The Spear of Destiny Read Online Free PDF Page B

accurate. Calendars have changed and, besides, all we
     really have to go on are dates made up hundreds of years later
     by the men who wrote the apocryphal Gospels.’
    ‘Precisely, Doctor. Whereas here,
     tonight, the comet marks the equinox, so neatly recorded on that
     rune stone in the British Museum. These Vikings are such
     wonderful people. Do you know they wash once a week?’
    ‘Could have fooled me,’ muttered
     Jo.
    ‘And now, Doctor, you’re here.
     You join me just as I planned. So nice of you to turn up to
     order. Because I need you, Doctor. Or, rather, I need your
     ship.’
    ‘Something wrong with yours, old
     boy?’
    ‘Not at all. It’s quite well.
     I’ve been making lots of trips in it. Finding warriors for
     Njord. He’s most impressed. So is Odin, and that’s why I need
     your TARDIS. I’m giving it to him.’
    ‘And Njord’s men have already
     relieved me of the key, along with my screwdriver. I can guess
     what you want in return.’
    ‘Quite right, Doctor. Odin and I
     have made a bargain. He wants a ship just like mine. And he will
     get one in return for the Nexus. The Spear of Destiny.’
    ‘But he can’t operate the
     TARDIS.’
    ‘No, but then he doesn’t know
     that, does he?’
    ‘And meanwhile you’ve set the
     Aesir and the Vanir at each other’s throats, pushing them
     towards war, while you’ve been cooking up your own little
     plans.’
    ‘Now will you admit how stupid
     you’ve been, Doctor?’
    The Doctor said nothing, but
     clenched his jaw and stared at the wall of the hut.
    ‘It gets worse, I’m afraid,’ said
     the Master. ‘You see, I’ve told Odin all about you. Both of you.
     He was very interested to hear about the Doctor, some sort of
     magician, or wizard. And his young and attractive assistant. So
     you’re to be made guests of honour. Tonight. At the blessing. In
     fact you could say you’ll be the main attraction.’
    He turned to go, then hesitated.
     ‘I do have a few problems with the Vikings, though,’ he said. ‘I
     quite clearly told them to put you in different huts. And now
     here you are together. I’ll send someone to separate you. Miss
     Grant, Doctor, goodnight.’ And with that he ducked out of the
     low door and was gone.
    ‘We have to escape,’ whispered
     the Doctor.
    ‘Now?’
    ‘No, after we’ve been separated.
     That will buy us some time. If you get free, find the TARDIS.
     It’s here somewhere. Close by, I’m sure.’
    ‘But how will I escape? How will
     you escape for that matter?’
    ‘I’m more of a thief than you
     imagine me to be. While I was talking to Njord I pinched a
     couple of knives. Can you reach my right-hand pocket?’
    Jo squirmed and managed to find a
     knife in the Doctor’s jacket.
    ‘As long as they don’t search
     us,’ said the Doctor, ‘we’ll be fine. As soon as you’re tied up
     again, get yourself free. Find the TARDIS.’
    ‘And what are you going to
     do?’
    ‘I’m going to talk to
     Odin.’
    ‘Oh,’ said Jo. ‘Fine. But what’s
     the big hurry? The Master said we’ll see him tonight, anyway, at
     the blessing. That doesn’t sound so bad.’
    ‘Jo, you should know your own
     language better. A blessing isn’t what you think it is. It comes
     from an ancient Norse dialect, in which to bless means to
     sacrifice. We’re to be the sacrifice at tonight’s
     ceremony.’

11
    The Doctor made his way out of
     Njord’s settlement towards the river and the temple, and, beyond
     it, Odin’s village.
    He moved quietly and, though the
     night should have been dark with the last quarter of the month’s
     moon dying overhead, the sky was lit by an eerie glow. Looking
     up, he saw the comet in the sky and knew how much store the
     Vikings put against such portents: the perfect moment for Odin
     to make a sacrifice to ensure victory in the war that everyone
     knew was brewing.
    He hurried onwards, down the
     slope, through the trees and across the river. In the gloom,