Текст книги "Doctor Who- Legacy of the Daleks"

Автор книги: John Peel

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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

13

Zero Hour

Susan stared at the Master in pain and shock. ‘Do you have any idea what you’re doing?’ she asked him.

‘I have every idea of what I’m doing,’ he replied cheerfully. He raised the transmuter slightly. ‘With this device, I’m going to rule as many worlds as I care to.’

It was almost impossible to believe his self‐centredness. ‘You’ve set the Daleks loose on Earth again, all to steal that?’

The Master shrugged. ‘That, as you put it, is the key to my forthcoming control over the universe,’ he smiled.

‘How? What will you make it do?’ asked Susan, helplessly.

‘As you know, the Dalek war efforts extend over thousands of parsecs. And they need for their expansion more than anything…?’ He was acting as though this was school, and Susan some backward pupil.

‘Raw materials,’ Susan guessed. ‘Their efforts must use up so many metals, they need greater and greater sources. That’s the reason they came to Earth in the first place – they wanted the metal present at its molten core.’

‘Quite right,’ the Master agreed. ‘Well, at the same time, I have discovered they were working on a different approach to the problem.’

The Master’s earlier words sank in. ‘A matter transmuter… of course,’ breathed Susan.

‘Alter molecular structure on a very basic level,’ agreed the Master. ‘With such a device, they could simply continue to mine worlds that they owned and transmute whatever they had into whatever they needed.’

‘And that’s the device?’

‘It is.’ The Master chuckled to himself. ‘Couple their device with the power of a TARDIS and the navigational control systems I possess…’ He shrugged. ‘Then… whatever I wish will be mine.’

‘Or?’ Susan braced herself.

‘Well… I could change all of the hydrogen in a star’s core to iron, for example. If that happened, the star would go nova, taking with it any planets in its system.’

‘And you’ve unleashed the Daleks on Earth again just for that?’

‘Just for that, my dear?’ laughed the Master, heartily ‘Come now. What is the Earth to me? As far as I’m concerned the Daleks are welcome to it.’

Susan glared at him. She managed to stagger back to her feet, despite the pain. ‘Earth is my home,’ she said coldly. ‘The people the Daleks will kill are my friends.’

He shook his head slightly. ‘Then if I were you, I’d cultivate some new acquaintances elsewhere.’ Something clearly occurred to him. ‘But in the meantime, I think you’d better come along with me,’ the Master decided. ‘A hostage might well turn out to be helpful, especially if the Doctor manages to poke his nose in, as usual.’

‘The Doctor?’ Susan was stunned. ‘He’s here? On Earth?’

‘You know him?’ The Master’s eyes narrowed.

He didn’t suspect how much, then. Good. ‘I was with him in the TARDIS for a while,’ she said. ‘He always promised to come back and see me one day. I was starting to think he wouldn’t keep his word.’

The Master snorted. ‘He always keeps his promises, my dear. It’s one of his least likable traits.’

Susan grimaced. ‘And you, I take it, don’t?’

‘No.’ He gestured with the hand that held the gun. ‘So I won’t bother telling you that the only way for you to stay alive is to precede me. I wouldn’t want to give you false hope.’

The burning in her hand was starting to die down now. Susan realised she’d been very lucky. The bullet had only grazed her, and the wound was thickened with hardening blood. She concentrated on ignoring the pain and walked stiffly ahead of her captor. The Master slipped the gun into one of his pockets and took out a small rod instead.

‘That’s better,’ he said. ‘Now that we’re a little closer, I prefer to use this. It’s a Tissue Compression Eliminator.’

Susan glared into his face, and there was no fear in her eyes now. ‘The Doctor will get you,’ she promised.

‘He’ll try to, certainly,’ the Master agreed cheerfully. ‘And, you know, I’m rather counting on it. It will make taking the transmuter a lot more satisfying if he knows I’ve got it – and you.’ He gestured down the empty corridor. ‘Now, let’s go back to my TARDIS, shall we? Then we can go for a little journey…’

The Black Dalek glided about the control room, watching the displays and the technicians at work. ‘Report,’ he ordered the duty officer.

‘Transmuter countdown is at point four units,’ it reported. ‘Targeting is complete. Work on the human communications device is proceeding well, and should be completed in less than one time unit.’

‘Acceptable,’ the Black Dalek decided. ’As soon as the work is finished, send more Daleks to the surface. More humans must be located and robotised to aid us in our work.’

‘The power flow from the humans has been cut,’ the Dalek reported. ‘We are now relying on stored power.’

‘It is of no importance,’ the Black Dalek stated. ‘We have sufficient for our current needs. Shortly, we shall re‐establish the link.’ It moved on to one of the technicians. ‘Prepare to send a signal to Skaro,’ it ordered. ‘Inform them that we have been activated and are moving to reactivate further sites. Once this is done, Skaro is to send reinforcements, so that Earth can be retaken. Send the signal as soon as the communications array is converted.’

‘I obey.’

The Black Dalek moved on to study a map of the surrounding area. The humans had begun to regain their world, but this would not last. There were other hidden Dalek factories scattered about the globe. As soon as the human communications array was working, a signal could be transmitted to each factory, preparing them for reawakening. All they would need would be power input, and that could be transferred using the broadcast power from this site.

If the device worked within parameters, then every human on Earth would be eradicated. The centres of habitation were already targeted. All carbon atoms within the target area would be transmuted into uranium. All life within human habitations would be exterminated. The units that resisted transmutation would be killed by the radioactivity. Only the Daleks would survive.

The final end of human rule over Earth would soon be brought about.

‘This must be it,’ the Doctor said, examining the tunnel into the small hillside. ‘Deep and dark. A wonderful combination.’

David took a small but powerful torch from his pocket. ‘I was a boy scout once,’ he said with a grin. ‘This should help.’

Donna looked from one to the other. They were both acting as though this was a jaunt in the park, and not potentially the end of the human race. Still, it was one way of coping with the stress. The thought that if they failed they might be dooming humanity to extinction did nothing to steady her own nerves. She could only pray that the Doctor’s hunch was correct.

The mine was still in surprisingly good shape, considering. It had been abandoned at the turn of the century. There was a door across the entrance that was locked. Barlow had given David a gun, and he simply shot the lock clean off. Inside, Donna could see that the tunnel was still passable. Most of the equipment had been pulled out when the place had been abandoned, but there was still some debris littering the place. Light fixtures hung at regular intervals down the walls, but there was nothing to power them with.

The entrance shaft led to two descending shafts, both of which had been boarded over. The tunnel then split into two a short distance further on. Donna stood at the top of the shafts and sighed. ‘Four possible ways,’ she said. ’And there are no lifts left installed. We’d never get down there, Doctor.’

‘Don’t be such a defeatist,’ he cautioned. ‘Where there’s a will, and all that.’ He cupped a hand to one ear. ‘In any case, there’s no need for us to go down.’ He gestured at the tunnel leading left. ‘That’s our way.’

‘How can you be so sure?’ asked David.

The Doctor smiled, and whispered, ‘I have extremely acute hearing. There’s machinery being operated down that way, and since there are no humans here, that leaves only Daleks as the possible culprits, wouldn’t you say?’

‘I don’t hear a thing,’ Donna protested.

‘You won’t for a few minutes,’ the Doctor informed her. ‘But it’s there, take my word for it. Come on.’ He led the way.

This was not Donna’s idea of fun. The tunnels were dank and claustrophobic, and, despite David’s torch, pretty dark. She was also starting to worry about tunnel collapse, and realised she’d be more than glad to get out of this place – even if it was into a Dalek Artefact.

As the Doctor had promised, she began to hear the faint sound of machinery ahead of them. It was pounding and pulsing, some kind of excavator, no doubt. Once again, the Doctor had been proven correct in his guesses. He was either the luckiest person she’d ever met or else the smartest. Most likely, she decided, a combination of the two.

The Doctor gestured for silence, even though none of them had been talking for a while. No doubt the importance of their mission was occupying their minds, too. They moved on more cautiously, finally coming to a new tunnel. That this had to be a Dalek one was obvious – it was rounded, with a flattened path along the floor, and it cut through the human‐made tunnel at an angle. The Doctor turned and entered the Dalek tunnel without hesitation.

It was as dark as ever in here. ‘Don’t the Daleks believe in lights?’ she whispered.

‘They can see using infrared,’ the Doctor replied as quietly. ‘This place is well lit, as far as they’re concerned.’

Wonderful. Just another minor detail – she was blind, but the Daleks would be able to see her… She moved closer to David and the comforting circle of light he cast.

The sound of working machinery grew louder, and after a few minutes, Donna could see a light ahead. ‘Hallelujah,’ she muttered.

They emerged cautiously into some kind of factory. Huge machines were taking ore and crushing it, feeding it into what looked like an induction furnace. This was where the raw materials were being processed, but luckily it was all automated machinery, and there were no Daleks supervising the process. Beyond this room lay others, where the raw materials were no doubt cast and processed, until Dalek casings emerged at the far end. It was too noisy in here to hear voices, so the Doctor was forced to tug at her arm to get her attention. David turned off his torch and replaced it in his pocket, and the three of them headed for the door. On the way, the Doctor stopped at a control panel and worked there for a couple of noisy minutes. Donna wanted to yell at him to hurry up before she went deaf, but there wasn’t a lot of point in even trying to make herself heard. Finally he was done and they made their way to the door. There was a small pad beside it, and somehow the Doctor used this to get them out of the furnace room and into the corridor. The door slid to a close behind them, shutting out most of the noise.

‘Good insulation,’ the Doctor said approvingly. ‘Whatever else you say about the Daleks, you have to admit that they’re efficient.’

‘I can think of other words for them,’ Donna said drily.

‘So can I,’ the Doctor agreed. There was controlled anger in his voice. ‘Time after time I defeat them, and yet they still come back for more, spreading death and chaos everywhere. I thought these Daleks at least were finished… but I was wrong. Again.’ He looked haunted. ‘Won’t they ever let me rest?’ He glanced around, and then started down the deserted corridor. ‘This way.’

‘Where are we going?’ Donna demanded, falling into step.

‘The hatchery,’ he answered briefly.

‘Why aren’t there any Daleks around?’ David wanted to know.

‘Not needed here,’ the Doctor explained. ‘They didn’t think about the back door being open. They can’t have that many available yet, and they’ll all be on the really important jobs and guarding the front door. But we might run into a few strays.’

They rounded a corner after checking the way was safe, and started off down the corridor again. The Doctor ignored several doors as he approached the one that he had singled out. ‘Hatchery,’ he decided.

‘How can you be so sure?’ Donna asked.

He gestured to a shoulder‐high window. ‘Viewport,’ he explained. ‘Dalek embryos are grown, and they can be pretty vicious. They’re highly unsociable, and will attack anything on sight – even Daleks. It can get messy for them to haul their babies off their domes, so they like to be able to check that the little ones are still inside their vats before they go in.’ Donna started to take a look, but he was already tapping some sort of code into the lock. ‘Don’t worry, its nap time.’

The door hissed open, and they all slipped inside. Donna stared around in disgust.

The room was like one huge, raised tank filled with a seething flood. Nutrients bubbled away, flowing into pipes leading to metallic storage vats in the corners. The viscous liquid was greenish in colour.

‘The embryos are in there?’ she asked.

‘Yes,’ the Doctor answered. ‘They’re cloned material, grown for the first stage of life in small jars. When they’re ready, they’re transferred to this nutrient bath, where they mature.’ There was a flurry of splashes in the centre of the tank. ‘Here they grow to full term – and fight with one another. They’re intelligent creatures,’ he added, ‘but their instincts are horribly powerful. They’re not complete until they’re taken from these breeding tanks and mated with the travel unit shell. The baby Daleks are by then fully grown. They interface with their internal computers, which gives them all the information and conditioning they need. They can be up and running in a matter of minutes, ready to go out and kill on command.’

Donna looked at the slime distastefully ‘A big job,’ she muttered.

‘They like long‐term planning.’ The Doctor glared at the vats. ‘But it’s the end of the road for this lot. This isn’t their world, and they can’t have it.’ He moved to the machinery, and started to fiddle with the computer controls.

‘What are you doing?’ she asked him. ‘Scientific abortion?’

‘Actually, the exact opposite,’ he replied. ‘I’m increasing production of the embryos.’

Donna gave him a puzzled look. ‘That doesn’t sound like it’s going to help us. You want more Daleks produced?’

‘Not produced,’ he replied. ‘Begun. I’ve increased the production rate by a thousand per cent. The power drain on their reserves will be enormous.’

She caught on at last. ‘And with no more power coming in from Haldoran,’ she realised, ‘that’s going to really hurt.’

‘Exactly.’ The Doctor gave her a bitter smile. ‘The Daleks are utterly dependent on electrical power. It keeps their shells going, and their life‐support systems working. If we can drain their power, it will kill them – this time permanently.’

‘Won’t they detect this drain and try to stop it?’ David objected.

‘Try, yes,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘But I’ve set up a logic loop in the controls here. The only way they’ll be able to stop the drain is to bypass it, and it won’t be easy. Add that to the tiny adjustment I made in the furnace, and they’re going to have a severe energy shortage in the not‐too‐distant future.’

‘So what do we do now?’ Donna asked. ‘Hide until their little batteries run down?’

‘No,’ David said. ‘Now we look for Susan.’

‘My thoughts exactly,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘I’ll see if I can find any mention of a prisoner in their computer records. Failing that. I’ll check for their most sensitive area. That’s where she’s bound to be. She never could resist tinkering with things.’

‘I wonder where she gets that from,’ Donna commented drily.

The Doctor was suddenly lost in contemplation. ‘I wonder how long we’ve got before all hell breaks loose.’

Did he have to ask that question? Donna had been trying to avoid thinking about it, but he’d made it impossible. The Daleks were bound to discover the power drain pretty quickly, and they would then head down here to try to stop it. Unless she, David and the Doctor were gone before that happened, she didn’t give much for their chances of surviving this…

Barlow stared down at the communications array with growing dismay. Several of the Daleks had moved away now, leaving only four of them working. That had to mean that they were almost ready to utilise the device. ‘Sorry, Doctor, Donna,’ he muttered to himself. ‘We just can’t wait any longer.’ He could only hope they’d had enough time to do whatever the Doctor had planned, because time had just run out. He couldn’t take any more chances. He grimly gestured to his men to move out, knowing full well how high the casualty rate of this assault would be.

And would he number among them? It could be that he’d have one of the shortest reigns on record at this rate, but there was no choke. He made sure the grenade launcher was operational, and then he moved to the left, heading for the pathway down to the cutting. They were bound to be spotted soon, but nothing could be done to prevent it.

He and his men moved swiftly, since surprise was hardly possible, without worrying about noise. They were on the pathway down, going as fast as they could while retaining their footing, when Barlow saw that they had been spotted. Three of the Daleks whirled to study them, and they clearly gave some kind of orders. He couldn’t make out what had been said, but the Robomen suddenly spun about in unison and began marching towards the cliff.

Bullets couldn’t hurt Daleks, but against humans they were very effective. Reaching the end of the path, Barlow led the charge towards the marching Robomen. They had no expressions on their faces, mirroring the blankness of their minds, but they had their guns up and aimed.

The first burst of gunfire tore at the ground just ahead of them. Barlow ignored it, leaving this to his men. Several returned fire as they ran and weaved. Barlow concentrated on just being a hard target to hit. His grenades weren’t for the Robomen.

One of his soldiers gave a cry and collapsed, blood streaming down his leg. But he didn’t stop firing. Good man. Two of the Robomen went down, without a sound, their chests stitched red by bullets. Then Barlow ignored them. He was just about in range now, and had his weapon at the ready.

Unfortunately, that also meant that he was in range of the Daleks. One fired a blast of lethal energy that barely missed him.

‘Bastard,’ he growled, and fired the first of his grenades. A moment later, the top of the Dalek exploded, fire and metallic debris spraying all over. Ignoring its loss, the other two Daleks also opened fire.

Barlow threw himself to one side, rolled and then fired from the ground. The skirt of a second Dalek exploded, throwing the metallic monster backward, electronic guts and slime spewing from the wrecked casing. The third Dalek moved away, still trying to catch him in its death ray. He blew it apart with his third shot. But more Daleks were rising from the pit, and advancing to join the growing firefight. He chanced a glance around, and saw that all of the Robomen were now dead but that only three of his men remained on their feet. The rest were either wounded or dead.

They didn’t stand a chance of holding back the Daleks.

Which left him exactly one option. He levered the next grenade into position and fired, targeting the communications equipment. He was at extreme range, but it was a bloody huge target, so surely he couldn’t miss. To be sure, he sent a second grenade after the first.

The machinery erupted under the double assault. A gout of flame caught three of the Daleks working on it, enveloping them and exploding them too. The communications array started to collapse in on itself, and Barlow felt a huge sense of relief. It lasted until a blast from one of the advancing Daleks torched a tree beside him. They were in range…

‘Pull back!’ he ordered his men. ‘They won’t be able to follow!’ He himself spun around, sending another grenade back as a parting gift. He weaved his way back, pausing only to grab hold of the wounded soldier he’d left earlier. Another man grabbed his arm, and together they hurried him away. Apparently he was the only other survivor.

The Daleks didn’t follow. They moved to try to assess the damage to the array. Barlow grinned nastily.

‘I’d like to see you repair that,’ he said happily. There was no way the Daleks were moving out of this area. But that meant only that they were delayed – not stopped. Unless he could get some serious weapons into this area as fast as possible, the problem could only get worse. ‘Back to the runabouts,’ he ordered his men. ‘We need reinforcements badly.’ He nodded to one man. ‘Hurry. I want every trooper we can spare in this area as soon as possible.’

‘But what about the assault on London?’ the man asked.

‘Sod London,’ Barlow snapped. ‘If we don’t stop the Daleks now, it’ll be the whole human race that dies. Move!’

The man moved.

The Black Dalek saw the warning lights flicker on and stay on. ‘Report!’ it demanded.

‘Human forces have destroyed the communications equipment,’ the technician answered. ‘it is nonfunctional.’

The Black Dalek considered. It would be impossible to revive the other units or to raise Skaro to request reinforcements, but that could be taken care of later. ‘Begin assembly of a new unit,’ it ordered.’ We have only been delayed.’

‘I obey!’

The Black Dalek turned to study the panel, with the warning lights burning. There hadn’t been time yet to establish a video link to the surface. ‘Have the humans been destroyed?’ it demanded.

Another technician spun around. ‘Most have been killed,’ it grated. ‘Several have retreated and are non‐hostile. All surface Robomen are dead.’

The humans would be back. They would not concede that the Daleks were superior, and would try again. ‘Order all remaining Robomen to the surface,’ it decided. ‘Priority is to guard the new communications device. It must be functional as soon as possible.’ It turned to the duty officer. ‘Is the transmuter ready?’

The Dalek studied its instruments. ‘Countdown has reached zero,’ it reported.

‘Has target been destroyed?’ the Black Dalek demanded.

‘Negative,’ the officer replied. ‘There has been a malfunction.’

‘Malfunction?’ The Black Dalek spun about. ‘Order the technicians to report.’

A moment later, the duty officer replied, ‘Unable to contact laboratory technicians. Their life signs do not register.’

‘There are intruders in the complex,’ the Black Dalek announced ‘All available Daleks, seek and destroy.’

The other Dalek relayed the order, and the Black Dalek whirled around as several more warning lights started to flash.’ What is happening?’ it demanded.

The officer studied the panel. ‘There is another malfunction. This one is in the hatching area,’ it reported. ‘Power drain is rising.’

‘Stabilise,’ the Black Dalek commanded.

‘Impossible,’ the officer answered. ‘I am dispatching a repair crew immediately.’

The Black Dalek studied the panels once again. This was clearly sabotage, and must be corrected immediately. The Daleks’ plans would continue once this was settled.

Susan moved out of hiding, and continued slowly down the corridor. The Master stayed close beside her, the transmuter clutched in one hand, his TCE in the other. He was almost seething with frustration.

‘My TARDIS is just up ahead,’ he informed her. ‘We’ll be out of here in a few minutes.’

Their journey had taken them longer than he’d expected. Several times they had been forced to hide from either Robomen or passing Daleks. Something was clearly bothering the inhabitants of the complex, and she suspected that some of it, at least, was her doing. The rest… Well, she could only hope!

Fumbling the transmuter into the same arm as held his TCE, the Master fished out his TARDIS key. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘you no doubt know how to use one of these. You’ll open the door for me.’ Susan took the key with only slight reluctance. It had been thirty years since she’d held one, her own key long lost in the rubble of old London. She felt a faint thrill at having one in her possession again, even if only for a short while. She considered it highly unlikely that the Master would allow her to live for very long once they had left Earth. Her only hope was that he would decide to try to kill her wherever he stopped next. That way, she at least had a chance of regenerating…

Just when Susan could have done with another delay, there was none. They reached the Master’s TARDIS quickly. Its chameleon circuit was obviously functioning perfectly, because it was disguised as a computer station, but her eyes could see the TT capsule for what it was.

‘Hurry!’ the Master snarled. ‘Try to delay me, and I’ll use this on you here and now.’

The key slid into the lock, and Susan reluctantly pushed the door open.

‘That’s far enough!’

Susan and the Master both spun round, and Susan felt a giddy relief. Though the face and body were completely different, there was no mistaking the person. She almost cried ‘Grandfather’, but bit her tongue just in time.

‘Doctor!’ The Master sounded almost pleased. ‘And you’ve brought along your little band of disciples. How charming.’ He held the TCE to Susan’s head. ‘And I believe you know this human, too? Don’t take another step if you want her to remain alive.’

David was with the Doctor, along with some girl whom Susan found vaguely familiar. For a ludicrous moment she felt her heart lurch as she realised this girl was seeing her without her disguise in place, seeing her as a girl barely out of her teens. She looked apologetically at David in spite of everything. Both he and the girl tried to move forward, but the Doctor held them back.

‘Don’t,’ he said quietly ‘That’s a very lethal weapon he’s got there.’ Then he blinked. ‘And something else…’

‘It’s a matter transmuter!’ blurted Susan.

The Doctor’s voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Of course…’

The Master smiled, agreeably. ‘My key to achieving all I desire.’

The Doctor’s face hardened. ‘I can’t allow you to take that,’ he said quietly ‘David, your gun.’ David clearly didn’t want to obey, but, as usual, the Doctor’s will won out, and David handed it over. ‘You know how much I dislike using weapons,’ the Doctor said. ‘But I won’t hesitate here. I can’t. Drop that device, or I shoot.’

‘I’ll kill the girl,’ the Master promised.

The Doctor hesitated, the gun half raised.

The Master dropped the TCE, and instead brought up his own pistol, firing before the Doctor could bring himself to do so. Susan screamed as the bullet tore into the Doctor’s shoulder, sending him crashing back to the floor, a stunned and pained expression on his face. Blood began pooling on his coat.

Susan struggled to move towards her grandfather. The Master slammed the barrel of the pistol across the back of her neck, and she fell, half inside the door to his TARDIS.

‘Enough games,’ the Master decided. He raised the gun again and fired the rest of the clip at the Doctor.