DOCTOR WHO AND THE REVENGE OF THE CYBERMEN Page 9

  While all this was going on, the Doctor and Lester were having a much tougher time. The second Cyberman had enough warning to open fire, and they flung themselves aside just in time. Before it could fire again, they closed in, ducking under the Cyberweapon and trying to get close enough to use the gold dust. The Cyberman drove them off with great flailing blows. First Lester, and then the Doctor were sent flying across the cave. The Doctor hit the wall, and collapsed half-stunned. The Cyberman raised its gun...

  Lester acted without thinking. He hurled himself at the Cyberman in a kind of low rugby tackle, and sent it staggering back into the relay apparatus. As the two of them fell on top of the relay machine, Lester deliberately reached up for one of his pack buckles...

  Harry turned from dealing with his Cyberman just in time to take in the scene. It remained forever photographed on his memory: the Doctor slumped against the far wall, blood trickling from his temple; Lester and the Cyberman collapsed across the relay apparatus. Lester's fingers undoing his pack buckle...

  The explosion sent Harry flying across the cave and brought down a considerable chunk of the roof. When he picked himself up he saw that Lester, the Cyberman and the relay unit were buried together under an enormous pile of boulders. Only the clock part, battered and wrenched half-off, projected from the pile. The pointer was just fractionally clear of zone red.

  Harry ran to the Doctor and helped him up. The Doctor reeled a little, and recovered himself. He looked at the pile of rocks, and the shattered relay machine. Harry spoke the thought in both their minds, 'It's pretty badly smashed, Doctor, but it could still be working.'

  The Doctor nodded. Slowly he raised his hands to his shoulders. 'I know. There's only one way to find out.' The Doctor started to unbuckle his pack...

  11

  Skystriker!

  His fingers perfectly steady, the Doctor undid the last buckle and eased the bomb pack from his shoulders, lowering it carefully to the ground. Harry let out a long breath. 'It's all right,' he said unbelievingly. 'It didn't go off.'

  The Doctor looked at the rock pile, under which lay the shattered bodies of Lester and the Cyberman. 'Lester sacrificed himself to blow up the relay apparatus,' he said quietly. 'He knew it was the only way. With the relay smashed, the buckle explosive charges become inoperative. The Cybermen can't detonate the cobalt bombs either.'

  'So we're safe, then?'

  'Only for a little while, Harry. There'll be a Beacon full of very angry Cybermen up there—they're bound to think of some other plan.'

  Suddenly Harry remembered. 'And Sarah's still up there with them.' They heard the sound of running footsteps. Tyrum, Sheprah and a jubilant crowd of Vogans were coming down the tunnel toward them.

  The Cyberleader stabbed angrily at his controls. 'We have lost radar contact.'

  The second-in-command looked up from another row of instruments. 'All information-flow from the planet has stopped. The countdown has ceased also.'

  The Cyberleader glanced at the picture of Voga on his vision screen. 'I shall detonate by manual control—now!'

  As his hand went for the detonator switch, Sarah dashed from her hiding place and tried to pull away his arm. She was unable to move it. The other Cyberman reached out his huge silver hand, and plucked Sarah away almost casually, flinging her across the width of the control room. She crashed into the metal wall, and slid to the floor. Ignoring her, the Cyberleader reached for the detonator switch and pulled it savagely. He fixed his eyes on the screen, waiting to see the picture of Voga disintegrate. Nothing happened. Voga hung peacefully in space, solidly and obstinately there. The Cyberleader crashed his metal fist down on the console. 'We have failed. Why? Why?'

  When Sarah came to, she found herself tightly bound with some kind of plastic flex and dumped in a corner. The Cyberleader had considered killing her, but decided to keep her alive in order to interrogate her. Sarah wriggled round to a position where she could see the vision screen. Nothing had changed. The Cybermen sat studying their control console, and the picture of the Planet Voga still filled the screen. Exultantly Sarah said, 'So you failed, then. Voga's still there. The Doctor's beaten you.'

  The toneless mechanical voice showed no disappointment, admitted no defeat. 'We are not beaten. Our computers are assessing an alternative plan.'

  'The best plan you could make is to clear off this Beacon before the Vogan's rocket...'

  Sarah stopped, wondering if she was giving the Cybermen information that might help them.

  The Cyberleader spoke harshly, 'Continue. If you do not, you will be forced.'

  Sarah told herself the secret was out now anyway. 'Your friend Kellman wasn't really on your side at all,' she said with some satisfaction. 'He led you into a trap. The Vogans have a rocket aimed straight at this Beacon.'

  'You are lying.'

  Sarah shrugged. 'All right. Just you stick around and see; you'll find out the hard way.'

  'If the Vogans had such a rocket, they would have used it before now.'

  'Maybe it wasn't ready. All I know is, before I left Voga I heard Kellman urging them to use it.'

  The coldly logical brain of the Cyberleader continued to evaulate the problem. 'If they have a rocket, they have not fired it. The logical conclusion is: it is not ready, or it has malfunctioned. This information does not affect our alternative plan. We shall proceed. Voga will be destroyed.'

  In the great Guild Hall everyone was making a fuss of the Doctor, who was getting rather bored with it all.

  'Human,' said Tyrum impressively, 'we shall be eternally grateful for your act in saving our planet...'

  'Please don't keep calling me "human",' said the Doctor rather peevishly. 'It's not really accurate. "Doctor" will do very nicely.'

  Vorus, meanwhile, was setting the giant vision screen to show a picture of the Skystriker. 'There, Doctor,' he sad proudly.

  'That's your rocket is it?' said the Doctor, doing his best to be polite. 'Yes, very nice.'

  It was clear that Vorus was hurt by the Doctor's lack of enthusiasm. 'That is my Skystriker,' he said proudly. He turned eagerly as Magrik entered the room. 'Magrik, what news?'

  'Everything is ready. We can begin the countdown.' Magrik looked relieved to be bringing good news for once.

  'At last!' Vorus pressed a hidden button in his desk, and a panel slid back, revealing a full set of rocket firing controls. 'I have waited so long to use these...'

  'I wonder if you'd mind waiting just a little longer?' The Doctor moved quickly across the room, and edged himself between Vorus and the controls. 'Before you do anything rash, like pressing another button, can I suggest a possible alternative solution?'

  'What alternative can there be? We must fire the Skystriker!'

  'I know how keen you are to use your little toy, old chap,' said the Doctor soothingly. 'But first, let me transmat back to the Beacon and try dealing with the Cybermen myself.'

  'Yourself? You would go alone?' said Vorus in astonishment.

  'All I ask is that you give me fifteen minutes. If I haven't come through on the radio to tell you all is well by the end of that time—well, light the blue touch paper, and good luck to you.'

  Tyrum came forward, putting his hand on the Doctor's arm. 'You have already done so much for us. Why should you risk your life for us again?'

  'Well, it isn't really for you—it's for Sarah. She's risked her life trying to save mine. The least I can do is to try to save her in return.' The Doctor looked at the worried faces of the two Vogan leaders. 'Just fifteen minutes,' he said persuasively. 'Is that so intolerable?'

  Obviously Vorus thought it was. 'I have worked and planned for this moment for years—and now you ask me to wait.'

  Tyrum spoke up, 'We owe you too much to refuse you, Doctor.'

  He looked sternly at Vorus, who said, 'Fifteen minutes then—and not one second longer.'

  'I'm coming too, Doctor,' said Harry firmly.

  'Oh no, you're not,' answered the Doctor, even more firmly.
Harry had his strong points, but secrecy and subtlety were not among them. 'Anyway, I've got a job for you. Go and find the Commander. The poor chap's still wondering if his bomb's going up or not.'

  The Doctor turned to the others. 'Well, I'd better be on my way... oh, just one more thing. I wonder if I could trouble you for a nice big bag of gold dust?'

  Still trussed up in her corner, Sarah watched and listened as the Cyberman and his number two went over a series of complex computer printouts. They seemed to be finalizing some kind of plan. 'Point of impact?' demanded the Cyberleader.

  'Twenty-three degrees, seven minutes. North one-six-zero degrees, twenty minutes East. The planetary crust is weakest at that point.'

  'Velocity at impact?'

  'Ten thousand light units. The Beacon will attain that velocity seven minutes before impact.'

  'Explosive force required to disintegrate planet?'

  'One thousand kilos per unit.'

  The Cyberleader went over the plan in his mind once more. Nothing had been forgotten. This time failure was impossible, since no human element was involved. 'Excellent! Execute the plan. Order the necessary bomb load to be brought to the Beacon.'

  'Yes, leader.'

  As his subordinate left the room, the Cyberleader turned to Sarah. 'It may be of interest to you to know our alternative plan. It is to load this Beacon with cobalt bombs, primed to detonate on impact, and then to use the Beacon's spacedrive to crash it into the planet Voga.' The Cyberleader paused to savor the horror on Sarah's face. 'At the moment of impact, we shall be observing from our spaceship. You will have a much closer view.'

  The Cyberleader followed his second-in-command out of the room. Sarah began struggling desperately, hopelessly, against her bonds. Suddenly she heard the faint hum of the transmat. To her astonished delight the Doctor was beaming down at her. He hurried over, fished out a very old jackknife and started cutting her bonds. 'Listen, Doctor,' Sarah whispered excitedly. 'The Cybermen are planning to load this Beacon with bombs and crash it into Voga.'

  'Oh, dear. And meanwhile the Vogans are just itching to fire their rocket at us.' He glanced around the room and saw the Cybermat control box Kellman had used standing forgotten on a table. 'Just bring that along, will you, Sarah, and we'll see what we can do,' he said briskly. 'Quickly now!' He strode out of the room. Sarah grabbed the control box and hurried after him.

  They slipped quietly into the perimeter corridor. Cybermen could be seen coming along from the direction of the airlock. They were carrying squat black cylinders, about the size of gasoline drums. 'Fetching more cobalt bombs from their ship,' muttered the Doctor.

  They heard the voice of the Cyberleader. 'Take the bombs into the impact area. Maximum urgency is imperative.'

  The Doctor pulled Sarah away. 'Come on, we'll hide out in the crewroom. We should be safe enough there. Cybermen don't need to sleep!'

  Magrik looked at a clock inset into the rocket control console. 'Seven minutes to commencement of countdown,' he said. There was a pause.

  Suddenly Vorus snorted, 'What can the Doctor do in such a time? We should never have agreed to this delay.' His hand reached for the controls.

  Sternly Tyrum said, 'Stand back from the controls, Vorus. There are, as Magrik reminds us, another seven minutes to go.'

  Vorus glared angrily at him. 'Very well, Tyrum, I shall wait. But when I press this button, it will mean not only the end of the Cybermen, but a new rule for Voga. My rule.'

  'That will be for the people to decide.'

  Vorus waved at the Skystriker on the screen. 'This was my idea. I planned it. I shall be hailed as the people's liberator.'

  Tyrum sniffed. 'You came close to being their destroyer.'

  'That will be forgotten in our triumph. The people will beg me to lead them...'

  Harry hurried in with the Commander trailing behind him. He'd found Stevenson waiting grimly for death at the end of the shaft. The Commander still looked dazed, as if he couldn't believe in his deliverance. Harry saw that old Vorus was making speeches again, and interrupted ruthlessly. 'Any word from the Doctor?'

  Vorus didn't care to be cut off in full oratorical flow. 'No—nor do I think there will be...'

  'Five more minutes,' said Magrik quietly.

  Vorus touched a communications switch and spoke into a concealed microphone. 'Control to firing bunker. Five minutes to countdown.'

  Sarah was enjoying a welcome rest. Stretched out on a bunk, she watched the Doctor screw the base plate back on a Cybermat.

  'You really think it'll work, Doctor?' she asked doubtfully.

  The Doctor looked hurt. 'Well, of course it will—I think.'

  There was a hum of power, and the whole room began vibrating gently. Sarah looked round. 'What's happening?'

  'They've started the Beacon's engines.'

  The Cyberleader looked at the empty corner where Sarah had been thrown, and at the trailing flex on the floor. 'She has been freed. Logic suggests that the Doctor has returned from Voga. If he is on board he will attempt to thwart our plan. Search the forward areas. Locate and destroy any animal organisms.'

  A Cyberman moved immediately from the control room. The Cyberleader turned to his number two, who was at the Beacon's engine controls. 'Increase thrust ten levels.'

  The Cyberman's hands moved over the controls. 'Thrust increased ten levels. Control response, normal. Engine response effective.'

  'Engage hyperdrive!'

  The power hum built up steadily.

  The Docor finished final adjustments to the Cybermat's control box. Sarah, listening at the door, heard heavy footsteps in the corridor outside. 'They're coming, Doctor. Hurry!'

  The Doctor put the Cybermat carefully on the floor and pulled Sarah into an empty clothes locker, leaving the door slightly ajar. They heard the door open, and saw a Cyberman stalk into the room. Its round eye slots scanned the room. It began moving purposefully toward their locker. The Doctor fiddled with the control box, and the Cybermat suddenly came to life. Its eyes glowed red, and it began moving toward the Cyberman. As the Cyberman reached out a hand for the locker door, the Cybermat sprang. It clung to the Cyberman's neck, and its twin plungers injected pure gold dust into the Cyberman's hydraulic system. The Cyberman gave a strange electronic screech and keeled over, just like the one Harry had killed on Voga. Sarah shuddered at the sight of the green hydraulic fluid oozing from its joints. The Doctor grabbed her hand, and pulled her out of the locker. 'Well, there's one down. Come on!' Picking up his Cybermat, rather as if it were a pet poodle, the Doctor hurried Sarah from the crew room.

  Magrik leaned forward and spoke to the firing bunker. 'Two minutes to countdown, stand by.'

  Vorus could wait no longer. 'Enough of this nonsense. The countdown will take place immediately.'

  Magrik looked up from his controls. 'Vorus, look. The target sensor has reacted. The Beacon must be moving!'

  Vorus moved to the controls and thrust Magrik aside. 'It's moving toward us—it's on a collision course!' He snapped the internal communications switch. 'Activate the rocket. Begin countdown. I shall fire the rocket from here, when countdown is over.'

  'Now just a minute,' protested Harry. 'You promised the Doctor fifteen minutes and that's what he's getting. Every last second of them.' He tried to step in front of Vorus, but the big Vogan gave him a shove that sent him staggering back. Vorus's hands were on the controls.

  A voice crackled over the speaker. 'Ten, nine, eight, seven...'

  Vorus waited eagerly, hand poised over the controls. Tyrum produced a blaster from beneath his robes. 'Stand back, Vorus.'

  Vorus heard only the countdown. 'Four, three, two, one...'

  Tyrum fired. Vorus slumped forward over the controls, pressing the firing button as he fell. He twisted round to see the vision screen. The Skystriker was lifting off on a column of fire. 'My glory,' mumbled Vorus thickly. 'My Skystriker... ' Then he died.

  The Cybermen watched on their vision screen as Voga came closer.
The Cyberleader turned to his second-in-command. 'It will be a glorious spectacle. The fireball will extend one point five million miles.'

  A third Cyberman entered the control room. 'The evacuation of the Beacon is complete. One Cyberwarrior is still searching for the Doctor.'

  'Recall him. If the Doctor is on board, he will perish when the Beacon strikes Voga.'

  The Doctor was not only on board, but just behind them. He slipped into the control room, put down his Cybermat and turned it loose. It sped straight for the third Cyberman, fastening on to his neck and pumping the deadly gold dust into his veins. The Cyberman shrieked, staggering around the room in its dying convulsions. The Doctor leaped forward, hurling his bag of gold dust at the other two Cybermen. Unfortunately the third Cyberman stumbled right across his path and got the full impact of the second dose. It crumpled and died, leaving the Doctor facing two very live Cybermen, completely empty-handed. Since his hands were empty he raised them above his head. Sarah, lurking just behind him in the doorway, did the same.

  The Cyberleader snatched up its weapon and took aim. 'If you kill us now, we'll miss the big bang,' said the Doctor almost conversationally, nodding toward the vision screen. Voga was very near now.

  The Cyberleader nodded slowly. 'You do well to remind me, Doctor.' He nodded to his second-in-command, who produced a reel of flex. 'You will tie up your companion, Doctor, then I shall tie you. Tie her firmly, if you wish to live a few minutes longer.'