Doctor Who: Earthshock (12 page)

'My ship is in warp propulsion mode,' Briggs continued in her high brittle voice. 'You interfere with its systems and it will disintegrate.' She nodded at the group of Cybermen engaged in removing the panelling on the console's navigation circuits.

'Your technology is primitive,' the Leader boomed. 'Mistakes will not occur.'

Briggs halted beside the Doctor. 'What the devil are they up to?' she demanded in a loud whisper. The Doctor shook his head in despair. 'I should imagine they are locking the freighter into its present course,' he murmured. 'They are turning us into a flying bomb.'

Briggs looked as though she were about to have an apopleptic fit. She strode up to the Cyberleader and rapped sharply on his chest unit with her bony knuckles.

'You're mad if you think Earth Security will allow you and your tinny zombies to crash my ship into the planet,' she bellowed. 'They'll blow it apart long before it gets anywhere near Earth.'

The Cyberleader made a curious bubbling sound - almost as if he were giggling at the fuming little figure in front of him. 'Your ship is protected by full security clearance via the transponder,' he boomed.

'But what's the point?' Adric put in scornfully. 'On impact the anti-matter will react with matter and destroy almost everything. The planet will be useless to you.'

'That is our intention exactly,' replied the Leader. 'The Galactic Congress will be in session...'

The Doctor threw up his hands in contemptuous disbelief. 'So you plan to assassinate a few Galactic leaders and to destroy a beautiful planet,' he scoffed. 'Quite an achievement.'

The Cyberleader thrust Briggs aside and loomed over the Doctor threateningly. 'The Congress functions to form a military alliance against the Cybermen . . . to wage war against us.'

'A war you could not possibly win,' the Doctor said quietly.

'Exactly Doctor, their combined forces would be too powerful,' the Leader admitted calmly. 'But by striking now we shall prevent much greater conflict in the future.'

The Doctor smiled up at the huge figure and shook his head. 'Well, at least it's a welcome change from your usual war cry,' he mused ironically.

'It will be a great psychological victory for us, Doctor. The true superiority of the Cybermen will be confirmed for ever.'

'I spoke too soon,' the Doctor muttered, turning to Adric with a grimace of disappointment. He turned back to the Cyberleader. 'So instead of your little earthquake bomb, you intend to turn the freighter into a missile.'

'Indeed, Doctor,' the Leader affirmed gravely. 'In spite of your ingenious interference, we shall succeed.'

The Doctor frowned and rocked his head very slowly from side to side as if he were trying to follow an extremely complex argument. 'But when your missile hits the Earth and explodes - aren't you and your colleagues going to be, well, rather shaken up?' he asked solemnly.

Adric could not help grinning at the Doctor's deadpan expression.

'I shall not be on board,' the Cyberleader explained with painstaking emphasis.

'Surprise, surprise!' the Doctor cried mockingly.

The Cyberleader bubbled and hissed with satisfaction. 'Your TARDIS will provide me with an excellent location from which to observe the impact, Doctor.'

The Doctor went suddenly pale. He glanced furtively at Adric. 'The TARDIS?'

he said off-handedly.

'It has been found,' the Leader rasped.

'Really? I had no idea it was lost . . .' the Doctor blustered.

There was a sudden commotion in the shattered entrance.

'Doctor . . . Adric . . .' cried a familiar voice. They whirled round to see Tegan being shoved brutally onto the bridge by her captor. She wrenched herself free and ran over to them.

'Where did you spring from?' the Doctor murmured, delighted to see her, but also filled with foreboding.

'Where's Nyssa?' Adric whispered anxiously.

'In the TARDIS,' Tegan whispered, pushing up the sleeve of the overall and revealing a livid bruise from the Cyberman's vicious grip.

'But how did you...' the Doctor began, breaking off and wincing when he glimpsed Tegan's arm.

The Cyberleader strode across to Tegan and seized her bruised arm. 'Who is this?' he demanded.

'Oh . . . an Earthling. No one of any consequence,' the Doctor said quickly, suppressing his desire to smash the unfeeling robot's massive fingers with considerable difficulty.

'Oh, thanks a lot!' Tegan muttered between clenched teeth.

A curious little clicking sound could be heard somewhere inside the Cyberleader's enormous head as he stared intently at the Doctor's troubled face. 'It is clear that Time Lords have emotional feelings,' he hissed after a pause. 'Surely a serious weakness in one so rational, Doctor?'

The Doctor fumbled uncomfortably with his folded hat. 'Emotions have their uses,' he admitted reluctantly, staring at his feet.

The Cyberleader's ventilator unit bubbled with a kind of weird staccato chuckle. 'Emotions cripple the intellect,' he rasped. Tegan flinched as the oily vapour wafted into her face.

Despite all his efforts to restrain himself, the Doctor suddenly exploded with exasperation. 'Emotions also enrich life,' he retorted hotly. 'When did you last enjoy watching a sunset, or smelling the scent of flowers...' Instinctively the Doctor put a comforting arm round Tegan's shoulders.

'Such things are irrelevant,' the Cyberleader decreed. He thrust Tegan at arm's length. 'You feel affection for this female, Doctor?'

'She is a friend.'

'And you do not consider her friendship a weakness?'

'I do not.'

The Leader flung Tegan roughly away from them and turned to a Cyberguard.

'Kill the female!' he ordered coldly.

The Doctor screwed up his hat in anguish as he watched the Cyberman raise its blaster. Tegan said nothing, but her wide-eyed terror overwhelmed Adric, Berger and Briggs, who stood in frozen silence gazing expectantly at the Doctor. Sweat broke out on the Doctor's face as he resisted the urge to intervene and his knuckles went white. A vivid trickle of blood oozed slowly down Tegan's chin from where she had bitten her lip and the Doctor stared at the red rivulet as if transfixed.

Very, very slowly, the Cyberman's massive finger tightened on the trigger button. But still the Doctor resisted. Adric watched him incredulously, wondering whether perhaps he might even be prepared to sacrifice Tegan's life for the sake of winning this psychological struggle against the Cyberleader...

After what seemed like an eternity the Doctor suddenly stirred into action.

'No. Stop!' he screamed.

The Cyberleader immediately whipped up his arm, cancelling his order to destroy Tegan. 'Now you must agree that your emotions are a great disadvantage, Doctor,' he boomed triumphantly. 'I have only to threaten this female and you will obey me.'

The Doctor said nothing, but stood crestfallen and sullen, wiping the sweat from his face and taking deep relaxing breaths as he avoided Tegan's accusing stare.

The Cyberleader swung contemptuously away and, observing that the Cybermen had completed their adjustments to the circuitry inside the navigation console, strode across to Captain Briggs. 'I return your ship to you,' he announced. 'It will function entirely automatically, but you will remain on board.'

There was an ominous pause.

'But why?' Briggs demanded, glancing apprehensively at the Doctor and the others.

'That is not necessary. Let them go,' the Doctor protested.

The Cyberleader bubbled and whirred. 'And deny them the ultimate emotional experience - fear?'

The Doctor stood with bowed head, fuming at his helplessness and humiliation. 'All right, you've proved your point quite adequately,' he muttered.

The Cyber Deputy finished checking the compact device that the Cybermen had attached to the side of the console, and then marched over. 'The codes are installed, Leader. All is prepared.'

'Excellent. You will return to the control silo and inform main fleet of our revised programmes,' the Cyberleader ordered. 'All taskforce units already activated will evacuate the freighter by means of the cargo shuttle. They will rendezvous with main fleet when it arrives. You will rejoin me in the TARDIS.'

'Affirmative, Leader,' the Deputy rasped and then tramped out through the wrecked shutter.

The Cyberleader turned to his waiting minions. 'Two units will remain here to observe the behaviour of these humans under stress,' he ordered.

'Why not kill us now?' Briggs cried defiantly, her fiery little figure unflinching as she confronted the huge automaton.

'It's just sadistic,' Tegan muttered under her breath.

'Negative!' the Leader purred quietly, turning and forcing Tegan to retreat in front of him. 'It is scientific. Destruction should always be instructive. I am sure your friend the Doctor will agree. The information will be added to our data stores.'

Briggs nudged the Doctor beside her. 'Are they all so fanatically dedicated?'

she murmured, casting her eyes upwards.

The Doctor grinned ruefully. 'Oh, compared to some, this chap's positively flippant,' he replied.

The Cyberleader had paused by the entrance. 'And now, Doctor, you and your female companion will accompany us to the TARDIS,' he hissed.

'The name's Tegan,' Tegan drawled scornfully.

'I shall need Adric, too,' the Doctor said quickly. 'I can't operate the TARDIS

without him.

'The male remains here,' the Cyberleader grated harshly. 'We know that you alone are required to control the TARDIS.'

The Doctor shook his head and folded his arms. 'I refuse to leave without him.'

The Leader emitted a nauseating hiss, gripped Tegan by the back of the neck and shook her. 'If you do not immediately co-operate, Doctor, I shall destroy the female.'

There was a dangerous silence. The Doctor glanced at his two young friends in anguish.

'It's all right,' Adric said bravely. 'I'll find my own way.'

'But we can't possibly leave you,' Tegan gasped in spite of the Cyberleader's fierce grip.

Adric could bear the strain no longer. 'Doctor, please
go
!' he shouted in desperation, staring earnestly into the Doctor's troubled eyes.

'The boy's right,' Briggs chuckled stoically. 'There's still a chance for us, Doctor.'

'There is no chance,' the Cyberleader hissed, releasing Tegan.

The Doctor hesitated a moment longer. Then he slowly walked over and grasped Adric by the hand. 'Goodbye, Adric,' he murmured with a gentle smile. He stood there for a few seconds and then turned abruptly away. 'Good luck to you all...'

he called and hurried out followed by a Cyberguard.

Adric gazed after the retreating figure and smiled weakly. 'Goodbye Doctor,'

he whispered.

Close to tears, Tegan tried to speak, but she couldn't. She smiled at Adric and turned to leave.

'Goodbye, Tegan... I'll see you soon,' Adric said softly.

Tegan nodded and walked slowly out escorted by a Cyberman.

Framed by the jagged fragments of the exploded shield, the Cyberleader had watched the farewells with impassive concentration. He turned to the two Cybermen left guarding the bridge. 'Observe the reactions of these humans in detail...' he ordered gesturing at Adric, Berger and Briggs. 'They are powerless to interfere with the systems...'

'Affirmative, Leader,' the Cybermen rasped in unison.

Briggs shivered and sank into her command seat, pulling the wide collar of her jerkin up around her neck. 'Well, if I'm going down with my ship, at least it'll be nice to have some congenial company,' she giggled, grinning bleakly at Adric.

Scott and his handful of troopers were puzzled by the small number of silver automatons they had sighted after leaving the TARDIS for the second time. They had been prepared to fight every centimetre of the way, but the expected encounters had not occurred. They dodged from cover to cover among the maze of silos, expecting one of them to burst asunder at any moment and disgorge its silver horde of Cybermen. But the hold seemed almost still; as if it were waiting for something to happen.

One of the young troopers suddenly clutched Scott's arm. 'There, sir...' he whispered, pointing to the far end of the alleyway they were just crossing. In the distance, a large group of Cybermen were apparently walking through the side of the hold.

'Must be some kind of airlock,' Scott murmured, gripping his Cyber gun more securely and leading the way swiftly along the dark side of the alleyway towards the cluster of silver figures. When they got close, Scott motioned his squad to conceal themselves in the shadows. They watched as the last of the Cybermen entered a large cargo-port. 'They seem to be leaving the freighter,' Scott said in surprise.

'Do you think they've got the Doctor and his friends, sir?'

'Who knows?' Scott replied helplessly. 'There are far too many of them for us to go and ask!'

Just then a few stragglers marched up and squeezed themselves into the airlock. A sequence of red and amber lights flashed and the enormous shutters slowly closed behind them. There was a brief pause, followed by a sharp rush of air as the cargo-port was evacuated.

Cautiously Scott emerged from the shadows. 'Well, at least we should be able to reach the bridge now and see if we can find out what's happened to the Doctor...' he muttered grimly, leading the way back towards the junction near one of the wrecked silos.