Doctor Who: Delta and the Bannermen (14 page)

‘Why thank you sir. That’s very fine of you to offer,’

replied Weismuller with a pleased look on his face.

Just then a tour bus arrived at the gates of the camp. Its roof-mounted loudspeaker was playing ‘Singin’ the Blues’

at high volume.

‘Good Heavens! I completely forgot – the Skegness Glee Club! And I have no staff. I really must dash – goodbye,’

said Burton, furiously pumping the Doctor and Mel’s hands before trotting off to welcome the new intake of campers.

The only people now left were Mel and the Doctor, Hawk and Weismuller. Something caught the Doctor’s eye.

There, hanging from the top of the metal gatepost, was the American satellite, surrounded by other debris from the Navarino bus. Large and round and slightly dented from its interstellar impact but basically still intact.

The Doctor pointed at it, saying, ‘I believe that satellite belongs to you, gentlemen.’ Weismuller slowly turned and gawped at the gutting orb. His face cracked into a smile which became a whoop of glee. He clapped Hawk between his skinny shoulder blades so hard that he almost fell over.

‘We did it, Hawk! We actually did it!’ he cried with delight.

Everything had turned out all right in the end. Now that they had the satellite there would be no need to mention Bannermen and spaceships, and they could go home practically as heroes. Hawk would probably receive a medal for being wounded on active duty. At that moment Weismuller couldn’t be happier. He turned back to the TARDIS. ‘Thanks Doc...’ he started to say but his mouth fell open. The blue police callbox had vanished as if it had never existed. Weismuller, no longer surprised at anything, scanned the heavens for any sign of the disappearing spacecraft. All he could see was a clear blue sky with the occasional bird breaking through its smooth surface. He turned slowly back to where the satellite hung on the gatepost. It was still there. ‘C’mon old buddy,’ he said to Hawk, ‘we’re going home...’

The Bannermen craft flashed through deep space, accelerating strongly all the while. Inside the craft Billy was sitting at the flight controls, trying to learn the basics of interstellar navigation from Delta. ‘It’s a bit more difficult than the Vincent,’ he said.

‘Once you’ve got the hang of it then I’m sure you’ll be an excellent pilot. You seen to have a natural affinity for mechanical things,’ said Delta.

Billy stared at the instrument screen. ‘Uh... how long till we get to the brood planet?’ he asked.

‘It won’t be long now,’ she said, checking the star charts.

In the hold the Bannermen were sitting up, trying to eat the food which the young princess was offering them on the end of a long fork. They had first thought of trying to overpower her and recapture the ship, but two things had argued against that approach – first was that without Gavrok to lead them, not to say bark at, bully and cajole them, the Bannermen had felt the zest go out of soldiering.

As a matter of fact, they had decided that if they were ever free again, they would set up a weaving collective, making rugs which could be sold throughout the galaxy. The second thing which ensured their meek compliance was the princess herself, who had given a low call just to let them know that at the slightest sign of trouble she would open her mouth and paralyse them with pain.

A small yellow dot appeared on the screen. Billy raised a silvery green eyebrow in query. Delta nodded. ‘There it is.

It’ll take over for the landing,’ she said, taking the controls from Billy. He marvelled as he watched her hands swiftly working the instruments, bringing the craft down to a speed which would not tear it apart as it entered the atmospheric envelope of the brood planet.

With a hiss the craft settled onto the ground. The hatch opened and Billy stood staring open-mouthed at what lay before him – the entire surface of the planet, as far as the eye could see, was covered with hexagonal cells, each big enough to take a man. Or more to the point, a Chimeron.

Delta stood beside him, smiling broadly.

‘We’ve done it, Billy. In a couple of years I will have reproduced the nucleus of an entire community here, and then we can return to Chumeria and repopulate it completely.’ She gazed into his eyes and said, ‘Thank you.,

‘What about the Bannermen?’ asked Billy.

‘Do you think you could take them to the galactic prison star to await trial?’ Delta asked.

‘Sure,’ said Billy, ‘Be a piece of cake.’

Delta and her daughter disembarked. Billy kissed them both, saying that he would be back soon. He closed the hatch behind him, then dialled a set of digits into the flight programmer and eased back on the joystick. The craft lifted up and within seconds was streaking through the void.

When Billy arrived with his wretched captives at the galactic palace of justice, there was an armed guard to greet him. Word of the attack on Chumeria and the subsequent assault on Shangri-La had spread throughout the civilized galaxy. The atomization of Gavrok was seen as a major contribution to peace. The Supreme Law Lord himself came out and congratulated Billy on his achievement as the Bannermen were led away. They were to remain in a dungeon until such time as they came to trial. A heavy sentence was expected, but before Billy left he made a special appeal to the Supreme Law Lord – that the Bannermen be given thread and looms and be allowed to start their rehabilitation at once.

The entire court population turned out to see Billy off, and when he pushed the joystick forward he felt exactly as he did when doing a wheelspin on the Vincent.

However, when he touched down on the brood planet he felt as he had never felt before. Delta came rushing to meet him, flinging her arms around his neck with a cry of delight. Billy, a billion miles from Earth, had come home.

Meanwhile down on the little blue planet, Weisrnuller drove the Morris Minor into the forecourt of Daffyd Owen’s Car Hire Ltd. The satellite lay on the back seat, covered by Hawk’s jacket. As for Hawk he seemed to be fairly well recovered, except when he saw the silver sphere in the back, then he would start muttering to himself and shaking his head.

‘C’mon, Hawk,’ said Weismuller, emerging from the office. ‘Mr Owen has offered to drive us to the station.’ The office door opened and Mr Owen emerged. He got into the car and started the engine.

‘All right boyo?’ he asked of Hawk. Hawk nodded vigorously, making sure that his jacket didn’t slip off the satellite.

‘And where will you boys be going now?’ enquired Owens amiably as the car puttered towards the centre of Betwys.

‘Home!’ said Weismuller from the back seat, not bothering to mask the grin of satisfaction on his face.

Owen pulled up at the train station and the Americans got out, trying to hide the satellite under various garments.

‘Give us a shout next time you’re in town,’ cried Owen as he pulled away.

Hawk turned to Weismuller, a perplexed look on his face. ‘Tell me something, Weismuller,’ he said. ‘When we get back to the US of A, I don’t think we should tell anyone what
really
happened here – agreed?’ Hawk stuck out his hand.

‘Agreed,’ said Weismuller.

With a shrill whistle the 10:45 express to London pulled up at the platform. Hawk and Weismuller clambered aboard, and the train steamed away.

Goronwy, on returning to his home, was distressed to find the carnage done by the Bannermen. However, he was philosophical about it. The first thing he did was to make himself a strong cup of tea which he took inside with a tray of scones and honey. He pushed the scones to one side of the plate and was pleased when a moment later a couple of bees appeared and started eating them. He gazed up into the clear sky and shook his head, lost in thought. A butterfly landed on the back of his hand. Goronwy smiled..

Ray, upset to have lost Billy, was delighted to have acquired the motorbike. Not simply any motorbike, but the best bike in the world. Although she couldn’t travel to distant galaxies like the Doctor and the others, she could travel to distant lands. The following day she packed her possessions into a suitcase and threw them into the sidecar.

She fired up the big bike and turned south. Remembering to feather the clutch she slipped away. Within two hours she was at the ferry port, waiting to board a boat to take her and the Vincent across the Europe. Then maybe to Africa, or the Far East, or to anywhere else in the whole wide world.

And in outer space the Doctor was kneeling as he tried to reach something under the instrument binnacle. ‘I’ve almost got it, Mel,’ he said, straining his fingers to grasp the object lurking in the darkness.

‘Can you see it clearly, Doctor?’ she asked.

‘Hrnm? I think so. It looks like it’s at least a ten-credit piece,’ he said, fingers stretched to the utmost to grasp the object.

‘That’s it!’ He cried, emerging triumphantly. He blew some dust off the object in his fingers - it wasn’t a credit at all but was instead a striped mint humbug, covered in fluff.

Mel’s face fell, then she started to laugh, ‘I think we need to spring clean, Doctor,’ she gasped through her laughter.

‘Hmm,’ muttered the Doctor, picking the fluff off the humbug and popping it into his mouth. Mel meanwhile had produced a scratched , black vinyl disc and a crude portable record player. The Doctor looked at her and grimaced.

Spectators in that part of space, had there been any, would have been treated to a strange sight - a blue police phone box hurtling through the heavens, vibrating slightly to the sound of ‘Rock Around the Clock’. And above it all, Mel’s high-pitched laughter.

• Front cover
  
• Rear cover
  
• Title page
  
• Copyright
  
• Contents
  
• Prologue
  
• Chapter One
  
• Chapter Two
  
• Chapter Three
  
• Chapter Four
  
• Chapter Five
  
• Chapter Six
  
• Chapter Seven
  
• Chapter Eight
  
• Chapter Nine
  
• Chapter Ten
  
• Chapter Eleven
  
• Chapter Twelve
  
• Chapter Thirteen
  
• Chapter Fourteen
  
• Chapter Fifteen
  
• Chapter Sixteen
  
• Chapter Seventeen
  
• Chapter Eighteen
  
• Chapter Nineteen
  
• Chapter Twenty
  
• Chapter Twenty-One
  
• Chapter Twenty-Two
  
• Chapter Twenty-Three
  
• Chapter Twenty-Four
  
• Chapter Twenty-Five
  
• Chapter Twenty-Six
  
• Chapter Twenty-Seven
  
• Chapter Twenty-Eight
  
• Chapter Twenty-Nine
  
• Chapter Thirty
  
• Chapter Thirty-One
  
• Chapter Thirty-Two
  
• Epilogue