Doctor Who: Prisoner of the Daleks (13 page)

There was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. They just stood and stared helplessly as the Daleks floated towards them.

'Y
OU ARE NOW PRISONERS OF THE
D
ALEKS
!'

The Daleks slowly descended until they were skimming the surface of the escarpment.

The native mutants of Arkheon immediately scattered, turning and running for cover or slipping down boltholes, their thin rags snaking after them as they disappeared from sight. Within moments, there was no sign that they had ever existed – ghosts in every sense.

'R
ESIST AND YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED
,' grated the first Dalek. It glided over to where the
Wayfarer
crew stood huddled together. The eyestalk roved up and down, examining them contemptuously.

'Y
OU ARE OUR PRISONERS
,' the Dalek repeated loudly. 'Y
OU WILL OBEY THE
D
ALEKS
!'

Bowman was gripping his blaster so hard his knuckles were bone-white. He was a fraction of a second from opening fire when the Doctor said, 'Leave it. Try anything stupid and you'll be exterminated on the spot.'

'Then what do we do?' hissed Cuttin' Edge, his voice cracking with anger and fear. He, too, was a single jittery moment away from bringing his rifle to bear.

The Doctor simply raised his hands. 'Surrender.'

There was a tense moment, but neither Bowman nor Cuttin' Edge moved.

The Dalek swivelled to address the Doctor. 'A
RE YOU THE LEADER OF THIS GROUP
?'

'No, he isn't,' said Bowman. 'I am.'

The Dalek's dome turned, the eye focusing on Bowman. His face reflected the blue glow like stone. 'D
ISCARD YOUR WEAPONS
,' it ordered.

Nobody moved.

'I
MMEDIATELY
!' screeched the Dalek. 'O
BEY
!'

'Do it,' said Bowman, after a pause.

He let go of his blaster and it dropped to the ground at his feet. Cuttin' Edge threw down his rifle. Scrum dropped his handgun.

'I'm not carrying any weapons,' said the Doctor. 'And neither is this person.' He indicated Koral with a nod of his head.

A Dalek moved forward, extending its sucker arm. It scanned the Doctor and Koral briefly. 'N
O ENERGY OR PROJECTILE WEAPONS DETECTED
.'

'Told you,' said the Doctor quietly.

'S
ILENCE
!' barked the Dalek. It turned its head towards another pair of Daleks. 'D
ESTROY THE WEAPONS
.'

The Daleks glided forward, their gun-sticks swivelling to point at the blasters lying in the dirt. There was a bright flare and the discarded weaponry was melted into slag.

Koral was trembling violently. The Doctor could sense that she was about to run or attack. And knowing Koral, he guessed it would probably be the latter. Either action would result in death.

Bowman had sensed it too. He reached out a hand and rested it on her shoulder. 'Easy.'

Koral turned to look at him, her eyes blazing. Bowman simply nodded. He understood. 'You're the last of the Red Sky Lost,' he said gently. His voice sounded like the purr of a tiger. 'You've got to stay alive.'

Scrum, also, was visibly shaking. But this was due to simple terror. He had one hand clamped over his mouth, as if trying to stop himself from being sick. Cuttin' Edge nudged him with his elbow. 'Dude. Chill out.'

Scrum nodded but kept his hand on his mouth. His eyes were so wide they were almost circles.

'W
ALK THIS WAY
,' grated the lead Dalek, turning towards the cliff edge.

'I couldn't walk that way if I tried,' muttered the Doctor under his breath. 'At least, not without castors...'

The Dalek's dome swivelled right round, the eyestalk glaring at him.

'Nothing,' the Doctor said, innocently.

'W
ALK IN FRONT OF ME
,' the Dalek said, gliding round to position itself behind the group. 'M
OVE
! D
ISOBEDIENCE WILL RESULT IN INSTANT EXTERMINATION
.'

'Come on,' said the Doctor, adopting as jaunty a tone as he could manage. He stuck his hands in his trouser pockets and sauntered towards the cliff edge, whispering into Scrum's ear as he passed. 'Stick with me. I'll handle this.'

Scrum looked uncertainly at him. 'Really?'

The Doctor raised his eyebrows and pulled an
of course!
face. 'I've done this loads of times,' he said.

So Scrum stuck with him, walking stiffly towards the cliff edge, the direction in which the Daleks were herding them. When they reached the precipice, they stopped. Bowman, Koral and Cuttin' Edge joined them. No one wanted to go too near to the abyss.

'What they gonna do?' asked Cuttin' Edge. 'Throw us off?'

But a heavy whine of machinery was already filling the air as a large, flat metal surface suddenly rose up adjacent to the cliff top. There were two Daleks on the platform, one of them positioned next to a small control podium. It made an adjustment with its sucker and the platform moved closer to the edge, hovering on antigravity thrusters.

'A lift!' exclaimed the Doctor. 'That's handy. Come on, everybody, hop on.'

He led the way, springing lightly onto the metal platform. It bobbed fractionally under his weight, like a raft floating on a pond. There was room for a dozen or so, but the other Daleks simply floated off the cliff top alongside the platform.

'Looks like we were expected,' Bowman remarked.

'Yeah,' nodded the Doctor. He took a deep breath. 'Gravity, atmosphere, the lot. They're giving us the VIP treatment.' He looked carefully at Bowman. 'Why d'you think that is?'

Bowman shrugged but did not reply.

The platform started to descend. Eventually they couldn't even see the top of the cliff, it just rose up like a vast, dark wall, blotting out half of space. The Doctor wandered over to the edge of the platform and peeked over. Below, the exposed centre of Arkheon broiled and spat like a cauldron of fire. 'Y'know,' he said conversationally to the Dalek at the controls, 'that really is an incredible view. Absolutely
amazing
. Pity you lot had to come and spoil it.'

The Dalek said nothing. The platform continued to descend.

'So, what's it all for, then?' the Doctor asked. 'Let me guess. You're gonna replace the molten core with a drive system, start flying the planet around the galaxy? See the sights?'

'S
ILENCE
!' grated the Dalek.

'I'm only trying to make conversation,' the Doctor retorted, sounding hurt. He waited for a response but there was nothing.

The platform cleared the upper edge of an enormous cavern. The solid wall of the planetary magma had suddenly given way to a vast hollow in the rock. Whether it was a natural chasm or deliberately excavated it was impossible to tell, but there was enough room for several spacecraft hangars. The platform veered into the cavern, moving slowly inside the planet itself. Below them was an immense, metallic web of criss-crossing walkways and landing areas. There were Daleks gliding along the walkways, across platforms, through corridors. On one level there were serried ranks of Daleks, all moving in unison, disappearing into a deeper, darker cavern.

'Hell and damnation,' breathed Cuttin' Edge. He had never in his life seen so many Daleks in one place. 'Now we're really in the—'

'Should have seen this coming,' interrupted the Doctor. There was no attempt at a casual demeanour now. 'I really should.'

'What do you mean?' asked Scrum.

'They've been here all the time,' the Doctor said. The expression on his face was dark, rueful. 'Look at this place! It must have taken years to build and develop a base like this. We thought the Daleks were searching for Arkheon. Turns out they found it ages ago and moved in.'

'I think it's worse than that,' said Bowman.

Cuttin' Edge let out a hiss of frustration. 'Will you guys stop sayin' that? "It's worse than that" and "It's worse than I thought"! Hell! How much
worse
is this gonna get?'

'A lot,' said Bowman. 'I think I know what this place is. I heard rumours. The Daleks had a top-secret base where they took all their high-level prisoners for interrogation and experimentation.'

'No
way
,' Cuttin' Edge spat out in disbelief. 'Interrogation?
Experimentation
? Are you serious?'

'Daleks love prisoners,' the Doctor said. 'Gives them such a sense of power. They love nothing more than lording it over the inferior species. Humiliation, torment, slavery. That's their thing.'

Cuttin' Edge shook his head. 'You ain't makin' it sound any better, dude.'

The Doctor turned to Bowman. 'This top-secret interrogation base. Is there anything else you can remember about it?'

'Why?' Bowman's tone was bleak. His face was retreating into its stone-like appearance as he prepared himself for what lay ahead.

'Anything could be useful.'

'Don't count on it. They used to call it "the Black Hole" – as in nothing ever came out again. No one – and I mean
no one
– ever escaped from this place. It's a one-way ticket.'

'C
EASE TALKING
!' One of the Daleks moved towards them, gun and arm twitching eagerly. 'P
RISONERS WILL BE SILENT
.'

No one spoke again as the platform continued its descent into the Dalek prison. Whenever they passed more Daleks, eyestalks would slowly turn, domes swivelling, observing. It was as if every Dalek that saw them was minutely examining them, glaring at them with a mixture of hatred and resentment and, perhaps, just a hint of curiosity. The prisoners huddled together, Koral moving closer to Bowman so that he could put a hand on her shoulder.

Presently the platform lowered itself into a wide reception area. Daleks glided to and fro, watching them carefully. Two Daleks came forward to meet the platform.

'S
TEP OFF THE LANDING PLATFORM
,' grated the first.

Slowly the prisoners filed onto the metal floor. The Dalek on the platform prodded Cuttin' Edge in the back with its sucker arm, pushing him forward so that he stumbled. 'M
OVE
! F
ASTER
! O
BEY THE
D
ALEKS
!'

Cuttin' Edge glared back. 'Don't push me, you metal creep.'

The Dalek floated forward, the bulbous blue eye fixed on the human. 'B
E SILENT
!'

Cuttin' Edge stared back, his face reflecting the light. 'Don't wave that eyestalk in my face, creep. I can get good money for that back home.'

'B
E SILENT OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED
!'

'All right, cool it,' said Bowman. 'That's enough, Cuttin' Edge. Let's not rile them. It's too easy.'

With a snort, Cuttin' Edge turned away. 'Whatever you say, skip.'

The Dalek circled slowly around Cuttin' Edge, examining him from every angle. 'Y
OU WILL OBEY THE
D
ALEKS
. F
ROM NOW ON YOU WILL TAKE ORDERS ONLY FROM
D
ALEKS
. T
HIS HUMAN IS NO LONGER YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER
.'

'He never was my commanding officer,' shrugged Cuttin' Edge. 'He's just a guy I kinda like.'

The Doctor, keeping very much to the background, watched the exchange carefully. He didn't know whether to wince or cheer out loud. But Cuttin' Edge was playing a dangerous game; the line between defiance and suicide was a very thin one when baiting Daleks.