by John Peel
‘Advise the Dalek Prime on Skaro that the Taranium core for the Time Destructor has been recovered. The invasion count-down has been resumed. A detailed report will follow.’
‘I obey!’ The Dalek moved off, heading for the communications section. The Black Dalek turned its full attention back on to the weapon itself. The two scientists had finished inserting the core, and were now completing the powering up of the device.
Celation turned to Mavic Chen with what passed for a smile on his face. ‘Having had your contribution to the great weapon stolen,’ he wheezed, ‘it must be a relief to you now that the Daleks have recovered it.’
Chen glared at him coldly. ‘Without my help, it is unlikely they’d have got it back.’
Trantis twisted to face him, glowering angrily. He had not forgotten how Chen had attempted to place the blame for the theft onto him. ‘Your story that it was my people from Trantis who stole the core has been discredited,’ he sneered.
Unaware of the political struggle under way between Trantis and Chen, Celation innocently added: ‘Yes. The thieves were from the Earth, I believe?’
‘Only two of them,’ Chen snapped back. ‘And they were under the influence of a creature from another galaxy.’
‘Indeed?’ Trantis purred. ‘He looked like an Earth creature.’
‘That was only a disguise,’ Mavic Chen said. He hated having to explain himself away; it lowered his influence over these peasants. ‘The Daleks know of him. He is some kind of a time and space-traveller, known only as the Doctor.’
‘Then he is nothing to do with me!’ Trantis exclaimed self-righteously. ‘My people have not yet conquered the dimension of time.’
Chen couldn’t resist a dig. ‘No – but I hear that your experiments in that field are progressing, Trantis. Just how far have they gone, um?’
Furious, Trantis snapped: ‘We have not yet completed...’ Abruptly, he was aware that Chen was taunting him to get further information, and he caught his temper. ‘Only the Daleks know how to penetrate the time barrier,’ he finished.
‘And this other creature,’ Celation added, tactlessly, ‘from wherever he comes.’
‘He’s of noimportance now,’ Chen said, tiring of the bickering. ‘After all, we are here as witnesses to the testing of the Time Destructor, are we not?’
Their eyes turned to the weapon, now glowing with power. The Dalek technicians, under the guidance of the two scientists, were feeding energy into the device.
‘At last!’ Chen crowed. ‘The Time Destructor is finally being activated!’ And soon, he reflected silently, it would belong solely to him. When he had departed from the Earth, he had given his assistant, Karlton, instructions to assemble a fleet ready to strike. When the Dalek task force thrust for the Earth, Karlton and his small group would arrive here. Under Chen’s direction, they would smash the small Dalek force guarding Kembel, and then seize control of the Time Destructor. The first planet it would be used on would not be the Earth, but Skaro
Celation sighed. ‘If only we could join the war force – and see its power for ourselves.’
Chen smiled inwardly. Celation would indeed witness its power – when it was turned on his home world! Trantis rudely interrupted Chen’s pleasant thoughts of death and annihilation.
‘What is its power?’ he snapped, annoyed at being kept out of the secret.
Celation inclined his head slightly. ‘If your galaxy had assisted in its manufacture – as ours have – you would have no need to ask.’
Tritons scowled. ‘We supplied what was asked of us.’
‘Metals! Materials!’ Celation scoffed. ‘We could have taken those from you – without your co-operation.’
‘Gentlebeings, please!’ Mavic Chen said, smoothly, putting an arm about each of their shoulders. ‘We are all full partners of the Daleks, are we not? There is surely no need for us to argue amongst ourselves! Especially now, as all that we have planned is finally being put into operation.’
Celation nodded, and even Trantis looked less surly at this thought. Smiling, Chen added: ‘The Time Destructor, my friend, has the ability to plunge a portion of space either forward or backward in time. It can be a small area – say, the size of a person – or a large area, even the size of a planet.’
‘How?’ demanded Trantis.
Chen spread his hands wide. ‘Only the Daleks know that . But when it is used, our enemies will be plunged back through time, degenerating into creatures that first evolved from the filthiest of swamps – or else hurled forward so far in time that their bodies will crumble to thin, lifeless dust!’
Sara was still shaking when she splashed water on her face and dressed. The nightmare had been back stronger than ever. Bret had been there, accusing her silently, his eyes streaming with tears as she had shot him down once again, and watched him die... As she walked through the corridors to the TARDIS control room, Sara knew that in one sense at least, she was being haunted.
It wasn’t that she believed in ghosts, exactly. Bret was dead, and there was nothing she could do about that. But he still lived in her memory, and she knew that it was there that he haunted her. No matter what rhetoric the Doctor employed to try to convince her that she had had no choice in killing Bret, she knew better. It was her fault, and hers alone, that her brother was dead. His memory would never leave her, but she could in one way atone to his memory-ghost.
By finishing the mission that he had begun.
As always, the Doctor was in the control room when she arrived. He had been reading a thick volume in some indecipherable script when she entered. Glancing up, he carefully marked his place, and laid the book down. He tucked his reading glasses away in his pocket, and crossed to greet her. ‘The dream again?’ he asked, perceptively.
She nodded. ‘Doctor, we must return to Kembel. I have to be certain that Bret’s sacrifice was not in vain, and that we really did stop the Daleks and Mavic Chen.’
The Doctor sighed, and placed a hand gently on her arm. ‘Child,’ he said softly, ‘what you ask is impossible. Oh, I know the codes and the information, but I do not possess the ability.’ He stared off into the distance. ‘I have been expecting that request for a long time,’ he confessed. ‘I have all the figures and calculations safely stored away.’ He tapped the side of his head. ‘If the TARDIS were in full operational order. I could steer us to Kembel in the right time frame. But, sadly, this old ship of mine is a trifle worn out. One vital component is broken beyond repair.’
‘Isn’t there a way to replace it" Sara was touched by the fact that the Doctor had been attempting to get them back to Kembel.
‘I’m afraid not, my dear. None of the worlds I have ever visited has ever had the technology for me to make a new circuit for the time-path co-ordinator.’
‘But... surely on your own world...’
He held up a hand. ‘On my world,’ he said, firmly. ‘all manner of things are possible. But we cannot go there. Certainly not without the circuit that the TARDIS requires.’ And for other reasons, he added to himself. Such a journey would be appealing – were there not other factors to consider. ‘No, Sara, I’m sorry – but there is absolutely no way that I know of to return us to the planet Kembel. You must live with that.’
Sara turned her haunted eyes on to him. The Doctor shuddered at the expression of terrible loss that he could read within them. Whatever would become of this poor, tortured soul?
The two scientist Daleks moved to join the Black Dalek. The Time Destructor was now glowing and pulsing with the power passing through it. ‘The Destructor is now armed,’ the first stated.
‘All that is now required,’ the second added, is a subject.’
The Black Dalek’s eye section swung round. ‘The subject has been selected’ Its eye-stick was focused on one of the aliens present. ‘Use Trantis.’
‘No!’ Trantis yelled in horror, glancing wildly around. There was no escape from the room. The two scientist Daleks moved forward, thrusting their arm-sticks at h
im. ‘No!’ Trantis screamed again, as they herded him back towards the booth in font of the Time Destructor. ‘You can’t! You can’t! I’m your partner,’ he pleaded. ‘I’m your friend. We made a pact, a bargain. You need me for your conquest! Take one of the others! Take one of them! ’
The Daleks didn’t bother to reply. They simply pushed him back until he stumbled into the booth, and then closed the door on him, cutting off his screams.
Celation looked in fear at the amused face of Mavic Chen. ‘Why was Trantis selected?’ he wheezed.
Chen shook his head in mock pity. ‘It was his own fault, really.’
‘What do you mean’?’
‘He was so eager to make a contribution to the Time Destructor that the Daleks decided to let him make one.’ Chen smiled, this time with genuine pleasure. ‘His life.’
The Black Dalek had watched the proceedings impassively. The scientists moved back to the controls again. Trantis was still screaming silently within the booth, but the Black Dalek ignored that. ‘Prepare to activate the Time Destructor.’
The first scientist looked over towards Chen and Celation. ‘Are the other two creatures to be present at the activation?’
‘Yes.’ The Black Dalek stared at them carefully. ‘Their greed for power is so great and so transparent that they can be trusted. Start the Time Destructor.’
‘I obey.’ The Dalek moved to the controls, and completed the powering up of the weapon. It began to pulse with rhythmic bursts of light. Staring into the barrel of the device, Trantis sank to his knees, horrified. Then the pulsing began to slow, and a look of intense relief crossed Trantis’s face as he realized that he was still alive.
Celation stepped forward, his face a web of conflicting emotions. ‘It doesn’t work!’ he howled. ‘It doesn’t work!’
‘Impossible!’ Chen hissed. ‘It must work! It must!’ If the Daleks had miscalculated in their construction of the machine, then all his plans for conquest would crumble into nothing.
The first scientist reported the obvious to the Black Dalek: ‘The Destructor is having no effect.’
‘The mechanism is functioning perfectly,’ the second added. ‘The fault shows to be in the Taranium core.’
Chen was stunned. ‘There must be an error!’ he protested.
The Black Dalek’s eye fixed on him. ‘Daleks do not make errors,’ it grated. ‘You have tried to deceive us. You have lied.’
‘That isn’t true!’ Chen retorted. ‘Why should I lie? l can only benefit from my alliance with you. I brought you Taranium!’
‘If this is the core that you brought us,’ the Black Dalek stated, ‘it failed to activate the Time Destructor. It does not contain Taranium’ It spun to the scientists. ‘Eliminate him!’
The two guns came up, but Chen had seized on what the Black Dalek had said. ‘It must have been the old man! Of course! Don’t you see? While he had the core in his possession, he must have switched the Taranium for something else!’ The Daleks looked at one another, well aware that what he said made sense. Growing in confidence, Chen continued: ‘He tricked you – that is why he insisted on escape the way he did! If you find him, you will find the means to repair the Time Destructor.’
Celation frowned. ‘But it was you who took the core from him.’
‘I know,’ Chen agreed. ‘But I didn’t check it. How could I?’ He gestured towards the Daleks. ‘ They should have checked it – and didn’t!’
The Black Dalek ignored his own orders about killing Chen. If the Doctor did have the core, then Chen might still prove useful for now. ‘Report to Skaro,’ it ordered the first scientist. ‘They are to send a time machine here to Kembel immediately. The Taranium core must be recovered.’
‘Time machine?’ echoed Chen. ‘But you need Taranium to power that – and you have none! That was why you needed my contribution!’
The Black Dalek faced him. ‘The Daleks need no one! Your assistance in procuring the Taranium was useful, but there are other sources. We have enough Taranium ourselves to power a single time ship.’
‘You didn’t tell us this earlier.’
‘You will be told what you need to know’ The Black Dalek turned to Celation. ‘Return to your quarters. Remain there until we give you further instructions.’ Celation nodded and left, glad to be away from this place. The Black Dalek resumed to Chen. ‘You will wait here for the arrival of the time machine.’
The second scientist indicated the booth containing Trantis. ‘What shall we do with the test subject?’
‘He is of no use to us now. Exterminate him!’
The scientist moved off, and triggered the booth door. It opened, and Trantis sprang to his feet, blubbering with happiness. He had not been able to hear his sentence pronounced through the glass, and assumed that he was to be freed. Instead. the Dalek’s gun fired. Trantis gave one final scream, and sank to the floor.
The Black Dalek looked straight at Mavic Chen. ‘So die all who fail the Daleks. Do not forget that!’
The mood in the control room was far from happy. When Steven had arrived, he had found Sara staring off into nothing, and the Doctor sitting in the tall-backed chair, apparently intent upon a book in his lap. It wasn’t until about ten silent minutes later that Steven observed that the Doctor wasn’t turning the pages.
Suddenly, there came a loud bleeping sound from the console, causing them all to jump. The Doctor dropped his book and dashed to the panel. One indicator was lit, and pulsing away in time with the sound.
‘What is that?’ Steven asked.
‘The time path indicator; the Doctor said, crossly. ‘Don’t you remember that it registered when the Daleks were chasing us...’ His voice trailed off. ‘Of course, of course – you joined the ship after I had fixed their time machine. Well, this warning device lets me know when another ship is on exactly the same path through time and space that we are travelling.’
‘Could it be a coincidence?’ Sara asked.
The Doctor shook his head. ‘With all of space and time to select from, what are the chances that another ship would be on the exact same flight-path that we are on? Infinitesimal, my dear, that’s what. No, there is another ship out there, following us. ’
‘The Daleks’ she asked.
‘I can’t think of anyone else that it could be.’
Their eyes were all fixed on the bleeping indicator, when Steven noticed something else. The time rotor was slowing down, and that could mean only one thing: ‘We’re landing,’ he announced.
The three of them stared at the panel, wondering where the ship had brought them now – and how long it would be before the Daleks arrived to hunt them down...
Chapter 5
Volcano
The day was not going well for the English forces. They had less than an hour to win, strike back and carry the day. Everything came down to the battle on this field, this day. Unless the English Captain could somehow rally his forces and strike hard, they would be defeated. The Ashes would go to Australia once again.
The match was not the most exciting, and even the two BBC commentators in their box were showing signs of the strain. In flat, clipped tones, they commented on the action – or rather, the lack of it – in the final test from the Oval. It had been one of the slowest day’s cricket that either Trevor or Scott had ever witnessed.
‘Well, the English batsmen are really fighting against the clock now, Scott,’ observed Trevor.
‘My. word, yes,’ Scott said m his thick Australian accent. ‘They need seventy-eight runs in forty-five minutes to win.’
‘And what was it? Twenty-nine they scored in the last hour? Well, they’ll have to do better than that. It really has been an exciting game, hasn’t it, Scott?’
‘ Very exciting, Trevor,’ lied Scott. It was, after all, their job to keep the viewers happy at home. If they were still awake, or hadn’t switched to ITV.
‘Well, let’s have another look at the scoreboard, shall we?’ Trevor asked, rhetorically. ‘For the
benefit of any viewers who’ve just joined us.’ The camera obediently panned to the scoreboard, showing the dire situation that the English team were in. ‘There, that gives the position. You’ll see that...’ He broke off. With a wheezing, groaning sound, the TARDIS materialized. ‘Goodness me, Scott,’ he continued, in the same unexcited voice, ‘take a look at that.’
‘Look at what, Trevor?’ Scott asked, scanning the field for some sign of a four or six being hit.
‘There’s a police telephone has on the pitch.’
‘My word,’ Scott replied, ‘so there is.’ The camera panned to show the intruder. ‘There it is, Trevor, on the monitor now.’
‘Yes, Scott. It really is extraordinary . I don’t remember anything like this happening before. Do you?’
‘No, I don’t think I do.’
‘Well, Ross is looking through the record books. If there has been anything like this, he’ll find it for us. Well, well.’
‘You, know, Trevor,’ Scott continued, ‘this does put a new light on the game.’
‘What light’s that, Scott?’
The camera showed the game having come to a complete halt while the players stood around, chatting and occasionally looking towards the police has that had stopped play. Nobody seemed terribly concerned about where it had come from.
‘Well,’ Scott said, in the same flat voice, ‘I know the ground staff here are excellent, but even assuming that they got rid of it in, say, ten minutes – England would then be faced with getting their seventy-eight runs in... thirty-five minutes.’
‘Yes, Scott, you’re right. Well, I think we can say this has been a bad break for England.’
‘A very had break, Trevor – especially as the weather’s been holding off so welt’
‘Yes, it has, hasn’t it? Been holding off remarkably well.’
At that moment, the TARDIS started to moan and wheeze again.
‘Well,’ Trevor continued, ‘here’s another look at the board – although there’s not been much happening here for the last few minutes.’
‘It’s gone again, Trevor.’