Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks Page 7

  Gliding smoothly, the line of Daleks swung around to encircle Ronson, who cowered back into his corner. 'No, no,' be babbled. 'It isn't true..."

  Viciously Davros hissed, 'Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!'

  The Dalek guns blazed and Ronson was hurled across the room. His body collapsed, a charred and smoking ruin, against the far wall. Davros spoke, not to the horrified Thal scientists, but to the Daleks. 'Today the Kaled City and much of the Kaled race was ended, consumed in the fires of war. But from the ashes will rise the supreme creature, the ultimate conqueror of the Universe—the Dalek!'

  No one moved or spoke. Still ignoring the scientists, Davros addressed his creations. 'Today you begin a journey that will take the Daleks to their destiny of Universal and absolute supremacy. You have been programmed to complete a task. You will now begin.'

  In response to Davros's speech the leading Dalek spoke only two words. But in them was the whole of the Dalek creed. In that grinding, metallic voice, so hideously like Davros's own, it said, 'We obey.' The Daleks turned and glided from the laboratory.

  In the Thal rocket control room, the rejoicing went on. Wine was produced, toasts were drunk. No one thought about the Doctor, slumped head-down in his corner.

  The minister was in the full flood of his eloquence. 'A thousand years of war, and now it's ended. Listen to the people, they know already. From outside the control room came a growing rumble of distant cheering, as the good news spread through the Thal City. 'I must speak to them,' said the Minister. 'There must be a victory parade. Come, there is much to be done...'

  He began to lead his fellow VIPs from the room. As they passed the Doctor, one of the minister's special aides, a tall, severe-looking girl called Bettan, asked, 'What about him?'

  The Minister glared indignantly at the Doctor. 'He must be punished, executed...' Theminister broke off. He was a kindly man at heart, and he really wasn't in the mood to thinkabout such distasteful matters as executions. 'No—let us show that although ruthless in war, we Thals can be merciful in victory. All political prisoners will be freed, and all charges dropped. Release him!' The minister swept out, and at a nod from Bettan the guard began untying the Doctor. He rose and stretched his tall figure, his face sad. Bettan turned to go, then hesitated. There was something curiously compelling about this odd-looking man in the strange clothes.

  'You had friends in the Kaled City?' she said gently.

  'Two people very dear to me. The worst of it is, I sent them back into—that.' He glanced at the monitor where the ruined remains of the Kaled City could be seen, still burning fiercely.

  'What will you do now?'

  'Start again. Try to complete what I came here to do.'

  'What was that?' Bettan askedcuriously.

  'Stop the development of the Daleks, the machine creatures Davros has created. Creatures as evil as he is himself.'

  'Davros is interested only in achieving peace. He told us how to destroythe Kaled dome,' Bettan protested.

  The Doctor shook his head emphatically. 'The Kaleds themselves realized the danger of Davros's experiments. They were about to stop him. Rather than let that happen, he betrayed his own people.'

  'You'll never convince the Thals that Davros is evil,' said Bettan. 'He's become a popular hero!'

  The Doctor nodded, lost in thought.

  'You're free now,' said Bettan. You can go where you please.'

  'Thank you,' the Doctor said absently. With a charming smile, he wandered away.

  Bettan was an efficient and hard-working young woman, with an important official position.Arrangements for the victory celebrations kept her busy during the next few hours. But she often found herself thinking of the strange man in the control room. She had no idea of the terrifying circumstances under which she was to meet him again.

  'And there you have it, gentlemen. That outlines the chromosomal variations to be introducedinto the genetic structuring of the embryo Daleks. They are to be implemented at once.'

  Through his vision lens, Davros looked irritably around the small group of leading scientists.Their faces did not hold the approval and adulation to which he had become accustomed. Instead they looked shocked, disapproving even. It was Gharman, the group leader, who spokefor the rest.

  'Davros... the changes you outline will create enormous mental defects.'

  'They will not be defects—they will be improvements,' snapped the metallic voice.

  'It will mean creatures without conscience. No sense of right or wrong, no pity. They'll becompletely without feeling or emotion.'

  'That is correct. That is the purpose of the changes. See that they are carried out—without question, Gharman.'

  No one dared object further, and the scientists left to begin their tasks. Nyder, who had entered in time to witness the end of this scene, smiled thinly and went over to Davros. 'The Dalek task force is in position,' he said. 'They await your order.'

  'I see no reason for further delay.' The withered hand dropped down on a control. Miles away, on the edge of the Thal City, Daleks began to move forward.

  The Doctor made his way with difficulty through the rejoicing Thal City. The place was completely roofed-in, like one enormous building. Corridors, streets, squares and walkways were jammed with excited revelers, all celebrating the end of a war which had been going on their whole lives. It was rather like being forced to attend an enormous, noisy party when not really in the mood. People hugged the Doctor, slapped him on the back and even tried to kiss him. Others pressed food and drink on him, and urged him to join parties in their homes.

  Slowly the Doctor forged ahead, accepting some refreshment, but smilingly refusing all other invitations. At last, as he came to the edge of the city, things were a little quieter. The Doctor was looking for a way out into the Wastelands. He intended to make his way to Davros's bunker, though he had no very clear idea what he would do when he got there.

  Dodging a group of revelers dancing in a city square, the Doctor moved on. He could still hear the sound of shouts and laughter behind him. Suddenly, silence fell. Then there were screams, shouts of terror. The Doctor ran back the way he had come. Turning into the little square he stopped appalled. The bodies of the dancers were strewn all over the square, contorted in attitudes of sudden death. A Dalek was methodically shooting down the fleeing survivors. A second Dalek glided out to join it. Across the square came the familiar, hated voices. 'Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!'

  The Doctor turned and ran back toward the gate. There was nothing he could possibly do here. It was all the more urgent that he tackle the evil at its source.

  As the Doctor ran he heard shouts and screams of terror from all over the city. He could easily guess what was happening. The happy, careless Thals, the sinister shapes gliding from the shadows, the cries of 'Exterminate!' and the blazing Dalek guns... then the heaps of charred, smoking bodies as the Daleks moved off to continue their dreadful work...

  The main gate of the Thal City stood open and unguarded. No wonder the Daleks had entered so easily. As the Doctor ran up to the gate he collided with a fleeing figure. It was Bettan, the girl he had seen in the control room. She clutched his arm. 'There are—machines all over the city. Killing everybody without mercy. Are those the things you told me about, the things you said Davros made?'

  The Doctor grabbed her and pulled her into the shelter of a doorway. A line of sinister metal shapes glided into the square, driving before them a group of running figures. Dalek guns opened fire, the fleeing Thals twisted and fell. The Doctor and Bettan froze motionless in their doorway. The Daleks surveyed the square a moment longer, then turned and glided back into the City. Only then did the Doctor answer Bettan's question. 'Yes,' he said softly. 'Those are the Daleks. Come on, we'll be safer in the Wastelands than here.' They made their way out through the gates and across the Wastelands.

  Soon the City was invisible behind them, lost in the perpetual fog and darkness of the Wastelands. They found an abandoned t
rench and sat down to rest. Bettan was still unable to take in what had happened. 'Davros didn't need to go that far. When our leaders saw they were beaten they would have surrendered.'

  'Perhaps they tried,' said the Doctor. 'The Daleks accept no terms. Davros has conditioned them to wipe the Thals from this planet.'

  'Some of us will survive,' Bettan said fiercely. 'And we'll fight back.'

  The Doctor looked bard at her. 'Do you mean that? Are you really prepared to help me?'

  'I'll do anything I can.'

  'Even go back to the City?'

  Bettan winced, but her voice was steady. 'Even that... if it'll really help.'

  The Doctor leaned forward. 'To destroy the Daleks, we must destroy Davros himself,' he said urgently. 'I'm going to go back into the Bunker and do whatever I can. But I need the backing of some kind of fighting force.' Bettan looked puzzled. 'What can I do?'

  'You said yourself, there are bound to be some survivors. If you could organize them, find arms and explosives, make an attack on Davros's Bunker—it could be the diversion I'll need. As yet there aren't so many Daleks in existence. If you stay out of their way there's a chance. Will you try it?' Bettan nodded. She stood up. 'Goodbye—and good luck'

  Bettan slipped out of the trench and began retracing their steps, back toward the city. As she came within sight of the main gate she saw Daleks gliding through the streets, illuminated by the flames of the burning buildings. Dodging from one hiding place to another, she made her way back to the city center, steeling herself against the horrors she would find inside.

  The Doctor meanwhile moved across the Wastelands in the opposite direction. He was working his way along a slit-trench that seemed to run in the right direction, when suddenly a cloaked form sprang down and grappled with him. Of all the times to run into a hostile muto, thought the Doctor despairingly. Enemies to everything but their own twisted and abandoned kind, the mutos attacked all strangers on sight. The Doctor disposed of his attacker fairly easily, but soon realized that he had more than one to deal with. More and more cloaked and hooded figures piled on top of him, and soon the Doctor was spread-eagled on his back in the mud, held powerless in the grip of many hands. One of the mutos, evidently a leader, looked round for some weapon to finish him. There was a jagged rock on the ground nearby. The muto lifted it up, poised, ready to crash the rock down on the Doctor's head...

  8 CAPTIVES OF DAVROS

  The Doctor struggled desperately to escape, but too many bodies were holding him down. just as the rock seemed about to fall, a burly figure shoulder-charged the muto, sending him flying. The Doctor looked up into the face of Harry Sullivan! The jagged rock thudded into the mud close to the Doctor's head. Then a huge figure started plucking the other mutos from the Doctor, throwing them through the air in all directions.

  Terrified by the sudden assault, the band of mutos scuttled off into the darkness. The next thing the Doctor knew, his two friends were helping him to his feet. The Doctor greeted them in astonished delight. 'Sarah! Harry! I don't believe it. I thought you'd been blown up in the Kaled City!'

  'We never got there,' explained Sarah. 'Halfway across the Wastelands we were attacked by a band of wandering mutos. While we were fighting them off—the rocket blew up the Kaled City.'

  "You could see the flames clear across the Wastelands," Harry said. 'The poor old mutos were so scared they just ran for their lives.'

  The Doctor shook his head wonderingly. 'Then what are you all doing here?'

  Harry grinned. 'We knew you'd try to get back into the Bunker through the cave. We came to help.'

  'Must you really go back?' Sarah asked.

  'I must, Sarah. There's still a chance I'll manage to complete my mission. What's more, there's another very good reason.'

  'To recover the Time ring?'

  'That bracelet the Time Lord gave me is our lifeline. Without it, we'll never get away from this planet.'

  That was reason enough to convince even Sarah. They made their way out of the trench, across more Wastelands, until they reached the window in the rock wall through which they'd emerged earlier.

  The Doctor moved aside the broken bars and helped Harry through. Sevrin was about to follow when the Doctor laid a hand on his arm. "Will you do something for us, Sevrin—something important?'

  'If I can,' Sevrin spoke in his deep, gentle voice.

  'Over in the Thal City there's a girl called Bettan. She's trying to organize a resistance group.Will you round up any of your people who can fight, and join her? She's going to stage an attack on the main gate of the Bunker. The attack probably won't succeed, but it will keep theElite troops occupied while I try to complete my mission.'

  'Very well, Doctor. I will do what I can.'

  Sarah took one of Sevrin's great hands in both of hers. 'Goodbye, Sevrin—and thank you.' The muto slipped away into the darkness. The Doctor helped Sarah through the gap and climbed through after her. Harry was waiting on the other side.

  'We'd better stay close together, Sarah,' warned the Doctor. 'This cave is full of Davros's rejected experiments.'

  Sarah shivered. 'Did you have to tell me that?'

  Harry chuckled. 'Not scared, are you, Sarah?'

  'Of course not!'

  'Well you should be,' said the Doctor severely. 'One of them nearly had Harry for lunch!' With these consoling words the Doctor moved off into the darkness, Sarah and Harry following close behind.

  The Doctor's Time ring lay still unnoticed on Ronson's desk. No one was particularly interested in odds and ends taken from some mysterious alien, and the desk had been left undisturbed since its owner's death.

  The plump communications scientist called Kavell was working at his own desk nearby when Gharman, Davros's chief assistant, came over to him. He cast a quick glance at the Elite guards on the door, and held up a piece of electronic circuitry. 'I'm having a problem with the dimensional thought circuit,' he said loudly. I wonder if you'd have a look at it.' Kavell looked up in surprise. The problem was completely out of his area. He was about to say so when Gharman whispered, 'Kavell—we've got to stop the Daleks!'

  Kavell took the circuit and pretended to examine it. 'I want no part of it, Gharman. You saw what happened to Ronson. Davros will have us killed too, if he thinks we're plotting against him.'

  'If we plan carefully he won't suspect.'

  Kavell nodded toward the guard. 'What about the Elite Security Guards—they'll stay loyal to Davros.'

  'That isn't important—not if the whole of the scientific corps turns against him. We can demand that the Dalek project is halted. Every day I become more convinced that this whole project is evil and immoral. These latest genetic changes—'

  'What do you expect me to do?' whispered Kavell. He had no wish to prolong the conversation.

  'Spread the word. Help me to convince the others that it's vital the whole Dalek project is ended.'

  'I'll do what I can. I promise nothing—'

  Kavell broke off short as Nyder came into the laboratory. Gharman snatched back his equipment and returned to his place. Kavell bent over his papers, working furiously.

  Nyder seemed to have noticed nothing. He had a brief discussion about security matters with the guard on the door, then walked back to his own cubicle. As he sat behind his meticulously tidy desk Nyder's mind was working furiously. He could very easily guess the kind of conversation Kavell and Gharman had been having. The only question in his mind was—what should he do about it?

  Some time later, Nyder came back into the laboratory. Kavell was no longer there, but Gharman was still working at his desk. Nyder walked across to him. 'Gharman, I must talk to you. It's very important.'

  Gharman didn't look up. 'You can see I'm busy...'

  "Then soon,' insisted Nyder. 'Not here, somewhere private.'

  Gharman looked up curiously. There was strain in Nyder's voice. 'What's all this about, Commander?'

  Nyder seemed to be groping for words. 'Look, Gharman, you know
me... I've served Davros faithfully for years, just as you have. I've never questioned anything he's done until now.'

  'Go on,' said Gharman cautiously.

  'He's become a megalomaniac. He's ready to sacrifice all of us just so his Dalek project can be completed.'

  Gharman felt a sudden exultation. If even Nyder was coming round to his way of thinking... with him on their side victory was certain. 'Don't worry, Commander,' he said reassuringly. 'You're not alone in your fears. Where can we talk safely?'

  Nyder answered thoughtfully, 'There's the detention area on the lower level. Davros never goes there. We could use one of the cells.'

  'Very well. I'll meet you down there as soon as I can.' Gharman bent over his papers, and Nyder walked quietly away.

  Deep beneath the Bunker, Sarah held Harry's hand as she walked through the dank and dripping darkness of the caves. She kept her eyes tight shut most of the time. Various unpleasant hissings and gruntings came from all around, and Sarah had no wish to see what was making them. Harry's other hand was gripping the end of the Doctor's scarf, as the Doctor led them unerringly through the darkness. At least Harry hoped it was unerringly...

  'Not much further,' whispered the Doctor. 'The entrance to the ventilation duct is just along here.'

  Harry stopped and looked around. 'Are you sure, Doctor? I don't remember passing this little lot.' A colony of the giant clam creatures was clustered by the cave wall. They gave them a wide berth, but Harry couldn't resist giving the nearest one a passing kick—a gesture instantly regretted as the creature slid towards him, hissing loudly and jaws gaping wide.

  Sarah screamed and backed away—straight toward the opening shell of another clam which gaped eagerly to receive her...

  The Doctor pulled her to one side just as the clam shell clanged shut. Harry jumped away from his clam, and all three ran off into the darkness. The clams followed, hissing, loudly, then suddenly subsided, waiting for another victim to pass by. Sarah shuddered. 'I'll never eat oysters again.'