Rain of Terror (novel)

Rain of Terror was a novel in the Doctor Who 2 in 1 books range.

Publisher's Summary
In Rain of Terror, terrible tiny creatures swarm down from the sky, intent on destroying everything on planet Xirrinda. As the colonists try to fight the alien infestation, the Doctor searches for the ancient secret weapon of the native Ulla people. Is it enough to save the day?

Plot
Gellen is having a birthday surprise from her father and his girlfriend. The take her on a Galactic Safari trip to Xirrinda. From her hotel, she watches as native animals of the planet run around in the distance. Suddenly, as she watches from her veranda, small, brown pebbles land nearby. It cracks open and a small creature with a number of spindly legs comes out of its shell and reveals its sharp teeth to her.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor offers  Amy and  Rory a party. Rambling on about it is shocked by the sudden jolt as the TARDIS shudders.

Gellen's father comes to her help and pulls her away from the tiny creatures. As he pulls her from the room, he can hear the screams of others as they realise creatures are entering their rooms. Reaching the car park, her father puts Gellen in the car, but it's too late for him as more of the creatures rain down upon him and drag him away from his daughter. The jeep she is now sitting in hum's to life and drives out of the car park with the sound of more creatures rattling on the roof as they land.

There's a sudden noise within the TARDIS, which the crew can't believe. The Doctor pulls out a net after discovering that there's a meteorite storm outside. He finds something interesting and wishes to grab a specimen of the stuff. After nabbing one, he triumphantly closes the TARDIS doors. After examining the specimen with his sonic screwdriver he claims that the thing is giving off a massive gravitational interference. The weird meteorite sample, in the Doctor's hand, suddenly opens and a creature appears from within. It sprouts legs and starts to chase them around the TARDIS. Amy opens the door and with a comfortable clunk, the Doctor kicks the creature from the console room. They soon realise that the meteorite storm must mean that their are billions of them.

The TARDIS arrives on Xirrinda, inside some sort of airport and the Doctor is using his sonic to measure the readings. They soon discover that it is a tourist destination, and Rory comments that doesn't look high-tech. While the Doctor goes to talk to someone in charge, Amy and Rory visit a t-shirt's salesman who turns out to be a native.

The Doctor finds the warden of the airport, Casper Van Goole and without explaining any reason, he asks for the warden to prepare a transport so that they can reach the hotel.

In the terminal, the native turns out to be Attar who is double-jointed (probably biologically common to his species). Attar says that he isn't happy here because it's very dull and there's nothing at all to do. Amy picks a t-shirt for Rory, which is embroidered with a confusing pattern, which Attar claims to be a design of the legends he was taught by his tribe. When Amy goes off to put on her new t-shirt a coach with newcomers, children in fact, arrives.

The Doctor and Van Goole take a red-topped vehicle to the hotel. At first it doesn't start, but with a wave of the sonic screwdriver, it started. Seeing Amy and Rory inside the terminal, he tells them he won't be long. Listening to his orders, they both investigate the transport situation.

Two school children, Matty George and Kevin Arkwright aren't interested in their new surroundings. Matty is a little more enthusiastic, but the teacher explains that they are their to research for their exams. This was Mr Cain, a replacement teacher, whom they didn't really like because he always wore a frown.

The Doctor and Van Goole arrive at the area, but can see a cloud of creatures coming towards them. They realise that they are too late to save anyone. The Doctor finally explains that these are a parasitic race of some sort that are slowly devouring the planet. Van Goole spots something and the Doctor realises its a survivor from the hotel. While the warden tried to restart the car, the Doctor bounded down to the aid of the survivor. He finds Gellen who is bruised badly in the back seat. Something was then banging on the roof and the Doctor quickly hauled the girl out of the vehicle and ran back to the warden's vehicle. The pebble-like creatures star raining down on them as the Doctor tries to start the hover car once again. Getting if going again, they speed away.

Amy notices their arrival as they haul a limp body from the hover car. After examining her quickly Rory explains that it is merely a mild concussion. Amy then shows the Doctor what they'd found and he is happy to see a train-like machine ready to be put in operation.

Gellen wakes up and explains to Rory and Van Goole about the creatures and how they attacked the hotel. Using his skills, Van Goole pulled up a screen that showed the storm coming towards them. The warden is breathless.

The Doctor is relishing over the find of the train, which turns out to be a monorail and requests that Mr Thornton drives it, because he is an engineer.

Matty and Kevin suddenly here a whistle in the terminal and the Doctor begins to talk to them about the approaching storm and the monorail that they are equipped with to escape. A man called Professor Willard confronts the Doctor in rage. Seeing that he was getting nowhere with the headmaster, he told him to shut up and listen to what he was saying. After a quick explanation of the specific situation at hand, an evacuation begins.

Amy tells Attar that he must help to evacuate the people inside the terminal because of the creatures that are coming towards them. He leaves in a panic, telling Amy that he must warn his people on the savannah. Amy is worried that there might not be enough space on the train.

When looking at the radar images, the Doctor discovers that the creatures are leaving waste behind them, a metal waste to be exact. Van Goole explain that the monorail was used as a back-up transport to got to Ortagon City, via the caves, which were an attraction. The Doctor proposes that they send a message to the city when they are in range. Amy and Rory burst in and explain what has happened to Attar.

The Doctor is frustrated that Van Goole didn't tell him about the tribe. The warden apologises, but emphasises that there won't be enough space capacity on the monorail for the tribe as well. He tells the Doctor that the tribe is a mile down the road. Before he could leave without them again, Amy demanded that she and Rory accompany him to the settlement.

It barely took them a minute to reach the tribe's settlement, but when they arrive, they realise it was empty. They guessed that they had been aware of the danger and escaped beforehand. They find Attar who explains that the scene is just like in the legend of the Rain Of Terror. Attar confesses that he didn't pay much attention to the stories though. Without the Doctor noticing, two dark visitors arrive, which Attar claims to be Sharkwolves.

More to be added

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Amy Pond
 * Rory Williams

Continuity
to be added

Timeline

 * Rain of Terror occurs after
 * Rain of Terror occurs before