Doctor Who And The Dalek Invasion of Earth Read online

  "I'm just as active as anyone, and don't you forget it."

  Tyler grinned. "All right, Dortmun, all right." Somehow Susan sensed that despite the angry way they talked to each other, these two men were old and close friends.

  Dortmun spun the wheelchair to face Barbara and Susan. "Well, I suppose we can use two more pairs of hands," he said gruffly.

  David winked at Susan, as if telling her not to be too put off by Dortmun's abrupt manner. "This is Susan. And this is Barbara - she says she can cook!"

  "Good!" Dortmun glared at Susan. "And what can you do?"

  Susan grinned cheekily at him. "Me? I can eat."

  For a moment Dortmun glared at her, then he gave a grim smile. "Well mind you leave some for me. David, where do you think you're going?"

  The young man was already at the door. "These two have friends, two men, still on the surface. I know roughly where they'll be - I thought I'd go and bring them in."

  Dortmun considered for a moment - and Barbara and Susan held their breath. Then he nodded. "All right. But take care - and don't be too long."

  As David passed by her chair, Susan whispered, "Thank you. Be careful."

  "Don't worry, I'll see you later."

  As David left, Dortmun headed his wheelchair towards the inner door. "Come along. We'd better get below." He stopped as he saw Tyler and Barbara helping Susan to get up. "What's the matter with her?"

  Susan hobbled to her feet. "I happen to have sprained my ankle," she said sharply. "Don't worry, I'll manage. I'm just as active as anyone."

  Dortmun gave an approving nod. Clearly he liked people to stand up to him. "All right, let's get moving."

  He sped the wheelchair through the inner doors, and Tyler, Barbara and Susan followed him.

  Ian and the Doctor watched horror struck as the Dalek rose slowly from the water and glided along the bank towards them. Instinctively they turned to run. But the nightmarish figures of the metal-helmeted men had moved down the steps to cut off their escape.

  The Dalek spoke in the harsh, grating tones Ian remembered from Skaro. "Robomen! Why are these humans wandering freely in a forbidden zone?"

  In his slurred, dragging voice the leader of the Robomen replied, "No explanation."

  "Where is the Robopatrol for this section?"

  "Not known."

  "You will take his place until he is found. The human beings will be taken to the landing area."

  "Daleks," whispered Ian. "What are they doing here on Earth?"

  "Leave this to me, my boy." The Doctor marched boldly up to the Dalek. "I demand that you release us at once."

  "We do not release prisoners."

  "Indeed? And by what right do you take prisoners in the first place?"

  "We are the masters of Earth."

  The Doctor snorted disdainfully. "Not for long, I promise you."

  The Dalek was both astonished and enraged by this defiance. "You will obey us or die!"

  The threat only made the Doctor more indignant. "Die? And who are you to condemn us to death? That settles it. Whatever you're up to, I shall pit myself against you and defeat you." The Doctor folded his arms and glared defiantly at the Dalek. Ian closed his eyes and held his breath, mentally willing the Doctor to shut up. He was all in favour of opposing the Daleks, but he saw no use in getting themselves blasted on the spot.

  The Doctor's words seemed to touch off one of those typical speeches, a mixture of threats and boasts, which seemed to be the Daleks" only form of communication with other species. "We have heard many such speeches from the human leaders. All have been destroyed. Resistance is useless. It must cease immediately."

  "Oh must it? You surely don't expect the people of Earth to welcome you with open arms. Even Daleks can't be that stupid."

  "We have already conquered Earth."

  "Don't you pathetic creatures realise? You'll never conquer Earth, not unless you destroy every living being - "

  The Dalek's patience was clearly exhausted. "Take them! Take them!" it screeched.

  Robomen grabbed Ian and the Doctor by their arms and dragged them away. In their ears echoed the angry voice of the Dalek. "We are the masters of Earth. We are the masters of Earth. We are the masters of Earth..."

  From his hiding place nearby, David Campbell watched helplessly as the Doctor and Ian were led away. He had arrived just in time to see their capture. There was little he could do to help them, not with Robomen present in such force. But at least he could find out where they were being taken. Slipping cautiously through the ruins, David began trailing the Robomen and their prisoners.

  "Survivors of London. The Daleks are the masters of Earth. Surrender now and you will live. Those wishing to surrender must stand in the middle of any street and obey the orders they will receive. Obey the Daleks!"

  The radio went silent. Dortmun crashed his fist on the table, making the set jump and rattle. "Obey motorised dustbins! We'll see about that! Tyler, come to the office, I want to talk to you."

  Barbara and Susan looked at each other. They were in a long underground room, filled with rows of trestle tables, at which people sat quietly working. Some were cleaning or assembling weapons, others were working on radio sets and a variety of technical equipment. One corner was sectioned off into a kind of canteen, where women and girls were preparing food, and in another was the partitioned-off room into which Dortmun had just disappeared. Susan noticed that everyone in the room was tired and grim-faced. The place was obviously the main headquarters of the anti-Dalek resistance movement.

  Tyler hesitated a moment before following Dortmun. He called, "Jenny, come over here a moment, will you?"

  A small dark girl got up from the nearest table and walked across to them. She stood before Tyler unsmiling, as if resenting the interruption to her work. "Well?"

  "Two newcomers. See if you can find them some-thing to eat. One of them has a bad ankle."

  The girl looked unsmilingly at Susan and Barbara, no hint of welcome in her face. "All right."

  Tyler turned to go. "David will be back soon. I'm sure he'll have news of your friends. He might even have them with him." He disappeared after Dortmun.

  Jenny said briskly, "Right, who's got the bad ankle?"

  Susan held out her foot. "I have."

  Jenny knelt beside her chair and examined the ankle with skilful but ungentle fingers, ignoring Susan's groan of protest. She straightened up. "Just a strain, no bones broken. Why haven't you put a cold compress on it?"

  "Because I've only just got here," said Susan spiritedly. She'd no intention of being bullied by someone no older than herself, and she'd taken an immediate dislike to this cold-faced and bossy girl.

  Jenny turned to Barbara. "I'll see to this ankle. You go over there and get some food. While you're at it, put your names down for a work detail."

  Protectively Barbara said, "Susan won't be able to do much, not till her foot's better."

  "She can work sitting down, can't she? We've no room for useless mouths here." Jenny moved away.

  Barbara glared after her angrily. Like Susan, she didn't take kindly to being bossed about. But she reminded herself that they were dependent upon these people, not only for food and shelter, but for help in finding Ian and the Doctor. It wouldn't do to upset them - at least until Susan's ankle was better. Barbara gave Susan a rueful grin, and went meekly to fetch the food. From inside the little office came the noise of voices raised in anger. No one took any notice. It was only Dortmun and Tyler having another shouting-match. Everyone was used to that...

  Dortmun slammed his fist on the desk. "We must attack them, Tyler. We must attack now!"

  "That's all very fine. But how? We've got about twenty able-bodied men and women, the rest are old folk, and kids."

  "Ample!" snapped Dortmun defiantly.

  Tyler groaned. "Ample? To attack the Daleks? Re-member the wars in the twentieth century, Dortmun, when men with bayonets attacked machine-gun posts? They got mown down, defeated by super
ior technology. So would we be..."

  "Don't lecture me, Tyler!"

  "Then don't ask the impossible. You haven't been in the streets for quite some time. The Daleks have increased the Robopatrols, tightened up their security. It's almost suicide to go out there these days."

  Dortmun hammered the arm of his wheelchair. "All right, I know. I'm in this ! I send others, but I don't have to go myself!"

  Tyler's tone softened. "I didn't mean that and you know it. Now then, how"s this new bomb of yours getting on?"

  The distraction worked, just as Tyler had hoped. Eagerly Dortmun wheeled his chair to a table in the corner of the office, where shining glass spheres were set out on a blanket. "All finished," he said proudly.

  "Have you tested it yet?"

  "Tested it? It doesn't need testing, it's perfect. This is the bomb that will destroy the Daleks! Look, here's the casing, the new formula explosive, the detonating device..." Eagerly Dortmun began to explain the workings of the bomb on which he had laboured so long.

  He was still doing it when David Campbell slipped into the room some minutes later. David had seen Barbara and Susan as he came in, but they'd had their backs turned and he'd been able to slip into the office without their noticing him. Dortmun looked up. "We're just discussing the next attack, David. How did you get on?"

  "I brought back some more tinned food. There's quite a bit left in that department store."

  Tyler nodded. "All right, I'll send out a foraging party. What about the two strangers?"

  "Just as I got to the embankment I saw them being taken away. I followed them part of the way. Judging by the direction, they were taking them to Heliport Chelsea, where the Dalek saucer landed."

  Dortmun shrugged dismissively. "Then that's the end of them. Once the Daleks get them inside that saucer, they're done for! "

  David thought for a moment. Then he said, "Not necessarily Dortmun. You listen to me..."

  4: Inside the Saucer

  Guarded by Robomen, the Doctor and Ian were standing in what had once been the Chelsea Helicopter Port - Heliport for short. It was a wide stretch of open tarmac, surrounded by ruined buildings. Towering above them rose the immense gleaming shape of the Dalek spaceship. Together with a group of other prisoners, the Doctor and Ian were being held at the foot of a ramp which led up into the ship. Dalek patrols glided to and fro, guarding the perimeter of the Heliport.

  Ian moved closer to the Doctor. "Why are they keeping us waiting about here?" he whispered.

  "I imagine this is an assembly point, my boy. They're going to take all their prisoners on board at once." The Doctor nodded towards the other side of the Heliport. A group of Robomen were marching two more prisoners to join the main group.

  Ian looked round at his fellow captives. They were grimy, ragged and defeated-looking. He turned back to the Doctor. "I still don't understand all this. The Daleks were destroyed. We were there on Skaro, we saw it happen."

  Sadly the Doctor shook his head. "The devastation may not have been as complete as we imagined. The Daleks have incredible tenacity, tremendous powers of survival. There may have been other colonies, on other parts of Skaro..." He looked at the scene around them, the ruined city, the enormous spaceship, the blank-faced, helmeted Robomen standing guard over their prisoners. "Anyway, however it happened, the Daleks have survived. And they've evolved too."

  Ian studied one of the Daleks as it glided past. "I see what you mean. These do look a bit different. I wonder if that's got anything to do with their increased power of movement. On Skaro they could only travel in their own metal city."

  "Quite true. But this is an invasion force, remember. They've found ways to adapt themselves to new planets. Something on the hover-craft principle I should imagine."

  By now the two newcomers had been herded across to the main group. They were tough looking characters, one tall and wiry, the other short and thickset. Ian thought they looked less cowed than the other prisoners. A Dalek glided up to the Robomen guards accompanying them. "Where are the other members of your patrol?"

  In a slurred emotionless voice one of the Robomen answered, "These men killed them both."

  Angrily the Dalek spun round, its gun-stick pointing at the prisoners. "What are your names?"

  "Bill Craddock," said the taller man defiantly.

  With equal truculence the thick-set man said, "And I'm Mick Thomson. Want to put us in your hall of fame, do you?"

  The Dalek's eye stalk swivelled towards them. "Craddock and Thomson." it repeated. "You will be punished for your crimes. Robomen, continue your patrol."

  The Robomen moved away, and the Dalek addressed the group of prisoners. "You will remain here without moving until it is time to enter the ship."

  Ian heard the man called Thomson mutter, "We'll never escape once they get us inside there. I'm going to try something now, are you with me?"

  Craddock glanced around. Daleks were on patrol everywhere, constantly moving round the edges of their group. "Don't be a fool, man. You haven't got a chance."

  There was a note of hysteria in Thomson's voice. "They're not getting me back in their filthy mine."

  A Dalek moved closer. "The prisoners will be silent."

  Suddenly Thomson shoved Craddock to one side, dodged around the Dalek, and began tearing across the Heliport at full speed. Almost immediately a Dalek appeared to block his path. Thomson changed direction, wheeling to his left, but here too a Dalek was waiting. He dodged desperately to and fro, like a chess-pawn threatened by more powerful pieces, but the Daleks were ahead of him at every turn. At last a group of them encircled him - there was nowhere to run. Thomson called desperately to his friend. "Craddock - help me!"

  Instinctively Craddock took a step forward, but the Doctor held him back. "Don't be a fool! There's nothing you can do. Our time will come." Such was the confidence and authority in the Doctor's voice that Craddock found himself obeying without question.

  They heard a grating Dalek voice. "Kill him!" Several Daleks fired at once, and Thomson twisted and spun under the agonising impact of the Dalek death-ray. His body crumpled to the ground.

  A Dalek moved menacingly back towards the horror-struck prisoners. "Any further defiance will be punished in the same way. Prisoners will wait until it is time to enter the ship."

  In a corner of the main operations room, David was breaking the news of the Doctor's capture to Susan. He glanced across to the other side of the room, where Barbara was helping to prepare a meal. "I thought perhaps we wouldn't tell Barbara - not just yet anyway."

  "Oh, but I must," protested Susan.

  "Listen," said David urgently. "Dortmun's keen to make an immediate attack on the Daleks. He's got a new type of bomb he wants to test. Now, I managed to persuade him that the saucer would be a natural target. We can put off telling Barbara until the attack is over."

  Susan was beginning to understand what he meant. "If the attack's a success, there's a chance that Ian and the Doctor will be rescued?"

  David took her hand. "Exactly. And if it isn't - well, they'll have just disappeared. At least there'll still be hope."

  They were interrupted by Jenny, who held out a batch of Roboman helmets to David. "You wanted these?"

  "Yes I did, thank you."

  "Well, here they are, take them. I've got more important things to do than wait on you."

  "You're a model of patience and charm, aren't you, Jenny?"

  "I don't believe in wasting time." Jenny glanced at David's hand, which was still holding Susan's. "And I don't believe in sentiment, either."

  Her work finished, Barbara came over to them. She looked curiously at the pile of helmets. "What's all this?"

  "An invention of the Daleks," said David grimly. "We took them off dead human beings - human beings who'd been turned into Robomen."

  "There aren't that many Daleks on Earth," explained Jenny, "so they need helpers. They operate on some of their prisoners and turn them into sort of human robots, radio-control
led by these helmets. David's trying to find some way to block the Dalek transmissions that's why we're collecting these things."

  David picked up a helmet. "The Daleks call the operation the Transfer. These helmets here transmit the Dalek orders direct to the human brain - at least for a time. Eventually the effectiveness of the operation wears off."

  Susan looked at the gleaming metal helmets and shuddered. "What happens then? Do the people be-come human again?"

  Jenny shook her head. "The process burns out the circuits of the brain. In the end the Robomen go mad and die. They seem to get a sort of suicidal urge. They throw themselves off buildings, into the river... That's why the Daleks need so many prisoners - to keep up their supply of Robomen." David frowned warningly at Jenny, but she went on with her story. "They take them to their flying saucer and operate on them. Once they've got you on board, there isn't a hope."

  Unaware of the shattering effect of her news on Susan, Jenny moved away. Susan looked at David. Perhaps it was just as well they hadn't told Barbara what had happened to the Doctor and Ian.

  " Move! "

  Obedient to the Dalek voice, the line of prisoners began shuffling up the ramp. The Doctor looked up at the Dalek ship as they moved inside. "A work of genius, Chesterton."

  Ian was less enthusiastic. "It's impressive enough. And it looks escape proof." The interior of the Saucer was built in the Dalek style that Ian remembered from Skaro. Walls, doors, floors and ceilings were all of gleaming metal, everything utterly bleak and functional.

  The Doctor rubbed his hands. "Only on the surface, my friend. There's always a weak point - if you can find it."

  The Daleks were marching them along a curving metal corridor. The leading Dalek stopped, and touched a control. "The first three prisoners will move into this cell." The Doctor, Ian and the man named Craddock were the first three in line. The Dalek herded them into a cell and closed the door after them. "Remaining prisoners - move!" Obediently the line of prisoners shuffled on.

  In the control room, a Dalek stood watching the scanner screen. This Dalek was larger than the others, and its casing was a dull jet black. This was the Dalek Supreme, the Black Dalek, Commander of the expedition to Earth. On the scanner was a view of a prison cell, with the Doctor, Ian and Craddock sitting on the floor, their backs against the wall. The Dalek Supreme touched a control and the hidden camera zoomed in until the Doctor's face filled the screen. "This is the one?"