War in the Abyss (short story)

War in the Abyss was a short story published in Doctor Who Annual 1973. It featured the Third Doctor and Jo Grant.

Summary
The sun is swelling and tides are rising. Jo is worried that her uncle's oil rig in Antarctica has not been heard from for days. Earthquakes have been reported in the Arctic Ocean too. The Doctor tells Jo that he thinks the Earth is moving closer to the sun. The Doctor and Jo get a ride with Major General Carter's Antarctic expedition to find out what is going on. When their jet lands, it is apparent that no signals can be sent from anywhere on the Antarctic. The Doctor and Jo take a snowcat and follow the pipelines to where they disappear into the snow. They discover the gauges on the pipes showing no oil is flowing. They return to the snowcat but it plunges through soft snow and drops onto firm ice. They crawl out and hear machinery. Jo's uncle calls to them and they find the oil rig crew locked in a metal room.

In the course of the discussion the Doctor explains his theory that someone is moving the Earth towards the sun. Jo's uncle reports that his men have experienced telepathic machines, robots called Klatris, who want to scorch the air and water (which is poison to them) from the planet's surface. The Doctor theorises that this is because humans are stealing the Klatris' oil from under the surface of the planet.

Having seen a geological map of the rig the Doctor realises they are on the lip of an extinct volcano. The men lay a trail of dynamite to the volcano and then flee as the Doctor presses the plunger. They reach the jet as the volcano explodes into life and the Doctor orders their immediate evacuation.

Characters

 * Third Doctor
 * Jo Grant
 * The Klatriss

Continuity
to be added