The Cloud Exiles (short story)

Summary
The Doctor reluctantly dematerialises the TARDIS from Earth, 2067, but is amazed to find it rematerialising in a near-identical landscape of grass and clouds. Venturing outside, he soon learns that he has not returned to Earth, as the atmosphere is too thin to breathe. He dons an atmospheric density jacket and ventures out again to take a sample of a low-lying cloud, baffled as to how clouds can form in such an atmosphere. The cloud is incandescent with energy: it surrounds him and he loses consciousness.

He wakes to find himself largely paralysed in a laboratory, where several clouds are moving independently and talking. He shouts, and discovers the clouds are hypersensitive to loud noise. One approaches and he sees eyes in it. It explains that it is an Ethereal. Five eketrons ago, the humanoid Ethereals were turned into living vapour by their rebellious robots, the Baggolts. This laboratory contains an epitomiser cubicle that will enable them to turn the Doctor into a mould for new humanoid bodies, a process he will not survive. The Doctor allows himself to be taken to the cubicle, where he is released from his paralysis; he uses his ring to unlock the cubicle, shouts to drive off the Ethereals, then disables the shape-changing machinery.

To the Ethereals' surprise, he brushes aside their attempt to kill him, and works on the equipment so that it will return them to their original shapes without the need for a mould. When he is successful, the Ethereal leader, Mitzog, offers him rulership of the planet, which he refuses, but pledges to help the Ethereals bring an end to the Baggolt rebellion. The Ethereals construct Baggolt casings to disguise themselves and the Doctor: they ambush a working party of Baggolts and, impersonating them, gain entrance to the capital city, Droog. The Doctor has constructed an egolectascope, which disables the Baggolts' alarm systems long enough for Mitzog and him to force entry into the brain-centre building. The Doctor produces rubber suits, protecting the two of them from the electric booby-traps inside. On entering the control room, Mitzog hurls himself on the back of Nalog, Chief of the Robots, and while they are fighting, the Doctor discovers the master panel and switches it from 'Rebellion' back to 'Peace'. Mitzog disables Nalog and promises the Doctor that his name will be enshrined forever in the Annals of the Ethereals.

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Mitzog
 * Nalog

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * The Doctor is referred to as Dr Who throughout.
 * Illustrator Walter Howarth seems not to know what an Atmospheric Density Jacket looks like, as he makes no attempt to clothe the Doctor in one. He doesn't fancy drawing the Baggolt guards with the multiple arms mentioned in the text, either.

Continuity

 * The lock on the epitomiser cubicle seems to be similar to the TARDIS lock, as the Doctor's jewelled ring can open it. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)
 * The Doctor again wears an atmospheric density jacket. (TV: The Web Planet)
 * This is the third of four stories in the Doctor Who annuals in which the Doctor encountered noise-sensitive aliens. The first two were PROSE: The Monsters from Earth and PROSE: The Fishmen of Kandalinga; the next was COMIC: Mission for Duh.