achievement somehow, so that their courage would be an example to the rest of his order. Inspiration struck, he would write the events out as a manuscript. Over the years the novices would be taught the lesson so that they had the same selfless courage.

