Imperial Moon
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| Author | Christopher Bulis |
|---|---|
| Series |
Doctor Who book: Past Doctor Adventures |
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Release number
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34 |
| Subject | Featuring: Fifth Doctor Turlough and Kamelion |
| Set in | Period between Resurrection of the Daleks and Planet of Fire |
| Publisher | BBC Books |
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Publication date
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August 15, 2000 |
| Pages | 283 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Prime Time |
| Followed by | Festival of Death |
Imperial Moon is a BBC Books original novel written by Christopher Bulis and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Fifth Doctor, Turlough and Kamelion.
While returning to 20th-century Earth, the TARDIS passes through its own temporal wake from a journey it will make in the future, and materialises in the Tsiolkovskii crater on the dark side of Earth’s Moon. A time safe in the console room then opens, revealing an object which the Doctor will place inside it at some point in the future, a diary purporting to describe Captain Richard Haliwell’s expedition to the Moon in the year 1878. Turlough is skeptical, but the Doctor knows that the risk of a time paradox proves this diary to be important; it could be that the Doctor’s actions will determine whether a new timeline comes into existence, displacing all of history as they know it. It is possible for the Victorians to have built airtight hulls and air recycling systems, and according to Haliwell’s diary, the last obstacle was overcome by Professor Bryce-Dennison’s invention of the impeller drive, a propulsion system so advanced that even the Professor has trouble explaining how it works.
Three young, unmarried captains are chosen to lead the expedition to the Moon; Haliwell is in command of the Cygnus, while Sinclair commands the Lynx and Green the Draco. Bryce-Dennison and his 21-year-old daughter and assistant Emily will accompany Haliwell, despite his reservations at having a woman aboard his ship and their disagreement on the matter of female equality. The three ships launch from a secret base on Glen Marg and reach the Moon within a day, but to their surprise, on the dark side of the Moon they find a bubble of atmosphere containing vegetation and an artificial construction. The ships land in the bubble, where Haliwell leads an exploratory expedition into the jungle. However, the perils are like nothing on Earth, and soon after Davis is nearly eaten by a carnivorous plant, Sub-Lieutenant Granby is snatched away from the others by something moving too quickly to be seen. As the sailors search for Granby, they instead meet two human strangers who introduce themselves as the Doctor and Turlough...
The Doctor immediately stops reading, warning Turlough that advance knowledge of their own future will rob them of free will and set up the risk of a paradox if they fail to act as, in the future, they already have. Turlough is skeptical until he finds a note in the diary, confirming the Doctor’s warning, and written in his own handwriting. The Doctor concedes that they should take Kamelion along, but Kamelion finds that the energy fields which keep the atmosphere bubble intact interfere with his functioning, and is therefore forced to remain behind. The Doctor and Turlough set off alone and soon meet the expedition, and despite the sailors’ suspicions, the Doctor assure them that he will not dispute their prior claim to the Moon; he is simply here to help. Unfortunately, Granby is beyond help; his body is found in a nearby clearing, his brains removed through a hole punched in his head. A pack of animals like a cross between giant spiders and jellyfish then descends upon the expedition, pursuing them back through the jungle. The sound of gunfire attracts reinforcements who help the sailors dispose of the animals, but the Doctor is puzzled by the predators’ unnatural behaviour; they kept pursuing the expedition long after the benefit of consuming them was outweighed by the energy expended to catch them.
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