Doctor Who - [083] - [Target Novel 09] -The Android Invasion Read online

  * * *

  The Doctor finished explaining his plan to an ever more astonished Grierson. "There you are then. Now, could you do that for me?"

  "Well, I could, Doctor. I mean it's theoretically possible. But it'll take time. I'd have to rejig about eleven circuits."

  "Then I suggest you get started at once—and tell no one, no one what you're doing."

  Grierson dropped voice. "We can't do it, Doctor. If we point the radar dish downwards as you suggest and feed all our power into it, well jam every bit of radio and electronic equipment for miles around. There'll be utter chaos."

  "Believe me, Mr. Grierson, nothing like the chaos there's going to be if you don't do it," whispered the Doctor. "Now, get moving, man."

  Grierson opened his mouth to protest further, but before he could speak an angry Colonel Faraday burst red-faced into the room, towing Harry Sullivan behind him, "So, there you are, Doctor! Now, do you mind telling me what all this is about?"

  "It's about an invasion of Earth, Colonel Faraday. I suggest we go to your office. You've got some very important phone calls to make."

  Calmly the Doctor led the way out of the room, talking as he went. "I've got some rather unpleasant news for you, Colonel. Crayford has sold you out to the Kraals."

  Faraday hurried after him. "Kraals? Who the blazes are the Kraals?"

  "An alien race bent on the conquest of Earth. They've evolved a very ingenious plan..."

  The Doctor's voice faded as he disappeared along the corridor, trailing Harry Sullivan and Colonel Faraday behind him.

  Grierson looked thoughtfully at the console that controlled the radar scanner dish. On the face of it the Doctor's request was absurd. But there had been something curiously compelling about him all the same. And it was an intriguing idea... Thoughtfully Grierson began removing an access panel from the console.

  He looked up as Benton popped his head into the room. ''Where's the Doctor?"

  "Mr. Sullivan and the Colonel are back. They all went up to the Colonel's office."

  The Benton android nodded, glancing round the room. Everything seemed in order. Just a technician busy at some minor repair job. It turned and went out into the corridor. There was much to do.

  * * *

  In Faraday's office the Doctor was finishing his explanations. He knew that Harry Sullivan would take the truth of his story on trust, hut Faraday was still looking very doubtful. The Doctor wished desperately that Lethbridge-Stewart hadn't chosen this moment to go rushing off to Geneva. Most of the time the Brigadier was under his feet, and the one time he needed him the wretched fellow wasn't there.

  As the Doctor finished, Faraday slumped lower behind his desk, muttering, "Kraals, androids... the whole thing's utterly fantastic."

  Harry was fascinated by the Doctor's story. "You've seen these androids, Doctor? They really are good enough to pass for the real thing?"

  "Indeed they are, Harry. You could chat to one for ages and never know."

  "I'd know," growled Faraday. "I'm not going to have any aliens infiltrating my command."

  "I wouldn't be too confident, Colonel," said the Doctor mischievously. "I happen to know they've made a replica of Harry. They've probably made one of you as well."

  Harry looked alarmed. "If these android things are as good as the Doctor says, some of them might be amongst us already, without our knowing," He looked meaningly at the Colonel. "Tell you what, sir, I could run a medical check on everyone on the base. As soon as I pass anyone, then we'll know they're all right."

  Faraday was enthusiastic. "Good idea, my boy. What do you say, Doctor? Will that take care of your worries? I'll give Sullivan a special squad of men. He can vet the whole place for us."

  "A proper medical examination of everybody would take too long. Luckily there's a shortcut." The Doctor produced a small torch-like device from his pocket.

  Harry stared. "What is it?"

  "It's a simple robot detector," said the Doctor proudly "The little bulb on the end lights up in the presence of an android. You use it like this." He pointed the instrument at Colonel Faraday. The bulb lit up.

  There was a moment of silence. "Thing must be faulty," rumbled Faraday.

  The Doctor shook his head. "No, I don't think so. It's pretty well foolproof." He pointed the device at himself. The bulb went out. He turned the instrument on Harry Sullivan. The bulb lit up again.

  "I see," said the Doctor softly. "So, I was too late after all. The real Harry Sullivan and Colonel Faraday did go into that rocket—and they're still there! You two came back down in the elevator—two androids!"

  From behind him an astonishingly familiar voice said, "A pity you had to find out, Doctor. We didn't really want any shooting until the takeover was complete."

  The Doctor turned. Standing in the doorway he saw himself—a self that was covering him with a heavy revolver. Cheerfully the Doctor said, "Hullo, Doctor! We've been waiting for you."

  He studied his other self with some admiration. "I must say the likeness is absolutely astonishing. For a moment I thought I was seeing double." Calmly the Doctor strolled up to the door and put his hand on the knob.

  The android Doctor raised the revolver. "Keep back, Doctor!"

  The Doctor smiled mockingly at his other self for a moment—then slammed the door into it, sending the android reeling into the corridor.

  He whirled round and shoved the other two androids aside. Shielding his face with his arms, he took a flying leap, disappearing through the window in a shower of broken glass.

  The Doctor landed on the lawn just below, thankful the Colonel's was a first-floor office. He rolled over, got to his feet and sprinted for the corner of the building. A bullet chipped stone from the wall beside him, and he glanced back to see the android Doctor firing from the window. Then he was round the corner and out of sight.

  He found he was by the main gate—and Sarah was strolling innocently through it. Without even slowing his pace, the Doctor grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along after him. They ran round the side of the building and eventually found shelter behind a concrete fuel bunker at the edge of the rocket field.

  As they crouched down panting, the Doctor reached out and solemnly took Sarah's pulse. She stared at him. "What are you doing, Doctor? This is a funny time to worry about my health"

  The Doctor grinned, "It's my health I'm worrying about, Sarah. I'm just making sure you're really you."

  "Well, I know you're you all right, Doctor. I could hear them shooting at you. What's going on here?"

  Colonel Faraday's voice echoed over the rocket field. "Attention all units. It has been confirmed that the person calling himself the Doctor is an imposter. He is attempting to sabotage the Research Center. He is believed to be at large in the area of the rocket field. A saturation search will begin immediately."

  The Doctor looked at Sarah. "Does that answer your question?"

  "We were too late. The androids have already taken over."

  Faraday's voice boomed on. "This man is armed and dangerous. All military personnel are authorized to shoot on sight. That is all."

  "What's happened to the real Colonel Faraday?"

  The Doctor pointed to the rocket. "He's in there with the real Harry Sullivan. They're prisoners of Styggron—if they're still alive."

  "Doctor, we've got to help them."

  "We've also got to stop the Earth being taken over," pointed out the Doctor. "I'm going back inside the Center."

  "Is there anything I can do to help?"

  "Well, not really. It all depends on whether a chap called Grierson has done what I asked."

  "Right. Then if you don't need me, I'm going to go and help Harry. I'll see you, Doctor."

  Before the Doctor could stop her, Sarah was on her feet and running towards the rocket.

  The Doctor sighed and got to his feet. He was as worried about Harry as Sarah was—but the fate of the entire Earth had to come first. Now, how was he going to get into the Center with a
gang of armed androids hunting for him? Suddenly the Doctor smiled. By turning the enemy's strength against them of course, and taking advantage of the confusion they themselves were creating.

  He got to his feet and walked confidently towards the Center. Deciding that the main entrance was too public, the Doctor walked round the edge of the building until he found a small side door unguarded. Once inside the sprawling building with its maze of corridors, he began working his way towards the scanner room,

  Things went surprisingly well at first—he seemed to have chosen a relatively quiet area.

  Suddenly the Doctor's luck ran out. He turned a corner and found himself face to face with Benton.

  For a moment the Doctor had a wild hope that this was the real Benton, but he was soon disillusioned. The usually cheerful face was cold and hard, and a gun swung up to cover him.

  The android cocked the gun with a metallic click. Helplessly the Doctor watched its finger tighten on the trigger...

  Death of a Doctor

  The Doctor remembered that all this had happened before. This time there would be no miracle to save him. Not unless he could manage one himself. He put a slight robotic stiffness into his movements, and deliberately flattened the tone of his voice. "Don't be a fool, Benton. Can't you see I'm one of you?" He walked straight towards the leveled gun.

  The android Benton backed away, the gun still raised.

  The Doctor continued his advance. ''Didn't you hear the Colonel just now? The Doctor isn't in the building at all, he's over on the rocket field."

  The gun muzzle was touching the Doctor's chest. He stared confidently into the android's face, and suddenly it lowered the gun and stepped back. "Sorry, sir."

  The Doctor said casually, "That's all right. But keep your wits about you, Benton. Nobody knows who's who around here." Pleased with his little joke, the Doctor went on his way.

  * * *

  Sarah crouched by the foot of the rocket gantry, staring up at the black bulk looming above her. She looked longingly at the elevator. But using that would be bound to attract attention. Besides, she could scarcely go marching in the front door of the rocket and tell Styggron she'd come to release his prisoners. She needed some more secret entrance. Like the cargo hatch she and the Doctor had got through when the rocket was still on Oseidon. She could see the hatch now, but it looked terribly high above her. Still if she climbed up the gantry and reached across … Sarah shivered. She hated heights, and she'd done this climb once already. It didn't seem fair that she should have to do it again, without the Doctor to help her. Still, after announcing she was off to rescue Harry, she couldn't just cower in hiding until some passing android captured her. Screwing up her nerve, Sarah started to climb...

  * * *

  The Doctor hurried into the control room just as Grierson was making a final circuit connection. "Have you finished?"

  Grierson went on working. "Almost there."

  "Hurry, man," urged the Doctor. "There isn't a second to lose,"

  Grierson finished the re-connection and replaced the access hatch. "There, that does it I just have to switch on full power." He crossed to a master power-switch on a nearby panel. As his hand touched the switch a shot rang out. He staggered and fell, clutching his shoulder.

  The Doctor whirled round. The android Doctor stood in the doorway, revolver in hand. "A clever way to jam android control circuits, Doctor. But I'm afraid you weren't quick enough."

  The Doctor went to kneel beside Grierson. The wound was a bad one but perhaps not fatal. He ripped off the edge of Grierson's white coat and made a pad to put over the wound.

  He straightened up to face his android self—and it raised its revolver. The doors opened and Crayford hurried into the room. Quickly he took in the scene, the wounded Grierson, and the android Doctor covering the real one with its revolver. "What's going on here?"

  Emotionlessly the android said, "I am about to dispose of the Doctor. He has interfered in out plans for the last time."

  Crayford stepped between them. "No! Styggron promised me there would be no unnecessary killing."

  "You are a fool, Crayford," said the android Doctor coldly. "Do you really thing the Kraals will spare humanity? Styggron has a virus on board that ship that will kill every man, woman and child in the world."

  How strange, thought the Doctor, that an android should take such pride in the ruthlessness of its creator. Yet perhaps it was natural. Created by Kraal technology, such values and emotions as it had were those of Kraals. The Doctor's eyes were fixed on Crayford's face. The humanity in Crayford was beginning to break free of the Kraal conditioning. In that reviving humanity lay the Doctor's only chance of escape.

  An expression of horror came over Crayford's face. "No, I don't believe you, Styggron wouldn't do that. He's a surgeon, a healer. Look at what he did for me." As always at moments of stress, Crayford rubbed his hand nervously over the black eye-patch.

  The Doctor raised his voice. "Styggron did nothing for you, Crayford, Nothing whatsoever, except brainwash you!"

  Crayford stared wildly at him. "It's not true." He turned to the android. "Tell me it's not true."

  The android said nothing. It stood there patiently, waiting for Crayford to move so that it could kill the Doctor. It had no objection to killing Crayford first, but as yet it had not been instructed to do so.

  "You were hijacked by the Kraals," shouted the Doctor. 'They drew your ship off course. Nothing went wrong with your rocket, and you were never healed by the Kraals because you were never injured. Take off that eyepatch and look for yourself."

  Crayford could see his own face reflected clearly in a nearby monitor screen. Slowly his hand went up to the eye-patch.

  The Doctor waited, hoping desperately that his guess was correct. He had felt all along that the story of the missing eye had been no more than a detail invented to convince Crayford that he owed the Kraals his life.

  Staring at his reflection, Crayford ripped away the patch. From the screen, two perfectly good eyes looked back at him. For a moment Crayford stood frozen. Then he gave a scream of desperate rage. "Styggron!" he screamed, and ran from the room.

  For a second the android was distracted. The Doctor's foot shot out in a beautifully timed kick, smashing the gun from its hand. Instantly the android leaped for him, and the Doctor found himself in a nightmare struggle with himself.

  The worst of it was that he had no chance of winning. The Doctor himself had more than human strength but he was fighting a machine, a creature of metal and plastic, an enemy who would never tire and could not be hurt.

  The android's hands were reaching for his throat and it took all the Doctor's strength to keep them away. He smashed his arms upwards to break the android's grip, broke free, and made for the power switch. The android caught him and flung him back, sending him staggering across the room. Calmly the android pressed an alarm button on the wall and a bell beside it began an ear-splitting clangor. Then it attacked the Doctor again, grappling with him as he rose and made another desperate lunge for the power switch. Locked in each other's arms the two Doctors, real and android, staggered across the room.

  * * *

  All over the complex, androids heard the alarm signal, and guessed its significance. The android Benton, Harry Sullivan and Colonel Faraday, android soldiers and android technicians, all ran towards the scanner room.

  The Faraday, Benton and Sullivan androids arrived first, android soldiers close behind them. They stood in the doorway watching the final struggle. They made no attempt to interfere, knowing their fellow-android's victory was only a matter of time.

  With a last desperate effort, the Doctor broke free again, the android leaped at him, the Doctor dodged, tripped it and lunged for the power-switch. As his fingers grasped it the android's hands clamped round his throat. The fingers tightened and the Doctor heaved on the switch, dragging it down with his own weight as he slumped to the ground.

  As the power-relay snapped home the fingers c
hoking the Doctor released their hold. The android Doctor fell twisting and writhing to the floor. It thrashed about for a moment and then lay still. Exactly the same thing happened to the other androids in the room, a flurry of uncontrolled movement, followed by total collapse.

  Rubbing his throat tenderly, the Doctor got slowly to his feet. He looked down at his android self as it lay crumpled on the floor.

  Grierson stirred and moaned, and the Doctor went over to him. "Are you all right?"

  "I think so," Grierson looked round the body-littered room. "What happened to them?"

  "We jammed their circuits," said the Doctor happily. He looked round the room. "Where's Crayford?"

  "No idea," said Grierson painfully. "He suddenly rushed off. He was shouting about someone called Styggron."

  The Doctor nodded. "I was forgetting him. I'd better get over to the rocket."

  The Doctor went over to the door and then he paused. His hand went to his pocket, searching for his sonic screwdriver.

  * * *

  After a long and hazardous climb, much of it with her eyes shut, Sarah managed to wriggle through the cargo hatch. She found herself in the cargo hold she'd shared with the Doctor. Colonel Faraday and Harry Sullivan were tied up on the floor.

  "Harry!" said Sarah happily. She went across to him and began unwrapping the plastic bonds.

  Harry said delightedly. "Sarah, old girl! What on earth is going on?"

  Sarah grinned. "It's a very long story, Harry. Did you know you had a very nasty twin?"

  "Twin?" Harry stared blankly at her.

  "That's right. An android Harry. It keeps trying to kill me!"

  She finished untying him, and went to help Colonel Faraday.