DOCTOR WHO AND THE REVENGE OF THE CYBERMEN Page 5

  Kellman croaked, 'Do something... for Heaven's sake, one of you stop it!'

  Nobody moved. The Doctor, Lester and Stevenson stood silently watching as the Cybermat glided closer and closer to the terrified Kellman. It stopped, just a few inches away from his stool. The Doctor spoke, 'Of course you could still tell me where the pentalion drive is hidden after you've been bitten, but you'll be cutting it rather fine. You'll only have a few seconds of consciousness left then, you see, and unless you do manage to tell me, you'll die in agony as the others died.' The Doctor's voice was calm and reasonable, as if explaining an interesting experiment to a class of students.

  As the Cybermat reared up for its spring, Kellman's nerve broke. 'All right, all right, I'll tell you,' he screamed. 'It's here round my neck, it was here all the time.' Frantically Kellman's fingers scrabbled at the thin silver chain round his neck, and he tugged a heavy metal locket from inside his shirt. He fumbled with the hidden catch and the locket sprang open to reveal the missing pentalion drive, which he'd hidden in the secret compartment inside.

  The Doctor adjusted controls on the little box, and the Cybermat lowered itself to the ground, spun around, whirred and became dormant, the red glow fading slowly from its eyes. Kicking it casually into a corner, the Doctor walked across to Kellman and took the pentalion drive from him. 'Full of little tricks, aren't we?' He looked at the tiny but vital piece of electronic equipment in his palm. 'Still, all's well that ends well. Now we can get Harry and Sarah back!'

  The Doctor strode rapidly across to the transmat cubicle, with Lester behind. 'You whistled that thing in, didn't you?' asked Lester admiringly. 'How did you know it would only attack Kellman?'

  'Ah, that was the tricky bit. I had to set the controls to home in on his brainwaves.' The Doctor stopped by the transmat control console and peered into its innards thoughtfully. 'Now this is a much more difficult job.' He looked up at Lester solemnly. 'Do you realize, if I put this thing back the wrong way around, the entire Beacon would probably disintegrate?'

  Lester gulped and stepped back. 'Ah... yes. Right then, Doctor, I'll leave you to it.' Lester hurried away. The Doctor grinned and went on with his task.

  In the office of Councillor Tyrum, Vorus stood arrogantly before his smaller colleague. He had been kept waiting for some time, and he was in a mood of savage impatience. He spoke with elaborately sarcastic politeness. 'You said a matter of importance. Chief Councillor?'

  Tyrum looked infuriatingly blank for a moment, almost as if he'd forgotten why he'd summoned Vorus. 'Ah, yes. I have had a report that two aliens—two humans—have been seen on Voga.'

  Vorus thought quickly. Should he confess that the aliens were his prisoners? No, that was too dangerous. If Tyrum insisted on interrogating the humans, they might tell him of events on the Beacon—and that would mean the end of his great plan. Vorus said nothing.

  'By ancient tradition,' continued Tyrum coldly, 'your guards control the upper galleries and the routes to the surface. If humans have set foot on Voga, it must be with your knowledge, even, perhaps, with your connivance.'

  Vorus took refuge in bluster. 'You have no proof of these allegations,' he growled.

  Placidly Tyrum said, 'Nevertheless, I believe them to be true.' The Councillor moved to a curtained alcove. 'Whatever is happening in the upper galleries, it has not passed unnoticed. Strange stories have reached my ears. Now your guards have resorted to murder—and that I can prove!' Tyrum ripped aside the curtain. Behind it, in the alcove, lay the body of the dead radio operator, killed by Vorus's guard for attempting to send a warning message to Nerva Beacon. 'A squad of your guards was detected attempting to conceal the corpse in the lower galleries.'

  Vorus looked at the body, unmoved. 'This does not concern you, Councillor Tyrum. It was a matter of internal discipline.'

  For the first time, Tyrum showed signs of anger. 'Does it not? I know your ambitions, Vorus. I know you would have Voga a great power again, trading our gold with the other planets of the galaxy.'

  'And why not? Why must we live forever underground, cowering from the memory of things that happened centuries ago?'

  'Because this way we survive!' Tyrum hammered his fist on the desk. 'In the past our gold brought us greatness, and the greatness in turn brought only sorrow and destruction. We became involved in the Cyberwar; we earned the undying hatred of the Cybermen. Now, while no one suspects that Voga is inhabited, that this is the famous planet of gold—we remain safe.'

  Sheer rage overcame Vorus's habitual awe of Tyrum. 'Safe!' he shouted. 'Must we think only of safety? You have the philosophy of a cringing cave mouse, Tyrum.'

  'And you are a gambler with a mad thirst for power. That is why I can no longer trust you and your Guardians. The Council Militia are taking control of the galleries.'

  Vorus was outraged. For generations the Guardians, armed troops of the Vogan Guild, had been responsible for the security of the mine galleries that riddled the planet. 'You cannot do this!' he choked.

  'It is the lawful decision of the Council. The Militia are moving into the galleries at this very moment. Your men are outnumbered, and the troops will crush any resistance.'

  Vorus drew his blaster and strode to the door. 'We shall see,' he growled.

  Tyrum leaped to his feet. 'If you resist the lawful decision of the Council, it will be an act of rebellion!'

  'Then I rebel!' shouted Vorus. 'And when my rebellion is over, you and your Council will rule Voga no more!'

  Angrily he turned and strode from the room.

  6

  Attack of the Cybermen

  The Doctor made a last micro-adjustment to the reinstalled pentalion drive, and straightened up, taking the jeweler's eyeglass from his eye and wiping his brow. He replaced the access panel on the console and then operated the controls. There was a satisfactory hum of power, the transmat booth lit up—and nothing happened. The Doctor carried out the transportation procedure again, and yet again. Still no result.

  Commander Stevenson came over to him and glanced at the empty cubicle. 'What's the matter, isn't it working?'

  'It's working all right. Ticking over on full power. Harry and Sarah must have left the receptor area.' The Doctor noticed Stevenson's worried expression. 'Has something happened?'

  'We've picked up a spaceship on our radar scanners.'

  'That's normal enough, surely?' The Doctor went on fiddling with the transmat controls.

  'Not this one. There are no more ships due in this section for twelve days. And this particular spaceship seems to be heading straight for us.'

  'I'll come and take a look.' As the Doctor followed Stevenson he thought to himself that he had a pretty good idea, who that spaceship belonged to. Maybe Harry and Sarah were safer where they were.

  At that particular moment, Harry and Sarah were running along an endless succession of seemingly identical mine galleries, trying to find their way back to the transmat terminal. Suddenly Harry stopped. 'Listen!'

  Sarah listened. A distant rumbling and crackling came from somewhere not far away. 'What is it?'

  'Shooting,' said Harry grimly. 'They must be fighting among themselves.'

  'That's marvelous. As if we hadn't enough troubles, we have to land up in the middle of a war.'

  'Oh no, we don't,' said Harry determinedly. 'We'll stay out of their way and let 'em get on with it.'

  They started running away from the direction of the shooting. Unfortunately their chosen route led them straight into a squad of Council Militia, coming up as reinforcements. The Militia instantly covered them with their blasters. Harry sighed and raised his hands. 'Sorry, old girl—but here we go again!'

  Outside the Guild Hall, Vorus's Guardians were fighting valiantly, although they were both outnumbered and outweaponed by Tyrum's Militia. The Guardians were driven back and back until they had to make their final stand directly outside the great golden doors.

  Sheprah, Captain of the Militia, called, 'Surrender! Further bloodshed is usel
ess.' His only answer was a crackle of blaster fire.

  Vorus came out of the Guild Hall and shouted defiantly. 'We shall fight to the last man. No one enters the Guild Hall of the Guardians.'

  Sheprah considered. He knew Vorus's Guardians to be fanatically loyal to their chief. Moreover they were well dug in, and he might lose most of his men before he could capture the Guild Hall. He turned to his number two. 'Hold your positions. I shall go and seek orders from Tyrum.'

  The Militia settled themselves in for a siege. One or two shots were exchanged, but it was obvious they were making no real attempt to advance further. Vorus went back to the Guild Hall, where he found Magrik waiting in a state of utter panic. Ignoring him, he turned to his military aide. 'We must hold this position at all costs. If Tyrum finds the Skystriker, all our work will have been for nothing.' The Guardsian saluted and returned to organize the defense. Vorus turned to Magrik. 'I shall have the two human captives killed at once. If they fall into Tyrum's hands, they might arouse his suspicions of us even further.'

  Nervously Magrik stammered, 'That is what I came to tell you. Just before the Militia attacked us, the two humans escaped. By now they may already be in Tyrum's hands.'

  Commander Stevenson stood behind Lester as he sat at the control console. On the space radar screen, a blip of light was moving steadily forward. Stevenson said, 'Have another go at making contact.'

  Obediently, Lester flicked his speaker switch. 'This is Nerva Beacon. Nerva Beacon to approaching spacecraft. Do you read me?' There was no reply. The blip of light continued its remorseless progression.

  'Try again,' snapped the Commander. 'They're heading straight for us.'

  Lester tried again. 'This is Nerva Beacon. You are approaching Nerva Beacon. We are quarantined with space-plague. I repeat. We have plague aboard the Beacon. For your own safety, stand away.'

  There was nothing but the crackle of space-static in reply.

  'I don't think they'll answer you,' said the Doctor gently. 'Not if they're who I think they are.'

  Lester said, 'Look, Commander, they're moving into a docking orbit. I'll see if I can get a visual scanner contact.' Lester manipulated controls, and on a second screen the shape of the spaceship slowly appeared. They all studied it for a moment. It was old and scarred, yet still somehow terrifyingly alien.

  Stevenson shook his head. 'Never seen that type before. Have you, Doctor?'

  The Doctor nodded. 'I'm afraid I have, a long, long time ago. I hoped never to see one again. Those are Cybermen.'

  There was a distant clang, and the Beacon seemed to shudder a little. 'They're docking,' said Lester.

  The Doctor was already on his way out of the room. 'Come on, both of you. We've got to stop them getting on board. Where's the airlock?'

  The three men ran down the perimeter corridor and into the docking section at the far end. The Doctor opened the massive door to the airlock chamber and looked inside. With a surge of relief he saw that the far door, the one that led to the connection tunnel onto which approaching spaceships must lock, was still closed. The Doctor grabbed Lester by the arm. 'Tools, man. If we can jam the hydraulic control we can still keep them out, at least for a time.'

  Lester hauled open a tool locker, while the Doctor started unclipping an inspection hatch. He lifted it off to reveal a maze of heavy hydraulic piping. Taking a heavy monkey wrench from Lester, the Doctor started to unscrew the main power feed. Or rather he tried to unscrew it. But with the long quarantine period on the Beacon, the docking bay hadn't been used for some time. There had been no proper maintenance since all the engineers were dead. The big locking nut was jammed tight, and nothing the Doctor could do would shift it.

  He heaved away desperately, unable to get proper leverage in the confined space. Suddenly Lester tapped his shoulder. 'Doctor, look!'

  There was a hiss of pressure and the door of the airlock began to sigh open. 'We're too late,' the Doctor yelled. 'They're coming through!'

  He bustled Lester out of the airlock chamber and followed him through the door that led to the corridor, where Commander Stevenson was waiting. Stevenson said urgently, 'What's happening?'

  'Cybermen,' said the Doctor briefly. 'Come on, we'd better run for it. If we hide out in the maintenance section...' The Doctor stopped talking, realizing that Stevenson was making no attempt to move. He had drawn his blaster and was covering the door to the airlock chamber. 'Commander, come on,' repeated the Doctor.

  Stevenson shook his head. 'Sorry, Doctor. You do what you like, but it's my job to stay here.' He turned to Lester. 'That's a fairly narrow door space, and we can bracket them with a crossfire from our blasters.' Lester nodded, drawing his own weapon.

  The Doctor was almost tearing his hair in impatience. 'I admire your courage, Commander, but not your good sense. We're dealing with Cybermen. Attacking them with those hand-blasters is like hunting elephants with a peashooter. Come away while there's still time.'

  But there was no more time. The Doctor, who had his back to the airlock door, saw Stevenson gazing over his shoulder, his eyes widening in horror. The Doctor whirled around. Towering in the doorway stood the giant silver figure of a Cyberman. Others could be seen coming through into the airlock behind it.

  Stevenson could scarcely believe his eyes. He'd heard of Cybermen, even seen old pictures of them, but meeting one at close quarters like this was very different. The creature was at least seven feet tall, maybe more. It was made entirely of some kind of silvery material, that might have been either metal or plastic. There was no real difference between the Cyberman's face and body, its clothes and the many strange-shaped accessories attached to its chest.

  The face was a terrifyingly blank parody of humanity, round circles for eyes, a thin slit for a mouth. Above the forehead was what looked like some kind of lamp, and two strange handle-like projections took the place of ears. There were weapons in the Cyberman's hands, plain foot-long metal rods with white cylinders on the end.

  It took only a few seconds for Lester and Stevenson to get over their astonishment. 'Right, let 'em have it!' yelled the Commander.

  The Doctor's cry of 'No—don't try it!' was drowned in the crackle of blasters, as both men opened fire at the Cyberleader. The silver giant reeled back a little at the double-blaster impact, but showed no sign of being really harmed. It raised its Cyberweapon and the cylinder at the end glowed brightly. The Cyberleader fired, and the first shot dropped Stevenson where he stood. A second sent Lester crashing against the corridor wall and he slid slowly to the ground.

  By now the Doctor was already haring along the perimeter corridor. 'Stop,' shouted the Cyberleader in its toneless inhuman voice. The Doctor ran even faster. The Cyberleader raised its weapon and fired for the third time. The Doctor spun around, crashed against a wall and dropped to the floor.

  Tonelessly the Cyberleader spoke to the other Cybermen now crowding into the corridor. 'All resistance has been overcome. The Beacon is ours.' There was no triumph in its voice; Cybermen have no feelings. It was merely recording the facts.

  The Cybermen spread out and began to search the Beacon, making sure there were no more pockets of resistance. One of them came to a doorway in the corridor and paused, listening. The sound of muffled banging and yelling came from the other side of the door. The Cyberman reached out a giant silver hand and tried to open the door. It was locked, so the Cyberman simply ripped it off its hinges, tearing the steel sheeting like paper. Cowering in a corner of the room was a human, and the Cyberman raised its weapon.

  Terrified, Kellman yelled, 'Don't shoot, I'm your friend. I'm the one who's helping you.' The Cyberman paused. Unaware that he was using one of science-fiction's immortal cliches, Kellman said, 'Take me to your leader.'

  The Cyberman said, 'Come,' and herded Kellman along the corridor. It took him to the crewroom, where the bodies of the Doctor, Lester and the Commander were piled in a heap on the floor, the Cyberleader standing over them.

  It turned and said, 'You are
Kellman?'

  Kellman nodded, looking down at the bodies. 'You haven't killed them all?'

  'Of course not. They are necessary to our plan.'

  Kellman knelt by the Doctor's body and started to go through his pockets. The Cyberleader said, 'What are you doing, Kellman?'

  'This is the stranger I reported, the one who calls himself the Doctor.'

  The Cyberleader reacted. 'There is a traditional enemy of our people known as the Doctor.'

  'You think it's the same man?'

  'That is not possible. The Doctor defeated us hundreds of Earth years ago. Humans do not live so long. In addition, his appearance does not match our records. Why do you search him?'

  'He was the reason I had to advance your plan. He's more intelligent than the others, more dangerous. I'd just like to know who and what he is.'

  'What have you discovered?'

  Kellman looked at his haul. 'So far, a bag of jelly beans, a half-eaten apple and a yo-yo. I think I'll give up.'

  He got to his feet and joined the Cyberleader, who was spreading out a map on a nearby chart table. 'Is that the Vogan cave system?'

  'That is correct. Once our landing is detected, the Vogans will attack us in force.'

  'I shouldn't worry. They've only got light armaments, nothing that will affect your Cybermen.'

  'Where is the main shaft?'

  Kellman jabbed a finger at the map. 'Here. I explored it for you myself. It runs deep into the very core of Voga.'

  'How far is the shaft from the transmat receptor area?'

  'A matter of yards. I set up the receptor station as close as possible.'

  The Cyberleader studied the map a moment longer. 'Excellent. You have done well, Kellman.'