The Dust of Ages (novel)

The Dust of Ages is the first book in The Darksmith Legacy series.

Publisher's summary
It is a few years into our future, and there are bases on the Moon. A recent survey has shown something unusual, an unknown power source. when a tall, skinny spiky-haired stranger turns up and announces he's from the Bureau of Alien Technology doing a spot check, the survey team know they've found something special. But is this special power source a blessing or a curse? This amazing ten-book series follows the Doctor on his exciting journey to discover the origins of the so-called Eternity Crystal and the powerful artisans who created it - the Darksmiths. Continue the amazing adventures online at www.thedarksmithlegacy.com

Story Summary
On its way to Earth, the TARDIS is drawn off-course and lands on the surface of the Moon. Below the surface, Clinton Seymour of Survey Four, registers the arrival on his scanners and warns Professor Dollund of the new arrival in Sector 8. The undetected arrival leads Dollund to suspect that the ship is military so orders Clinton to put up a force bubble. On the surface, the Doctor steps out of the TARDIS and wonders what drew him off course. Suddenly, a trapdoor opens in front of him, down which he is greeted by Roberta Goodman and Dollund. Posing as Doctor Smith of the Bureau of Alien Technology, the Doctor asks for a brief explanation of what they are doing as part of his "inspection". Bobby reveals that the survey team are on the Moon mining for valuable minerals to mine in light of a shortage on Earth. However, they have just found something new, a crystalline power source.

The Doctor is taken to the control room just as one of the base's drills reaches the chamber the crystal is in. The Doctor speculates that it's what drew the TARDIS off course. Henderson, the chief mining technician, contacts the control room to tell them that the drill has broken through into a vast chamber.

Professor Dollund, Bobby and the Doctor descend through the elevator and the drill shaft to the chamber where they meet Henderson and Lisa Summerton, chief and junior mining engineers respectively. The Doctor and Bobby start to dig away the wall that the crystal resides behind. However, rather than finding a crystal, they find a human hand made of dust, sticking out of the wall.

When Bobby attempts to excavate the rest of the statue, the hand snaps off. She stores it in a specimen box and gives it to Dollund and the Doctor to take back up to the control room for analysis so that she can continue to dig out the statue and the energy source. When they get back to the base, Clinton has set up all the equipment to run tests on the hand. However, when Dollund opens the box, the hand is gone and all that exists at the bottom of his bag is dust. Before they can investigate any further, Bobby calls up from the chamber to tell them that the hand has mysteriously regrown.

The Doctor and Dollund head back to the cavern with vacuum hoses to aid with the excavation of the statue. Dollund concludes that the statue must have been there for centuries and upon further examination, the body appears wearing a suit. As more of the dust around the statue is sucked away, the chest is uncovered. Set into is the Eternity Crystal - the source of the power. Lisa tries to ply the crystal from the dust but this causes the wall to collapse, the Doctor pulling her out of the way just in time. The collapse of the wall, however, reveals the rest of the statue, and it's in the exact image of the Doctor.

Back in the control room, Clinton registers an increase in the energy readings and radios down to the cavern for an update. Whilst on the radio he notices that the control room is covered in dust and then, suddenly, he spots the statue's hand on the floor. But before he can say anything more, the hand jumps up and attempts to suffocate him.

Realising something is wrong, Henderson and the Doctor run up the access tunnel back towards the control room. Clinton, in the meantime, manages to wrench the hand off his face and smashes the hand back to dust with his chair. When the Doctor and Henderson arrive, they radio back down again to tell everyone that it's all right, but Lisa replies to tell them that the statue has changed appearance. It now looks like Bobby.

Meanwhile, on Karagula, a meeting is taking place between three members of The Darksmith Collective: High Minister Drakon, Sister Hellan and Brother Talen. Brother Talen reveals that they have detected the Eternity Crystal after many centuries of looking and that they are homing in on its location as they speak.

Meanwhile, back on the Moon, Dollund speculates that the statue is trying to find the most effective shape and form based on what it touches. As they watch, it begins to morph again, but this time it just stays as a vaguely humanoid form. As Bobby tries to explain what is happening over the intercom, however, the statue begins to walk towards them menacingly.

Lisa, Dollund and Bobby begin to run back towards the control room, away from the statue, and Clinton, Henderson and the Doctor begin to run back towards the cavern to meet the others half way. When they meet, the wall near them begins to bulge and another shapeless humanoid made of dust steps out of the wall towards them. They all run back towards the control room, hounded by several dust statues.

When they return to the relative safety of the control room, however, the lights go out and Henderson reveals that the main generator has stopped and they will only continue to receive oxygen if the backup generator remains operational. While Henderson and Lisa go to reset the generator, the Doctor and Clinton prepare a mayday signal to send to the nearby Moonport Five once the power has been restored.

Upon inspection, Lisa notices that the generators main air filters are clogged with dust, causing the breakdown, despite having cleaned them the week before. However, before they can clean the filters, they are attacked and choked by two dust figures.

Realising that something is wrong, Bobby and the Doctor run to the generator room to find the unconscious bodies of Henderson and Lisa. Whilst Bobby removes the dust from their mouths and ensures their airways are clear, the Doctor resets the generator and changes the cooling system to use water instead of air - less efficient but can't get clogged up with dust.

Meanwhile, on Karagula, Brother Ardos demonstrates his new invention, The Agent, to High Minister Drakon. The Agent will be dispatched to recover the Crystal as soon as its location is known.

As the Doctor, Bobby, Lisa and Henderson leave the generator room they are attacked again by the dust statues. The Doctor radios Clinton and asks him to close the shutters behind them as they run towards the control room, and then to turn the air conditioning on to blow the dust away. The plan works long enough to allow them to get back into the control room.

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Professor Dollund
 * Clinton Seymour
 * Roberta "Bobby" Goodman
 * Henderson
 * Lisa Summerton
 * Drakon
 * Hallan
 * Talen
 * Ardos
 * Stemnos
 * The Agent

Continuity

 * The Doctor is travelling alone suggesting events in the Darksmith legacy occur after DW: Journey's End as with the majority of media released in 2009. However, as yet none of the books in this arc indicate this precisely; the storyline could just as easily take place during one of the Tenth Doctor's companionless intervals, such as between DW: Voyage of the Damned and Partners in Crime or between The Runaway Bride and Smith and Jones.
 * Polymos (the Nestene homeworld) was first mentioned by name in PDA: Synthespians™.
 * The TARDIS Databank states that the Moon is the only other world the humans have travelled to by the year 2010, however; DW: The Ambassadors of Death which features man landing on Mars in the 1970s, though NA: The Dying Days later implies this was mostly a forgotten chapter in Earth's history of exploration. Also, see UNIT dating controversy.

Timeline

 * The Dust of Ages occurs after: Unspecified. Probably DW: Journey's End
 * The Dust of Ages occurs before: TDL: The Graves of Mordane