Doctor Who and the Armageddon Factor Read online

  Doctor Who and the Armageddon Factor

  Terrance Dicks

  ISBN 0 426 20103 5

  * * *

  Some time ago, the White Guardian, one of the most powerul beings in the Cosmos, had set the Doctor an urgent task - to find and reassemble the six segments of the Key to Time.

  The Doctor and Romana had successfully retrieved five of the segments and now they had reached the planet Atrios in the middle of an atomic war, to search for the last, most vital piece.

  Sinister dangers await them in this final stage of their quest...

  THE ARMAGEDDON FACTOR is a novel in the Key to Time Sequence. Also available THE RIBOS OPERATION, THE STONES OF BLOOD, THE ANDROIDS OF TARA and THE POWER OF KROLL.

  CONTENTS

  1 The Vanishing Planet

  2 Missile Strike

  3 Kidnapped

  4 A Trap for K9

  5 The Furnace

  6 Behind the Mirror

  7 The Shadow

  8 Lost on Zeos

  9 The Armageddon Factor

  10 The Planet of Evil

  11 Drax

  12 The Bargain

  13 Small World

  14 The Key to Time

  1 The Vanishing Planet

  'Atrios!' said the Doctor. 'Do you know, I've never been to Atrios.'

  Romana looked up from the TARDIS's control console. 'What about Zeos?'

  'Where?'

  'Zeos, its twin. "Atrios and Zeos are twin planets at the edge of the helical galaxy." Didn't they teach you anything at the Academy?'

  'But we're not going to Zeos!' protested the Doctor.

  'No, we're going to Atrios.'

  'Well, what are we hanging about for? Why don't you get on with it?'

  Romana's hands moved skillfully over the controls.

  'Atrios, here we come! I wonder what it's like?'

  The wandering Time Lord known as the Doctor and Romana his Time Lady companion, were nearing the end of a long and dangerous quest. Some time ago, the White Guardian, one of the most powerful beings in the cosmos had set them a vital task—to find and reassemble the six fragments of the Key to Time. Long ago the Key had been divided, and the segments scattered to the far corners of the cosmos.

  Now the Key was needed again, to enable the White Guardian to correct a state of temporal imbalance which was threatening the universe, and frustrate the schemes of the evil Black Guardian.

  The Doctor's task was complicated by the fact that the segments of the Key had a number of mysterious powers, including that of transmutation. They could take on the shape of anything from a pendant to a planet. To aid them in their search, the Doctor and Romana had been given the Tracer, a slender wand-like device which could be plugged into the TARDIS console. The Tracer could lead them to the planet on which a segment of the Key was located. Unplugged, it could be used as a detector, once the planet had been reached. Finally, it had the power to make the segment assume its proper form—a large, irregularly-shaped chunk of crystal.

  After many dangerous adventures, five segments were now in the Doctor's possession, merged together to form one large crystal. Only the sixth and final segment remained to be found. According to the Tracer, that final segment was somewhere on Atrios.

  Some time later, Romana looked up from the console. 'We're almost there, Doctor. Time to materialise.'

  The Doctor moved her aside. 'Right. I'll handle this bit myself.' His hands flicked over the controls, and the TARDIS left the space/time continuum, appearing in normal space in the incongruous shape of a police box. 'I've put us in a parking orbit around Atrios. Let's take a look.'

  The Doctor switched on the scanner. The screen was blank. 'That's very odd! Wouldn't you say that was very odd, Romana?'

  'That's very odd,' said Romana obediently. 'Better re-check your coordinates, Doctor.'

  'I fed in the ones you gave me. Are you sure they were correct?'

  'Quite sure, Doctor. Your TARDIS must have gone astray again.'

  'Give me another reading.'

  Romana moved round to the part of the console that held the Tracer. 'Zero, zero, four, zero, eight, zero, one, zero.'

  'What a lot of zeros!' The Doctor operated the controls again. The TARDIS dematerialised almost immediately. He looked at the scanner. A tiny reddish-brown sphere was just visible in the centre of the screen. 'There's something anyway!'

  Romana checked the navigational readings. 'That's Atrios all right, but it's millions of miles away. And where's the twin planet, Zeos? There's no sign of it.'

  'You know what I think?' asked the Doctor solemnly. 'I think something's gone wrong. Only some very powerful force could confuse the TARDIS's navigational circuits like that. It's as if someone doesn't want us to find Atrios.'

  'The Black Guardian?'

  'Well, it could just be coincidence...'

  'I wouldn't like to bet on it,' said Romana grimly.

  'Nor would I. But there's only one way to find out what's going on.'

  'I know... Why don't you take us in on manual, Doctor?'

  'You know what? I think I'll take us in on manual—with considerable circumspection...'

  The space pilot was impossibly handsome, the nurse in his arms a vision of loveliness.

  'Don't go, my love,' she begged. 'You'll be killed! I love you!'

  'And I love you. But there is a greater love than ours, and out there my friends are dying for it. Dying, so that Atrios may live! You must be strong, my love, till victory is won, evil vanquished, peace restored. Only then can we love again.' He kissed her tenderly. 'Now I must go. Kiss the children for me. Tell them that one day their daddy will come home again.'

  Martial music swelled to a climax; the young lovers faded from the screen, to be replaced by the stylised eagle that was the symbol of Atrios.

  The music merged with the distant scream of an air raid siren and the thud of an explosion.

  Irritably the Marshal flicked off the video screen. Sentimental rubbish, but no doubt it served to hearten the more simple-minded citizens of Atrios for the continuing struggle. Those of them who were still alive...

  The Marshal of Atrios gazed gloomily around his War Room. It was an enormous circular chamber with thick metal walls decorated in green and black. Underground, of course. Everything on Atrios was underground now, and had been for years. The high radiation levels made life on most of the surface impossible.

  The War Room was a giant communications centre, with instrument consoles and computer terminals and read-out screens everywhere. It was from here that the unending war with Zeos was directed. All over the room technicians were working feverishly. Black-helmeted, black uniformed guards stood at the doors.

  Major Shapp, the Marshal's aide and assistant, was studying the read-out screen on the main battle computer. He was a rather stout and intensely serious young man, and his round face looked somehow incongruous above the high collar of his plain black uniform.

  The Marshal himself was a far more imposing figure. Tall and broad shouldered, straight-backed with iron-grey hair, he wore a magnificent scarlet tunic with gold epaulettes, the eagle of Atrios emblazoned in silver on the breast. His stern face was rugged and handsome, his voice deep and commanding.

  A flood of reports was coming in from the missile sites that studded the planetary surface. 'Area six, obliterated... Section seven, heavy damage... District ten, no contact. Level fourteen, holding and functional... Area three, no contact. Heavy casualties on all upper levels...'

  As the reports came in, Shapp punched them into the main computer, which was constantly revising and updating the grid map on the main display screen.

  Beside Shapp, stood a sl
ender purple-gowned figure, the gold circlet of royalty on her golden hair. This was the Princess Astra, in theory the ruler of the planet. In reality, Atrios had been so long at war that all real power was now in the hands of the military establishment—which meant the Marshal.

  He crossed the War Room to stand between them, his uniformed bulk towering over them both. 'What news of our counter-attack, Shapp?'

  'None, Marshal. Our space fleet is still trying to locate the target.'

  'The target, Major Sharp, is the planet Zeos! Isn't it big enough for them?'

  'The navigational systems are being blocked. The Zeons must be using some new screening device. The whole spacefleet's flying blind.'

  'Is it? Or have they all turned cowards? I want that attack pressed home, Shapp, before the Zeons smash our planet to pieces. Is that clear?'

  Shapp bowed his head. 'Yes, sir.'

  An urgent voice crackled from one of the loudspeakers. 'Direct hit reported on hospital complex. Wards seven to ten destroyed.'

  Princess Astra caught her breath in horror. 'I must go there at once.'

  She headed for the door but a guard barred her way. 'I'm sorry, Your Highness. You can't leave here without an escort—Marshal's orders.'

  Astra swung round on the Marshal. 'I insist on going to the hospital immediately.'

  He shook his head. 'Too dangerous.'

  'But they've been hit!'

  'So has everywhere else, Your Highness. We happen to be under nuclear attack.'

  Princess Astra glared up at him furiously. 'How much longer must this futile war go on? Atrios is being destroyed around us. We must negotiate before it's too late. We must have peace!'

  'You don't beg for peace, Princess. You win it. Our counter-attack is already under way. When it has succeeded, victory will be within our grasp. Then we shall have peace.'

  'But don't you understand? If the war goes on we shall all be wiped out, Zeons and Atrians alike.'

  'I understand only my duty, Princess—which is to bring this war to a successful conclusion.' The Marshal paused. 'Your duty is to comfort and inspire your people.'

  'Then let me go to the hospital and do it. I can do no good here.'

  The Marshal sighed, wondering, not for the first time how so much obstinacy could be packed into one slim body. 'What's the situation, Shapp. Is the raid over?'

  'Yes sir, at least for the moment.'

  'Very well. Princess Astra, one of my guards will escort you to the hospital. No doubt Chief-Surgeon Merak is anxiously awaiting you.'

  Princess Astra gave him a resentful look and swept from the room, a guard at her heels.

  The Marshal went to the massive throne-like command chair which dominated the centre of the room. 'Set up the video-links, Shapp.' I shall address the people.'

  The hospital complex looked like a scene from hell. The dead and dying were everywhere. Patients from the bombed-out wards had to be transferred to wards that had been overcrowded to begin with and were now full to bursting point. The bodies of the wounded were strewn along the corridors.

  Chief-Surgeon Merak moved through the chaos, directing the efforts of the doctors, nurses and orderlies, trying to create some order in the chaos. He was a darkly handsome man in the black and red gown of a surgeon, still young and virile, though at the moment his face was lined with weariness. Merak was the son of one of the oldest families on Atrios, who had rejected high political office in favour of the life of a healer. He had been in love with Princess Astra since they were both children, and she with him, although the fact was known only to their closest friends.

  Merak paused for a moment in the main ward examining a badly wounded pilot who lay in a coma on a mattress on the floor. The sudden move had worsened the man's condition and his pulse was failing.

  A booming voice interrupted Merak's examination. 'Citizens of Atrios!'

  Merak looked up. The video screen on the wall of the ward was functioning again, and it was filled with a giant close-up of the Marshal's face. 'Once more the hated forces of Zeos clamour at our gates. Once more they shall not pass. Be brave, my people. Be steadfast. Be strong!'

  Merak's patient groaned suddenly and his head fell back. He was dead.

  Merak shot an angry glance at the screen, where the Marshal was still mouthing inspiring platitudes, and signalled two orderlies to carry the body away.

  He was about to move on, when a familiar voice called 'Surgeon Merak!'

  Princess Astra had just entered the ward, her face white and angry. 'Why are brave men and women being left to lie in the corridors like rubbish?'

  Merak gestured around him. Except for the central aisle., not an inch of floor-space was free. 'Because as Your Highness can see, the wards are full.' He rose and walked down the aisle towards her, studying the plastic indicator clipped to the breast of her gown.

  'If Your Highness will excuse me, your rad-check is due for renewal. If you would come this way?' He led her to the little corner cubicle that served as his office, closing the door in the face of the suspicious guard. Once alone they embraced briefly, and then drew apart. Astra looked anxiously at Merak. 'Are you all right? When they told me the hospital had been hit... I was so worried.'

  Merak nodded wearily. 'I was lucky.'

  Astra was close to tears. 'When will it end, Merak?'

  'Have you been able to contact the Zeons?'

  Merak and Astra were the leaders of an underground peace party, trying to end the war by negotiation.

  Astra shook her head despairingly. 'None of our messages seem to get through.'

  Merak frowned. 'Is it possible the transmissions are being jammed from this end?'

  'No. That would mean the Marshal suspected us—and if he did, he'd have us arrested. I sent the last message myself. On the palace transmitter. There was no contact-signal, no bounce back—nothing! It's as if Zeos wasn't there!'

  The rumble of a nearby explosion shook the room. The atomic bombardment had started again. Merak looked up. 'Zeos is there, all right.'

  A voice from the doorway said, 'Forgive me, Your Highness but we are behind schedule.'

  They turned. It was the guard.

  Merak took a new rad-check from his desk, took off the one the Princess was wearing, and put the new one in its place. 'You really must be careful to keep your rad-check renewed, Princess,' he said severely.

  Astra nodded coolly. 'Thank you, Surgeon Merak.' She turned and followed the guard from the room.

  Merak watched her go, his face grim. They must make contact with Zeos—before their entire planet was destroyed.

  2 Missile Strike

  The Marshal sat slumped in his command chair, staring broodingly at the busy War Room. They were losing, he thought gloomily. Unless something happened soon...

  Shapp's voice aroused him from his reverie. Marshal, I think we're getting something. An unidentified object.'

  The Marshal rose, and went over to the main radar section. A tiny blip was moving slowly across the main screen.

  'It's a completely unknown signal profile, sir,' said Shapp excitedly. 'It's hardly moving at all.'

  The Marshal slammed his fist down on the console. 'It's the Zeon secret weapon. The device that's interfering with our navigation. Keep tracking until it's within missile range. Destroy that—thing and we can still win! I'll show Princess Astra and her pacifist friends.'

  The Marshal moved away from the radar section and went over to an alcove in a quiet corner of the War Room. There was a mirror in the rear wall of the alcove—a very strange mirror. It had an elaborately decorated metal border and its glass was so darkened that one seemed to stare through it rather than into it. The Marshal gazed at his shadowy reflection, and spoke, as if addressing someone else. 'She is beginning to panic, becoming a thorn in my flesh, an irritant. She could be useful to my enemies.' The Marshal paused, almost as if expecting a reply. Then he nodded slowly. 'Yes... something tells me her usefulness is coming to an end.' He moved over to the communications
area.

  At the sound of the subdued bleep, Princess Astra's guard paused. 'Excuse me, Your Highness.' He lifted his wrist communicator to his ear. 'Yes, sir, she's with me now.' He paused... 'Yes, sir. Very good sir. I'll see to it immediately.' He turned to the Princess. 'New orders, Your Highness. Your visit to the children's ward has been cancelled, danger of subsidence. The children are being evacuated to K block. We're to go there now, so that you can meet them in their new quarters.'

  'I thought K block was closed by radiation contamination.'

  'That was some time ago, Your Highness, apparently it's clear now. This way please.'

  'Very well.'

  Their route led them into a wing that seemed completely deserted. The guard paused before an arched metal doorway. 'In here, Your Highness. The children are waiting for you.' He opened the door. There was darkness beyond the doorway, and no sound of children's voices.

  Princess Astra hesitated, and the guard said, almost regretfully, 'You must go in, Your Highness. I have my orders.'

  'I understand.' She went through the doorway, and the guard slammed and locked the door behind her. As he straightened up, a shadow fell across him.

  The Marshal was standing over him, blaster in hand.

  The guard came to attention. 'Your orders have been carried out, sir.'

  'Excellent,' said the Marshal, and shot him down.

  Princess Astra found herself in a long, dimly-lit, metal-walled room. It was completely empty, and the walls and floor were thick with dust. She spun round and tried the door. It was shut fast. There was a warning bleep from the rad-check in her lapel. Princess Astra looked down. The little device was pulsing steadily with light. It was the alarm signal. K block wasn't clear of radiation after all.

  Romana looked up from her instrument-readings. 'Still no sign of Zeos, Doctor. But I'm getting a clear reading for Atrios. Radiation levels you wouldn't believe. Look!'

  The Doctor looked. 'Good grief! You could fry eggs on the streets.'

  'There must be a nuclear war going on down there!'