Doctor Who: Tomb of the Cybermen (6 page)

At last she moved, and slowly stood up.

'I didn't enjoy that much, Doctor,' she said ruefully.

'You'll have to be a little more careful in future, won't you?' the Doctor smiled at her. But his eyes turned hard as he looked over the girl's shoulder at Kaftan.

'Jamie!' Haydon was shouting, grabbing his arm and shaking the Scot—but Jamie didn't seem to hear him. Jamie's whole attention was fixed on the endless whirling circles. They were more than circles; spheres, vortices, that ran into each other and trapped Jamie's mind with them, endlessly round and round.in a riot of colour, glittering with crimson, rose colour, scarlet, vermilion, orange, yellow, green, blue, royal blue, ultramarine, violet, purple, deep purple and back to dark, dark red.

'Jamie!' Haydon, shaken himself by the unearthly psychedelic beauty, roughly shoved his hands in front of Jamie's face to shield his eyes from the shapes.

'Don't watch them! Jamie! Don't watch them!'

'I must. I must,' murmured Jamie. 'I canna take my eyes away—I dinna want to take my... to take my eyes away. I. must look...' He shook himself free of the older man's restraining arm and moved slowly, step by step, towards the glowing wall. With every step he took, the shapes seemed to melt, open, glow deeper, bigger, welcoming him into their power. Haydon followed him and tried once more to stop him.

But it was as if Jamie was obeying an order and the archaeologist was no match for the tough Highlander.

'Aye, I can see it well, now,' he murmured, as he stepped first with one foot and then with the other, unable to stop himself, towards the lure of the wall.

Haydon let go of Jamie's arm. In desperation he ran to the control console and with no time to think, pressed the first button his fingers met.

The loud hum changed key, the shapes changed suddenly—but smoothly, without losing their dream power—into green bubbles, great turquoise bubbles of something a thousand times cooler and more soothing than water, bubbles that whirled and circled and glowed, pulling Jamie in like a whirlpool.

'Yes,' said Jamie. 'Yes.'

Sweating, Haydon pressed another button. The shapes fluttered for a moment, then remained unaltered. He tried another control button, again nothing seemed to happen.

He wiped his face with his sleeve, Jamie had only three steps more to go, the Scot's body was already turning green with the shine from the wall—he pushed forward the remaining control of the board, a small T-shaped lever. The lights died. The hum groaned down to nothing. The colours fell into grey and the wall turned blank again.

Jamie stood as if transfixed by the wall, as still as a statue—

then he bowed his head, rubbed his eyes and turned away.

'Are you all right?' asked Haydon, anxiously. 'Hey! Jamie boy?' He snapped his fingers in front of Jamie's face.

'Where have I been?'

'Under some form of hypnosis.'

'Hyp—What would that be?' asked Jamie, too bemused to keep up his pretence of understanding everything.

'It's when someone gets power over you by getting your mind hooked on something—a flickering light, like that one. You can't stop looking and your mind goes to sleep. You fall under someone else's control.'

'You mean... like being bewitched?' asked the boy, awed.

'You could call it that.'

'Aye,' said Jamie, beginning to comprehend. 'Enchantrnent, that's what it felt like.'

They leaned against the console, resting from the strangeness of the experience.

'But that's ridiculous,' said Jamie, some of his old spirit coming back. 'What would a Cyberman want with enchanting? They're no flesh and blood creatures like us. They've no feelings.'

'Yes. You're right,' mused Haydon. 'What would the Cybermen want with a hypnotising machine? It must be for something else.' He thought for a while. 'Some kind of target. I remember reading about this—they used to use something like it on earth years ago.'

'How does it work? Which bit do you aim at?' said Jamie, recovering fast and pulling out a small wicked-looking dirk from his sock.

'For Heaven's sake, man, what's that?'

'D'ye not know a dirk when you see one?' laughed Jamie, and striking a mock fighting pose, he held it poised as if to throw it at the wall. 'Now, watch this.'

'Hold on. I see what you mean, but I don't think it was quite that kind of weapon. Put it away, there's a good lad,' said Haydon, half alarmed and half amused. 'No, it wasn't quite like a target on a tree, it was something more sophisticated.'

'Aye, it would be,' said Jamie, putting back the dirk in disgust.

'Those Cybermen would never do a thing for the fun of it.'

'Yes,' went on Haydon, trying to work it out in his own mind,

'there is a subliminal centre in those targets which you are trained to see.'

'What's that?'

But Haydon didn't wait to explain.

'Come on!' he shouted. 'Let's run it again and see what happens—but Jamie boy, keep your eyes off the wall, will you! You work the controls this time and I'll watch.'

'Right.'

'This is the one you press,' said Haydon, 'and for Pete's sake, don't press any other one or anything might happen.'

Jamie walked over to the controls, his hand ready over the button. Haydon stood opposite the wall of images, but as far away as he could, with one hand holding the console rail to keep himself in touch with reality and prevent being drawn towards it.

'O.K.,' said Haydon. 'Now, press the first button.'

'I can't understand it,' said Professor Parry, irritably. Professor Parry and Klieg were still trying to work out the symbolic logic that would tell them the key secret of Telos: where the tombs of the Cybermen were located; where, in this great complex of metal going down to who-knew-what depths, and how many miles of subterranean catacombs, were the bodies of the Cybermen themselves?

'I can't understand why when this whole building is alive that hatch stays firmly closed.' Parry pointed over to the central conning-tower-like hatch.

'It's only a matter of time.' Klieg carefully began another sequence of buttons.

'You've said that before, Mr Klieg,' said the Professor, now definitely ratty. 'Where are your mathematics, Mr Klieg? You gave me to understand this sort of thing was right up your line of country, when you asked to join this expedition.'

Klieg ignored him. He finished his selection of the coloured buttons and again nothing happened The hatch remained closed.

'I suggest you use deduction or even induction, rather than simple trial and error, Mr Klieg,' snapped the Professor.

Klieg did not reply—checking his notes for the next sequence of numbers.

'The tombs of the Cybermen
must
be below ground,' said the Professor. 'And their records must be there, too. If we can't get down there, then all our work here and—the sacrifice of that unfortunate fellow's life—will go in vain.'

The Professor felt that the death of the crewman at the doors would be somehow justified if they found the great archaeological treasure they were seeking. A find that would make Professor Parry the outstanding archaeologist of his time.

'And a great deal more than that will be in vain,' said Klieg to himself.

'I beg your pardon?' said the Professor, still angry with the other man and his arrogant manner. If only scholars didn't need money all the time!

'Just talking to myself—that's all. Now if you would perhaps photograph this room and leave me to my work. We shall make much better progress.' Parry glared at him for a moment, then turned away.

In the Cyberman recharging room, Viner, aided by Kaftan, was examining the mechanism of the huge Cyberform.

'That's all you can remember—darkness, no sparks, flashes, electrical shocks?' The Doctor spoke quietly to Victoria, who was sitting down, now calm and composed again, on a bench by the console.

'Yes, Doctor. I don't think I was actually touching any part of the interior.'

'Hmm.' The Doctor looked down at her heavy practical walking shoes with rubber soles. 'I see. Of course, you are a little smaller than the average Cyberman... and very, very lucky.' He turned away. 'Come on.'

'Where to, Doctor?'

'Eh?' He turned back as if surprised that she had not read his thoughts. 'To find Jamie, of course.'

'Jamie?'

'We haven't seen him for nearly an hour—goodness knows what trouble he's in, by. now.'

'You think he's in trouble, Doctor?' said Victoria a little anxiously.

The Doctor smiled for the first time since entering the grim Cyberman recharging room. 'Well, look at you—it only took you twenty-five minutes to get yourself nearly fried. Out!'

He pushed the girl before him and they left the room. As they left Viner looked up from his notetaking and glanced at Kaftan.

'I sometimes feel that man has been here before,' he said a little pettishly. 'He never tries to record or examine anything, you notice.'

Kaftan nodded. 'I have noticed. As if he understands the whole workings here.'

'Exactly. And regards our work as a waste of time.' Viner snapped his notebook shut.. 'We might be better occupied in following him.'

'You follow him, Mr Viner. I will stay here.' Kaftan, smiled, her eyes dark and inscrutable.

'Yes, I think I will.' Viner nodded to her, adjusted his glasses and went over to the archway—then remembered his manners. 'But, are you sure you're not afraid of being left alone?'

Kaftan raised her head proudly. 'I am never afraid.'

Viner peered at her anxiously for a moment, then left.

In the target room Jamie and Haydon had made Some progress. Jamie had pressed the button, standing with his eyes away from the wall, and the dancing circles were again swirling in their intricate patterns. Haydon, his hands gripping the rail, had his eyes closed, only risking the odd look.

'Is that all?' asked Haydon. 'Nothing more happening from that button?'

'Aye, that's all,' said Jamie.

'Any more buttons we haven't tried?'

'Och, two you didn't find.' Jamie was pleased 'with himself.

'You have to lift up this wee tray herethey're underneath it. White and black. What do they do?'

Haydon looked over briefly. 'I'm not sure, but we'll soon find out.' He turned his back on the colours and walked over to the opposite wall. 'I'm going to trace the source.of these shapes. There must be a projector somewhere.'

He passed his hand along the gleaming wall, but felt nothing.

'When I give the word,' he said, 'press both buttons.'

'Together?' asked Jamie.

'Yes. They must be set there to work in unison.'

'Aye, then,' said Jamie. 'When you're ready.'

Haydon walked back to the centre rail, held it and looked back at the moving circles.

'O.K.,' said Haydon. 'Go ahead.'

Jamie stretched his hand and put his thumb on the black button, his forefinger on to the white. He pressed them both down—

hard!

Whirr! Hmmm! Whirr! The sound came from the end of the room opposite the circles.

There was a flash of light at the far end of the room, the wall lit up like sheet lightning.

'JAMIE!'

It was the Doctor's voice, as he and Victoria rushed in from the door.

'DON'T TOUCH THAT CONTROL!' shouted the Doctor.

'It's too late, Doctor, I have.'

The Doctor rushed over to the controls and tried to release the two depressed buttons. But they wouldn't come up. Rapidly the Doctor glanced at the rest of the panel, working out its possible function with supermind speed.

'What's the matter, Doctor?' asked Jamie. After all, nothing terrible had happened yet. They'd had far worse on this nasty planet.

As he spoke, the far wall seemed to lose its light and grow dark. They saw it was not a wall:, it was doors silently gliding open.

Out of the blackness loomed a huge figure. A silvery apparition with gigantic limbs and a massive helmet for a face. Victoria screamed.

Behind her, Viner, who had just entered the room stopped, aghast, his mouth open.

But the silver figure with the blank face raised its metal fist and in its fist was something like a gun, black and menacing. Every human stood there, mesmerised with fear.

The Cyberman went on raising his gun, slowly, slowly. It was pointing at them, they could see the dark hole of the barrel.

'Down.' The Doctor pulled Victoria to the ground followed by Jamie and Viner. FLASH! There was a cry of agony. Lying on the floor they saw Haydon twitching, his eyes wide. Out of his tunic at his neck, arms and legs poured smoke, thick yellow smoke. Almost in slow motion his body crumpled up and he fell to the ground, his eyes open, staring.

7

The others clutched the floor in fear, but almost before they had time to look up again, the figure of the Cyberman had stepped back and the doors had glided shut.

They all lay absolutely still, expecting with every second another terrible flash and the Cybergun delivering its terrible, lethal charge at them. But as seconds ticked by and nothing happened, Jamie, impatient as always, raised his head.

'Wait!' said the Doctor. They lay there for another two minutes before he motioned them to their feet and went over to look at Haydon, signalling the others back. Then he took out his handkerchief and placed it over the man's face.

'Now, Jamie,' said the Doctor in a businesslike voice, 'what exactly happened here? What did you do? What sequence did you use?'

Jamie looked puzzled.

'Sequence? Och, I just pressed these two,' said Jamie, indicating black and white buttons, now fully extended again. Then, realising, 'I've killed him, Doctor.'

Victoria turned to him and held his hand as Professor Parry bustled in, absorbed in his research.

'Doctor,' he said, 'if you could spare us a moment...' He gasped, seeing Haydon's body, ran over to it, bent down and removed the handkerchief from the wide, staring eyes.

'Haydon!' He turned round fiercely on the others. 'What's happened to him?'