A single blow from the giant, hairy paw smashes the
explorer to the ground. Terrified, he flees from the
monster’s glowing eyes and savage fangs... Why are the
peaceful Yeti now spreading death and destruction? And
what is the secret behind the glowing cave on the
mountain?
When DOCTOR WHO discovers that a long-dead friend is
still alive, he knows why his visit to the lonely Himalayan
monastery has led to a struggle to save the Earth!

ISBN 0 426 10583 4
            DOCTOR WHO
              AND THE
            ABOMINABLE
             SNOWMEN

   Based on the BBC television serial Doctor Who and the
Abominable Snowmen by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln
by arrangement with the British Broadcasting Corporation




             TERRANCE DICKS
                     Illustrated by
                      Alan Willow




                  A TARGET BOOK
                     published by
               The Paperback Division of
                W. H. Allen & Co. Ltd
A Target Book
Published in 1974
by the Paperback Division of W. H. Allen & Co. Ltd
A Howard & Wyndham Company
44 Hill Street, London W1X 8LB

Novelisation copyright © Terrance Dicks 1974
Original script copyright © Mervin Haisman and Henry
Lincoln 1967
Illustrations copyright © W. H. Allen & Co. Ltd 1974
‘Doctor Who’ series copyright © British Broadcasting
Corporation 1967, 1974

Reproduced, printed and bound in Great Britain by
The Anchor Press Ltd, Tiptree, Essex

ISBN 0 426 10583 4

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by
way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or
otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in
any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is
published and without a similar condition including this
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
CONTENTS

1 The Secret of the Snows
2 The Creature in the Cave
3 Live Bait to Catch a Monster
4 Jamie Traps a Yeti
5 The Secret of the Inner Sanctum
6 A Yeti Comes to Life
7 A Plan to Conquer Earth
8 Revolt in the Monastery
9 Attack of the Yeti
10 Peril on the Mountain
11 The Final Battle
12 The Abominable Snowman
                        1
             The Secret of the Snows
       High on the Himalayan mountainside the little camp
fire was burning low. Edward Travers shivered, and huddled
deeper inside his sleeping-bag. He was drifting in and out of
an uneasy slumber, fantasy and reality merging and blurring
in his mind. In his dream, he was at the Royal Geographical
Society, addressing a scornful and hostile audience.
       ‘Gentlemen, I assure you—the body of evidence that has
accumulated over the years is undeniable. The Abominable Snowman
does exist.’
       He heard again the hated voice of his old rival,
Professor Walters. ‘If you’re as sure as that, my dear Travers, I
suggest you go and look for the beast!’
       Once more Travers heard the scornful laughter that
followed. He heard his own voice. ‘Thank you for the suggestion,
sir. Perhaps I will.’
       Travers twisted and muttered in his sleep. Scene
followed scene in his mind, like a jerky, speeded-up old film:
the desperate struggle to raise money for his expedition; the
final, half-scornful agreement of a Fleet Street editor to back
him; the long journey to India; the endless days of overland
travel to reach the slopes of the Himalayas; still more days
spent climbing, always climbing, to reach this remote point.
And all for nothing.
       Soon they would have to turn back, the expedition a
failure. Back in London there would be polite sympathy,
concealing quiet amusement. Only Mackay would stand by
him, Mackay, his oldest and best friend, the only man who
had agreed to join his expedition. Yet now it seemed that
even Mackay had turned against him. Mackay was laughing at
him, screaming insults.
       Suddenly Travers jerked fully awake. He really could
hear Mackay’s voice. It was calling to him. Screaming for
help... Travers rubbed his eyes and looked across the circle of
light round the camp fire. Mackay’s sleeping-bag was empty.
There were tracks leading out into the darkness. Travers
fumbled for his rifle and struggled from his sleeping-bag.
Then he set off towards the sound of Mackay’s voice. He
scrambled over the edge of the little plateau, and down the
rocky slope.
       In the darkness ahead of him he could see two
struggling figures. One was Mackay. But the other... It was
enormous—a giant, shaggy form. Travers tried to call out, but
could only produce a sort of croak. Instantly the creature
flung Mackay to the ground. It whirled round to attack
Travers. He raised his rifle, but before he could fire it was
wrenched from his hands. Travers caught a brief glimpse of
glowing eyes and savage fangs. Then a blow from a giant,
hairy paw smashed him to the ground.
       Back at the little camp-site the fire was almost out. The
guttering of the flames threw a feeble light on the two empty
sleeping-bags. The shadow of a huge shuffling figure fell over
the site. Something was tossed contemptuously into the dying
fire. It was Mackay’s rifle. The barrel was bent almost double,
the stock shattered into match-wood. The giant shape moved
away and vanished into the night.

       Next morning, a little higher on that same Himalayan
peak, a wheezing, groaning sound shattered the peace and
stillness of the mountain air. An old blue police box appeared
from nowhere, transparent at first, but gradually becoming
solid. It perched on a snowy ledge, looking completely out of
place.
      Inside the police box was an ultra-modern control room,
with a centre console of complex instruments. There was
something very odd about this police box. Somehow it was
bigger on the inside than on the outside.
      There were three people in the control room. One was a
middle-aged, middle-sized man with a gentle, rather comical
face, and a shock of untidy black hair. He was wearing an old
black coat, and a pair of rather baggy check trousers.
Watching him were a brawny youth in highland dress,
complete with kilt, and a small, dark girl dressed in the style
of Earth’s Victorian age. Appropriately enough, since her
name was Victoria.
      She was the daughter of a Victorian antique dealer, who
had lost his life during a terrifying adventure with the Daleks.
Alone and friendless, Victoria had been taken under the
protection of a mysterious traveller in Space and Time known
only as the Doctor.
      Much the same thing had happened to Jamie, the Scots
lad, whose fate had become caught up with the Doctor’s
during the Jacobite rebellion. Now both young people,
wrenched from their own times, spent their lives travelling
through Time and Space with the Doctor in the strangely
disguised craft known as the TARDIS. (The Doctor had told
Victoria that the initials stood for Time and Relative
Dimensions in Space—which left her none the wiser.)
      Victoria sometimes wondered if her decision to join the
Doctor had been a wise one. He was very kind, in his vague,
erratic way, and she was very fond of him. But he did seem to
have a knack of wandering into the most appalling danger.
Victoria, like most girls of her time, had had a rather
sheltered upbringing. Her travels with the Doctor had
brought her a number of rather nerve-shattering experiences.
But despite her initial timidity, she was discovering
unexpected resources of courage inside herself,
      Jamie, on the other hand, was completely different. He
welcomed each new adventure with tremendous gusto. Jamie
was a fighter by nature. English Redcoat soldier or alien
monster, it was all the same to Jamie. He grabbed his trusty
claymore and charged.
      Victoria looked on indulgently as the Doctor peered into
the little scanner screen, almost hopping up and down with
excitement. As usual, she and Jamie had no idea where or when
they were—or for that matter, why. No doubt the Doctor
would get round to telling them in his own good time.
      ‘Marvellous,’ the Doctor was chortling. ‘Absolutely
marvellous! And after all this time!’ He adjusted the scanner
controls and the picture of snowy wastes changed to that of a
distinctively-shaped peak.
      Jamie looked over the Doctor’s shoulder. ‘I dinna see
what’s so marvellous about a lot of snowy mountains.’
      The doctor looked up in amazement. ‘But it’s the
Himalayas, Jamie! The Himalayas!’
      ‘The Hima—what?’ Geography wasn’t Jamie’s strong
point. Anywhere outside Scotland was unknown territory to
him.
      Victoria leaned forward. ‘The Himalayas. They’re a
range of mountains. On the border between India and Tibet,
I think.’
      The Doctor turned away from the scanner. ‘That’s right!
Tibet, that’s where we are. Tibet!’ The Doctor beamed at
Victoria, then said briskly, ‘Well, come on then, no time to
waste. Help me find the ghanta.’ He rushed across the
TARDIS, opened a wall-locker and dragged out an enormous
old chest, covered in antique carving. ‘Now I’m sure I put it
in here somewhere!’ The Doctor started ferreting inside the
chest, rather like a dog at a rabbit hole, throwing things over
his shoulder with gay abandon. Jamie and Victoria looked on
in amazement. After a moment, the Doctor’s head popped up
indignantly. ‘Come on, you two. Aren’t you going to help
me?’
       They came over to join him. ‘That’s all verra well,’ said
Jamie. ‘Can you no’ tell us what we’re looking for?’
       ‘I’ve already told you. The ghanta!’ The Doctor went on
burrowing.
       ‘Yes, but what’s a ghanta?’ Victoria asked gently.
       The Doctor was amazed. ‘You mean you don’t know?
It’s a Tibetan holy relic. A bell actually. Quite small. You see it
was given to me to look after when...’
       The Doctor broke off as he pulled an enormous fur coat
from the bottom of the chest. ‘Ah,’ he exclaimed delightedly,
‘now I’ll have that. Just the thing for this climate.’ The Doctor
began to struggle into the coat. It completely swamped him,
coming right down to his ankles. ‘Tell you what, I’ll just go
and have a scout around.’ Suddenly he couldn’t wait to be off.
       Jamie looked up from the chest. ‘What about this
precious ghanta?’
       The Doctor looked uneasy. ‘Ah. Well, I thought you and
Victoria might find it for me.’ He looked pleadingly at them,
like a small boy begging to be allowed to go out and play.
       Victoria smiled. ‘All right, Doctor, off you go. We’ll find
your bell for you. But what do you want it for? Why’s it so
important?’
      The Doctor paused at the door. ‘Because when we get
down there, it’ll guarantee us the welcome of a lifetime.’
      ‘Down where?’ called Victoria. But the Doctor was
already gone, the door of the TARDIS closing behind him.
      Jamie sighed. ‘When you’ve been with the Doctor as
long as I have, you’ll realise ye canna hope to know what he’s
talking about most of the time. Let’s find his bell, there’ll be
no peace till we do!’
      Jamie went on rummaging in the chest. Victoria
wandered over to the scanner and switched it on, hoping to
see where the Doctor was off to. Suddenly she jumped back
from the screen in terror. ‘Jamie, look!’
      Jamie came over to the scanner, and peered in
amazement at the huge, hairy form on the little screen. ‘It’s a
beastie,’ he muttered, ‘a huge hairy beastie!’
      Victoria felt a sudden stab of fear. ‘We must warn the
Doctor...’
      Jamie held up a restraining hand. ‘Just a wee moment.
Let’s have another look.’ He adjusted the scanner controls to
give a closer view of the shambling figure. Then he looked up,
grinning. ‘Ye needna worry about warning the Doctor. Yon
great hairy beastie is the Doctor!’

      And indeed the Doctor did look rather like a huge
animal as he plodded up the mountain path in his enormous
fur coat. He gazed around him with child-like pleasure.
      The surrounding peaks seemed to sparkle in the clear
frosty atmosphere. The Doctor took deep, satisfying breaths
of the fresh, sharp mountain air, puffing it out again like
steam. The path climbed sharply upwards, and soon the
Doctor was breathing hard. He reached the point he was
making for and leaned thankfully against a boulder. A hidden
valley lay far below him. And there nestling in the valley was
the Monastery. The Doctor sighed with quiet satisfaction. For
once the TARDIS, and his navigation, hadn’t let him down.
He’d come to exactly the right spot. Clumps of snow had built
up on the Doctor’s boots, making walking difficult. He began
kicking his boots against a boulder to clean them. Suddenly
he stopped, his eye caught by something at his feet. It was an
enormous footprint, many times the size of his own.
      The Doctor began to cast about the area, like a hunting
dog. There were other footprints, a line of them, leading to
the other side of the boulder. Cautiously, the Doctor followed
the tracks. On the other side of the boulder there were more
footprints, deeper ones. The snow was churned as though the
creature had stood for some time. There were other tracks
leading away down the mountainside.
      The Doctor stood, pondering. The story in the snow was
clear. Some enormous creature had climbed to this spot, and
stood there, looking down at the Monastery below. Then it
had moved away. Not long ago, either. The tracks leading
away from the boulder were still fairly fresh.
      The Doctor’s scientific curiosity was roused. Could it
be—he’d heard the stories, of course, on previous visits to
Earth—The Abominable Snowman? Known to the Tibetans as
the Yeti. A giant man-like creature that lived somewhere on
the remotest peaks, seen only in glimpses by terrified natives.
But surely the creature had never been heard of in this part
of Tibet? The Doctor was puzzled. For a moment he was
strongly tempted to follow the tracks still further.
      The Doctor had seen so many amazing creatures on so
many planets that he was prepared to believe in anything.
Then he checked himself. What would he do with the
creature if he found it? Come to that, what would it do with
him? There was the Monastery to be visited. And Jamie and
Victoria still waiting in the TARDIS. Congratulating himself
on his self-control, the Doctor turned and retraced his steps.
      Suddenly he stopped. Had there been a flash of
movement, higher up the mountain? There, behind the
clump of boulders? The Doctor peered, but could see
nothing. He continued on his way, back to the TARDIS.
      Behind those same boulders there was a stir of
movement. An enormous hairy hand appeared on the top of a
sheltering boulder. A giant, shaggy form pulled itself upright.
It stood looking down at the tiny figure of the Doctor,
plodding on his way far below.

      Jamie rose from the empty trunk in disgust. ‘He must
have put this ghanta thing somewhere else. It’s no’ in here!’
      Victoria looked round at the amazing collection of
objects spread over the TARDIS floor: clothes, weapons,
curios and carvings from a hundred different planets. There
was something of the magpie in the Doctor, she thought
despairingly. ‘Are you sure the trunk’s empty? Really empty?’
      ‘Och, see for yourself!’
      Victoria groped in the inner recesses of the enormous
trunk, practically disappearing inside. ‘I’m afraid you’re—wait
a minute!’ Her fingers touched a scrap of cloth wedged in a
corner. Stretching, she pulled a tiny bundle from the trunk.
‘Look, there’s a label on it. “Ghanta of Detsen Monastery.” ‘
Victoria unwrapped the bundle. Triumphantly, she held up
an ornately carved bronze bell.
      ‘Wouldn’t you know it’d be the verra last thing?’
groaned Jamie disgustedly. The TARDIS door opened and
the Doctor came in. He saw the little bell in Victoria’s hand.
      ‘Found it, have you? Splendid. Knew it wasn’t far away.’
Gently he took it from Victoria and slipped it in his pocket.
      ‘It took a wee bit of searching, ye ken,’ said Jamie dryly,
      The Doctor frowned abstractedly. ‘Yes, I’m sure it did...’
      Jamie looked at him. ‘You’ve seen something, haven’t
you? Out there?’
      The Doctor glanced quickly at Victoria. ‘Oh, nothing
really, Jamie. Probably nothing.’ He came to a decision. ‘I’ve
just got to pay a quick visit to the Monastery, and then we’ll be
on our way. Stay here in the TARDIS, will you, Jamie?’
      ‘Would it no’ be better if I came too?’
      The Doctor shook his head. Victoria looked from one to
the other. ‘Look, what’s happening? Is there something
dangerous out there?’
      The Doctor smiled. ‘Just a lot of snow! I’ll be as quick as
I can.’ The Doctor left the TARDIS, closing the door behind
him.
      Victoria turned to Jamie. ‘There is something the
matter, isn’t there?’
      Jamie nodded reluctantly. ‘Something’s worrying him,
right enough. But don’t go asking me what, for I dinna ken!’
      Victoria looked at the litter of objects on the floor.
‘Come on, Jamie. Let’s put this lot away.’

       The Doctor was slowly picking his way along the uneven
track that led down towards the Monastery. Every now and
again he would stop, looking around him uneasily. He kept
getting the feeling that something malevolent and hostile was
watching his every movement. Sometimes he thought he saw
a flicker of movement on the slopes above him. But always it
vanished before he could pin it down. Warily the Doctor
plodded on his way.
       He followed the path round the curve of the mountain,
and on to a little plateau. It formed a kind of natural camp-
site, and the Doctor saw that someone had indeed made camp
there. A few charred sticks marked the remains of a fire. Close
by were two empty sleeping-bags. Something glinted in the
cold ashes of the fire. The Doctor fished it out. It was the
barrel of a rifle, bent almost double. The charred, splintered
stock was burnt almost completely away. The Doctor
wondered what kind of strength could bend the steel of a rifle
barrel like plasticine.
       Footprints, human footprints, led over the edge of the
plateau. Peering over the edge, the Doctor saw a huddled
shape a little further down. He scrambled towards it.
       The body lay face down in the snow. Gently the doctor
turned it over. To his surprise he saw that the man was a
European. As he shifted the body, the head lolled over at a
strange angle. The man was dead, his neck broken by a single
savage blow.
                      2
           The Creature in the Cave
       The Doctor straightened up, and stood looking down at
the body. For a moment he considered going straight back to
the TARDIS. All around him he sensed the presence of some
alien evil. Then he remembered the ghanta.
       Slipping his hand in his pocket, the Doctor took out the
little Tibetan bell. He gazed at it for a moment, and sighed. A
promise was a promise. But as soon as he had returned the
ghanta to the Monastery, he would go back to the TARDIS
and whisk Jamie and Victoria off to a safer place and time.
Not far from the dead man, a rucksack lay in the snow. It held
maps, warm clothes, brandy, concentrated foods—the
provisions of an experienced explorer. Perhaps he would find
the owner at the Monastery—if he had survived the attack on
the camp.
       After a long and weary journey, the Doctor finally
reached the lower slopes of the mountain. The path sloped
sharply, leading him at last to the Det-sen Monastery. With a
sigh of relief, he looked up at the huge old building he
remembered so well. Protected by its high stone walls, the
Monastery huddled as if for shelter in the valley between two
mountains. It had been many years since his last visit, yet
nothing had changed. Or had it? In former days, the massive
bronze doors had always stood open, welcoming the entry of
pilgrims and travellers. The monks of Det-sen were peaceful,
hospitable men, always willing to provide shelter. But now the
gates were closed. An oppressive silence seemed to hang over
the Monastery.
       The Doctor took a deep breath. ‘Hello! Hello! Anyone
about?’ His voice echoed round the high forbidding walls. He
hammered on the doors, but his fists made almost no sound.
The Doctor put his shoulder to the heavy, bronze doors and
shoved—more as a kind of gesture than with any hope of
success. To his surprise, he felt them shift a little. Using all his
strength, he managed to push one of the doors ajar, creating
just enough of a gap to slip through. Once through the doors,
the Doctor gazed round him. The long rectangular courtyard
was unchanged. The stone flagstones were worn smooth by
the sandalled feet of generations of monks. Doorways and
cloisters led off into different parts of the rambling old
Monastery. But still this mysterious silence and emptiness.
The Det-sen Monastery had always buzzed like a beehive—the
chatter of pilgrims, the cries of pedlars in the courtyard, the
low humming of the temple bells, the endless drone of the
monks at their prayers. It had been a lively, bustling place.
Now it was as quiet as a tomb. The Doctor shivered. He
walked to the middle of the courtyard, his footsteps echoing
hollowly. ‘Hello! Where is everyone?’
       Suddenly there came a shattering clang. The Doctor
whirled round. The bronze doors had been pushed to, and
barred. A little group of men stood watching him. They wore
the simple robes of the Det-sen monks, but they carried bows
and swords. They ran forward and surrounded the Doctor,
weapons raised.
       Their leader, a tall man with a dark, hawk-like face,
towered over him.
       ‘Who are you? Why do you come here?’
       Quite unintimidated, the Doctor smiled up at him. ‘First
may I ask who you are? By what right do you question me?’
       ‘I am Khrisong, leader of the warrior monks.’ The tall
man indicated a younger monk who stood at his side. ‘This is
Thomni—my guard captain. Now—you will answer. Who are
you?’
       Gently the Doctor said, ‘You can call me the Doctor.’ He
looked at the group. ‘Warrior monks—that’s a contradiction
in terms, isn’t it? I thought the monks of Det-sen were men of
peace.’
       There was grim irony in Khrisong’s reply. ‘Most of them
still are. But these are dangerous times. If the men of peace
are to survive, they need men of war to protect them.’ His
tone hardened. ‘Now—you would do well to answer quickly.
Who are you? What is your business at the Monastery of Det-
sen?’
       Before the Doctor could answer a man ran out of the
cloisters and up to the little group. He flung himself on the
Doctor, wrenching the rucksack from his shoulders.
       ‘You murderous devil. We’ve got you now!’
       The Doctor looked curiously at his attacker. He was a
European, dressed in a ragged, travel-stained anorak. His
eyes were red-rimmed with exhaustion, and a stubble of beard
covered his chin. His manner was hysterical, like a man in the
grip of some over-mastering obsession. He glared angrily at
the Doctor.
       Khrisong turned to the newcomer. ‘Travers! Do you
know this man?’
       ‘No—but this rucksack’s mine all right. He must have
stolen it when he attacked my camp.’ Travers hugged the
rucksack protectively.
       ‘You told us that a beast attacked you,’ said Khrisong
sharply.
       ‘Well, that’s what I thought. I just saw a shape in the
darkness—felt the fur. But look at his coat! That’s what I felt.
It must have been him. How else did he get my rucksack?’
       The little group of armed men gathered menacingly
round the Doctor. ‘Why did you attack this man?’ snapped
Khrisong.
       The Doctor kept his voice low and calm. ‘I attacked no
one. I found this rucksack by a wrecked camp. There was a
dead man—’
       ‘Yes—and you killed him!’ shrieked Travers. Dropping
the rucksack, he hurled himself at the Doctor. Thomni and
another of the warrior monks held him back.
       Khrisong said, ‘We have heard enough. Seize him!’
       Before the Doctor could move, two brawny young
monks had grabbed his arms.
       ‘Look,’ said the Doctor mildly, ‘this is ridiculous. I’ve
killed no one. I brought the rucksack here to return it to its
owner. I came on a most important...’
       ‘Silence,’ interrupted Khrisong. ‘You have been accused
of a crime. There have been many other such crimes of late.
All strangers are suspect. If you are guilty, be sure you will be
punished. Take him away!’
       Lifting him almost off his feet, the two warrior monks
carried the protesting Doctor away. At a nod from Khrisong,
Thomni released Travers. He seized Khrisong’s arm, looking
up at the tall monk with a kind of crazy intentness. ‘He’s a
dangerous man, Khrisong. Watch him carefully!’
       Thomni, the young guard captain, said thoughtfully,
‘We do not know that this man is the killer...’
       ‘Of course we do,’ Travers interrupted. ‘I’ve just told
you so.’
       Thomni ignored him. ‘After all,’ he went on, ‘we still do
not know why he came here.’
       ‘That, too, we shall discover—in good time,’ said
Khrisong impassively.
       The two warrior monks half-carried, half-dragged the
Doctor along the endless stone corridors of the Monastery,
ignoring his spirited protests. ‘Do put me down, you chaps. I
can walk, you know. Anyway, I’ve got something important to
tell you...’
       The monks came to a halt before a massive wooden
door, studded with iron. They opened it, thrust the Doctor
inside, slammed the door and bolted it. Then they turned and
marched away.
       The Doctor looked around him. He was in a bare stone
cell, with a little window high up in the wall. There was a
wooden stool, and a wooden bed with straw mattress along
one wall. The Doctor sank down on the bed and sighed. He
remembered his own words, back in the TARDIS. ‘The
welcome of a lifetime!’ said the Doctor ruefully.

      Jamie and Victoria sat looking at each other blankly.
The contents of the massive chest had been tidied away long
ago. Now they were just sitting waiting—and waiting. Jamie
gave a massive yawn.
      ‘I’m getting very bored,’ Victoria said. ‘Couldn’t we take
a look outside?’
      Jamie shook his head. ‘The Doctor said to wait here.’
      ‘I’ll go by myself.’ Victoria stood up decisively. Jamie
sighed. It was in the nature of females to be contrary. ‘Och, all
right. Just a wee look round. We’d better wrap up warm.’
      Victoria gave him a happy smile, and rushed to the
TARDIS’ clothing locker, which held garments in every
imaginable size to suit every possible climate. Soon the two of
them were kitted out like polar explorers in warm, fur-lined
anoraks, with fur gloves and fur-lined boots.
       Victoria rushed to the door. ‘Come on, Jamie!’
       ‘Just a wee moment.’ Jamie went back to the big chest,
and rummaged inside. He fished out a huge curved sword—a
kind of Turkish scimitar.
       ‘What on earth do you want that for?’
       ‘Aye, well, ye never know what ye’ll run in to.’ Grasping
the sword firmly, Jamie ushered Victoria outside. If there was
something dangerous out there, he was ready for it.
       Standing on the little ledge, Victoria looked entranced
at the panorama of mountain scenery spread out before them.
‘Look how clear everything is, Jamie. Even the furthest peaks
seem close enough to touch. Aren’t the Himalayas beautiful?’
       ‘Aye, well, they’re no’ so bad.’ As far as Jamie was
concerned there were bigger and better mountains at home in
Scotland.
       ‘Let’s climb a little higher, Jamie. Maybe we’ll see the
Doctor coming back.’
       They scrambled up the mountain track, which became
steeper and narrower. Suddenly Victoria stopped. ‘Jamie,
look!’ She pointed downwards. Just to one side of the path
was an area of churned-up snow. Leading away from it was a
set of enormous footprints. They stooped to examine them.
       Jamie whistled. ‘Will you look at the size of that? Some-
thing’s been prowling round here, right enough. A bear,
mebbe.’
       Suddenly Victoria gave a little gasp of excitement.
‘Jamie! Perhaps it’s the Yeti—the Abominable Snowman!’
       ‘The abominable what?’
       ‘There have been stories and legends about them in the
Himalayas for ages. Huge furry creatures. Something between
a bear, an ape and a man. Let’s track it, Jamie!’
       ‘We will not! Look at those footprints. Ye can see how
big the beastie must be.’
       Victoria jumped up and down in excitement. ‘You don’t
understand, Jamie. People have been trying to find the
Abominable Snowman for ages. Scientific expeditions and
everything. No one’s succeeded. It’d be marvellous if we
found it.’
       ‘That’s all verra well. Suppose it finds us first?’
       ‘There’s nothing to worry about, Jamie. All the reports
say it’s a timid creature. It’ll run as soon as it sees us.’ Jamie
still looked dubious. Cunningly, Victoria continued, ‘Of
course, if you’re afraid...’
       Jamie was outraged. ‘Me? Afraid? I’ll have you know,
my girl, we Highlanders fear nothing. Come on!’ Brandishing
his sword, Jamie set off. Victoria smiled to herself, and
followed him.
       The trail of huge footprints led them higher and higher
up the mountain slope. They scrambled over boulders and
across icy patches. The creature they were following was
obviously strong and agile, able to move over the roughest
ground. Eventually, the tracks led them straight into the side
of the mountain. They found themselves at the entrance to a
small cave. ‘Well, there you are then,’ said Jamie. ‘That’s
where the beastie lives.’
       Victoria peered curiously into the darkness of the cave
mouth. Just to the right of it stood a huge boulder, just a little
larger than the cave mouth itself. ‘It looks almost like a door,’
said Victoria. ‘Couldn’t we just have a quick look inside the
cave?’
      ‘And mebbe wake the beastie up? We’ll do no such
thing. Come on, my girl, it’s back to the TARDIS for us.’
Obediently Victoria started back down the mountainside. On
second thoughts, she was rather pleased not to be going inside
that dark cave. There was something rather spooky about it.
Suddenly she realised that Jamie wasn’t following her. He had
moved closer to the cave entrance, and was looking inside.
      ‘Hey, Victoria, look at this. Just inside the cave. Wooden
beams!’
      Victoria came to join him. Intrigued, Jamie went up to
the cave entrance. ‘Aye, it’s beams, right enough. Kind of
supports. Mebbe this thing we’re following is no’ a beastie
after all.’ and before Victoria could stop him, Jamie plunged
into the darkness of the cave.
      ‘Come back, Jamie,’ she called. ‘You said we should go
back to the TARDIS.’
      Jamie’s voice came from within the cave, booming
hollowly. ‘That was when I thought we were tracking a wild
animal. I’m no’ afraid of a man.’
      Victoria decided that she was more frightened of being
left outside than of going in. She followed Jamie into the cave.
Actually it turned out to be more of a tunnel leading into the
heart of the mountain. Just inside the entrance the walls were
supported by what looked like pit-props. They could see
other props further down the tunnel. Jamie examined the
nearest beam curiously. ‘Now what kind of a beastie builds a
thing like this?’
      There came a grinding noise from the cave entrance. A
huge shadow fell across the light, blocking it out completely.
Suddenly they were in darkness. Victoria clutched Jamie’s
arm in fear. ‘What is it? What’s happened?’
      It took Jamie a moment to work things out. Then he
realised. ‘You remember yon big rock by the entrance... the
one you said looked like a door?’ Victoria nodded. ‘Well,’ said
Jamie grimly, ‘someone’s just shut that door!’
      Outside the cave, two huge hairy paws finished jamming
the boulder into place. Then a massive shaggy form turned
and lumbered away down the mountainside.

       By dragging the wooden bed under the window, putting
the wooden stool on the bed, and climbing on top of the stool,
the Doctor was just able to peer out of the high barred
window of his cell. He looked down on the courtyard far
below. He grasped the bars and shook then but they were set
firmly in the stone-framed window.
       There was a rattle from behind the Doctor, and a barred
grille in his cell door slid open. He turned and saw the face of
Travers peering through at him.
       ‘It’s a forty-foot drop down there, you know,’ said
Travers. ‘There’s no way out.’
       The Doctor clambered down from his perch. ‘I didn’t
really think there would be.’ He smiled placidly at Travers,
who glared back at him, and asked fiercely, ‘How did you
track me down?’
       ‘My dear chap, I don’t even know who you are.’
       There was a sharp note of hysteria in Travers’ reply.
‘Don’t you play the innocent with me. You all laughed at me,
didn’t you? “Travers, the mad anthropologist!” And now that
I’m close to success, you want to steal my glory. Just as I’ve
found them at last.’
       ‘Found what?’
       ‘You know what I’m talking about. They’re here, on this
mountain. The Yeti—the Abominable Snowmen.’
      The Doctor nodded. ‘Yes, I rather thought they might
be. But don’t you see, my dear fellow, that makes nonsense of
your accusing me. Obviously, a Yeti attacked your camp.’
      ‘Nonsense! The Yeti are timid, harmless creatures.
Everyone knows that.’
      The Doctor tried another tack. ‘Whoever—whatever —
attacked your camp and killed your poor friend must have
had enormous strength. Isn’t that so?’
      Reluctantly, Travers nodded. The Doctor rose to his
modest height and spread out his hands. ‘Well, could I have
done it? Could I? Just look at me!’ The Doctor could almost
see the self-evident truth of this statement fighting to get
through to Travers’ brain. All at once, a look of childish
cunning came over Travers’ face. ‘Not going to discuss it any
longer. I’ve got work to do. And as for you, while you’re safely
locked up here, you won’t be able to steal my credit.’ Abruptly
Travers’ face disappeared and the grille slammed shut. The
Doctor sighed, stretched out on the hard, lumpy mattress,
and prepared for a little doze.

      At that very moment, the Doctor was the subject of fierce
discussion. In the nearby Great Hall, Khrisong and Thomni
were confronting a group of older men in saffron-coloured
robes. These were lamas, the priests of Det-sen Monastery,
whose lives were spent in peaceful meditation and prayer.
Despite their gentle and unwordly manner they had a sort of
spiritual strength, a kind of gentle obstinacy, that never failed
to infuriate Khrisong. He leaned forward urgently in an
attempt to carry his point.
      ‘We have the word of the Englishman, Travers. Why
should he lie?’
       Sapan, oldest and wisest of the lamas said gently, ‘The
man Travers has had a most terrible experience. His mind has
been affected. The man is consumed with fear and ambition.
He has strayed far from the way of truth!’
       Khrisong’s voice was fierce. ‘The death of Travers’
companion is the latest of many deaths. You know how many
of our brethren have been killed. We live in terror. The Abbot
has sent away most of the brethren to other monasteries for
their own safety. The pilgrims, the travellers, the merchants
come no more to Det-sen. Only a handful of us remain. My
warriors, who fear nothing —and you...’ Khrisong broke off
in confusion.
       Rinchen, another old monk, smiled gently. ‘We who are
so old and feeble and useless that death holds no terrors.’
       Khrisong said gruffly, ‘I mean no disrespect, holy one.
You know that all I have said is true.’
       ‘Indeed it is, my son. But we agreed, did we not, that
the Yeti were the cause of all our troubles?’
       ‘True, Rinchcn. And we wondered why. They were so
rarely seen, so timid. Suddenly they became savage. Now here
is this stranger, and Travers accuses him. I ask you again, let
me put this man to the proof.’
       Sapan shook his head. ‘You ask us to condemn a man to
almost certain death.’
       ‘I am chief warrior. It is my duty to protect you.’
       ‘Not by taking a man’s life,’ said Sapan firmly. ‘You
cannot use a human as live bait.’
       Khrisong leaped to his feet. ‘If it is necessary—yes, I
demand that you...’
       Sapan spoke quietly as always, but there was an
authority in his voice that made Khrisong fall silent. ‘No,
Khrisong. The price is too high.’ There was a murmur of
assent from the other lamas, which was interrupted by the
boom of a temple gong.
      ‘Come, my brothers,’ said Sapan placidly. ‘It is time for
prayer.’ He turned to Khrisong. ‘After our meditatations, I
shall consult with the Abbot.’ The little group of lamas filed
from the room. Once they were gone, Khrisong exploded
with rage.
      ‘This is madness. Must more of our brothers die before
we act?’
      Thomni looked at him in astonishment. ‘But the holy
ones have decided. There is no other way.’
      ‘There is for me,’ said Khrisong. ‘Let them meditate. Let
them consult. I, Khrisong will act. Bring me the prisoner!’

       Panting with exhaustion, Jamie abandoned his attempt
to shift the boulder that blocked their exit. ‘Och, it’s no use. I
canna shift it at all.’ Victoria shivered beside him in the
darkness, wishing desperately that they’d never left the
TARDIS.
       ‘Jamie, what are we going to do now?’
       Jamie considered. What was it that the Doctor was
always on about? The exercise of logical thought. ‘Well, since
we canna go back, and we dinna want to stay here —we’ll just
have to go forward, or rather I will. There’s mebbe another
exit.’
       ‘But there might be more of those things in there.’
       ‘Aye, there might. That’s why I want you to wait here.
Just yell if you need me.’
       ‘Don’t worry,’ said Victoria. ‘I’ll yell all right.’
       Jamie gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder.
Gripping his sword tightly, he set off down the dark tunnel.
       For quite a while he had to feel his way along the walls.
Then, to his astonishment, he saw a gleam of light ahead of
him. Not daylight, though. More a kind of eerie glow.
Summoning up all his courage, he moved towards it. As the
glow grew brighter he saw that it came from the entrance to
some kind of chamber leading off the tunnel. Jamie moved to
the entrance, and then stepped inside, looking round in
wonder.
       He was in a completely circular cave with smooth stone
walls. In the centre of the cave stood the source of the light—a
little pile of silver spheres, arranged as a pyramid. Each of the
spheres was glowing gently, and their combined radiance lit
up the cave. Wonderingly, Jamie approached the spheres. He
was just reaching out to touch one when a sudden scream
echoed down the tunnel.
       ‘Jamie! Jamie, come back!’ He turned and ran down the
tunnel towards the sound of Victoria’s voice.
       As he dashed up to her he saw that a rim of light was
appearing around the edge of the boulder. He could hear the
noise of rock grinding on rock. ‘It’s coming back,’ whispered
Victoria fearfully. ‘It’s taking away the boulder.’
       ‘Aye, that it is,’ said Jamie. ‘You flatten yourself against
the wall. It’ll likely go past without seeing you.’
       ‘But what about you?’
       Jamie hefted his sword. ‘I’ll give yon beastie a welcome it
doesna expect.’
 In the centre of the cave stood the source of the light—a little pile of
                silver spheres, arranged as a pyramid.

      Jamie backed away as the boulder was swung completely
clear. Light flooded into the tunnel, silhouetting the
enormous shaggy figure in the cave mouth. With a blood-
curdling roar, claws outstretched, it bore down on Jamie.
Gripping his sword in both hands, the Highlander brought it
round in a savage slashing cut that should have struck the
beast’s head from its shoulders. But to Jamie’s amazement the
sword simply bounced off, as though the creature was made
of steel. The Yeti lunged forward, wrenched the sword from
Jamie’s grasp, and snapped it in two like a matchstick.
Remorseless, the Yeti lumbered forward, clawed hands
outstretched to grasp him...
                       3
         Live Bait to Catch a Monster
      Jamie backed away before the advancing Yeti. ‘Stay
back, Victoria!’ he yelled. ‘I canna stop it!’ Terrified of being
separated from Jamie, Victoria edged along the wall of the
tunnel. She was actually following behind the Yeti, which
didn’t seem to have noticed her. Jamie retreated along the
tunnel as far as the inner cave. Trying to run backwards, he
crashed full into one of the pit-props supporting the tunnel. A
trickle of rubble fell from the tunnel roof. The Yeti suddenly
stopped, as if alarmed by the falling rock.
      Jamie flung his arms round the base of the loose beam
and pulled with all his might. It shifted! There was a steady
rumble as more rubble trickled down. Victoria shrieked, ‘No,
Jamie, don’t! We’ll be buried alive.’ But Jamie ignored her.
With a final mighty heave he wrenched the supporting beam
free. A cascade of rock began pouring down from the roof.
‘Back, Victoria, back!’ yelled Jamie.
      With Victoria on one side, and Jamie on the other, the
great pile of falling rock landed neatly on the Yeti between
them, burying the creature completely, except for one paw,
which stuck out from under the pile.
      Dust filled the tunnel as the rock stopped falling at last.
Coughing and spluttering, Jamie called, ‘Victoria! Where are
you? Are you all right?’ To his vast relief he heard the sound
of more coughing. Dimly he saw Victoria’s dust-covered form
clambering over the rocks towards him. He grabbed her arm
and led her into the little inner chamber. Victoria dusted
herself down in an attempt to recover her composure.
       ‘That horrible creature,’ she gasped. ‘What was it?’
       ‘I dinna ken, lassie. But it was verra strong. Did you see
what it did to my sword?’ said Jamie indignantly.
       Looking round the cave Victoria saw the pyramid of
spheres. ‘What are those things?’
       Jamie picked one up, and hefted it in his hand. ‘Feels
like some kind of metal...’
       Victoria suddenly shivered. ‘Jamie, let’s get out of here.’
       Jamie nodded. ‘We’re lucky that rock-fall didna block
the whole tunnel!’
       Slipping the sphere into his pocket, Jamie grabbed
Victoria’s hand and pulled her out of the cave, back towards
the pile of rock. For a moment she hung back, afraid to go too
near the buried Yeti.
       ‘Dinna be afraid,’ said Jamie reassuringly. ‘The thing’s
dead right enough! Nothing could survive a ton of rock on its
head.’
       Victoria clambered over the pile of rocks, keeping as far
away as she could from the projecting hand. Suddenly she
screamed and clutched at Jamie. ‘Look!’
       The Yeti’s hand was clenching and unclenching slowly,
as if making an attempt to grab her. Before their horrified
gaze, the hand, and part of the arm, began to wriggle out of
the pile of rocks. The creature was alive, and struggling to
free itself.
       ‘Come on!’ said Jamie grimly. He almost dragged
Victoria over the rocks, down the tunnel and out into the
open air.
       Victoria looked round in amazement. ‘It’s starting to get
dark. We were in there for ages.’
       For a moment the two of them stood gasping, drawing
the sharp, fresh air into their lungs. From inside the cave
came a rumble of rock, and then the savage roar of the Yeti.
‘Come on,’ said Jamie. ‘It’ll be after us any minute.’
     They began running down the mountain slope, towards
the TARDIS.

      Thomni the guard captain was a worried young man as
he went along the corridor towards the Doctor’s cell. He
could sympathise with Khrisong’s impatience. The lamas
didn’t realise that not every problem could be solved by
prayer and meditation. But even so, to disobey the will of the
holy ones in the way that Khrisong was planning...
      Thomni unbolted the door of the cell, and threw it
open. The stranger was sleeping peacefully on the bed.
Thomni looked down at him. The face was gentle and relaxed
with something of the serenity of the holy ones themselves
about it. Thomni jumped, as the man on the bed spoke
without opening his eyes. ‘Have you come to release me?’
      Thomni felt strangely at a disadvantage. ‘Er, no... sir.’
      The Doctor sat up on the bed and beamed at him. ‘It’s
Thomni, isn’t it? Captain of the Guard? By the way, I’m
usually called “The Doctor”.’
      Somehow the name was familiar to Thomni. ‘You must
come with me, Doctor,’ he said.
      ‘Let’s have a little chat first, shall we?’
      ‘Khrisong is waiting...’
      ‘What’s come over this place?’ asked the Doctor
plaintively. ‘No one wants to listen to me. You seem a
reasonable sort of lad. What’s going on, eh? Why is everything
so military? You’d think there was a war on.’
      ‘So there is—and we are besieged. The Yeti have turned
on us. At least, that is what we thought until...’ Thomni
stopped, confused.
       ‘Until I turned up. And friend Khrisong decided, on
very slender evidence, that it’s all my fault. You know, the last
time I visited Det-sen, there was trouble. Something about a
threatened attack by Chinese bandits.’
       Thomni stared at him in amazement. ‘You must be
mistaken. That attack was many hundreds of years ago... It
was then that the holy ghanta was lost.’
       The Doctor smiled. ‘Indeed? What happened to it?’
       ‘It is hard to be sure. Some say that it was stolen by the
bandits when they attacked. But there is a legend that it was
given to a mysterious stranger for safe-keeping. One known
only as—’
       ‘As the Doctor?’ interrupted the man on the bed.
       Thomni nodded, surprised. ‘I see you have studied our
history. The legend tells us that the stranger swore to return
it. Yet he warned that this might not happen for many
hundreds of years...’ Thomni stopped, puzzled. ‘You said you
were called the Doctor!’
       The cell burst open and Khrisong entered, armed
monks at his back. ‘Why this delay? Seize him and take him to
the gate!’
       The monks grabbed the Doctor and pulled him to his
feet. As he was bustled out of the cell, he stumbled against
Thomni. To his astonishment, Thomni heard the Doctor
whisper, ‘Under straw, in the mattress—tell Abbot...’ Before
he could say more, the Doctor was dragged away, down the
corridor.
       Thomni stood puzzled. He went to the bed and
examined the straw mattress. Just where the Doctor had been
sitting, a little hole had been picked. Thomni felt inside. His
fingers touched a little cloth-wrapped bundle. He pulled it
out, and unwrapped it. There in his hand was the holy ghanta
of Det-sen. The ghanta which had been lost for over three
hundred years.

       Hand in hand, Jamie and Victoria pelted down the
mountainside. Every now and again, Victoria managed a
quick glance over her shoulder, but the creature from the
cave didn’t seem to be following them. All the same, she
sighed with relief when at last they came in sight of the
TARDIS. Soon they would be safe.
       But as they ran towards the TARDIS, a huge shaggy
shape could be seen in the gloom. Jamie and Victoria skidded
to a halt. ‘It’s here before us,’ gasped Victoria. ‘But how can it
be—we’d have seen it.’
       ‘Then it canna be the same beastie,’ said Jamie. ‘There’s
more than one of them!’
       Jamie studied the creature cautiously, fascinated by his
first clear look at a Yeti. It was massive, about seven or eight
feet tall, Jamie guessed, and covered in shaggy, brown fur.
The powerful body was immensely broad, so that the thing
seemed somehow squat and lumpy, in spite of its great height.
       The huge hairy hands, and the black snout, were gorilla-
like. The little red eyes, and the yellow fangs were like those
of a bear. He remembered Victoria’s description —something
between a bear, an ape and a man. All in all, thought Jamie, it
was the biggest, nastiest, hairiest bcastie he had ever seen.
       Victoria tugged urgently at his arm. ‘Jamie, what are we
going to do?’ Jamie looked again at the Yeti. It was making no
attempt to attack them, though they were now quite close. It
stood like a kind of weird sentry, quite motionless, waiting.
       Janie rubbed his chin. ‘Well, we canna get back into the
TARDIS, yon beastie’s blocking the way. We’ll just have to go
on—down to this Monastery place. Maybe we can find the
Doctor and warn him what’s going on.’
     Now too exhausted to run, Jamie and Victoria stumbled
down the mountainside towards the Monastery.

      In the Monastery courtyard, dusk was falling. The
Doctor, guarded by armed warrior monks, stood shivering
inside his fur coat. He was the subject of a heated argument
between the old lama, Sapan, and a very angry Khrisong.
      ‘Do not interfere, holy one,’ said the warrior monk
furiously.
      Sapan’s voice was gentle as always. ‘Did we not agree,
Khrisong, that we would consult the Abbot Songtsen, before
taking further action in this matter?’
      ‘No, holy one, we did not agree!’ Khrisong said bitterly.
‘You decided, as always. But I tell you, I cannot always wait to
consult the Abbot before I act.’
      ‘Be reasonable, Khrisong...’
      The Doctor stopped listening as the argument raged on.
He thought wryly that no one wanted to know what he
thought, even though his fate was under discussion. Not that
he was worried. Once that boy got the sacred ghanta to the
Abbot, Songtsen would put a stop to whatever nonsense
Khrisong was planning. Something about a test, as far as the
Doctor could make out.
      A curiously furtive movement caught the corner of the
Doctor’s eye. He turned and saw Travers about to slip out of
the main door. He was fully kitted-out for travel, a loaded
rucksack on his back.
      ‘Travers!’ the Doctor called. ‘Don’t you think all this has
gone far enough?’ He indicated the arguing monks, the
armed guards at his elbow. ‘For Heaven’s sake, tell them you
were mistaken.’
        Travers shook his head. ‘Sorry, nothing I can do.’
        ‘What do you expect to gain by all this?’
        ‘Time,’ said Travers fiercely. ‘Time to find the Yeti, even
though I’m on my own. You won’t get another chance to get
in my way. Your little expedition stops right here.’
        The Doctor was indignant. ‘I am not an expedition, and
I’m not interested in your precious Yeti. But you’ve put me in
a very nasty position. These chaps are liable to do something
silly.’
        Travers laughed. ‘Don’t worry, the monks won’t harm
you. They’re men of peace.’ Settling his rucksack on his
shoulders, Travers turned away, and slipped through the
main door, disappearing into the evening shadows.
        The Doctor turned back to the arguing monks, just in
time to hear Khrisong say, ‘I tell you the stranger is a killer.
We have Travers’ word for that. I believe this man may have
found some way to control the Yeti, and make them savage. I
shall tie him to the main doors. If the Yeti come to rescue
him, my warriors will be waiting...’
        ‘You cannot use a human being as live bait,’ Sapan
protested.
        Overriding the old lama, Khrisong turned to the
Doctor’s guards. ‘Take him outside, and tie him to the door.’

      Cupping the ghanta in reverent hands, Thomni crept
timidly into the ante-chamber of the Abbot Songtsen. He
looked around him in fear and wonder. He had never dared
enter this part of the Monastery before. The room was dimly
lit by the prayer lamps. There were no windows. All around
were ornate carvings, statues and hangings. Many of the
treasures of Det-sen Monastery were here, sacred objects of
immense value, treasured and worshipped through the ages.
But none were so valuable, or so holy, as the little bronze bell,
the ghanta, that Thomni held.
       Thomni froze like a statue as the door of the Inner
Sanctum creaked open, apparently by itself. This was the most
sacred place of all, the very heart of the Monastery. The Abbot
Songtsen emerged. Terrified, Thomni prostrated himself.
The Abbot backed away from the Sanctum doors, which
closed behind him. He turned and crossed the Anteroom, his
wise, wrinkled old face still and trance-like. He seemed not
even to notice Thomni, and would have walked right past
him. Thomni managed to produce a terrified whisper,
‘Master Abbot!’ Songtsen stopped, consciousness slowly
returning to his face. ‘Master Abbot!’ Thomni whispered
again.
       A look of horror came over the old man’s face as he saw
the boy crouching at his feet. ‘Thomni—you know well that
only I may enter this sacred place.’
       Silently, Thomni held out his hands, the ghanta cupped
in their palms. The Abbot leaned forward and peered at the
little bell. ‘What is this? Where did you get it?’
       Thomni’s voice was low and reverent. ‘Master Abbot, is
this not the sacred ghanta which was lost?’
       Suddenly another voice spoke. It came from nowhere,
and yet from everywhere in the room. It was old and wise, yet
strong and vigorous too. The voice said, ‘It is indeed the holy
ghanta, my son. Lost to us for three hundred years. How
came you by it?’
       Terrified, Thomni looked round for the source of the
voice. But, apart from himself and the Abbot, the Anteroom
was empty. Yet the power of the speaker’s personality filled
the entire room. Too frightened to speak, Thomni looked to
the Abbot, who said gently, ‘It is the Master, Padmasambvha.
Do not be afraid.’
      The voice spoke again. ‘Bring the ghanta to me—both of
you.’ The Abbot bowed his head in assent, and indicated that
Thomni should follow him. Thomni scrambled to his feet, and
followed the Abbot through the door to the Inner Sanctum.
The doors opened silently as they approached.

       The handles of the great doors of Det-sen Monastery
were in the form of huge, bronze rings. To one of these rings,
the Doctor was being firmly lashed with leather thongs.
Khrisong gave a final check to the knots, and nodded in
satisfaction. He turned to the little group of warriors around
him. ‘Place yourself at the windows, on the walls, and in cover
behind the doors. Be ready with your bows.’ As the warrior
monks went off to take their places Khrisong looked grimly at
the Doctor. ‘If your servants attempt to rescue you, we shall
slay them!’
       The Doctor sighed wearily. ‘This is all very pointless,
you know. I assure you, no one’s going to rescue me —least of
all an Abominable Snowman.’ Khrisong turned to go back
inside the Monastery. ‘And there’s something else,’ yelled the
Doctor. ‘Does it occur to you that whatever has been killing
your monks might also kill me?’
       Khrisong said ironically, ‘If the Yeti attack you, that will
be proof of your innocence. Then, of course, we shall rescue
you—if we can.’ He turned and went back inside the
Monastery.
       The Doctor sighed wearily. ‘This is all very point—’ and
then gave up. It was almost dark now, and gloomy shadows
covered the mountain path and the area before the Monastery
doors. Everything looked odd and sinister in the half-light.
The Doctor wondered what was happening to Thomni.
Perhaps he hadn’t even found the ghanta. And what about
Jamie and Victoria? They must be getting pretty bored by
now...

      Jamie and Victoria were far too frightened to be bored.
It was no easy task, picking their way down to the Monastery
in the fast-gathering gloom. Several times they had wandered
off the snow-covered path, finding their way back only with
difficulty. As the gloom thickened and the shadows grew
darker and longer, every rock and boulder seemed a Yeti
waiting to pounce.
      Victoria clasped Jamie’s hand tighter and wailed, ‘Oh,
Jamie, I’m sure we’re lost again.’
      Jamie did his best to sound confident. ‘I tell you we
canna be lost. The path leads down the mountain, and the
Monastery’s at the bottom. All we’ve got to do is keep going.’
      But Victoria wasn’t listening. She stopped and
whispered, ‘There’s something moving. Ahead of us, down
there.’
      Jamic sighed. ‘Ever since we set off, you’ve been seeing
things...’
      ‘I’m not imagining it this time. Listen!’
      Jamie peered through the gloom, straining his ears.
Sure enough, there was something... a sound of shuffling feet,
and heavy breathing. Jamie looked round for a weapon. He
grabbed a football-sized rock from the side of the path, and
stood poised and ready. A shadowy figure loomed up out of
the darkness, huge and threatening. Victoria gave a little
scream and Jamie was just about to let fly, when the figure
spoke. ‘Hey, you two! What are you doing here?’
       Jamie dropped the rock with a sigh of relief. The figure
came nearer and was revealed as a man wearing a rucksack.
But Jamie was still cautious. ‘I might ask you the same,’ he
said stoutly.
       ‘My name’s Travers. I’m a sort of explorer.’
       ‘We’re on our way to the Monastery,’ said Victoria.
       ‘Are you now? You wouldn’t be anything to do with a
feller calls himself the Doctor, would you?’
       ‘Aye, that we would,’ said Jamie. ‘Have you seen him? Is
he all right?’
       The man laughed. ‘Oh yes, I met him at the Monastery.
He’s perfectly all right.’
       ‘Come on, Jamie, we’d better go and find him,’ said
Victoria.
       ‘Yes, why don’t you do that,’ said the man. ‘I expect the
monks will give you quite a welcome.’ He nodded and set off
up the path.
       Jamie hesitated. He hadn’t taken to the man at all. His
eyes were bright and feverish, and there was something odd
about his manner. All the same, it was only fair to warn him.
       Jamie called after the retreating figure. ‘I’d watch your
step, Mister, if I were you. There’s some kind of great hairy
beasties prowling about. They live in a cave higher up the
mountains.’
       The man turned and ran back towards them. ‘You’ve
seen the Yeti? You’ve actually found their lair?’ He grabbed
Jamie’s arm and tried to pull him off by force. ‘You’ve got to
take me there. Now, right away.’
       Jamie pulled his arm away firmly. ‘I will not. I’ve seen
enough of those things to last a lifetime.’
       ‘But I’ve got to find them. I’ve got to.’ Travers was
almost babbling with excitement.
      Jamie was unmoved. ‘Ye canna go up there now, man.
It’s nearly dark. I couldna find the place myself.’
      ‘Will you take me there tomorrow?’
      ‘Aye, mebbe. But on one condition.’
      Travers glared at him suspiciously. ‘What’s that, then?’
      ‘You say you’ve come from the Monastery?’ Travers
nodded.
      ‘Then you can just guide us back there—now. That’s if
you want my help tomorrow.’
      Travers hesitated, obviously still wanting to get after the
Yeti right away. But it was nearly dark. And if this boy had
found their lair...
      ‘All right, then. Come on.’ Travers turned and set off
back down the path.
      Jamie took Victoria’s arm and gave her a reassuring
grin. They both hurried off after their guide. Travers waited
for Jamie to catch up and said, ‘Tell me exactly where you
found this cave...’

      The Inner Sanctum was even darker and more
mysterious than the Anteroom. In its centre was a raised dais,
upon which was set a kind of ornate golden chair, like a
throne. There were thin veils arranged in a canopy, a
transparent tent obscuring the throne and the figure upon it.
A giant golden statue of the Lord Buddha stood against the
far wall.
      Thomni and his Abbot stood before the throne. Both
had the blank expressionless faces of men under deep
hypnosis. Padmasambvha spoke. Even though he was now
seated before them, his voice still seemed to come from
everywhere and nowhere, filling the room. ‘We are grateful
for the return of our holy ghanta. The Doctor is our friend.
Thomni, you will go to Khrisong. Tell him that the Abbot
orders the Doctor’s release.’
      Thomni bowed. Still in the same trance-like state, he
turned to leave. The voice spoke again. ‘Remember, these
words were spoken by the Abbot. You have never seen me or
heard my voice. You have never entered this room.’
      Thomni bowed again and left. He did not even notice
when the doors of the Sanctum opened and closed behind
him of their own accord.
      In the Anteroom, Thomni seemed to wake up with a
jerk. He gazed around him wildly. Then he remembered. He
had been given a most important errand, by the Abbot
Songtsen himself... Thomni ran from the room.
      In the Sanctum, the voice of Padmasambvha was saying,
‘We must make certain, Songtsen, that the Doctor learns
nothing of what is happening here. He may not be in
sympathy with the power that now guides us. He might even
seek to hinder the Great Plan. It would be well if he were to
depart as soon as possible.’
 Padmasambvha spoke... His voice seemed to come from everywhere
                        and nowhere.


      The Doctor was starting to feel cold and cramped as he
hung in his bonds from the ring on the Monastery door.
Khrisong and his warriors were cold and cramped too,
waiting high on the walls. But they stood guard bravely,
spears and bows ready to hand, Suddenly one of them turned
excitedly to Khrisong. ‘There—coming down the path. Three
of them.’
       Khrisong looked. ‘Yes, I see them. Your eyes are keen,
Rapalchan! Make ready, all of you!’ Khrisong’s archers fitted
arrows to their bows. Others balanced spears, ready to hurl.
       Nearby, on the mountain path, Jamie and Victoria had
just seen the lights of the Monastery.
       ‘There it is, Jamie. Look—there’s the Doctor waiting for
us by the door.’ In her excitement, Victoria began to run
ahead. Jamie ran to catch up with her. Travers, behind them,
broke into a trot.
       On the Monastery walls, Khrisong and his warriors
waited, bows drawn and ready, watching the three figures
running towards them in the darkness. ‘The Yeti are coming,
brothers,’ whispered Khrisong exultantly. ‘As soon as they are
in bowshot—slay them! Kill them all!’
                         4
                 Jamie Traps a Yeti
      The Doctor strained his eyes, trying to pick out the
three shapes running down the mountain path towards him.
For a moment the distance and the gloom misled him.
Perhaps the Yeti really were coming to rescue him. He looked
again, then chuckled to himself. Of course—Victoria and
Jamie! And that looked very like Travers behind them.
      Suddenly a terrifying thought struck the Doctor. If he
could mistake the three for attacking Yeti, might not
Khrisong and his warrior monks do the same? Tired, nervous
men, bows and spears in their hands, waiting in the darkness
to be attacked. They’d let fly at anything that moved!
      Frantically the Doctor yelled, ‘Victoria, Jamie, keep
back. They’ll kill you!’
      On the mountainside Victoria could just hear the
Doctor’s voice, but the wind carried away his actual words. ‘All
right, Doctor, we’re coming!’ she cried, and ran even faster.
      Up on the wall, a young monk panicked. Without
waiting for Khrisong’s order, he drew his bow and fired.
      An arrow thudded into the snowy ground at Victoria’s
feet. Jamie came up beside her. ‘Look,’ cried Victoria.
‘They’re shooting at us.’
      Travers joined them and gazed in amazement at the
arrow. ‘Damn fools—what do they think they’re doing?’
      Khrisong meanwhile was leading a picked band of
warriors down from the wall, and out of the main gate, ready
to do battle with the Yeti. As Khrisong emerged, the Doctor
called, ‘Please! Don’t shoot! Those are friends of mine.’
      ‘We know that, Doctor,’ shouted Khrisong, ‘but your
Yeti shall not rescue you!’
      The Doctor strained at his bonds. ‘They’re not Yeti,
man. They’re hardly more than children.’
      Khrisong ignored him. ‘Ready, brothers?’ The little
band of monks prepared to shoot at the three figures on the
path. Bows were drawn, spears raised in readiness. It was
Travers who saved them all. Shouldering Jamie and Victoria
aside, he ran straight at the little group of warriors, ignoring
the danger. ‘Stop all this nonsense at once —it’s me, Travers.
You know me!’
      ‘Perhaps it is witchcraft,’ one of them muttered. ‘The
Yeti try to trick us with their magic, speaking with the voice of
Travers. Better to kill, and be sure.’ He raised his spear.
      Khrisong stopped him, knocking the spear aside. ‘No. It
is Travers!’
      Travers puffed up to him angrily. ‘Look here, what do
you think you’re doing?’ he shouted.
      Khrisong said, ‘I am sorry. It was a mistake. Who are
these others?’
      ‘Couple of kids I met on the mountain. Say they’re
friends of the Doctor’s.’ Travers called over to his two
companions. ‘It’s all right, come down. It’s safe now.’
      Jamie and Victoria ran to the Doctor. Furiously, Jamie
asked Khrisong, ‘What’s going on? Why’s the Doctor tied up
like that?’
      ‘He is a suspected criminal,’ said Khrisong sternly. ‘So
too are you, if you are his friends. Seize them!’
      One of the monks tried to grab Victoria. Jamie promptly
knocked him down, snatching away his spear. He turned
threateningly on the approaching monks. Trouble seemed
inevitable. Another monk ran out from inside the Monastery.
It was Thomni. ‘Wait, Khrisong,’ he called. ‘I have a message
for you from the Abbot.’
       Khrisong held up his hand to restrain the warriors.
‘Well?’
       ‘This man has brought back the sacred ghanta. We must
treat him with all kindness and respect. Those are the
commands of the Abbot.’
       Khrisong swung round on the Doctor. ‘Why did you not
tell me of this?’
       The Doctor smiled. ‘Would you have listened?’
       Khrisong glared at him for a moment, then nodded to
one of the monks. The monk stepped forward and began
cutting the Doctor‘s bonds. ‘I’m sure the Abbot meant his
words to apply to my friends as well,’ said the Doctor mildly.
The warriors menacing Jamie and Victoria stood back.
Victoria ran to the Doctor. ‘Are you all right?’ she said.
       The Doctor rubbed his wrists. ‘Oh, I think so. A little
stiff, perhaps. They were using me as Yeti bait, you see! But
there’s no real harm done.’ Looking sternly at Travers, the
Doctor continued sternly, ‘But there might have been, Mr.
Travers. We might all have been killed. All through that
ridiculous story of yours. Isn’t it time you told the truth?’
       ‘What truth?’ asked Khrisong sternly.
       Travers looked thoroughly abashed. ‘I’m sorry,
Khrisong. I’m afraid I misled you. It couldn’t have been the
Doctor who attacked me. The thing was huge—not human at
all. I just wanted him safely locked up. I didn’t mean you to
hurt him.’ Khrisong turned in disgust and strode back inside
the Monastery.
       Thomni said apologetically, ‘Doctor, the Abbot has given
orders for comfortable quarters and refreshments to be
prepared for you. Later, when you are rested, he would like
to see you and thank you. Shall we go inside?’
      The Doctor said, ‘An excellent idea. Come along, you
two. You come as well, Mr. Travers. You may have got us into
trouble but at least you helped to get us out.’
      They all went back inside the Monastery and the great
bronze doors clanged to behind them.
      High on the mountainside, three enormous, shaggy
shapes were standing motionless near the mouth of the cave
where Jamie and Victoria had been trapped. Suddenly they
jerked into life. As if in obedience to a common command,
they began lumbering down the path, towards the Monastery.

      In the simple guest room provided by the monks, the
Doctor finished a mug of scalding Tibetan tea and sighed with
pleasure. ‘My thanks to your Abbot, Thomni. A truly splendid
meal.’ Jamie and Victoria exchanged glances.
      ‘Och, yes,’ muttered Jamie. ‘It was verra nice.’
      ‘Yes, it was lovely,’ added Victoria.
      Actually neither of them were very impressed with
Tibetan food. The pile of yellow rice, covered with strange
meats and vegetables, had been palatable enough, especially
since they were both ravenous with hunger. But the milkless,
unsweetened tea with Yak butter floating in it had been too
much for them. Travers had eaten and drunk with gusto.
Victoria supposed he must be used to strange foods. As for
the Doctor, he seemed ready, as usual, to eat and drink
anything, anywhere, with anyone.
      Thomni flushed with pleasure at their praise. ‘When
you have rested further the Abbot will wish to see you and
thank you, Doctor.’ He bowed and withdrew. Travers poured
the Doctor another mug of tea. ‘You certainly seem to be well
in with the monks, Doctor.’
       The Doctor smiled. ‘Well, it is my second visit, you
know.’
       ‘I thought I was one of the first white men to reach
here,’ said Travers. ‘When was your first visit?’
       ‘Oh, about three hundred years ago,’ replied the Doctor
airily. Ignoring Travers’ astonished reaction, he went on.
‘Jamie, let’s have another look at this sphere you found in the
cave.’ Jamie fished it out, and handed it over. The Doctor
stared at it, lost in thought.
       ‘I still don’t believe those things that attacked us were
my Yeti,’ said Travers argumentatively. ‘All the reports
agree—the creature is shy and timid. The monks confirm it
too. In the old days the Yeti were hardly ever seen.’
       ‘Yet all at once they’ve become bold and savage,’ said the
Doctor thoughtfully. Travers nodded.
       ‘According to the monks they’ve been killing all sorts of
people, attacking the camps of the pilgrims and merchants,
just as they did mine.’
       ‘Maybe they don’t want people to come here any more,’
suggested Victoria.
       ‘They, or whoever’s controlling them,’ chimed in Jamie.
They all looked at him in surprise. Jamie felt suddenly
embarrassed.
       ‘Go on, Jamie,’ said the Doctor encouragingly. He knew
that although the Scots lad was more of a fighting man than a
thinker, he had a shrewd, quick mind, especially where
practical problems were concerned.
       ‘I’ve been thinking, Doctor,’ said Jamie. ‘Yon beastie—
there was something awful strange about it. What kind of an
animal can get smashed over the head with a pile of rocks and
scramble out as good as new? And the other one, by the
TARDIS, it didna attack at all. I’m no’ sure they’re just
animals at all. They’re not natural somehow.’
      The Doctor sighed. ‘I’d like to see one of these things, I
really would.’
      As if in answer to the Doctor’s wish, Thomni rushed into
the room. ‘Mr. Travers, Doctor, you must come at once. The
Yeti are approaching the Monastery!’
      Travers, Jamie and Victoria leaped to their feet and
followed Thomni from the room. Before he left, the Doctor
placed the silver sphere which Jamie had given him carefully
on the bed, under the pillow. Then he followed the others.
      In the torch-lit courtyard, there was a scene of bustle
and activity. Khrisong had every available warrior monk
armed, and on duty. Some were being sent to the observation
platform, others waited by the doors in case the Yeti should
try to break through.
      The Doctor and his little party stood on an observation
platform, looking out over the walls. It was dark now, and
they could just make out the bulk of the mountain as it
loomed over the Monastery. The area just before the gates
was lit up by blazing torches on the walls, but beyond their
circle of light, it was hard to see anything at all. ‘Well, where
are they?’ grumbled Travers.
      ‘Wait,’ said Khrisong. ‘When the moon comes from
behind those clouds, you will see them. They are very close.’
As he spoke the moon began to appear. Its rays lit up the
snow-covered mountain, the track leading upwards. Then
they saw them. A group of shaggy forms, milling about just
beyond the circle of torch-light.
      ‘That’s them, right enough,’ said Jamie. ‘There’s a whole
gang of them now!’
      Travers had a pair of battered binoculars to his eyes. His
face was radiant. ‘At last,’ he was muttering. ‘At last. Look at
them! Aren’t they magnificent?’
      Victoria wasn’t so enthusiastic. ‘Doctor, look,’ she
whispered. ‘They’re coming nearer.’ And, indeed, the
lumbering figures seemed to be edging closer and closer to
the Monastery gates.
      The Doctor tapped Khrisong’s shoulder. ‘Do you think
they’ll attack?’ Khrisong’s face was grim.
      ‘I cannot tell, Doctor. We can only be ready. But they
have never come so close before.’
      The Doctor had taken the binoculars from a reluctant
Travers and was staring eagerly at the creatures. ‘You know,
Jamie, I see what you mean. There’s something about the way
they move...’ He handed the binoculars back. ‘Oh, I do wish I
could examine one properly. Do you think you could capture
one for me?’
      Jamie chuckled. ‘Oh, aye, nothing to it. Shall we wrap it
up for you, Doctor?’
      Khrisong looked at the Doctor in amazement. ‘We will
kill them, Doctor—if we can. But why should we wish to
capture one?’
      ‘Because if you can get me one to examine, I may be
able to find out why the Yeti have suddenly become killers. I
might even be able to find a way for you to defeat them.’
      Jamie cleared his throat. ‘You’re really serious, Doctor?
About needing one of those beasties?’
      ‘Very much so, Jamie.’
      ‘Och, well, I think I can get hold of one for you. I’ll
need some equipment, Khrisong, and the help of those
warriors of yours.’
      Khrisong looked dubiously at Jamie. ‘You are little more
than a boy...’
      ‘Believe me, Khrisong,’ said the Doctor firmly, ‘if Jamie
says he can do it—he can do it. I’ve seen him in some very
tight corners indeed.’
      Khrisong turned to Jamie. ‘Well, boy, what do you
need?’
      ‘Come on, Victoria,’ said the Doctor. ‘I think we’d better
get out of the way. It’s time we paid our respects to the Abbot
Songtsen.’

      The Great Hall was the biggest room in the Monastery.
It was filled with long tables and benches, enough to hold
hundreds of monks when they gathered for food and prayer.
Now only a handful of lamas were assembled.
      ‘Do not fear, brethren,’ Songtsen was saying, ‘I am sure
that the return of the sacred ghanta means better times for us
at Det-sen.’
      ‘Master Abbot,’ Sapan objected mildly, ‘even now the
Yeti gather at our gates to attack us.’
      The Abbot smiled reassuringly. ‘Have faith. Khrisong
and his warriors will protect us.’
      Sapan frowned. ‘Khrisong is a rash and angry man. He
disobeyed me, Lord Abbot. So sure was he that the Doctor was
a danger to us.’
      There was a deprecating cough from the doorway. The
lamas looked up to see the Doctor and Victoria standing in
the doorway. ‘Me, a danger?’ said the Doctor. ‘I can assure
you I’m not. In fact, I very much hope I can help you.’
      The Abbot came forward, smiling. ‘You have helped us
greatly already, Doctor, by returning the sacred ghanta. We
owe you much.’
      In the Monastery courtyard, Jamie had taken charge of
things with a will. Except for a few sentries, he had all the
warrior monks, and Travers too, assembling a kind of
improvised net. All the available ropes in the Monastery had
been woven together into a sort of tangled cat’s cradle.
Khrisong looked on, half resentful and half amused, as Jamie
harried the monks into doing exactly what he wanted. ‘Och,
no, ye great loon. The rope goes over there, and under here.
Then tie it there. And make those knots good ones. If the
beastie gets loose, we shall all be for it.’
      At last the work was complete. The improvised net lay
spread out in the courtyard, long ropes tied to each corner.
Under Jamie’s instructions, a party of monks carried the net
out through the doors, and spread it on the ground just
under the wall. ‘Right,’ said Jamie. ‘Off you go, the lot of you.’
The monks, all except for Thomni and Khrisong, went back
inside. Jamie waited a moment then yelled, ‘Ready inside?’ He
grabbed one of the long ropes attached to a corner, coiled it,
and threw it over the wall. He did the same thing with the
ropes at the other three corners of the improvised net.
Quickly, Jamie dashed back inside the courtyard to check.
      The ends of the four ropes were now dangling over the
wall inside the courtyard. A couple of brawny young monks
had hold of each rope. Travers was in charge of them.
‘Remember,’ said Jamie grimly, ‘when you hear me yell
“Now!”, tug with all your might, and dinna let go.’ Travers
nodded determinedly, Jamie grabbed a flaming torch from
the wall, and went outside where Khrisong and Thomni were
waiting, both armed with heavy spears.
       Jamie looked at the outspread net, the ropes at each
corner stretching away over the wall. ‘All we need now is a
Yeti,’ he said cheerfully. ‘I’ll just awa’ and whistle one up!’
       ‘You are brave, stranger,’ said Thomni. ‘Our prayers go
with you.’
       Holding his blazing torch in front of him, Jamie set off
up the mountain path towards the waiting Yeti.
       All this time the little group of Yeti had stayed on the
mountain, sometimes advancing, sometimes retreating, but
never far away. Jamie whistled to keep his spirits up as he
came closer to them. He picked the nearest Yeti, and marched
boldly towards it.
       The Yeti stood motionless as he approached. Just like
the one outside the TARDIS, thought Jamie. Even when he
was almost within touching distance, the creature didn’t
move. Jamie held up his torch. The light glinted on the Yeti’s
yellow fangs, and was reflected fierily in its little red eyes.
Jamie summoned up all his courage, and yelled at the top of
his voice, ‘Garr, ye great hairy loon. I’ll have you for a
doormat, so I will!’ He thrust the flaming torchlight right
under the Yeti’s nose, close enough to singe its whiskers.
       With a nerve-shattering roar the Yeti came to life. A
giant, hairy hand aimed a savage slash at Jamie’s head. Jamie
ducked, turned, and ran back down the path at full speed. He
could hear the angry howls of the Yeti as it lumbered after
him.
       He timed his speed carefully, letting the Yeti get as close
as he could without actually being caught. He didn’t want the
beast to get discouraged and give up. Soon Jamie was nearly
at the Monastery gates, where Khrisong and Thomni waited,
spears in hand. Now if he could only lure the creature on to
the net...
      Jamie was almost there, when he slipped and fell on the
icy ground. The Yeti loomed over him, the great clawed
hands reaching out. Jamie, the breath knocked out of him, lay
helpless on the ground.
      Khrisong and Thomni ran forward, thrusting at the Yeti
with their spears. The creature whirled round on them,
shattering Thomni’s spear at a single blow. Khrisong held it
off alone, jabbing and thrusting with his spear while Thomni
helped Jamie to his feet.
      Khrisong fought hard, but his blows had no effect. He
was forced to fall back before the attacking monster. The Yeti
lumbered further and further forward. It advanced until it
was standing right on the net. ‘Khrisong, get back!’ shouted
Jamie. With a final spear-thrust Khrisong leaped backwards,
and Jamie gave a mighty yell of ‘Now!’ at the top of his voice.
      In the courtyard, Travers shouted ‘Heave!’ The warrior
monks pulled hard on the ropes. The corner ropes jerked
taut, and, caught in the net, the Yeti was lifted off its feet. It
was slammed against the wall, then tugged higher and higher
off the ground. The Yeti thrashed about frenziedly in the
tangle of ropes, roaring with rage. More armed monks ran
from the courtyard and began belabouring the Yeti with
swords, spears and clubs. None of their blows had the slightest
effect. The maddened creature still continued its thrashing
and roaring. It ripped savagely at the net and, to his horror,
Jamie saw some of the ropes beginning to fray and snap. To
make matters worse, no one told the monks inside the
courtyard to stop pulling. The entangled monster was jerked
higher and higher up the wall, until it was out of reach of
those attacking it from below.
      ‘They’ll pull it over the top and inside with them in a
minute,’ thought Jamie, ‘and the beast’s alive and kicking!’
                            ‘Heave!’

     He turned to go and warn the monks in the courtyard,
when suddenly he saw that it was already too late. The net
was coming apart like a wet paper bag. With the Yeti hanging
almost at the top of the high wall, it flew to pieces. There was
a tremendous thud as the Yeti slammed down on to the icy
ground below, and lay completely still. Cautiously the ring of
warrior monks approached it. Khrisong jabbed it with his
spear. The Yeti didn’t stir. ‘The thing is dead,’ said Thomni.
       Jamie nodded. ‘It wasna just as I’d planned it, but it’s
worked out well enough. Come on. Let’s get the puir beastie
inside.’
       As the monks began to drag the Yeti into the courtyard,
Jamie turned and looked up the mountain path. The little
group of Yeti stood motionless, watching. Then, moving with
one accord, they turned and shambled into the darkness.
       Jamie turned and followed the monks inside. One of the
warrior monks began clearing up the remains of the broken
net from the place where the Yeti had fallen. As he did so, his
sandalled foot came down on a little silver sphere, pressing it
down further into the icy mud.
       In the Great Hall, the Yeti lay stretched out on the huge
central dining table. The Hall was brightly lit, for the Doctor
had called for extra torches. Outside waited a hushed group
of monks and lamas. At first they had all crowded round the
table, eager to see the captured Yeti. But the Doctor had
chased them away, saying he couldn’t work in the middle of a
Rugby scrum. Only Travers, Jamie, Victoria, Khrisong and
Thomni were allowed to stay.
       The Doctor leaned over the prostrate Yeti. Victoria
thought he looked rather like a surgeon at the operating
table. She stood well at the back of the little group. She wasn’t
going to get too close to the Yeti, even if it was dead. Victoria
and the Doctor had come running at the news of the Yeti’s
capture, and she had scolded Jamie for taking such terrible
risks.
       The Doctor looked up. ‘Well, I can tell you one thing.
This creature isn’t flesh and blood. Look!’ He beckoned them
forward and indicated a place on the massive arm. He had
removed a patch of fur. Beneath it they could see the
unmistakable glint of metal. ‘You were right—it’s not your
Abominable Snowman after all, Travers,’ the Doctor added.
      ‘Then what is it, Doctor?’ Travers asked.
      ‘It is witchcraft,’ snarled Khrisong. ‘The thing is a
servant of the devil.’
      The Doctor shook his head. ‘Not quite. It’s some kind of
robot, I think.’
      ‘No wonder we couldna kill it with spears,’ said Jamie.
      ‘The thing is,’ said the Doctor, ‘why did it stop working?’
He returned to his examination.
      ‘Maybe something inside it got broken in the fall?’
suggested Victoria.
      The Doctor was examining the fur on the creature’s
massive chest. ‘Wait a moment,’ he muttered. ‘Jamie, lend me
your knife.’ Jamie slipped the dagger from his stocking, and
passed it to the Doctor. Slipping the point into a crevice in the
fur, the Doctor prised open a little trapdoor, revealing a
hollow, empty space.
      ‘There’s nothing in there,’ said Victoria.
      ‘No, but there should be. When you trapped it, Jamie,
you must have dislodged its control unit. That‘s why it went
dead.’
      ‘So if it gets its control unit back,’ said Jamie slowly, ‘it
could come to life?’
      The Doctor nodded gravely. ‘Yes, Jamie, I think it
could.’

      Outside the Monastery, the silver sphere embedded in
the ground stirred feebly, trying to free itself. But the icy mud
held it gripped fast. It began to pulse rhythmically, sending
out some kind of signal.
       In the Doctor’s quarters, the little silver sphere came to
life. It, too, pulsed with a signal. Then it rolled slowly from
the bed, on to the floor and out of the room.
       A kitchen monk came along the corridor, on his way to
clear away the remains of the Doctor’s meal. As he
approached, the little sphere rolled into a dark corner. Once
the monk had gone, the sphere resumed its journey, moving
inch by inch towards its ultimate destination—the ‘dead’ Yeti
on the table in the Great Hall. It had a long way to go. The
Great Hall was in a distant part of the Monastery. But it
would get there in the end.
                      5
      The Secret of the Inner Sanctum
       Hands deep in his pockets, the Doctor paced up and
down the Great Hall. ‘We’ve got to find that control unit. It’s
far too dangerous to be left around.’
       Jamie nodded in vigorous agreement. ‘You’re telling
me. We dinna want yon beastie coming to life again.
Especially now we’ve brought it in here with us.’
       ‘Exactly,’ said the Doctor. ‘Come on.’ He set off briskly
for the door, but the tall figure of Khrisong barred his way.
       ‘Where are you going?’ demanded Khrisong sternly.
       The Doctor looked up at him impatiently. ‘To have a
look outside the gates.’
       ‘No, I will not allow it.’
       The Doctor sighed. ‘My dear chap, why ever not?’
       ‘You say someone made this creature and sent it against
us? Why? Who wishes harm to the monks of Det-sen? I will
trust no stranger until these questions are answered.’
       Jamie glared at Khrisong furiously. ‘Have we no’
convinced you yet? We’re on your side!’
       ‘Khrisong,’ said the Doctor patiently, ‘why won’t you let
us help you?’
       ‘I do not need your help. Thomni, guard these strangers
well.’ Khrisong turned and strode from the room.
       The Doctor shook his head. ‘My word, he’s an obstinate
fellow.’
       Travers cleared his throat. ‘Afraid you’re right, Doctor.
Still, that’s it. Nothing more we can do. Think I’ll get some
sleep. ’Night everybody.’ Travers bustled from the room,
suddenly in a great hurry.
      He ran along the corridor and out into the courtyard.
Over by the closed and barred door, he could hear Khrisong
talking to the sentry. ‘No one is to leave the Monastery. And
be watchful. The Yeti are even more dangerous than we
feared. Send men to fasten with chains the one that we
captured.’ As Khrisong strode back across the courtyard,
Travers intercepted him.
      ‘Khrisong! I must talk to you.’
      Khrisong paused reluctantly. ‘Well?’
      Travers’ voice was low and urgent. ‘We know now that
the creatures who’ve been attacking you are robots. They’re
not the real Yeti at all. I’ve always said the Yeti were timid
and harmless. You’ve got to let me go out and find their cave.
Perhaps there may still be some real Yeti there. I must know.
Otherwise the whole point of my expedition will be lost.’
      ‘No. I will not allow anyone to leave.’
      ‘You can’t give me orders, you know,’ said Travers
truculently. ‘I’m not one of your monks.’
      ‘I command here. And I say no one is to leave. Anyone
may be controlling these monsters. Even you.’
      Travers was about to argue further, then a sudden
thought struck him. He glanced over at the sentry, not far
away. ‘Thank you, Khrisong, old chap. Thank you very
much!’ said Travers in a suddenly loud voice. He saw the
sentry glance towards them.
      ‘Why do you thank me?’ snapped Khrisong.
      Travers smiled. ‘For making me see sense,’ he said
quietly. Then, raising his voice again, ‘Well, thanks again.
Good night.’
      Khrisong stared at him as if he were mad, and strode
away. Travers waited until he was out of sight, then walked
quickly across to the sentry at the gate. ‘I’ve just been having a
word with Khrisong,’ he said. ‘He’s given me permission to
leave the Monastery.’

       In the Great Hall, the Doctor was getting nowhere.
       ‘I’m sorry, Doctor,’ said Thomni firmly. ‘I myself would
trust you. But I must obey the orders of Khrisong.’
       ‘I suppose you must,’ said the Doctor sadly. He
wandered back to the table where the Yeti lay stretched out.
       ‘Doctor,’ said Victoria timidly, ‘that space you found in
the Yeti’s chest—it’s round, isn’t it?’
       The Doctor nodded. ‘That’s right, my dear. Why do you
ask?’
       ‘Well,’ said Victoria, ‘that silver sphere thing we took
from the cave... that was round, too. It would just about fit in
that space.’
       ‘Aye, so it would,’ said Jamie excitedly. ‘It could be one
of those control units too!’
       The Doctor struck his forehead and groaned. ‘I’m an
idiot. An absolute imbecile. You’re quite right, of course. Let’s
go and find it.’
       Guided by a puzzled but helpful Thomni, they hurried
down the endless corridors of the rambling old Monastery, on
the way back to the Doctor’s room. ‘It’s a good job you’re with
us,’ gasped Victoria. ‘This place is a real rabbit-warren.’
       At the sound of their approaching feet in the corridor,
the little silver sphere rolled swiftly under the base of a statue
of Buddha which stood nearby. The Doctor and his party
hurried past. Once they were gone, the sphere rolled from
under the statue, and, hugging the darkest corners, moved
slowly on its way.
      In his room, the Doctor was rummaging frantically on
his bed. ‘I left it here, just under the pillow. I know I did!’
      Victoria and Jamie joined in the search. ‘Well, it’s no’
here now,’ said Jamie when they had finished. ‘Someone must
have taken it.’
      ‘Travers!’ said Victoria suddenly. ‘I thought it was odd,
the way he rushed off.’
      ‘It does seem a possibility,’ agreed the Doctor. ‘I hate to
accuse anyone without proof—but perhaps we’d better ask
him.’
      ‘I will take you to his room,’ said Thomni. ‘It is next to
yours.’ He led them a little way along the corridor to a small
bare room, much like the Doctor’s. ‘You see,’ said Victoria
triumphantly. ‘He’s not here—and he said he was going to
sleep.’
      ‘We could search the place,’ suggested Jamie.
      The Doctor frowned. ‘I don’t think that would be any
use. If he has taken it, he’ll have it on him. We’ll have to find
him.’
      ‘All verra well,’ said Jamie, ‘but where do we start in a
place this size?’
      The Doctor was already on his way to the door. ‘At the
main gate, I think. Since he isn’t in his room, he’s probably
trying to leave the Monastery.’
      After another dash along the corridors, they reached the
courtyard. The Doctor rushed up to the sentry at the doors.
‘Have you seen Mr. Travers, by any chance?’
      The sentry nodded. ‘It was some time ago. He has gone
now.’
      ‘Gone?’ snapped Thomni. ‘Out of the Monastery?’
      ‘Yes, Captain. He told me Khrisong had given his per-
mission.’
      ‘That is impossible. He has tricked you.’
      Thomni turned to the Doctor. ‘We must inform
Khrisong of what has happened. He is with the Abbot
Songtsen. Will you come with me, please?’
      As they walked across the courtyard, the Doctor said
thoughtfully, ‘I still can’t believe Travers has anything to do
with controlling these robots. Or with taking the sphere come
to that.’
      Victoria looked at him affectionately. As usual, the
Doctor was being far too trusting. He always found it hard to
think ill of anybody. ‘Well, one thing’s certain, Doctor,’ she
told him. ‘That sphere couldn’t have moved off on its own.’
She had no idea that, in a corridor not far away, the little
silver sphere was doing exactly that.

      With the Abbot Songtsen at his side, Khrisong strode
into the Great Hall. ‘The monster is here, Lord Abbot. I have
had it fastened down with chains...’ Khrisong stopped short at
the sight of Sapan and Rinchen. The two old lamas were
building an elaborate framework of wood and coloured
threads, which completely surrounded the prostrate body of
the Yeti. ‘What are you doing?’ Khrisong asked impatiently
      The Abbot smiled. ‘They are constructing a ghost trap,
Khrisong. Is it not so, my brethren?’
      Sapan nodded proudly. ‘We have built a spirit trap
about the monster, to restrain its evil, my Abbot.’
      ‘It was well thought of,’ said the Abbot gently. ‘You are
wise, Sapan.’
      Khrisong laughed. ‘I think my chains will be of more
use,’ he said. ‘See, Lord Abbot.’ Khrisong pointed to the
heavy chains which now fastened the Yeti to the great stone
table.
       Offended, the two old lamas prepared to go. Sapan
paused by the door. ‘You should never have allowed this
monster to be brought into the Monastery, Khrisong,’ he
reproved. And with this parting shot, he followed his friend
clown the corridor.
       Khrisong shouted after him. ‘What I allow is my
business, Sapan.’
       Songtsen held up a restraining hand. ‘Gently, my son.’
       Khrisong looked rather ashamed of himself. ‘I am sorry,
my Abbot. Sagan and his fellow lamas find much fault in me
of late.’
       ‘Harsh words are like blunted arrows, my son. Only the
truth can make them sharp.’
       ‘I have only tried to do my duty, my Abbot. The
protection of the Monastery is in my hands.’
       ‘I know, Khrisong. Your task is not an easy one.’
       Khrisong gazed down at the tethered Yeti. ‘And such is
our adversary. It is against these creatures that I must protect
you. My life is nothing if I fail.’ He gestured angrily towards
the monster, still terrifying as it lay motionless. ‘Can I combat
this with mildness?’
       ‘Our ways are the ways of peace, my son. You must not
seek to change them.’
       ‘I fight to preserve them, my Abbot. There is no other
way.’
       A strange, faraway expression came over the old Abbot’s
face. ‘There is. It is merely obscured to our simple minds. I
will seek guidance of our Master, Padmasambvha.’ The Abbot
sank cross-legged to the floor, in the classic position for
meditation.
        The Doctor rushed into the room, followed by Thomni,
Jamie and Victoria. With a quick glance at Songtsen, who
didn’t appear even to see him, the Doctor said, ‘Khrisong! Did
you give Travers permission to leave the Monastery?’
        ‘Of course not.’
        ‘Well, he’s awa’,’ said Jamie.
        Briefly the Doctor explained what had happened.
        Khrisong marched to the door. ‘You will come with me,
Doctor.’ The Doctor looked pleased. ‘Going to let me help at
last, are you?’
        ‘No, Doctor. I merely wish to make sure that you do not
vanish also.’ With that, Khrisong strode from the room, the
Doctor and Jamie following him.
        Victoria hung back for a word with Thomni. She rather
liked the shy young warrior monk. She indicated the Abbot,
still sitting motionless. ‘Is he all right?’
        ‘Oh yes,’ whispered Thomni reverently. ‘He is in a
trance. We must leave him.’
        Victoria jumped, as suddenly the old Abbot spoke, in a
distant faraway voice. ‘Yes, Master, I will obey. I come.’
Moving like a sleep-walker, the Abbot rose and walked slowly
from the room.
        ‘Who was he talking to?’ whispered Victoria
        Thomni’s voice was hushed in awe. ‘To our Master,
Padmasambvha, in the Holy Sanctum.’
        ‘Your Master? I thought the Abbot was in charge?’
        ‘And so he is. But above him is the Most Holy
Padmasambvha, who rules us all.’
        ‘What’s he like?’ asked Victoria curiously.
        ‘I do not know. I have never seen him.’ Thomni
believed he was speaking the truth—his visit to the Inner
Sanctum had been wiped from his mind.
      ‘How long has he been here?’
      Thomni shrugged. ‘Forever, perhaps. He is ageless.’
      A look of mischief came over Victoria’s face. ‘Can’t we go
to this Sanctum place, and take a peep at him?’
      Thomni was appalled. ‘Most certainly not. Only the
Abbot may enter the Sanctum.’
      ‘Don’t you want to know what your Master looks like?
Surely you do?’
      Thomni was firm. ‘No, I do not. It is forbidden, and I
have been brought up in the path of obedience. Now,
Victoria, I think I must take you to your room. You will be
safe there, till your friends return to look after you.’
      Victoria sighed to herself, as Thomni marched her off.
He was very nice, but he really was rather a stick-in-the-mud.
Path of obedience, indeed. Victoria had her own ideas about
that. But for the moment she said nothing. Smiling meekly at
Thomni she followed him down the corridor.

      At the main gate the unfortunate sentry was wishing he
had never been born. ‘But I saw you speak to him, Khrisong.
I heard him thank you. Naturally, I thought...’
      ‘You are a fool,’ snapped Khrisong.
      ‘Well, what’s done is done,’ interrupted the Doctor ‘The
important thing is that we examine a control unit. The one
Jamie brought down from the mountains has vanished.’
      ‘Aye, that’s right,’ Jamie joined in. ‘So you’ve got to let
us go outside and look for the other one—the one that fell
from the Yeti when we trapped it. It canna be far.’
      For a long moment, Khrisong stood silent, considering.
Then he nodded. ‘Very well.’ Jamie sighed with relief, and
made for the doors. Khrisong held up a forbidding hand.
‘No. I will go.’
       Jamie watched resentfully, as the sentry opened the
doors just enough for Khrisong to slip out into the night.
       ‘Never mind, Jamie,’ said the Doctor consolingly. ‘At
least someone’s looking for the thing.’

      Not far away, in the hush of the Inner Sanctum,
Padmasambvha sat brooding. There was a small table just
before him, the kind that might have been used to hold a
chessboard. On it there stood instead a kind of model
landscape—a relief-map of the Monastery, the mountain, and
all the surrounding terrain. Little figures stood on the map,
models of the Yeti, each about three inches high.
Padmasambvha stretched out a withered, claw-like hand. For
a moment, the hand hovered over the board, as the old
Master focussed the power of his will on the symbolic map.
Then the hand picked up first one and then another of the
Yeti models, and moved them from a position on the lower
slopes of the mountain to one very close to the Monastery
doors.
      Out on the cold, dark mountainside two Yeti were
standing. At the precise moment that Padmasambvha’s
withered hand moved their model counterparts, the two Yeti
began lumbering towards the Monastery.
      Crouched behind a nearby boulder, a dark shape
stirred. Travers watched as the two Yeti moved away. He was
shivering with a mixture of excitement and terror. He got up,
and continued his journey up the mountain.
      Padmasambvha looked up from the board. The Abbot
Songtsen was beside him, eyes glazed and face blank, held in a
trance by the force of his Master’s will. ‘The Doctor is wise,’
said Padmasambvha softly. ‘His eyes are not closed in
ignorance. But his mind is too complex. I cannot control it, as
I control yours, Songtsen.’ There was a hint of something cold
and gloating in the thin, old voice. It was as though
something else, some other being, spoke through the old
monk’s mouth.
      ‘I must make sure that the Great Plan is imperilled no
further.’
      Again the withered hand stretched out and moved the
two Yeti. This time they were almost at the Monastery doors.
      In the circle of torchlight outside the Monastery doors
Khrisong continued his search, unaware of the two giant,
shaggy forms moving closer and closer.
                        6
               A Yeti Comes to Life!
      The Doctor and Jamie peered anxiously out of the
Monastery door. In the torchlight they could see Kluisong,
methodically searching the trampled ground in the area
where the Yeti had fallen.
      ‘Khrisong,’ called the Doctor. ‘Why don’t you let us
come out and give you a hand?’
      ‘No!’ Khrisong shouted back. ‘You will stay where you
are.’ The sentry raised his spear, barring their exit.
      Suddenly, Khrisong stooped down. At his feet was
something that looked like a large pebble. But surely it was too
round, too smooth? He prised it from the icy mud, and
scraped it clean. Suddenly the sphere glowed in his hand, and
emitted a high-pitched note. Khrisong jumped back,
dropping the sphere in amazement.
      The sphere gave out a second high-pitched note. As if in
response to a signal, two Yeti loomed out of the darkness.
      From the gateway, the Doctor shouted a warning.
‘Khrisong! Look out! Yeti!’ Khrisong looked up to see the two
giant shapes bearing down on him. He backed away in
horror. Then suddenly he stopped, holding his ground. The
Yeti came menacingly on.
      ‘Leave it, Khrisong!’ the Doctor shouted. ‘Come back in,
you don’t stand a chance.’
      But in an act of lunatic courage, Khrisong dashed
forward, snatching up the sphere from under the Yeti’s feet.
He turned to run for the doors, only to find the second Yeti
barring his way. With terrifying speed a massive paw shot out
and grabbed his wrist. Khrisong was a big, heavy man, but the
Yeti held him dangling in the air, like a doll in the hand of a
careless child. Khrisong screamed with pain, twisting and
thrashing about, but he was utterly helpless.
      Jamie snatched the spear from the sentry’s grasp, and
ran out of the gates. A shout from the Doctor summoned
more warrior monks, and they too ran out to the rescue. Led
by Jamie, the warriors began to rain blows upon the two Yeti,
who responded with savage roars and slashing blows. The one
holding Khrisong wrenched the sphere from his hand, and
threw him to the ground like a discarded toy. Ignoring the
attacking warriors, the two Yeti turned and disappeared into
the darkness.
      The Doctor and Jamie half-dragged, half-carried
Khrisong back through the Monastery gates.
      ‘Inside, all of you,’ the Doctor yelled to the warrior
monks. ‘Don’t follow them. You can’t hurt them, you’ll just
get killed for nothing.’
      Soon everyone was back inside and the doors were
barred once more.
      The Doctor and Jamie lowered the burly Khrisong to
the ground. ‘Is he all right?’ asked Jamie. Before the Doctor
could reply, Khrisong struggled angrily to his feet.
      ‘Of course I’m all right, boy,’ he growled, rubbing his
brawny arm. The Doctor examined it—the marks of the Yeti’s
paws could be seen, clearly embedded in the flesh,
      ‘Just a little bruising,’ the Doctor said. ‘You’re lucky you
weren’t killed.’
      ‘Aye,’ Jamie agreed. ‘That was the daftest thing I ever
saw—and the bravest.’
      Khrisong ignored this. He looked at the Doctor in
puzzlement. ‘Why did they just leave? They had us at their
mercy.’
      ‘Because they got what they came for, I imagine. They
didn’t want to fight, they were after that control unit.’
      Khrisong frowned. ‘You speak as though these monsters
were intelligent, Doctor.’
      ‘They’re being controlled,’ explained the Doctor.
‘Somehow that sphere was important to them. They had to get
it back.’
      ‘Did ye hear the screech it gave?’ demanded Jamie.
      ‘Some kind of signal—and that’s a help. With the right
kind of equipment, signals can be traced.’
      ‘You have such equipment?’ asked Khrisong.
      ‘Yes, but not here, I’m afraid.’ The Doctor looked
significantly at Jamie. ‘I’m afraid we’ve got to get back to the
TARDIS.’ Turning to Khrisong he explained. ‘All my
equipment is in my, er, camp, some way up the
mountainside.’
      ‘Then you must fetch it at once,’ declared Khrisong.
      Jamie looked at him in amazement. ‘You’re letting us
go? Just like that?’
      Khrisong looked a very shaken man, as he answered. ‘I
have no choice. My warriors are powerless. I must trust you,
Doctor.’
      ‘We’ll try not to let you down,’ said the Doctor. ‘Let’s
just get our coats, Jamie, and we’ll be on our way.’
      They ran back to their rooms and struggled into warm
clothing. There was no sign of Victoria. ‘Probably wandering
around somewhere,’ said Jamie. ‘Maybe it’s better if she
doesna know where we’re going. She’d only worry.’ With the
Doctor in his huge fur coat, and Jamie in his anorak, they
returned to the courtyard. Khrisong was waiting by the gate.
      ‘Good fortune go with you,’ he murmured gruffly. At
Khrisong’s signal the door was unbarred and opened, and
Jamie and the Doctor slipped out into the night. Khrisong
said to the sentry, ‘Let no one pass. Call me if there is news. I
shall be in my quarters.’

       Padmasambvha looked up from his board. ‘The Yeti
have accomplished their task. Nov I have a task for you,
Songtsen.’ The old Master held out his hand. In it was a small
transparent pyramid. It seemed to glow with a sort of inner
fire, as though there was a kind of life within it.
Padmasambvha gestured towards the board, where three of
the little Yeti models were grouped together. ‘These three
Yeti are waiting to escort you. Take this pyramid, which I
have prepared, to the cave. Then, the Great Intelligence will
have its focus on this planet. Its wanderings in space will be
over, and my task will be done. Go now, Songtsen!’
       The Abbot bowed, took the strangely glowing pyramid,
and left the Sanctum. Once again the doors opened and
closed behind him of their own accord.
       The Abbot glided along the corridors of the Monastery,
and crossed the courtyard to the main gate. Surprised to see
his Abbot, the sentry bowed. As the man straightened up,
Songtsen passed a hand lightly across his face. Immediately
the sentry stood motionless, waiting. In a quiet, faraway voice,
Songtsen said, ‘You will open the doors and let me pass. You
will close them behind me. You will remember nothing.’
       The sentry moved at once to the doors and opened
them. The Abbot passed through. The sentry closed and
barred the doors again. For a brief moment he stood
motionless again. Then he seemed to wake with a start.
     He looked round, reassured to see that all was quiet and
normal.
     ‘Must have dozed off,’ he thought. ‘Lucky Khrisong
wasn’t around.’ Confident that all was well, he resumed his
watch.

       The Doctor and Jamie trudged wearily up the mountain
path, neither of them feeling very happy.
       They were doing their best to keep a look-out in all
directions at once. A cold wind howled round them. The
moon kept drifting in and out of black clouds, so that they
were alternately plunged in pitch darkness, or bathed in
sinister, ghostly moonlight. Their footsteps sounded very loud
as they crunched through the frozen snow. Every now and
again, Jamie thought he could hear someone behind them,
but when he stopped to listen the sound had gone. ‘Och, I’m
just getting jumpy,’ he thought. ‘And no wonder. Surely we’re
getting near the TARDIS by now?’
       The Doctor came to a sudden halt. ‘Jamie, look!’ A little
way ahead, just off the main path, stood the still forms of
three Yeti. ‘They’re not moving,’ whispered the Doctor.
‘Maybe they’re switched off. If I could just examine...’
       Jamie tugged at his arm. ‘Aye, and what if someone
switches them on while you’re doing it? Come on, let’s get to
the TARDIS while we still can.’
       The Doctor sighed. ‘I suppose you’re right.’
       The two moved off, looking back at the three Yeti until a
turn in the path hid them from sight.
       The three Yeti stood in the same spot, completely
motionless.
      After a few minutes the Abbot Songtsen came softly up
the path. His sandalled feet made almost no sound, and in
spite of his thin robes he didn’t appear to feel the biting cold.
With the same gliding, sleep-walking motion he went up to
the three Yeti.
      He held out the glowing pyramid in his palms. The Yeti
jerked into life. They formed themselves round him in a kind
of hollow triangle. With his three strange escorts surrounding
him, the Abbot Songtsen struck off away from the main path,
heading for the cave of the Yeti.

     Bored, and a little frightened, Victoria wandered round
the echoing corridors. The Monastery seemed to be almost
empty. She had looked in dormitory after dormitory, all
deserted. She remembered Thomni telling her that most of
the monks had been sent to other Monasteries for safety. She
had wandered along corridors, down dusty staircases and
through echoing halls, all now confused and identical in her
mind.
     Bored with waiting in her room, she had decided to go
and hunt for the mysterious Inner Sanctum. Almost
immediately she had become lost. She had long ago
abandoned her plan to look for Padmasambvha, and would
have been happy to settle for finding her own room again.
Suddenly she saw a gleam of light ahead. She ran forward and
found herself at the entrance to the Great Hall. Happy to be
back on familiar ground, she crept inside.
     The huge room was empty, except for the giant bulk of
the Yeti stretched out on the table at the far end. Victoria
walked towards it, half-fearful, half-fascinated. She looked in
puzzlement at the complicated arrangement of wood and
coloured threads surrounding it, and with relief at the chains
that fastened it to the table.
       As she was about to leave, she saw something silvery
moving at her feet. It was the little silver sphere that Jamie
had brought from the mountain. She bent down and picked it
up. ‘Now how did you get all the way over here?’ she said. As
she glanced at the stretched-out Yeti, she saw the empty cavity
that the Doctor had found in its chest. The little sphere would
just fit inside, she thought. Victoria’s hand began to stretch
out towards the Yeti, and the sphere pulsed with light, and
gave out a high-pitched signal. Victoria felt as though the
sphere was moving her hand, rather than she the sphere.
       Before she knew what was happening, she had slipped
the silver ball into the little space on the Yeti’s chest. The
cavity snapped shut, and Victoria pulled back her hand.
       For a moment nothing happened. Then the little red
eyes of the Yeti snapped open. It began thrashing about in its
bonds, shattering Sapan’s spirit trap to pieces. To her horror,
Victoria saw that the heavy chains were snapping almost as
easily as the coloured threads of the ghost trap. In a matter of
minutes the Yeti would be free!
                       7
            A Plan to Conquer Earth
       Not for the first time, Victoria’s well-developed lungs
came to her rescue. Too frightened to move, she let out a
series of ear-splitting screams that echoed through every
corridor of the Monastery. Warriors and lamas came running
from every direction.
       Thomni was first into the Great Hall, dashing in just as
the Yeti broke through the last of its chains, and started
making for Victoria. He grabbed the frightened girl, and
bundled her into the corridor. ‘Run, Victoria, run. Fetch
Khrisong!’
       As Victoria ran down the corridor, Thomni grabbed a
heavy bronze incense-holder, almost as tall as himself, and
prepared to use it as a club. He smashed it down on the Yeti’s
head. The blow landed with a tremendous impact that jarred
Thomni’s arms. He swung back the incense-holder for a
second blow, but the Yeti roared angrily, and wrenched it
from his grasp. Grasping the heavy metal pillar in both paws,
the Yeti twisted it in two like a wax candle. Then it slashed out
at Thomni. The glancing blow sent him spinning across the
room and he crashed into a stone pillar. Ignoring him, the
Yeti made for the doorway.
       Thomni’s attack had delayed it long enough to allow a
little group of warrior monks to arrive. The Yeti burst
through them, its sweeping blows smashing men to one side
and the other. Several of the warriors struck at the monster
with swords or spears, but the Yeti didn’t even pause. Leaving
a pile of wounded and bleeding warriors behind it, it
shambled purposefully down the corridor.
      As Victoria reached the courtyard she met Khrisong,
and the main body of the warriors. Khrisong gripped her
wrists fiercely.
      ‘What has happened? Why are you screaming?’
      ‘The Yeti, Khrisong! It’s alive. It’s broken free.’
      Khrisong stared at her in disbelief. ‘It’s true,’ she
screamed. ‘It’s all my fault—I put back the sphere...’
      Suddenly the Yeti appeared from the cloisters, and
began moving towards the barred main doors. Khrisong
smiled in grim satisfaction. ‘This time we shall destroy it.
Attack!’
      Victoria crouched sobbing in a corner as Khrisong and
his warriors fought their gallant and useless battle. The Yeti
seemed almost uninterested in its human opponents. It
simply continued its progress towards the main doors.
Bowman after bowman loosed his arrows at point-blank
range. Arrows thudded into the Yeti’s hide until it looked like
a porcupine. They didn’t have the slightest effect. Savage
blows from spears, swords, even axes simply rebounded from
the monster’s body. Whenever a rash warrior got too close, a
single smashing blow from the Yeti put him out of the fight.
      Victoria saw Thomni stagger into the courtyard, his face
covered with blood. ‘You’ve got to stop them,’ she sobbed.
‘They’ll all be killed. They can’t hurt it. It isn’t alive. It’s a
robot.’
      Thomni watched the useless battle for a moment, and
saw that she was right. Running to the main doors, he
unbarred them, and flung them wide. Immediately the Yeti
began heading towards them. ‘Close the doors,’ yelled
Khrisong furiously. ‘We must destroy it.’
        ‘No, brothers,’ called Thomni. ‘Let it go, or it will kill us
all.’
      Hurling aside the warriors in its way, the Yeti lumbered
through the open doors and and out into the night. Thomni,
helped by some of the other monks, slammed the doors shut
after it, and collapsed against them, panting for breath! All
around, the courtyard was a shambles of dead and wounded
men.

       Dawn was breaking, as the Doctor and Jamie toiled up
the mountain path on the last stages of their journey to the
TARDIS. It was a beautiful and spectacular sight to see the
sun rising over the snow-covered peaks, but they were both
too tired and apprehensive to appreciate it properly.
       The Doctor stopped for a moment, resting his back
against a boulder. He huddled inside his big fur coat, gazing
round the bleak terrain.
       Janie toiled up the path and leaned beside him, panting
a little. Although the Doctor was small in stature, he seemed
to have limitless resources of energy and strength. It was
Jamie who was feeling the effects of the journey most. ‘What’s
the matter, Doctor?’ he asked, stamping his feet to bring back
some feeling. His breath came out in little steamy puffs in the
cold, clear morning air.
       The Doctor gazed around abstractedly. ‘Nothing, Jamie.
Just taking a breather.’
       Jamie looked at him, puzzled. The Doctor’s head was
cocked, like a hunting dog.
       ‘You’ve heard something?’
       ‘No. Nothing.’
       ‘Let’s be getting on then.’
      The Doctor held up his hand. ‘Just a moment.
Something’s worrying me.’
      ‘I canna hear or see anything,’ said Jamie,
exasperatedly.
      ‘Exactly. That’s what’s so worrying. It’s all too quiet. Not
a sign of the Yeti since we saw those three back there.’
      ‘Aye, well, let’s just be grateful, and get on to the
TARDIS.’
      As they set off again, the Doctor muttered, ‘I still don’t
like it. There’s something happening on this mountain.
Something evil. I can feel it.’
      Jamie looked round and shivered. ‘Och, come on, will
you? You’re giving me the willies.’

      Still further up the mountain, Travers was keeping
watch on the cave of the Yeti. At least, he hoped it was their
cave. On the journey to the Monastery, after he had first met
Jamie and Victoria, he had made Jamie give him a detailed
description of the cave and how to find it. Now he had been
forced to wait until daylight to locate the place, and for hours
he had been crouched in hiding, hoping desperately that it
was the right cave.
      He looked again at the huge boulder, standing in the
cave mouth as a kind of door. It must be the place. Despite
the cold and his lack of sleep, his fanatical enthusiasm kept
him bright and alert.
      He ducked further into cover. Two Yeti were moving
towards the cave. One of them held something in its paw. As
the Yeti came closer, Travers could just make out that it was
holding a glowing silver sphere. The Yeti came up to the cave
entrance, and then stopped. They made no attempt to move
the boulder but simply stood like sentries, one each side of the
door. Obviously they were waiting for something. But what?
Travers studied them eagerly. Could they all be robots, as the
Doctor said? Were there perhaps real Yeti, somewhere inside
the cave? Travers settled down to wait.

      Rounding a turn in the steep mountain path, the Doctor
and Jamie came in sight of the rocky ledge where stood the
TARDIS. A Yeti was standing beside it. Immediately, they
moved back into cover.
      ‘I said we’d been too lucky,’ whispered the Doctor.
‘What now?’ asked Jamie.
      The Doctor frowned ferociously. ‘We’ve jolly well got to
get in to the TARDIS.’
      Jamie was aghast at the unfairness of it all. ‘What’s the
thing doing there? It can’t have known we’d turn up.’
      ‘It’s just a robot, Jamie. It merely follows instructions.
Now--I wonder...’
      Suddenly, the Doctor stepped out of cover and into
plain sight of the Yeti.
      ‘Come back,’ hissed Jamie. The Doctor ignored him,
and walked closer to the monster. Nothing happened.
Nothing at all. The Yeti just stood there, motionless.
Cautiously, Jamie joined the Doctor, who turned and beamed
at him.
      ‘Do you know, Jamie, I think I know how to deal with it?
I shall arrange a test!’
      Jamie looked at him with respect. Trust the Doctor to
come up with one of his brilliant scientific plans. ‘What are
you going to do?’ he asked.
      The Doctor chuckled. ‘Bung a rock at it.’ To Jamie’s
horror, the Doctor grabbed a rock from the ground and did
just that. The rock whizzed through the air and bounced off
the Yeti’s nose. It still didn’t react.
       ‘Just as I thought. Can’t see, can’t hear, can’t feel.
Completely de-activated. Come on.’ The Doctor marched
right up to the Yeti and examined it at close range. He
prodded it gently. ‘Still, we’d better make sure. Lend me your
knife, Jamie.’
       Jamie was appalled. ‘Dinna be so daft, Doctor. You
might switch it on by mistake.’
       ‘Oh, I don’t think so. Just the opposite, I hope.’ Taking
the little dagger, the Doctor probed the Yeti’s chest, just as
he’d done with the captured one at the Monastery. After a
little fumbling, he prised open the chest cavity, revealing the
little silver sphere. The Doctor reached in, and slowly and
carefully removed it. With a sigh of relief he tossed the sphere
to Jamie, and they moved towards the TARDIS.
       ‘It’s a wonder there wasn’t some kind of protective
mechanism,’ said the Doctor thoughtfully. ‘You’d think
whoever built it would have thought of that!’
       Jamie laughed. ‘How many people do you think would
go up to yon beastie, and start poking it with a wee dagger?
The thing is, Doctor, they just didna reckon on anyone as daft
as you!’
       The Doctor gave him a mock-offended look, and
opened the door of the TARDIS.
       ‘How about some breakfast?’ he suggested cheerily.

       Outside the cave of the Yeti, Travers’ long vigil was at
last rewarded. He saw a group of shaggy figures moving
across the mountainside towards him. Three more Yeti.
Travers’ eyes widened in amazement. In the centre of the
little group of Yeti walked the Abbot Songtsen.
      Songtsen marched up to the boulder outside the cave.
He took the sphere from the Yeti holding it. The other Yeti
lifted the enormous boulder aside and Songtsen entered the
cave. The Yeti grouped themselves around the entrance,
motionless once more.




The other Yeti lifted the enormous boulder aside and Songtsen entered
                               the cave.
      In the Inner Sanctum the prayer lamps flickered,
casting shadows in the gloom. The Master Padmasambvha
was communing with the alien power that had dominated his
being for so many weary years.
      ‘Oh, Great Intelligence, the time for your Experiment
has come at last. Abbot Songtsen makes the final preparations
now. I ask only that you release me, as you have promised.’
He sank back on the golden throne in infinite weariness.

      The Abbot Songtsen was indeed busy about his
preparations. Obeying the orders placed in his mind by
Padmasambvha, who was himself performing the wishes of
the Great Intelligence they both served, Songtsen was
arranging the glowing spheres that Jamie had found into an
intricate pattern. When the design was complete, Songtsen
placed the pyramid given him by Padmasambvha reverently
in the centre. Then he turned and walked from the cave. The
pyramid began to pulse and flicker with life. Then, slowly, but
surely, it began to grow...
      Outside, Travers watched as Songtsen emerged. The
Abbot set off down the mountain path. All the Yeti followed
him.
      Travers could scarcely believe his good fortune. The
Yeti were gone, and the boulder at the mouth of the cave had
not been replaced. He crept forward slowly, and entered the
cave.
      It was just as Jamie had described it—the pit-props, the
tunnel, and, in the distance, a glowing pulsating light. Jamie
had not said how fierce and bright it was. And there was a
kind of high-pitched noise... Eagerly, Travers crept up to the
entrance of the inner cave. He looked through, and then fell
back, shielding his eyes. In the centre of the pattern of
spheres, the pyramid was pulsing and glowing, blazing with
light. A high-pitched screaming sound filled the cave. It
seemed full of a kind of exultant madness. Travers could feel
it affecting his mind...
       As Travers watched, the swollen pyramid cracked open.
A bubbling, glutinous substance, shot with fiery colours, began
to ooze forth. More and more of it poured forth, and then
more and more still. It spread across the cave floor in a heavy
mass, trickling slowly towards him. And it was still coming, far
more than the pyramid could possibly hold! The thought
flashed through Travers’ confused mind that the pyramid was
really a sort of gateway, a channel between some other, alien
universe and this one. And that the other universe was
pouring this evil substance through to this one. Pouring and
pouring and pouring endlessly. Soon it would envelop the
whole world...
       With a mighty effort, Travers wrenched himself away.
Half-demented, he ran from the cave, out through the tunnel
and on to the mountainside. He began to run madly
downwards, stumbling, falling, rising, and stumbling on,
ignoring his hurts and bruises. He had to get away, away from
the horror in the cave. What Travers found really unbearable
about the heaving, bubbling mass, was the fact that he felt it
was alive.

      Jamie was happily spooning down the last of an
enormous bowl of well-salted porridge. The Doctor was
polishing off a plate of bacon and eggs. Somewhere in the
TARDIS there was a machine that could produce any kind of
food you could think of, piping hot and in a matter of
seconds. Jamie had never been more glad of it. ‘Och, that’s
better,’ he said, pushing aside his bowl. ‘But hadn’t we better
be getting back, Doctor?’ The Doctor nodded, his mouth too
full to speak. Wrapping themselves up for the outside, they
prepared to leave.
       ‘Mustn’t forget this,’ said the Doctor, picking up a little
black box, covered with clials. ‘My tracking device.’
       Jamie picked up the sphere they had taken from the
Yeti. ‘What about this?’
       ‘Oh, bring it along. I’ll study it back at the Monastery.’
They left the TARDIS, and the Doctor locked it behind them.
The de-activated Yeti still stood motionless in the snow. The
Doctor gave it an affectionate pat. ‘Come on, Jamie,’ he said,
and set off down the mountain. Suddenly, he realised that
Jamie wasn’t following him. ‘Come on, Jamie,’ he repeated.
       Jamic’s voice was desperate. ‘I canna, Doctor. I just
canna. It’s pulling me towards it.’
       Turning, the Doctor saw Jamie. The sphere in his
outstretched hand was being dragged by some invisible force
closer and closer to the Yeti. The sphere was pulsing and
glowing, emitting a high-pitched signal.
       ‘Don’t put it back,’ yelled the Doctor. ‘Whatever you do,
don’t put it back!’ He rushed up to jamie, grabbed him by the
waist and tried to pull him away from the Yeti. But the
invisible force exerted by the glowing sphere was more than a
match for both of them. Step by step, Jamie and the Doctor
were pulled closer and closer to the waiting Yeti.
       ‘It’s no good,’ gasped Jamie. ‘I’ll have to let it go.’
       ‘No, Jamie, you mustn’t. You’ve got to hold on.’ Letting
go of Jamie’s waist, the Doctor moved round in front of him.
Just as the sphere slipped from Jamic’s hands, he interposed
his own body between the sphere and the Yeti. It thudded
into the Doctor’s ribs with painful force, ramming him back
against the monster’s body. The Doctor found he couldn’t
move. The pressure on his ribs increased. It seemed obvious
that the sphere was determined to get back to the Yeti, even if
it had to drill a hole through the Doctor to do it!
      Jamie tried to move the sphere away from the Doctor,
but he couldn’t budge it. Painfully, the Doctor gasped,
‘Jamie... get rock...’
      ‘What’s that, Doctor—I dinna understand.’
      The pressure on the Doctor’s ribs was now agonising.
‘Find rock,’ he sobbed. ‘Same size... put in chest...’
      All at once, Jamie saw what the Doctor meant. He
abandoned his attempt to move the sphere, and groped
round frantically for a suitably sized rock. All the stones
around seemed too big or too small. He scrabbled frantically
in the icy mud and snow, the sound of the Doctor gasping for
breath in his ears. At last, he saw a rock the same size and
shape as the silver sphere. It was half buried in ice, and he
couldn’t shift it. Jamie kicked frantically at the rock with his
boot heel. As soon as it came free, he dashed across to the Yeti
and rammed it into the hole in the Yeti’s chest.
      Immediately, the pressure from the sphere cut off. It
dropped harmlessly into Jamie’s cupped hands.
      The Doctor drew a deep, sobbing breath, and rubbed
his aching chest. ‘Are you all right?’ asked Jamie anxiously.
      ‘Just a bit breathless,’ said the Doctor. ‘No, don’t do
that—we may need it.’ Jamie had drawn back his arm like a
shot-putter, and was about to send the sphere whizzing over
the horizon.
      ‘But the thing nearly killed you, Doctor.’
      ‘Not on purpose, though—it’s simply programmed to
return to... oh, my word!’ The Doctor broke off as a sudden
thought struck him.
     It struck Jamie at the same time. ‘The one back in the
Monastery—maybe Travers didna take it!’
     ‘Exactly,’ agreed the Doctor. ‘Victoria said it couldn’t
move by itself—but it can!’
     ‘Aye,’ said Jamie, ‘and if it finds its way back to that Yeti
we captured... we’ve got to warn them!’
     Unaware that the catastrophe they feared had already
happened, Jamie and the Doctor set off down the
mountainside.
                         8
             Revolt in the Monastery
      The Monastery courtyard still showed the after-effects of
battle. Injured monks were having their wounds dressed and
bandaged. The dead were being carried away on stretchers,
their faces covered.
      Victoria finished bathing Thomni’s forehead. ‘There,’
she said. ‘That’s better.’ The young monk’s face had been
covered with blood, but most of it came from a long, shallow
cut on his forehead. To Victoria’s relief the injury wasn’t
nearly so bad as it looked. She was wringing out the cloth in a
stone basin when Khrisong appeared. He glared furiously
down at Thomni. ‘Why did you disobey my orders?’ he
demanded.
      Thomni tried to stand. He reeled dizzily, and had to
hold on to Victoria. Gathering his strength, he replied,
‘Because it was the only thing to do.’
      ‘Had you not opened the gate,’ growled Khrisong, ‘the
creature would not have escaped.’
      Victoria came to Thonmi’s defence. ‘If he hadn’t opened
the gate, you’d have all been dead by now,’ she said spiritedly.
      Khrisong rounded on her. ‘And you—did you not say it
was all your fault. What did you mean by that?’ Victoria was
silent, staring at the ground.
      ‘You’d better answer, Victoria,’ said Thomni gently.
      Without looking up, Victoria said, ‘I put the control unit
back in the Yeti. That’s what brought it to life again.’
      Khrisong called over two of his warriors. ‘Seize her. Put
her in the cell.’
      ‘You don’t understand,’ sobbed Victoria. ‘I didn’t mean
to do it. The sphere made me.’
      ‘Spare her, Khrisong,’ urged Thomni. ‘She would not
deliberately harm us. She must surely have been bewitched.’
      Baffled and angry, Khrisong glared from one to the
other. ‘You are much of one mind, are you not? You disobey
my orders, and she defends you. She confesses her crime, and
you speak for her. Do you plot against me?’
      ‘This is madness,’ protested Thomni. But Khrisong was
not listening.
      ‘Take them both,’ he ordered. ‘Lock them up together.
Let them do their plotting behind bars.’
      Angrily he strode away across the courtyard, while the
warrior monks closed in on Thomni and Victoria.

      The Doctor and Jamie were trudging on down the
mountainside, the Doctor carrying his detection device, Jamie
gingerly carrying the silver sphere. Much to his relief, the
sphere had stopped its signalling once they were away from
the immobilised Yeti. ‘The number of times we’ve traipsed up
and down this mountain...’ Jamie was grumbling. Then he
broke off short. The sphere had started its high-pitched
signalling note again. ‘Hey, Doctor,’ he called. ‘It’s away
again.’
      The Doctor listened intently. ‘That’s a different sort of
signal,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘Slightly different pitch.’ He held
his detection device close to the sphere, and studied the
flickering dials intently.
      Not far away the Abbot Songtsen and his escort of three
Yeti were descending the mountain by a different route.
Suddenly, the Yeti stopped. They paused as if listening, then,
moving as one, they changed direction, setting off on a course
which took them towards the Doctor and Jamie. The Abbot
Songtsen, apparently unaware of what was happening,
continued his journey down the mountain alone.
       The Doctor peered excitedly at the flickering dials. ‘You
know, Jamie,’ he said happily, ‘I think I picked up some kind
of answering signal! Isn’t that splendid?’
       Jamie was less enthusiastic. ‘Can we no’ just get back to
the Monastery?’ he asked plaintively. ‘You can do all your
detecting behind those nice high walls. So come on, will you?’
And he set off down the mountain.
       Obediently, the Doctor followed him. ‘The trouble with
you is, Jamie,’ he said reproachfully, ‘you lack the proper
scientific spirit. This is a perfect opportunity to try and trace
the main transmitter.’
       ‘Aye,’ said Janie. ‘And it’s a perfect opportunity to get
ourselves killed. While you’re fiddling away with that
machine, this thing’s probably calling up all the Yeti in
creation.’
       For a while they plodded on in silence. The signal from
the sphere stopped. Jamie began to hope they might reach
the Monastery safely after all. Then, suddenly, the signal
started up again. ‘I wish you’d keep quiet,’ muttered Jamie.
He tried to muffle the sphere inside his anorak. ‘Can we no’
just throw it away, Doctor?’
       ‘Too late for that, I’m afraid,’ said the Doctor ruefully.
‘Look!’ Barring the path ahead, there stood three of the Yeti.
       ‘We could maybe double back,’ said Jamie. But when he
looked over his shoulder, he saw that two more Yeti were
blocking the path behind them. They were trapped.
       For a long moment nobody moved. Then the Doctor
said quietly, ‘Jamie, give me the sphere. You take the
detection device.’ Quickly they made the exchange.
      ‘Now what?’ asked Jamie.
      ‘We move forward. Very slowly.’
      As they moved, the Yeti moved too, closing in on them.
      The Doctor whispered urgently, ‘When I say run, you
run like the wind. Don’t stop, and don’t worry about me.’
      ‘Och, no, Doctor—’ protested Jamie.
      The Doctor held up his hand. ‘Please, Jamie, just run.
Don’t try to do anything heroic. Promise?’
      ‘Aye, verra well.’ By now they were almost up to the
three Yeti in front of them.
      ‘Run, Jamic, run!’ yelled the Doctor. Jamie sprinted
down the path, dodging between the three Yeti like a centre-
forward making for goal. They ignored him, and continued
their advance on the Doctor. When they were almost within
touching distance, the Doctor twisted round and bowled the
silver sphere back up the path, towards the other two Yeti. He
stood perfectly still.
      The three Yetis lumbered closer and closer. Almost
brushing against him, they lumbered up the path, after the
sphere. The Doctor heaved a sigh of relief. ‘It worked!’ he
said to himself in mild astonishment.
      Then he ran off down the path after Jamie.

     Khrisong hurried across the courtyard to the main
doors where Rapalchan, one of his young warriors, was
keeping guard.
     ‘Rapalchan! Has the Doctor returned?’ he asked
impatiently.
     The sentry shook his head. ‘No, Khrisong. No one has
entered or left!’
     Khrisong paused, indecisively. A man of action above all,
he felt baffled and frustrated. Terrible perils menaced his
beloved Monastery, and he could do nothing to fight them.
Instead he was forced to rely on the promises of this strange
Doctor, a madman springing from nowhere. Even the trusty
Thomni had turned against him, led astray by that devil-girl
Victoria.
       Glaring round the courtyard he found a new target for
his anger. The two old lamas, Sapan and Rinchen, were
strolling placidly across the courtyard on their way to
morning prayer. Nothing must disturb their invariable
routine, thought Khrisong, even though the whole Monastery
was in peril. He crossed over to them and asked., ‘Where is
the Abbot Songtsen?’
       ‘We have not seen him for many long hours,’ said
Sapan.
       ‘Indeed, that is so,’ agreed Rinchen. ‘No doubt he seeks
guidance from the Master Padmasambvha.’
       Khrisong laughed scornfully. ‘Seeks guidance—or seeks
to evade his responsibilities?’
       Sapan was shocked. ‘You ought not to speak so,’ he
reproved.
       ‘Why not? Has anyone ever seen this legendary
immortal?’ Khrisong walked quickly away, leaving the two old
lamas staring after him aghast. What blasphemy! To query the
very existence of the most holy one... Whatever was the world
coming to? Shaking their heads, the two old men went on
inside the Monastery.
       For a moment all was peaceful in the courtyard. It was
the hour of morning prayer, and all those not on duty would
be in the Great Hall. The silence was broken by a gentle
tapping at the main door. A quiet voice said, ‘Open. It is I,
your Abbot Songtsen.’ The astonished Rapalchan opened the
door—it was indeed the Abbot. Songtsen entered. Songtsen
brushed his hand lightly over the young sentry’s face. ‘You
have not seen me, Rapalchan. None has entered, none has
left.’
       Rapalchan stood in a trance, eyes staring ahead, while
Songtsen crossed the courtyard and entered the Monastery.
Once he was out of sight, Rapalchan came to, with a little start
and resumed his vigil. None had entered, none had left.
       Minutes later, Songtsen stood at the side of the
shrouded figure of Padmasambvha. ‘You have done well,
Songtsen,’ the incredibly old voice whispered. ‘The Great
Intelligence takes on material form. Now it will grow and
grow. For their own safety, our brothers must leave the
Monastery.’
       ‘I understand, Master,’ said the Abbot tonelessly. ‘And
the strangers?’
       ‘I will tell you how to deal with them if they return.’

      Victoria paced impatiently up and down the cell. Angrily
she turned to Thomni who sat placidly on the floor in the
posture of meditation.
      ‘How can you take everything so quietly?’ she
demanded. ‘After the way Khrisong spoke to you...’
      ‘Khrisong carries many burdens,’ said Thomni gently.
‘Their weight makes him angry. He knows in his heart we are
innocent. When his anger cools, he will release us.’
      ‘Oh, will he? Well, if you think I’m sitting here quietly
until he has a change of heart...’
      Thomni looked at her in mild surprise. ‘There is
nothing else we can do, Miss Victoria. What is written is
written...’ He returned to his meditation.
      There was a rattle at the door. Victoria looked up
alertly. If they gave her the slightest chance... Rinchen
entered, with a tray of food and drink. Eagerly Victoria seized
one of the stone beakers. ‘Oh, good, I’m so thirsty.’ She
drained the beaker at a gulp.
       For a moment she stood gasping, her hand at her
throat. ‘The taste,’ she gasped. ‘So strange...’ Suddenly she
crumpled to the floor.
       Horrified, Thomni knelt beside her. ‘Miss Victoria, Miss
Victoria...’ She was quite still. Rinchen hovered indecisively. ‘I
will fetch help. Stay with her, Thomni.’ The old lama scuttled
off, leaving the door open behind him in his panic. Thomni
went to the bed to fetch a blanket. He heard movement
behind him and turned. Victoria was on her feet, and by the
door, her eyes sparkling with mischief. ‘Sorry, Thomni,’ she
said, and nipped through the door, slamming and barring it
behind her.

      In the Great Hall, all the warrior monks and lamas were
assembled, summoned by the Abbot Songtsen.
      ‘I have sought guidance from the Master
Padmasambvha,’ he was saying solemnly. ‘In his wisdom he
has told me that there is no defence against the Yeti. We must
flee at once, or we will all be slain.’
      ‘No!’ There was a shout from the doorway and they
turned to see Khrisong. ‘The Doctor has returned. He brings
with him a way to fight this evil.’
      The Abbot said sternly, ‘Khrisong, the Master has
decided...’
      ‘The Master, always the Master,’ interrupted Khrisong.
‘I have felt the strength of these Yeti. See, I bear their scars on
my arm. Yet I will not meekly turn away. I mean to fight!
Who is with me? Come!’
      A confused babble broke out in the Hall. But only a few
of the warrior monks followed Khrisong as he strode out. The
rest, afraid to defy their Abbot, stayed with the lamas and
Songtsen.
      The Abbot’s voice cut through the noise. ‘Brothers,
Khrisong has been led astray by the strangers. He has
forgotten his vows of obedience. Follow him, and bring him
back to the path of wisdom! I will pray for guidance.’ In a
confused mass, monks and lamas poured excitedly from the
Great Hall. Songtsen was left standing alone.
      At once he closed his eyes, and went into a state of
trance.
      ‘Advise me, Padmasambvha,’ he implored. ‘Khrisong
turns his warriors from the path of obedience. Not all of them
will obey your command to go...’
      From all around him, he heard the ghostly voice of
Padmasambvha. ‘If they will not be led from the Monastery—
then they must be driven. This is what you must do...’

      The Doctor and Jamie were waiting in the courtyard
amidst a scene of utter confusion. A little crowd of monks and
lamas milled about arguing and disputing. Some supported
the Abbot, some were for following Khrisong.
      The Doctor looked round in amazement. ‘What’s going
on?’ he said wonderingly.
      ‘Search me,’ said Jamie. ‘Seems they’ve all gone daft.’
      Khrisong shouldered his way through the throng, a little
knot of warriors around him. ‘We must act quickly, Doctor.
The Abbot has ordered us to evacuate the Monastery...’
      He was interrupted by a frantic knocking and scrabbling
at the doors. A faint voice called, ‘Let me in. Please, let me in!’
      Cautiously Khrisong opened the doors. A tattered,
scarecrow figure staggered inside, and collapsed at their feet.
It was Travers.
      The Doctor and Jamie bent over him. He was in a
terrible state, ragged, dirty and bleeding. He had tumbled
down the mountain like a falling boulder, with no concern for
his own safety. His lips were cracked, his eyes wide and
staring, filled with the recollection of that horrible living mass
that was bubbling and growing in the cave...
      ‘Pyramid,’ he muttered feverishly. ‘It was growing...
growing... the noise...’ Travers’ head lolled back, and he
fainted dead away.
      Jamie was thoroughly confused. ‘What was all that
about, Doctor?’
      Before the Doctor could reply, there came a further
shock. The Abbot Songtsen appeared. ‘Seize the strangers,’ he
ordered. ‘They must all be locked up at once. The girl
Victoria has escaped. She too must be taken and imprisoned.’
      At once utter pandemonium broke out. Everyone
started talking and shouting at once.
      ‘Victoria escaped?’ yelled Jamie furiously. ‘Escaped from
where? Where is she? What’s been going on?’
      ‘Abbot Songtsen, please,’ called the Doctor. ‘You really
must listen to me.’ The Doctor’s voice was drowned in the
general babble. Khrisong shouldered him aside, and forced
his way through the little crowd to the Abbot.
      ‘I cannot allow this!’ he protested fiercely.
      The Abbot’s voice was stem. ‘You cannot allow? These
are the orders of the Master. You must obey.’
      ‘These people can help us, Lord Abbot.’
      ‘The Master says there is no help against the Yeti. He
orders us to leave or we will all die.’
      A frightened murmuring from the monks and lamas
showed the effect of his words. Songtsen saw that he had the
upper hand. ‘Take the strangers and lock them up,’ he
ordered.
      A horde of panic-stricken monks descended upon the
Doctor and Jamie, and bustled them away, ignoring their
protests and those of Khrisong. The Doctor was almost
carried off towards the cell, and Jamie, struggling furiously,
was bundled along after him. Other monks picked up the
unconscious Travers and carried him along, too.
      The Abbot turned to Khrisong and the little group of
rebellious warriors around him. ‘Khrisong! Defy me no
further. Take your warriors and find the girl.’ For a moment
it seemed that Khrisong would still refuse. Then, defeated, he
bowed his head, and led his warriors away.
      Except for the sentry at the doors; the Abbot was now
alone in the great courtyard. He walked across to the doors
and said to the sentry, ‘Go and join in the search, my son.’ He
passed his hand lightly over the sentry’s face, and the young
monk froze for a moment, then ran off after his fellows. Once
he was out of sight, Songtsen unbarred the great doors and
then opened them wide. The Monastery of Det-sen was
defenceless. ‘It is done, Master,’ said the Abbot Songtsen.
Then he walked slowly away.

       Since her escape from the cell, Victoria had been hiding
in the empty guest quarters, uncertain what to do with herself
once she was free. She wondered where everyone was, not
realising that Travers, the Doctor and Jamie had just
returned to the Monastery.
       Eventually, she crept cautiously out into the corridor
and moved towards the courtyard. Soon she began to hear the
noise and shouting of the excited monks. Afraid to venture
further, she waited. Suddenly the noise started coming
nearer. She could hear yells and shouts. ‘Find her. Find the
devil girl!’ With a shock, Victoria realised that they were
hunting her. Terrified, she turned and fled, the sounds of
pursuit echoing behind her.
      For what seemed an endless time she was hunted up
and down the gloomy corridors. More than once she eluded
her pursuers by hiding in some dark corner, while they all
raced by. But they always seemed to pick up her trail again.
      By the time she managed to shake them off, Victoria was
in a part of the Monastery that she had never visited before.
She found herself in a little windowless room, lit only by
flickering prayer lamps. On the walls were rich hangings and
tapestries. All around were carved statues, devil masks, rare
ornaments. Victoria knew enough about antiques to realise
that the contents of the little room were virtually priceless.
      At the far end of the room, she saw a pair of ornately
carved double doors. Victoria looked at them curiously,
wondering what was beyond them. She decided not to try and
find out. This place was quiet enough, but it was far too
spooky to be comfortable. She turned to leave, and found that
she couldn’t move. Something, some force, held her
unmoving.
      ‘Enter, my child,’ said a voice. It came from nowhere
and yet from everywhere. It was quiet and gentle, yet it filled
the room. The doors opened before her of their own accord.
‘Come in,’ said the voice again. ‘You must come in, you have
no alternative.’
      Victoria tried to hang back, but the invisible force made
her walk slowly into the Inner Sanctum. Ahead of her she
could see the raised dais, the golden throne with its seated
figure. She was drawn closer and closer. The canopy round
the throne had been pulled back. The seated figure raised its
head and looked at her. Victoria was the first in many
hundred years to look upon the face of Padmasambvha. She
opened her mouth in a gasp of pure terror, too frightened
even to scream...
                          9
                  Attack of the Yeti
      Victoria’s first thought was that the man before her was
incredibly old. Older than Sapan or Rinchen, or any of the
other venerable old men at the Monastery. Older than anyone
she had ever seen or imagined. So old that the shrunken body
seemed like that of a child, swaddled inside the long, flowing
robes.
      The face was quite incredible. Completely hairless, with
huge forehead, sunken cheeks and bony jaw. In contrast to
the wizened face and shrunken body, the eyes were huge and
dark and alive, shining with the blaze of an almost
superhuman intelligence. The Master Padmasambvha had
indeed gone beyond the flesh, His body was merely the worn-
out husk which barely contained his soul and spirit.
      He looked up at Victoria, and smiled with a curious
gentleness. ‘Do not be afraid, my child. Why do you come
here?’
      Victoria tried to babble some explanation. ‘I’m sorry, I
was lost, and I was afraid. They were chasing me, you see,
and...’
      Gently, Padmasambvha interrupted her. ‘You need
help, do you not?’
      ‘Yes, I’m afraid I do,’ said Victoria thankfully. ‘You see,
I can’t find the Doctor and...’
      Padmasambvha held up his hand, cutting her off. ‘One
moment, child.’
      He leaned forward, brooding over the board in front of
him. ‘The courtyard is empty, and the gates are open,’ he said
mysteriously. Victoria leaned forward, peering at the model
landscape with its tiny figures.
      ‘I must do what I am compelled to do,’ said
Padmasambvha sadly. He picked up one of the little figures
from the board.
      ‘What is it?’ asked Victoria curiously. She was getting
over her fear now.
      There was something pathetic about the old man. Yet, at
the same time, something frightening, and unpredictable too.
      ‘Come and see,’ invited the Master, holding up the little
figure.
      Victoria came closer and looked at it. ‘It’s one of those
horrible creatures—a Yeti.’
      Again Padmasambvha gave that curiously sad smile.
‘That is so, my child. But you have not seen it.’ He passed his
hand gently in front of her eyes. Immediately Victoria went
into a trance, her eyes wide open and staring. Padmasambvha
placed the Yeti model down in the courtyard of the miniature
Monastery.
      He reached out for another model. ‘I must do what I am
compelled to do,’ whispered Padmasambvha again.

     The courtyard of the Monastery still stood empty. The
doors were open wide. One after another, four of the Yeti
lumbered into the courtyard. Once inside, they split up, each
making for a different part of the Monastery, as if by some
prearranged plan.

      Things were uncomfortably crowded in the little cell.
Travers lay on the bed. He had fallen into a deep, exhausted
sleep, broken by occasional muttering and twitching.
       The Doctor perched on the wooden stool by the bed,
watching Travers thoughtfully. Thomni sat cross-legged by
the wall in his meditation position. Jamie was pacing up and
down the cell, pausing now and again to bang on the door, or
yell through the grille.
       ‘So that’s why they locked up poor Victoria,’ he was
saying to Thomni. ‘She was telling the truth, you know. Those
wee balls can make you put them back in the Yeti. One of
them nearly did it to me, didn’t it, Doctor?’
       The Doctor nodded absently, his eyes still fixed on the
face of the sleeper.
       Suddenly Travers opened his eyes, and stared in
amazement at the Doctor. ‘Where am I? What happened to
me?’
       ‘We were rather hoping you could tell us that,’ said the
Doctor gently.
       Travers shook his head vaguely. ‘I left the Monastery
then... it’s no use... it’s all a blank... there’s just a feeling of
evil... I felt a shadow on my mind. I felt as if I might drown...’
       ‘Aye, man, but what did you see?’ asked Jamie
impatiently. ‘Where did all this happen?’
       Travers closed his eyes again. ‘I don’t know... I can’t...
I’m so tired...’ His eyes closed and he sunk back into sleep.
       ‘What do you think?’ asked Jamie.
       The Doctor sighed, and scratched his head. ‘He must
have seen something very nasty indeed, I fear. Perhaps
whatever’s behind all this trouble we’re having. If only he
could tell us.’
       There came a tremendous crash from somewhere inside
the Monastery. It was followed by shouts of alarm, cries of
fear, and the sound of running feet. ‘The Yeti are coming,’
yelled a panic-stricken voice. ‘Flee, my brothers, flee!’
      Jamie rattled at the door. ‘What’s going on? Let us out
of here.’
      But the Doctor, with a pleased expression, had pulled
his detection device from under the bed and was carefully
noting the readings.
      Khrisong’s face appeared briefly at the grille. ‘The Yeti
have broken into the Monastery. Stay where you are, you are
safe there.’
      ‘What about Victoria,’ yelled Jamie frantically. ‘Where is
she? Have you found her?’ But Khrisong had gone. Jamie
turned back to the Doctor. ‘Isn’t there something we can...’
      The Doctor hushed him with an upheld hand. Jamie
saw that he was bent intently over the detection device,
studying every little flicker of the dials.

      The Abbot Songtsen, Khrisong and most of the monks
and lamas, were gathered together in the Great Hall. From
throughout the Monastery came the sound of destruction, as
the Yeti carried on their rampage. Occasionally there was a
scream as some unfortunate monk was caught in their path.
Khrisong tried to organise his warriors into a defensive force,
but they were all too panic-stricken.
      He said bitterly to Songtsen. ‘Forgive me, my Abbot. I
have failed you.’
      The Abbot looked at him pityingly. ‘You have not failed,
my son. This disaster was written. Man cannot alter his
destiny.’
      Meanwhile, the Yeti raged unhindered through the
Monastery. Dormitories were wrecked, statues cast down,
priceless treasures mutilated and destroyed. Yet they did not
seem intent on taking life. They attacked only those who
attacked them, or sought to hinder their work of methodical
destruction. It was in the storage cellars that most terrible
havoc was wreaked. The Yeti smashed open food barrels,
burst water tanks so that the food cellars were flooded, and
mixed fuel, food, clothing and medicines into one unusable
pile.




       The Yeti raged unhindered throughout the Monastery.
       Then, as if their work were done, they began to
withdraw from the Monastery.
       A terrified monk rushed into the Great Hall to give the
news to the Abbot. ‘The Yeti are falling back,’ he cried.
       ‘Come, brethren, do not be afraid,’ said the Abbot. He
led his little band from the Great Hall into the courtyard.
       All but two of the Yeti were gone. These two stood
waiting by a great golden statue of Buddha that dominated
the courtyard, the Buddha that was the very spirit and symbol
of Det-sen Monastery. The appearance of the Abbot and his
followers seemed to serve as a signal. The remaining two Yeti
lumbered forward, seized the statue in their mighty paws, and
began to tilt it forward. The old lama, Rinchen, ran forward
from the crowd in horror. ‘No! No!’ he cried. ‘You shall not.’
Stretching out his feeble hands, he made a vain attempt to
prevent the great golden figure from falling. Slowly the
Buddha crashed to the stones of the courtyard, crushing the
life from old Rinchen in the process. The head of the Buddha
was smashed from the body. It rolled slowly across the court-
yard. The two Yeti turned and left.
       Khrisong looked from the broken statue to the broken
body of Rinchen. ‘The Monastery of Det-sen is accursed,’ he
said bitterly. ‘It is time for us to leave.’

      Padmasambvha was communing with the Great
Intelligence. Beside him stood Victoria, unseeing and
unhearing in her trance.
      ‘Now it is complete,’ whispered Padmasambvha. ‘Now
the monks will leave. By nightfall the Monastery will be
deserted, the entire mountain yours.’ He turned his attention
to Victoria. ‘And what of you and your friends, my poor
child? The Doctor is not so easily frightened as my poor
monks. Therefore you must help me. Together we will make
sure that he leaves. Come closer.’
      Unable to resist, Victoria stepped forward.

      Jamie watched impatiently as Thomni finished
scratching a plan of the Monastery on the cell wall with a
piece of chalk fished from the Doctor’s capacious pocket.
      ‘This is the courtyard,’ said Thomni, pointing. ‘We are
here—to the south. The north lies—here.’ And he chalked an
‘N’ on the map.’
      The Doctor took the chalk from him and drew a line
across the map.
      ‘Does your science provide an answer, Doctor?’ asked
Thomni.
      ‘Only half an answer, I’m afraid. We know that the
transmissions come from somewhere on this line. But we need a
second reading, a cross reference to give us the actual place.
That could give us the where.’ Absent-mindedly, the Doctor
scratched his head with the piece of chalk. ‘Of course we still
won’t have the most important thing.’
      ‘Oh aye, and what’s that?’ said Jamie impatiently.
      The Doctor looked at him in surprise. ‘The why of
course. That’s what we really need to know.’
      Travers came to life with a sudden start. He sat up,
looked round, and said cheerily, ‘Hullo, Doctor, Jamie. How
are you all?’
      ‘Oh, fine, just fine,’ said Jamie dryly.
      ‘What’s going on?’ said Travers. ‘What are we doing
here?’
      ‘There’s been a spot of trouble,’ said the Doctor gently.
      ‘With the Yeti,’ added Jamie.
      ‘Oh, really,’ said Travers. ‘Must have missed it all while I
was sleeping.’
      ‘You had a spot of trouble yourself,’ prompted the
Doctor. ‘On the mountainside. You saw something pretty
nasty. Do you remember?’
      ‘Not a thing,’ said Travers. ‘Got a bit of a headache,
actually. Think I’ll get a breath of fresh air.’ He got up, went
to the door and tried to open it. ‘I say,’ he said indignantly,
‘do you chaps realise we’re locked in?’

      In the courtyard, the monks had managed to move the
heavy statue. Some of them were lifting Rinchen’s body on to
a stretcher. Khrisong’s head was bowed in grief.
      ‘Do not blame yourself,’ said the Abbot Songtsen. ‘Death
is inevitable.’ He turned to the monks with the stretcher.
‘Rinchen will accompany us on our journey. There will be
time to mourn our brother. The rest of you gather what is
needed. Save what provisions you can. Soon it will be the
hour for meditation. Then we must depart.’
      ‘What of the strangers?’ asked Sapan.
      ‘They will be taken with us to a place of safety.’
      ‘And the Master Padmasambvha?’
      ‘His powers are great,’ said the Abbot. ‘He will remain.’
      There was a sudden stir amongst the crowd. Many of
the monks fell to their knees. Turning, Songtsen saw that
Victoria had cone into the courtyard. In her hands was the
holy ghanta. A murmur of awe swept through the crowd.
      For a moment Victoria stood immobile eyes wide and
staring hands outstretched. Then she spoke. But the voice
that came from her lips was that of Padmasambvha. ‘I have
chosen to speak to you through the lips of this maiden,’ said
the low, compelling voice that seemed to come from all
around them. ‘She holds the holy ghanta. Bear it away with
you for safe keeping. Treat her with kindness—she and the
other strangers are innocent of malice. They wish to help you
against the Yeti but I tell you there is no help. Det-sen must
be abandoned. When the wind destroys its nest, the bird will
build another.’
      Victoria fell silent. She tottered, and the monks rushed
to support her.
      ‘Release the strangers,’ said Songtsen. ‘Bid them make j
ready to depart.’

      Victoria was in the guest room, sitting on the bed and
gazing straight in front of her, when the Doctor, Jamie and
Travers were brought in by Khrisong and Thomni.
      ‘Victoria, are you all right?’ asked Jamie anxiously. She
did not move,
      ‘Victoria,’ said the Doctor. The sound of his voice
provoked an instant reaction.
      ‘Doctor,’ she said, ‘there is great danger. You must take
me away! Take me away!’ She spoke in a sort of formal chant.
She stopped, and fell into her silent trance. ‘Victoria, what is
it? What’s the matter?’ said Jamie. She ignored him.
      ‘Khrisong, how long has she been like this?’ asked the
Doctor.
      But before Khrisong could reply, Victoria reacted once
more to the Doctor’s voice.
      ‘Doctor, there is great danger. Take me away from here.
Take me away.’ Like a switched-off record she fell silent.
      ‘She’s reacting to my voice,’ said the Doctor. He moved
away. ‘I’d better start whispering.’
      ‘She is still in a trance,’ said Khrisong gravely. Briefly he
told the Doctor what had happened.
       ‘She must have reached the Sanctum,’ said Thomni.
‘She has seen the Holy Padmasambvha.’
       The Doctor looked up sharply. ‘Padmasambvha, the
Master? Surely he must have died long ago—I met him on my
last visit, and he was incredibly old then. He can’t have lived
for another three hundred years.’
       ‘Padmasambvha is ageless, Doctor,’ said Khrisong
gravely. ‘But how could you have known him three hundred
years ago? Are you ageless, too?’
       The Doctor didn’t reply. ‘Padmasambvha—still here,’ he
muttered to himself. ‘Why does nobody tell me anything?’ He
moved to the door. ‘Take care of Victoria for me, Jamie,’ he
whispered. ‘I shan’t be long.’
       ‘Can you no’ help her?’ demanded Jamie.
       ‘I think so, Jamie. But I have to find out something first.
Khrisong, will you walk with me for a moment?’
       As they walked along the corridor together, the Doctor
said, ‘Khrisong, a while ago you wanted my help. Now, you’re
preparing to leave. Don’t you want to save the Monastery any
more?’
       ‘I must obey the Abbot,’ said Khrisong. ‘He wishes us to
leave.’
       ‘Somebody wishes it,’ replied the Doctor. ‘That’s why all
this was arranged. To get you to leave. That’s why someone
opened the gates to the Yeti, so they could spoil all your
supplies and terrify your monks. Are you going to do what
this someone wants?’
       Khrisong was silent.
       ‘I am very close to success,’ said the Doctor. ‘But I still
need help.’
       They stopped at a junction of corridors. ‘If you need my
help, you shall have it,’ said Khrisong.
       The Doctor smiled. ‘Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse
me—I must visit an old friend; one I haven’t seen for many
years.’
       ‘You go to the Sanctum, Doctor? Do you wish me to
accompany you?’
       ‘That won’t be necessary, Khrisong. I already know the
way.’ With a farewell nod, the Doctor set off.
       As he walked through the wrecked and deserted
Monastery his mind was a ferment of ideas. Padmasambvha,
still alive! He must be nearly four hundred years old—an
incredible feat, even for a Tibetan master. Padmasambvha was
a good man, thought the Doctor. One of the best men I’ve
ever known. Who or what could change him? Lost in thought,
the Doctor walked on towards the Inner Sanctum.

       In the Sanctum itself, the frail body of Padmasambvha
was twisting and writhing on his chair, locked in some terrible
inner struggle. ‘Oh, Great Intelligence,’ he gasped, ‘you
promised me release, yet still you hold your grip on my old
body. Is not your plan complete? Will not the mountain
content you...’
       A vision of the cave on the mountain filled the Master’s
mind. The glutinous living mass still seeped from the
pyramid. More and more and more... it filled the cave... it was
filling the tunnel. When would it stop? How much territory
would it cover? ‘You said only the Mountain for your
Experiment,’ shrieked Padmasambvha. ‘If you do not stop,
you will cover the planet. You have lied to me... tricked me.’
The sound of hellish cosmic laughter seemed to fill his ears.
The old Master slumped in his chair. In an appalled whisper,
he said, ‘I have brought the world to its end!’
      For some time he sat on the golden throne, his breath
only a shallow flutter. Then his mind sensed someone in the
Anteroom. He looked at the doors. ‘Enter,’ he whispered, and
the doors opened.
      The Doctor walked slowly towards the throne. He
looked at the shrunken figure upon it, saddened by the toll
the years had taken of his old friend. Padmasambvha had
been old when the Doctor first met him—well over a
hundred. But he had still been vigorous, clear-skinned and
bright-eyed. Now he was a shattered husk of a man, his life
prolonged beyond any natural length. But why, the Doctor
wondered, and how?
      Padmasambvha’s voice was a little more than a breath.
‘Greetings, Doctor. It is good to see your face after so long.’
      The Doctor said quietly, ‘What has happened to you, old
friend?’
      Padmasambvha could speak only with a tremendous
effort. ‘I have been kept alive,’ he whispered feebly. ‘I did not
know... did not realise... Intelligence... formless... on the
Astral plane... it wished for form... substance... said it was
experiment... long life and knowledge, ledge, in return for my
help.’
      The Doctor leaned forward. The thin reedy voice was
scarcely audible. It was as though something was trying to
stop the Master from speaking. The thin whisper went on...
‘Refused to let me go... on and on... not experiment but
conquest!’ The last word came out in a sudden gasp.
      Then the body of Padmasambvha writhed and twisted.
It actually rose in the air and hung suspended. Then it
dropped to the chair, limp, like a rag doll.
      The Doctor leaned forward urgently. He felt the heart,
the pulse, held his magnifying glass before the withered lips to
test for breath. Nothing. Grim-faced, the Doctor turned and
left the room.
       For a moment there was silence. Then suddenly the
body of Padmasambvha jerked and twisted. It sat bolt upright
on the throne filled with new vigour. The eyes that glared
after the Doctor were ablaze with malevolence. The Great
Intelligence was back in control.
                        10
              Peril on the Mountain
       Jamie sat uneasily watching the still-motionless Victoria.
They were alone. Travers had wandered off somewhere.
Jamie had tried speaking to her loudly and commandingly,
gently and persuasively, all to no avail. In sudden
exasperation, he picked up a stool and slammed it down on
the ground just behind her. The stool shattered to pieces.
Victoria didn’t stir.
       ‘What on earth are you doing, Jamie?’ He looked up to
see the Doctor in the doorway. Before Jamie could answer,
Victoria reacted to the Doctor’s voice. ‘Doctor, there is great
danger! You must take me away! You must take me away!
Take me away!’ This time there was an added note of sheer
hysteria in her voice.
       ‘You’ve got to do something, Doctor,’ said Jamie
desperately. ‘I’ve tried everything and she takes no notice at
all. She sounds as if she’s getting worse!’
       The Doctor went over to the bed, and stood over
Victoria. He said gently, ‘Victoria, my dear—’
       This time her voice was a scream of terror. ‘Doctor—
take me away! Take me away!’
       ‘No, Victoria!’ There was a whiplash crack of authority
in the Doctor’s voice. Victoria stopped her screaming, and
gazed up at him in panic... ‘Listen to me, Victoria,’ said the
Doctor firmly. ‘You are no longer in the Monastery, you are
back in the TARDIS. You are safe, do you understand. Safe in
the TARDIS.’
       She looked up at him wonderingly. ‘Safe?’ she
whispered.
       ‘Look at me,’ murmured the Doctor soothingly. ‘You are
tired, your eyes are closing, let yourself relax...’
       Victoria’s eyes closed and her head nodded. So did
Jamie’s. The Doctor jabbed him in the ribs. ‘Not you, Jamie!’
       Jamie came awake with a jerk, grinned sheepishly, and
said, ‘What now?’
       ‘I’ve got to try to erase this implanted fear, If I can,’ said
the Doctor. ‘It’s increasing all the time.’
       ‘Suppose you can’t?’ Jamie asked anxiously.
       ‘We’ll have to do as she says and take her away. Other-
wise she’ll go out of her mind.’
       Jamie looked at him in horror. ‘That’s the object of all
this,’ said the Doctor gently. ‘To make sure we leave with the
others.’
       He snapped his fingers in front of Victoria’s face. Her
eyes opened. ‘Listen, Victoria, you are not in the TARDIS.
You are in the cell with Thomni. Do you understand?’
Victoria nodded slowly. The Doctor went on in the same
compelling tone. ‘Jamie and I have come to release you. We
have taken you back to the guest room. You have been
dozing. You will wake up in a moment, happy but still a little
tired. Do you understand?’ Again Victoria nodded. She
slipped back slowly on to the bed, her eyes closing. She was
asleep.
       ‘I’ve erased the memory of whatever happened after she
left the cell,’ said the Doctor. ‘She should be all right now.’
       Jamie looked at him with respect. ‘I didna realise you
could do that sort of thing, Doctor.’
       ‘I don’t like to do it, Jamie. It’s a serious thing to tamper
with the mind. But in an emergency like this...’
      Suddenly Victoria sat up, yawning. She smiled at them
‘I must have dropped off. I am glad you came and got me out
of that cell. I was so bored...’
      She turned to Jamie who was staring at her open-
mouthed. ‘What are you gawping at, Jamie? Anyone would
think there was something wrong with me!’
      The Doctor chuckled. ‘Stay with her, Jamie. I’ve got
work to do.’ Gathering up his detection device, he slipped
away before Jamie could ask him what he’d discovered.
      The Doctor found Travers on one of the observation
platforms, gazing up the mountainside with his old
binoculars. ‘They’re still up there, Doctor,’ he said. ‘Look.’ He
handed over the field glasses.
      Peering through them, the Doctor could see several Yeti
dotted about the mountainside, motionless and waiting... ‘I
must go back up there,’ he said softly. ‘One more reading and
I can track their control source. I could do with some help.’
      Travers looked at him uneasily. ‘What about the boy?’
      ‘He’s staying here to look after Victoria. They’ll leave
with the monks.’
      Travers nodded. ‘All right, Doctor, I’m your man. I
reckon I owe you something.’
      Some time later, the Doctor and Travers were well on
the way up the mountainside. They rounded a bend and saw
three Yeti guarding the path a little way ahead. The Doctor
turned to Travers. ‘Now we need to provoke it enough to
send out a signal. If you’ll take the reading...’ He started to
hand over the black box.
      Travers shook his head. ‘I don’t know how that thing
works, Doctor. You take the readings and I’ll stir ‘em up.’
      The Doctor looked dubious. ‘I don’t like to ask you to
take the risk...’
      ‘Rot,’ said Travers stoutly, ‘I can take care of myself.’
      He came out from behind the boulders and marched
boldly up to one of the Yeti. It didn’t move. ‘Boo!’ Travers
yelled. Still nothing. Then, suddenly, all the Yeti came to life.
They started moving forwards. ‘Are you getting your
readings, Doctor?’ yelled Travers, backing away in alarm. He
jumped aside, out of their way.
      The Doctor, head bent over the flickering dials, did not
reply. He seemed oblivious of the little group of Yeti
marching straight towards him. ‘Look out, Doctor,’ Travers
yelled. The Yeti marched on, past the Doctor, ignoring him
completely. They veered off at a tangent across the
mountainside, and disappeared from sight behind some
boulders. Travers shook his head. ‘Wonder what caused that?’
he muttered. He went back to the Doctor, who was still
studying his dials. ‘I said did you get your reading?’ he asked.
The Doctor nodded, his face worried.
      ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I’m afraid I did. We’d better be getting
back.’
      Followed by a puzzled Travers, the Doctor started
scrambling down the path. He was frowning furiously, lost in
some very unpleasant thoughts.

     Supervised by the Abbot Songtsen, a sad little procession
of monks and warriors was assembling in the courtyard. They
were bundled up in their warmest robes. The young warriors
were making up heavy packs, containing such provisions as
they had been able to salvage from the wreckage. Jamie and
Victoria stood looking on.
     Khrisong entered the courtyard from the Monastery
and hurried over to them. ‘My warriors have searched every
room. There is no sign of the Doctor, or of Travers,’ he
whispered. Going over to Songtsen he said, ‘It is as you
wished, my Abbot. Every room in the Monastery is empty.’
      ‘It is well,’ said Songtsen gravely. ‘I will ask a final
blessing of the Master, Padmasambvha, then we shall leave.’
He went inside the Monastery.
      Victoria frowned. ‘Master? Padmasambvha? That
sounds...’
      ‘Dinna think about it,’ said Jamie fiercely. ‘Think about
something else. Anything!’
      Victoria looked at him in puzzlement. Luckily there was
an immediate distraction. The Doctor and Travers came into
the courtyard. Victoria rushed up to the Doctor and hugged
him in delight. You’re back! Where have you been?’
      The Doctor disengaged himself with an absent-minded
‘There, there,’ and went over to Khrisong and Thomni. ‘I’ve
found it,’ he said urgently. ‘Khrisong, I’ve found the source of
the transmissions controlling the Yeti!’
      Khrisong indicated the little procession forming up for
departure. ‘I fear you are too late.’
      ‘You don’t understand,’ interrupted the Doctor. ‘As I
suspected all along, it’s here, in the Monastery.’ He looked at
his box. ‘It’s transmitting now, at this very moment.’
      Khrisong looked round. ‘But we are all here, in this
courtyard... all but... the Abbot Songtsen!’
      The Doctor nodded. ‘I fear so. Now that the Master is
dead, he’s the only one left.’
      ‘The Master dead?’ said Thomni.
      The Doctor nodded sadly. ‘I should have told you
earlier. We’d better find Songtsen.’
      ‘No!’ said Khrisong fiercely. ‘I will deal with him. It is
my right.’
      The Doctor looked at him dubiously. ‘He too has great
powers,’ he said.
      ‘He is still my Abbot,’ said Khrisong confidently. ‘He will
not harm me.’ He turned and left. The Doctor was worried.
Could Khrisong deal with the Abbot? The Doctor knew that if
Padmasambvha had been alive, Khrisong wouldn’t have stood
a chance. But since it was only Songtsen...
      Travers said suddenly, ‘Songtsen! He was with them. He
was with the Yeti on the mountainside. And there was a
cave...’
      A look of horror came over Travers’ face as memory
flooded back to him. Briefly, he described seeing Songtsen
escorted by Yeti, and the growing, swelling horror in the cave.
      ‘If Songtsen can control the Yeti, he’s more dangerous
than I’d thought,’ said the Doctor. ‘I think I’d better go and
help Khrisong.’

      Khrisong marched into the Anteroom, a burly, warlike
figure, sword in hand. He towered over the frail figure of the
Abbot who stood, in an attitude of prayer, before the doors to
the Sanctum. ‘You must come with me, Lord Abbot,’ said
Khrisong, gruffly. ‘You must come away from this place.’
      Songtsen looked up at him with mild surprise. ‘What
madness is this?’
      ‘The Doctor has discovered your guilt,’ said Khrisong.
‘You must answer to the brethren for your crimes.’
      He seized the Abbot as if to drag him away by force.
Then a voice spoke out of the air. ‘Khrisong!’
      Khrisong glared round. ‘Padmasambvha. The Doctor
told us you were dead.’
      ‘I am deathless, Khrisong.’ There was a cold gloating
note in the voice.
      ‘Do not try to frighten me. I demand to know what is
happening here!’
      Songtsen was appalled. ‘Demand, Khrisong? You are in
the presence of the Master.’
      ‘A Master of the Yeti?’ demanded Khrisong. ‘A Master
who has destroyed his own monastery?’
      Songtsen turned towards the closed door. ‘Forgive him,
oh Master.’
      ‘Of course,’ said the cold voice. ‘But our brother must
not depart thinking that I am other than I am. Bring him to
me, Songtsen!’
      Songtsen said tonelessly, ‘I obey, master.’ Looking down
at him, Khrisong saw that the Abbot seemed almost in a state
of trance, his eyes staring sightlessly ahead.
      ‘What is this?’ he growled suspiciously.
      The doors to the Sanctum swung open. ‘You may enter,’
said Songtsen. ‘But give me your sword. You may not go
armed into the presence of Padmasambvha.’
      Khrisong hesitated. ‘Do you fear us, Khrisong?’ asked
the voice. ‘We are two old men!’
      Khrisong handed over his sword. He went towards the
doors. Songtsen, the sword in his hands, was behind him.
      Khrisong stopped cautiously on the threshold to the
Sanctum. He peered through the gloom at the figure on the
throne. His eyes widened in awe. ‘Padmasambvha,’ he
whispered. ‘So you are not dead!’
      ‘No, my son, but you are,’ said the cold voice.
      Behind Khrisong, Songtsen raised the sword, and thrust
with savage force. Khrisong gasped and wheeled round. His
eyes, filled with pain and unbelief, fixed on those of his Abbot.
Khrisong took a couple of tottering steps forward and
collapsed. The doors to the Sanctum swung to.
      In the Sanctum, the body of Padmasambvha writhed on
the throne. For a moment a different voice emerged from the
withered lips, as the personality of the real Padmasambvha
broke through. ‘Why do you make me do this? Release me, I
beg of you...’
      Then, as the Intelligence reasserted its control, the cold
voice filled the room. ‘You have done well, Songtsen. Take
the monks from the Monastery, and never return.’
      In the Anteroom, Songtsen said, ‘I obey, master.’ He
was about to leave when the Doctor, Thomni and Jamie
rushed into the room. They found him standing over
Khrisong’s body, the bloodstained sword in his hands.
      The little group stopped at the threshold, appalled.
‘Lord Abbot!’ called Thomni in horror. He rushed to kneel by
Khrisong’s body. Songtsen looked down in horror. ‘What has
happened? Who has slain Khrisong?’ he asked.
      Thomni looked up. ‘You killed him, you!’ he sobbed.
      Songtsen looked in utter amazement at the bloody
sword in his hands... ‘I?’ he said wonderingly.
      A cold voice filled the room. ‘Slay them, Songtsen. Slay
them all!’
      The blankness of trance came over Songtsen’s face and
he raised the sword. ‘Kill! Kill! Kill!’ he hissed.
      ‘Look out!’ yelled the Doctor. He dodged the blow and
grabbed the Abbot’s sword arm.
      Despite his modest size, the Doctor could exert amazing
strength when he needed to. But he was helpless in
Songtsen’s grip. The frail old body was vibrating with
supernatural force. Thomni and Jamie, both young and
strong, joined in the struggle. It took every ounce of their
combined strengths to subdue the Abbot and wrench the
sword from his hands. Suddenly Songtsen slumped in their
grip. The Doctor stood back panting. ‘Get him out of here,’ he
gasped. ‘Quickly!’
      Jamie and Thomni dragged the Abbot away. The Doctor
looked grimly at the closed doors to the Sanctum. ‘I was
wrong, then,’ he thought grimly. ‘Whatever is controlling
Padmasambvha will not let him die!’
      The Doctor turned and left, and the Anteroom was filled
with the mad, icy laughter of the Intelligence.
      As the Doctor walked along the corridor he met an
excited Travers. ‘You’d better come at once, Doctor. There’s
going to be a riot!’
                        11
                  The Final Battle
      A confused and angry crowd filled the courtyard. They
surrounded Jamie and Thomni, and the frightened and
confused Songtsen. ‘Indeed, it is true, brothers,’ Thomni was
shouting. ‘Khrisong was slain by the Abbot. But Songtsen was
under an evil spell, placed on him by the Master.’
      One of the young warrior monks thrust himself to the
front of the crowd. ‘Tell us it is not so, my Abbot,’ he
implored.
      For     a   moment       Songtsen      gazed     at  him
uncomprehendingly. Then, grabbing the still bloody sword
from Thomni’s hand he hissed, ‘Kill! Kill! Kill!’ and swung the
sword at the astonished monk. Once again it took the
combined efforts of several strong young warriors to hold
down the frail body. Then the fit was over and the Abbot went
limp.
      A roar of fear and terror rose from the crowd. ‘He is
bewitched,’ they shouted. ‘He is possessed by demons. Slay
him now before he kills us all.’ Another warrior stepped
forward, sword raised high above Songtsen’s head. Ignoring
the weapon, Jamie gave the man a hearty shove that sent him
staggering back into the crowd.
      ‘I’m thinking we’ve had enough killing,’ he said grimly.
‘Stand back!’
      ‘Do not interfere, stranger,’ said the monk angrily, and
the warriors began to close in. Jamie slipped the highland
dagger from his stocking, and shoved the Abbot behind him.
       ‘Wait, my brothers,’ called Thomni, but the warriors
would not listen.
       As the Doctor entered the courtyard with Travers, he
took in the ugly situation at a glance. In times of crisis, his
normally modest and unassuming personality took on a new
force.
       ‘Stop this nonsense at once,’ he ordered, pushing
through the crowd.
       ‘Your Abbot is not responsible for his crime. Neither for
that matter is the Master, Padmasambvha. Both are being
controlled by a greater force.’
       The monks fell silent. ‘What must we do, Doctor?’ asked
old Sapan.
       ‘Leave the Monastery. There is great evil here. One day
soon, if I am successful, you will be able to return.’
       ‘The Doctor is right, my brethren,’ shouted Thomni.
‘Let us obey him and leave now!’
       There was a murmur of agreement. Their anger sub-
siding, the confused and frightened monks began to gather
up their belongings. Thomni said, ‘And what of you, Doctor?’
       ‘I shall stay here,’ said the Doctor simply. ‘If this evil
isn’t stopped it will spread... And the root of it is here, in this
Monastery.’
       ‘Well, if you’re staying, I’m staying too,’ said Victoria
firmly.
       ‘Aye, and me!’ added Jamie.
       ‘I too will stay and help you, if I may, Doctor,’ said
Thomni.
       The Doctor smiled. ‘Thank you, all of you. It may be
dangerous, but I won’t pretend I’m not glad of your help.’
       ‘What’s the first step?’ asked Jamie.
       ‘There are things I need to know,’ said the Doctor
thoughtfully. ‘And Songtsen is the only one who can tell me.’
       ‘How will you make him do that, Doctor?’ asked
Thomni. ‘His mind is controlled.’
       The Doctor sighed. ‘There’s more than one kind of
control, Thomni. Let’s take him inside, shall we?’
       Travers walked slowly back to his room. He was
convinced that, for all his cleverness, the Doctor was wrong.
The source of the evil wasn’t some old monk in the
Monastery, it was the evil throbbing mass in that cave up the
mountain.
       There was nothing Travers wanted less than to see that
cave again. But he reckoned it was up to him. He picked up
his rifle and loaded it. He’d blast that pyramid thing with a
clip full of bullets, and see if that stopped it.
       Unnoticed by the busy monks, Travers slipped out of
the gate and began climbing up the mountain path. It was
getting dark now. For a moment he stopped, and looked back
longingly at the lights of the Monastery. Then, he began to
climb the path, dreading what he might find at the end of his
journey.
       In the Great Hall, the Abbot Songtsen sat on a high-
backed stone chair. His eyes were wide open and he stared
unseeingly ahead of him. But this time, the voice he heard
and obeyed came not from Padmasambvha, but from the
Doctor.
       ‘What about the robots, the false Yeti?’ the Doctor was
prompting.
       ‘They were designed to serve the Intelligence. Their
purpose was to frighten all travellers and pilgrims from Det-
sen, lest they hinder the Great Plan.’
       ‘And just what is this plan?’ the Doctor asked.
      ‘At first the Intelligence said that it wished only to create
substance for itself—as an experiment. It wanted only the
cave. Then it demanded the whole mountain. The Monastery,
too. Its appetite is insatiable. It seeks to overwhelm the whole
world.’
      The Doctor remembered Travers’ description of the
glowing, ever-growing mass in the cave. He had a sudden
horrific vision of the whole earth, hanging in space, one
heaving, pulsating mass. And what then? Suppose it travelled
through space. All the planets in the Universe could be under
threat. The Doctor shivered. Somehow he had to stop it.
      ‘Tell me, Songtsen,’ he said. ‘How are the Yeti con-
trolled?’
      ‘By Padmasambvha.’
      ‘What about the control units? Where did they come
from?’
      ‘Under the guidance of the Intelligence, the Master
laboured for nearly three hundred years. He made the
control units, the Yeti, all the other wonderful machines...’
      ‘But there still has to be some kind of master
transmitter,’ insisted the Doctor. ‘The power source that
amplifies the commands of Padmasambvha’s mind. Where is
it?’
      Songtsen said, ‘It is in the Sanctum.’
      The Doctor was puzzled. ‘I’ve been in the Sanctum, very
briefly, it’s true, but I saw nothing.’
      ‘There is a secret room...’
      ‘Where is it, Songtsen? How do we get in there?’
      There was no reply. The Abbot sat staring into space.
      The Doctor leaned forward, his voice commanding.
‘How do we reach the secret room, Songtsen? You must tell
us. You must tell us...’
     In the Inner Sanctum the body of Padmasambvha
jerked into life as the Intelligence took over. The withered
hand hovered over the board, picked up a Yeti and moved it
down towards the Monastery.

       Out on the mountain, in the fast-gathering dark,
Travers plodded on, rifle in hand. Not that he really expected
the weapon would do him any good against a Yeti. It was just
that its presence gave him a certain comfort.
       He heard the sound of huge shuffling feet ahead of him
and dropped into cover. Two Yeti lumbered past, then
another and another. Making for the Monastery, thought
Travels. He hoped those poor devils of monks had got safely
away. And what about that fellow, the Doctor? What were his
plans?
       Travers got to his feet and started to move on. As he
climbed he became aware of something very strange. On the
lower slopes of the mountain, it had been getting darker and
darker as the night drew on. But now that he was actually
getting closer to the cave it seemed to be getting lighter. It was
as though the entire mountain was somehow glowing.
       The strange light continued to increase. Then as he
came within sight of the cave, Travers understood why. The
cave itself was the source of the light.
       The pulsating, glowing mass of the Intelligence’s
physical form was flooding out of the cave at an absolutely
incredible rate. Spreading out from the cave, it seemed to be
seeping into and absorbing the very substance of the
mountain.
       It was moving in both directions, upwards as if to
consume the topmost peak of the mountain, and downwards
too. If it went on spreading it would eventually ooze down the
mountain slopes and engulf the entire Monastery.
      Travers realised the foolishness of his plan to attack the
pyramid in the cave. There was nothing he could do against
the kind of power that was exultantly displayed here. Perhaps
the Doctor had been right all along. Perhaps the Monastery
did hold the key to it all. Travers remembered the Yeti he
had seen trooping down the mountainside. With a sudden
sense of urgency, he began to run back down the path.

      In the Great Hall, the Doctor handed Songtsen over to
the care of the old lama Sapan, who was now the leader of the
monks. ‘I have done my best to erase the memory of evil from
his mind,’ said the Doctor. ‘But he will be troubled for a long
time. He has suffered much.’
      ‘We will care for him, Doctor,’ promised Sapan. Two
other lamas gently led the old Abbot out of the hall.
      The Doctor turned to those left behind—Thomni, Jamie
and Victoria. ‘Now remember,’ he said. ‘As soon as all the
monks and lamas are safely away, we’ll have to make our
attack on the control room of the Intelligence. You two lads
have got to smash up the equipment. Whatever you find in
there, wreck it utterly and completely, do you understand?’
The two young men nodded.
      ‘I thought these would be useful,’ said Thomni. He
produced a pair of long, heavy, iron-tipped staffs. Jamie took
one and swung it appreciatively.
      ‘Aye,’ he said happily, ‘that ought to do it.’
      ‘It won’t be any picnic,’ warned the Doctor. ‘The
Intelligence has supernormal powers and it will use them all.’
      ‘What kind of powers?’ asked Victoria nervously.
      ‘Well, it’ll probably try to hypnotise you,’ said the
Doctor. ‘Thomni, you teach her the ‘jewel in the lotus’ prayer.
That’ll give her something to concentrate on...’
      Their conference was interrupted by a chorus of shouts
and screams from outside. Led by the Doctor, they rushed
outside to see what was wrong.
      In the courtyard the procession was ready to move off.
But all the monks were gazing upwards, at the mountain.
‘Look, Doctor,’ called Sapan. ‘The mountain is burning.’
      The Doctor looked. The night was now so dark, and the
flowing substance from the cave had now spread so far, that it
could be clearly seen from the Monastery. It seemed as
though the whole peak of the mountain was glowing and
burning. And the glow was moving downwards.
      The Doctor turned quickly to Sapan. ‘There is even less
time than I feared. You must lead your brethren away at
once.’
      Obediently the old lama began to give orders. The
warrior monks marshalled the procession into line. They
began to hand out torches for the steep climb down to the
lower valley.
      ‘Our brethren in the plains will give us shelter,’ said
Sapan. ‘But I fear for you, Doctor. Will you not let our brave
warriors stay and help you?’
      ‘They are needed to guard you and your fellow lamas,
Sapan,’ replied the Doctor. ‘Thomni is staying with me—he
will be all the help I need.’ The Doctor thought to himself that
if the few of them couldn’t succeed, a larger party would do
no better. ‘Go now, Sapan,’ he said.
      The little procession began to wind its way out of the
courtyard and down the path. Standing by the doors, the
Doctor and his companions watched the line of torches
disappear into the darkness. Floating up to them came the
sound of monks chanting the ‘jewel in the lotus’ prayer that
Thomni had just taught Victoria.
      ‘Om, mane, padme, hum.’ The sound was curiously
moving and beautiful.
      At last the lights died away, the sounds faded and they
were left alone. Victoria shivered. How strange and eerie to
be the sole inhabitants of the Monastery! Except, that is, for
whatever was lurking in the Sanctum.
      ‘Will we shut the doors, Doctor?’ asked Jamie.
      The Doctor shrugged. ‘No point, Jamie. We’re fighting
something inside as well as outside.’ He glanced grimly up at
the glowing, burning mountain for the last time, and led them
back inside the Monastery.
      As the little party disappeared inside the building, there
was movement outside the doors. Yeti appeared from the
darkness. Grouped in a semicircle, they stood waiting outside
the gates.
      Back in the Great Hall, the Doctor gave his companions
a final briefing. ‘As soon as we’re in the control room, I’ll
tackle the Intelligence. Thomni and Jamie, move away the
statue of Buddha at the end of the room. Get inside there
and—’
      ‘Aye, you’ve told us,’ said Jamie. ‘Smash the lot to bits!’
He and Thomni picked up their massive, iron-tipped staffs.
Jamie spun his, whistling it through the air.
      ‘What about me?’ asked Victoria. ‘What do I do?’
‘Nothing, I hope,’ said the Doctor briskly. ‘But you never
know. Something may turn up.’
      He hadn’t the heart to tell Victoria she was only being
included in the expedition because she would find it even
more frightening to be left on her own. Moreover, win or lose,
she’d be as safe with them as she would anywhere. ‘Everybody
ready?’ asked the Doctor. ‘Right, off we go.’
      As they moved cautiously along the gloomy corridors,
Jamie had a sudden thought.
      ‘Hey, what happened to yon fellow Travers? I havena
seen him.’
      ‘Maybe he’s deserted us,’ suggested Victoria.
      ‘I somehow doubt it,’ said the Doctor. ‘More likely he’s
gone off on some scheme of his own.’
      ‘Well, he’s no’ here now, at any rate,’ said Jamie. ‘We’ll
just have to manage without him!’ By the light of their
flickering torches they crept forward along the echoing stone
corridors towards the Inner Sanctum.

      Travers, in fact, was very near. He was running full tilt
down the last stretch of the path towards the Monastery. Far
below him in the darkness he could see the torch-lit
procession of the departing monks, and even hear their
chanting.
      As he came to the gates of the Monastery, Travers came
to a sudden halt.
      Standing grouped in a semicircle around the door was a
group of Yeti—four of them. He wondered if they were
activated or not. He picked up a big rock and rolled it towards
them. Instantly all the Yeti swung round, alert to the
movement. They were alive all right, thought Travers. Alive
and waiting. There was nothing for it—he would have to wait,
too.
      Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw that the
glowing mass was covering more and more of the mountain.
      It was moving nearer and nearer to the Monastery.
Soon he would have to leave. Yet somehow, Travers felt that
things were coming to a climax. He decided to wait as long as
he could. Those Yeti were waiting for something, too.

      The Doctor and his friends stopped in the corridor
outside the Anteroom. ‘Everyone remember what to do?’
asked the Doctor. They all nodded. Jamie and Thomni took a
firmer grip of their staves. ‘All right,’ said the Doctor. ‘In we
go!’
      Their actual entrance into the Anteroom was something
of an anti-climax. All was still and quiet. The prayer lamps
were burning low and the place was shrouded in gloom and
silence. Led by the Doctor, the little group moved forward.
      The Doctor went up to the doors of the Inner Sanctum.
He tried them, but they were fast closed. Suddenly, the voice
of the Intelligence spoke to them, out of the air. There was a
subtle change in its quality. It was harsher, colder, more
inhuman, the traces of Padmasambvha’s personality almost
completely erased.
      ‘Why are you here?’ the voice said. ‘Why do you not
heed my warnings? You are stubborn, Doctor.’
      ‘Who are you?’ said the Doctor steadily. ‘Or should I
rather ask—what are you?’
      A terrible mock-sweetness came into the alien voice.
‘You know me well, Doctor. Am I not your old and treasured
friend, Padmasambvha?’
      ‘No!’ said the Doctor. ‘No, you are not. You have
captured his spirit and abused his body. You have taken the
mind and being of a good and great man, and corrupted and
abused it. I ask again, who are you? Where do you come
from?’
      ‘I come from what you would call another dimension. I
was exiled into yours, without physical substance; condemned
to hover eternally between the stars. Then I made contact
with the mind of Padmasambvha. He had journeyed further
on the mental plane than any other of your kind. I tempted
him, promised him knowledge and long life. Gradually I took
him over, and made him my own. But I have rewarded him
well.’
       ‘You have enslaved him,’ said the Doctor angrily. ‘Now
you withhold from him the one thing he craves—the boon of
a natural death. You are evil. You are what men once called a
demon!’
       Jamie, Thomni and Victoria waited motionless behind
the Doctor while this exchange was going on. ‘It’s all verra
well standing here name-calling,’ thought Jamie. ‘How’s he
going to get the thing to open the door?’
       Similar thoughts were passing through the Doctor’s
mind. His one hope was that the Intelligence had not realised
that the power of Hypnotism was shared by the Doctor. So
long as it was unaware of the extent and the value of the
information he had drawn from the mind of Songtsen, they
still had a fighting chance.
       ‘You are unwise to anger me, Doctor,’ said the voice.
‘My purposes are beyond the understanding of such a puny
brain as yours. And I have power. Much power...’
       The Doctor made his voice deliberately contemptuous.
‘You? Much power?’
       Suddenly, one of the heavy bronze lamps flared up in a
sheet of flame. It whizzed through the air like a cannon ball,
missing the Doctor’s head by inches, and crashed into the
wall. The three others gasped in terror, but the Doctor didn’t
turn a hair.
      ‘A little simple teleportation?’ he said scornfully. ‘Are
you going to keep us here watching conjuring tricks? What
next? Rabbits out of hats?’
      ‘Aye, you’re a cunning wee fellow, Doctor,’ thought
Jamie. ‘Playing on its vanity. I hope it works. If we canna get
into that Sanctum, we’re done for.’
      ‘Why don’t you open those doors?’ the Doctor said
mockingly. ‘Afraid to face us, are you?’
      There was a moment of silence. Then slowly the doors
swung open. The Doctor turned round to his companions.
      ‘Anything may happen now. Anything at all. Trust me.
And, above all—don’t panic.’ Slowly he led them through the
doors and into the Inner Sanctum.
      Once inside, Jamie and Thomni looked in astonishment
at the golden throne. The drapes were pulled now, obscuring
it, but they could still see the little figure crouched over his
table. A memory of some old fear passed through Victoria’s
mind, but she pushed it aside. She began to repeat the prayer
that Thomni had taught her.
      ‘Om, mane, padme, hum, om, mane, padme, hum.’ She
repeated the soothing words over and over.
      Jamie looked at the little figure almost with pity. ‘Och, is
that all?’ he thought. ‘You could blow the wee fellow away
with a sneeze.’ Then, before he could move another step
toward the dais, his whole body was caught by some terrifying
invisible force.
      He literally could not move a muscle. Thomni and
Victoria were held in the same way. So too, it seemed, was the
Doctor. Or was he? Slowly, with infinite effort, the Doctor
managed to take first one step and then another. He directed
the entire force of his will towards the little shrouded figure
on the golden chair. The build-up of energy in the little room
was overpowering. Suddenly, the blast of a mighty wind
ripped through the room, sweeping away the draperies
around the throne. Padmasambvha was revealed sitting bolt
upright, eyes blazing with malignancy.
      ‘Now!’ yelled the Doctor. ‘Now!’
      Jamie felt the grip on him slacken. He saw that the
Doctor was standing in a half-crouch, one foot on the steps of
the dais. His eyes were locked with those of the wizened figure
on the throne. The effort required to do battle with the will of
the Intelligence was distorting his face.
      ‘Come on, Thomni,’ yelled Jamie. ‘Let’s get to work.’
      They ran to the golden statue of Buddha and swung it
aside, following the instructions from Songtsen. The entrance
to the hidden control room was revealed. But before they
could enter, a high-pitched sound filled the room. Blinding
lights flickered before their eyes. Jamie saw that the Doctor
was sinking slowly to his knees. Then, with agonising
slowness, the Doctor began to straighten up. His eyes fixed on
those of the possessed Master, he took another step forward.
A low ghastly moan filled the room as the Intelligence realised
the strength of the mind that was opposing it.
      ‘Come on, Thomni,’ yelled Jamie. The two young men
dashed into the secret control room. It was bare, and very
small. All the walls were covered with an incredible tangle of
equipment, of all ages and in all conditions—a mad, lunatic
lash-up of electronics. At one end of the room a plain metal
pyramid reposed on an altar. At the other end a glowing
sphere, larger even than the ones which Jamie and Victoria
had seen in the cave, caught their attention.
      For a moment the two young men stood amazed. Then
Jamie heard a strangled shout from the Doctor. ‘Hurry,
Jamie, hurry. Can’t hold out much...’
      Jamie raised his staff and smashed it down on a control
panel. Thomni did the same. They worked frantically with
great sweeping blows. Soon the entire control room was well
on the way to being wrecked.
      Outside in the Sanctum, Victoria watched as the Doctor
waged his battle of wills with the Intelligence. She sensed a
deadlock. Neither could afford the slightest distraction. Then
to her horror she saw the withered hand of Padmasambvha
creeping out towards the board.
      ‘Look out, Doctor,’ she called. ‘He’s going to bring the
Yeti in.’
      The Doctor redoubled his concentration, but he was
unable to stop the movement of the hand. One by one, four of
the Yeti models were placed on the map of the Monastery.

      Outside the Monastery doors, Travers saw four of the
Yeti move swiftly inside. Once they were under way, he
started to follow them.
      The Yeti seemed to move at a far greater speed than
normal. As if impelled by some signal of great urgency, they
rushed along the corridors, Travers trailing cautiously behind
them.

      Inside the Sanctum, the Doctor was still locked in
struggle with the Intelligence. Like two wrestlers of exactly
even strength, neither of them could move.
      But the Doctor knew that the alien strength of the
Intelligence would soon wear him down. And once he
weakened, all would be over... They would all die.
      Victoria watched helplessly. From inside the hidden
control room came the sound of smashing equipment. Jamie
and Thomni were going about their task with savage gusto.
Then, from the corridor she heard the sound of roaring. The
Yeti were coming!
      ‘Victoria—get the models...’ gasped the Doctor. ‘Move
them back...’
      Victoria forced herself to go forward to the table. But
the strength of the Intelligence’s will was too much for her.
Even locked in struggle with the Doctor, it stopped her from
reaching the models.
      ‘Resist it,’ urged the Doctor. ‘Say the prayer!’
      Victoria tried. ‘Om, mane, padme, hum. Om, mane,
padme, hum...’ But it was no use. She could not move her
hand. And then it was too late. The Yeti burst into the room.
As they lumbered towards him, the Doctor managed to yell,
‘Jamie, Yeti... here...’
      In the control room, Jamie and Thomni looked at each
other.
      ‘We have smashed all that controls them,’ said Thomni.
Jamie looked round.
      ‘Aye, except this,’ he said, and moved towards the
sphere on the altar. Raising his staff above his head, he
brought it smashing down on the sphere.
      A Yeti, its arm drawn back to attack the Doctor,
staggered back with a roar. There was an explosion from
somewhere inside it and, it reeled away smoking, a hole blown
in its chest. The control unit had exploded. The same
happened to all its companions. They collapsed, shattered
wrecks, on the floor.
      The voice of the Intelligence said, ‘You have destroyed
my servants, but you have not destroyed me!’
      Travers rushed into the room. Raising his rifle, he
emptied the whole magazine into the figure on the throne. It
brushed its hand across its face as though swatting a fly, and
then held out the hand. In it lay the spent bullets.
      The Intelligence gave its terrible laugh. ‘Oh foolish
man,’ it said. ‘Did you not realise my power in the cave?’
      The cave, thought the Doctor with the part of his mind
that was still free. What did Travers tell me about the cave?
Raising his voice, he yelled, ‘Jamie, is there a pyramid in
there?’
      ‘Aye, there is that!’ Jamie called back.
      ‘Then smash it. Smash it now!’
      In the control room Jamie and Thomni lashed with all
their force at the pyramid. Suddenly it shattered into
fragments as though made of glass.
      Padmasambvha’s body gave out a last terrible scream.
      From somewhere outside came a series of rumbling
explosions that shook the building. The cave in the mountain
had exploded.
      The body on the throne gave a sudden leap, falling from
the throne. It landed across the little table, knocking it to the
ground. With a final convulsive twitch, the Intelligence left it.
      The Doctor lifted the shrivelled body in his arms. Worn
out by years of slavery, it was almost weightless. Suddenly
Padmasambvha’s eyes opened. He saw the Doctor looking
down at him, and smiled.
      Victoria realised that, for the first time, they were seeing
the real Padmasambvha, free of the Intelligence. When he
spoke, his voice was warm and gentle, the voice of a wise old
man.
      ‘At last, I shall have peace... I waited so long, Doctor. I
knew you would come, and save me from myself...’ The old
man’s head fell back.
  The pyramid... shattered into fragments as though made of glass.

      ‘Goodbye, old friend,’ said the Doctor, and lowered the
frail body to the ground. Jamie and Thomni emerged from
the control room.
      ‘It worked,’ said the Doctor. ‘The Intelligence is
destroyed. My old friend Padmasambvha can rest at last.’
      They all walked slowly from the Sanctum, and made
their way back to the courtyard.
      ‘Look,’ said Travers, and pointed. They all looked up.
The glow had gone from the mountain. The explosion in the
cave had destroyed the physical being of the Intelligence.
      ‘Yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘It’s really over at last.’ He yawned
and stretched.
      ‘You know, I think I could do with some sleep.’
                    12
          The Abominable Snowman
      Next morning, as the Doctor, Jamie, Victoria and
Travers came out into the courtyard, they were greeted by a
deafening clang. Thomni was solemnly banging an enormous
gong. ‘What on earth are you doing?’ asked Victoria, her
hands over her ears.
      ‘It is the hour for morning prayer, Miss Victoria,’
explained Thomni.
      Victoria frowned. ‘But there’s no one here but you.’
      ‘All the more reason that I should strictly observe the
rituals, until my brothers return,’ said Thomni. ‘They will
hear the gong and know that all is well.’
      ‘Time we all said goodbye, I’m afraid,’ said the Doctor.
      Thomni looked disappointed. ‘Can you not stay until my
brethren return? They will wish to thank you.’
      ‘I’m afraid not,’ said the Doctor hastily. ‘You see, I’m
worried about my equipment. It might have been damaged
when the top of the mountain exploded.’
      Thomni looked at the mountain. It was now quite a
different shape at the top, part of the upper peak having been
blown away. ‘Very well then, Doctor. Goodbye and thank you
again.’ After more farewells, Travers said, ‘I’ll see you safely
up the mountain, Doctor!’
      Nothing they could say would dissuade him, and they all
set off up the mountain path together. Looking back, they
could see that once again the doors of Det-sen Monastery
stood wide and welcoming. Victoria just caught a fleeting
glimpse of Thomni setting off for prayers in a one-man
procession. She smiled. He really had been very nice. But
very solemn.
      Jamie came up close to the Doctor and whispered,
‘You’re not really worried about the TARDIS, are you,
Doctor?’
      The Doctor shook his head. ‘The TARDIS is
indestructible, Jamie, you know that. No, I just thought it was
time we were leaving.’
      Jamie indicated Travers, who was happily marching on
ahead.
      ‘What about him, Doctor? The TARDIS will be a bit of a
shock to him.’
      ‘I know,’ said the Doctor. ‘That’s been worrying me
rather. But he won’t take any hints!’
      There came a shout from Travers. He had stopped, and
was waving to them. ‘Look at this!’ The shattered body of a
Yeti lay across the path. ‘Its chest unit must have exploded at
the same time as those in the Sanctum,’ said Jamie.
      ‘Wonderful machines, those,’ said the Doctor. ‘Almost a
shame to have destroyed them. Something for you to take
back from your expedition at any rate, Mr. Travers.’
      Travers sighed. ‘They’d only say it was a fake. If they
won’t believe in the real Yeti, they certainly wouldn’t credit
what’s happened here.’
      Walking round the shattered robot, they went on. ‘You
really needn’t trouble to come with us any further, Mr.
Travers,’ said the Doctor.
      ‘Ay, that’s right,’ agreed Jamie eagerly. ‘No doubt you’ll
want to be off hunting your beasties!’
      ‘I’m thinking of giving all that up,’ said Travers
gloomily. ‘I’m only getting myself laughed at. Wretched
thing’s probably only a legend anyway.’
       ‘Don’t give up, whatever you do,’ urged the Doctor. ‘It’s
a splendid thing to have a dream... even if it does turn out to
be a legend.’
       ‘Maybe,’ said Travers, but he didn’t sound convinced.
‘Let’s get on,’ he suggested. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing
this camp of yours.’
       The Doctor and his companions exchanged glances, and
they all walked on. The journey became more difficult now as
they climbed higher. The explosion at the cave had thrown
down rocks and boulders which covered the path, and they
had to clamber over and round them. ‘Much further, is it?’
puffed Travers.
       The Doctor shook his head resignedly. ‘Not far. Once
we get through that clump of boulders we’ll be there.’
       A few minutes later, Travers was staring in utter
amazement at the old blue police box perched incongruously
on a mountain ledge. ‘My word,’ he said. ‘What the blazes is
that doing here?’
       The Doctor cleared his throat. ‘Well, as a matter of fact,
Mr. Travers,’ he began. There came a sudden scream from
Victoria. ‘Look—another Yeti. It’s moving.’
       ‘That’s impossible!’ said the Doctor. They all looked
where she was pointing. Not far away, behind some boulders,
a creature was peering shyly at them.
       ‘It’s different!’ said Victoria. ‘Not like the others at all!’
And so it was. It was taller and less bulky. The fur was longer
and silkier, and had a more reddish tint. Above all, the face
was different, rather like that of a lemur, with dark, soft eyes.
Travers was looking at it entranced. ‘Don’t you see?’ he said.
‘It’s a Yeti. It’s a real Yeti, not some wretched robot. I’ve
found it. I’ve found it at last!’
       Travers began stumbling towards the Yeti, across the
mountain slope. For a moment the creature watched him
approach. Then it gave a curiously high-pitched squeal of
fright and disappeared behind a boulder. Travers broke into
a run, and soon he too had disappeared from view.
       ‘I rather think this is our opportunity,’ said the Doctor.
‘No need to worry about Mr. Travers’ reaction to the
TARDIS. By now he’s forgotten its existence.’
       ‘Do you think he’ll catch his Yeti, Doctor?’ asked
Victoria.
       ‘That doesn’t really matter,’ said the Doctor gently. ‘The
important thing is, he’s found his dream again.’
       Jamie shivered. ‘Let’s be away then, Doctor,’ he said.
‘It’s no’ a bad place, this Tibet of yours, but it’s awful chilly.
Next time you want to visit some old friends, can you no’
make it somewhere warmer?’
       ‘Honestly, Jamie, you’re always grumbling,’ said
Victoria. ‘Anyway, you know the Doctor’s got no idea where
the TARDIS will finish up next.’
       ‘That’s most unfair, Victoria,’ protested the Doctor.
       ‘There may be the occasional navigational error, but
basically I am fully in control—well, more or less.’
       Wrangling amiably the three companions walked across
the snow and disappeared inside the TARDIS. After a
moment, a strange groaning noise echoed through the
mountain air, and the old blue police box shimmered and
vanished. The Doctor and his friends were off on their next
adventure.