by John Peel
The Doctor gripped Sara tightly before she could do anything foolish. Chen was provoking her, looking for an excuse to gun her down without mercy. Furious, the Doctor glared at Chen: ‘Why did you come back here?’
‘I didn’t trust you, Doctor.’
Steven could hardly believe his ears. ‘ Youdidn’t trust us ?’ he queried, amazed at the effrontery of the man.
‘You seemed so anxious for the Galactic members to leave,’ Chen explained. ‘I wondered why.’
‘To save the Universe from the Daleks!’ Steven said.
Chen sneered openly. ‘Most commendable – but totally unbelievable!’ He shook his head, his lips curling, caught between amusement and contempt. ‘No. You knew where the Daleks were, and you wanted to join them yourselves – without any of the rest of us!’
‘He’s mad!’ Steven cried.
‘Yes, he is,’ the Doctor agreed, softly. ‘Mad with a lust for power that is incomprehensible!’
‘You can’t deny it. Doctor,’ Chen said, referring to his theory. His own mind was so twisted with its plots and schemes that he saw others doing the same – especially the Doctor, whose mental ability almost matched his own!
‘We were going back to our ship,’ the Doctor informed him, coldly.
‘Then what are you doing here?’
‘We followed a Dalek!’ Steven exclaimed. ‘They’ve got to be stopped and...’
‘Stopped!’ Mavic Chen laughed, and shook his head. ‘The three of you – stop the Daleks? Come, now! Why should you even care? Your machine can take you places that even the Daleks will never reach. Why should you put yourselves in danger when you could just spirit yourselves away?’ Chen could not even imagine anyone working with a selfless reason. The man was a mass of selfish emotions – greed, self-preservation and a thirst for power that went far into insanity. The idea that someone might actually risk his or her life for another human being was totally unthinkable to him. ‘If you must lie, you can do better than that!’
‘We’ve listened to your rantings for long enough!’ the Doctor snapped.
Chen’s face went cold, furious at the insult. His finger tightened on the trigger of his blaster. ‘Much as I want to present you to the Daleks alive, I would not hesitate to kill you.’ The Doctor saw that Mavic Chen had indeed now crossed the line from dangerous egomania into complete and utter insanity – and that he was accordingly unpredictable.
Steven shook his head in disgust. ‘You just won’t accept that they don’t take partners, will you?’
Chen stood tall, and sneered down at Steven. ‘This time I have proved beyond all doubt that they need me!’
The Doctor knew that however wrong Mavic Chen might be about the Daleks needing him, they would still be very pleased to see the Doctor and his friends. There was only one thing that the Daleks would enjoy more than the extermination of their greatest foe – and that was the conquest of the Universe. Thanks to the madness of Mavic Chen, they might just be given both.
In the heart of the hill lay the true Dalek control room, the one that the delegates had never suspected existed. The Daleks had spent years preparing Kembel to receive their invasion fleet. Patiently, they had excavated a series of natural caverns in these hills and transformed them into the heart of their plans. An immense Dalek task-force had been secreted away, along with the ships and supplies that would enable the group to strike well into the Solar System. The city on the surface had been constructed as a sham to delude the Galactic delegates into thinking that their efforts were needed to conquer the Universe.
From their very beginnings, the Daleks had held but one single idea uppermost in their minds: the extermination of all non-Dalek forms of life. They had discovered that many alien creatures possessed a vast degree of stupidity, trust and greed, and had used these faults to lure into their plans the last remaining items that they needed to construct the Time Destructor. With its completion, the need for pretence had gone, and the Daleks now stood as they had always done – alone, poised for the conquest of all matter.
The Black Dalek was considering this inevitable success deep within the heart of the control complex. It had taken many thousands of years to reach this ultimate pinnacle – years of frustration, semi-success and sometimes outright failure. The time-traveller known as the Doctor had interfered with many of their plans, but even he had failed to stop this, their masterplan, about to come to fruition.
‘Count-down has now reached the final phase,’ the technician Dalek reported.
The Black Dalek spun to look at the cannon-like form of the Time Destructor. It had been transferred here from the surface city while the foolish delegates had been squabbling for supremacy. The only reward for their help would be utter extermination. ‘The Time Destructor will be placed in the lead ship.’
‘Preparations for its transfer are almost complete.’
At the security panel, the administrator Dalek responded to a call. It then swung its head about to face towards the Black Dalek. ‘Prisoners have been taken at entrance five,’ it reported.
This was not expected. ‘Prisoners?’ the Dalek Supreme queried.
‘The guard reports that the group consists of Mavic Chen and the three time-travellers.’
The Black Dalek had a definite feeling that this moment had been somehow laid down in the destiny of the Dalek race since its beginnings. ‘Is the one they call Doctor among them?’
‘Yes.’
‘Have them brought here to the main control complex,’ the Black Dalek ordered. The Doctor, somehow, here and now! It was beyond all coincidence. This final meeting was fated to occur. In moments, the conquest of the Solar System would commence. The Doctor would be forced to helplessly witness it – and he would then be exterminated...
Mavic Chen was not altogether happy with the way that matters were progressing. They had been halted at the end of the tunnel by a Dalek guard, as he had expected. Instead of being congratulated and passed along, however, the guard and a second Dalek had accompanied them through the complex.
‘Your assistance, though welcome, is entirely unnecessary,’ Mavic Chen informed the guard. ‘I demand to take them to the Dalek Supreme alone!’
‘You will remain with the others!’ the guard grated, otherwise ignoring his comments.
‘Your communications network behaves at times with an alarmingly archaic stupidity!’ Chen snapped, furious. ‘I trust that you have notified your control room with the true facts of this situation.’
‘Central control has been advised.’
‘ Well, advise them again!’ Mavic Chen yelled. ‘Until you realize that the time-travellers are my prisoners, I refuse to hand them over.’
The Dalek looked at him again. Had it not been ordered to take Mavic Chen to the control complex, the guard would have simply exterminated him on the spot. The Daleks did not need his permission to take the prisoners. Instead, the guard replied: ‘I will verify my orders.’
‘Good,’ said Chen, slightly mollified.
The Doctor was uninterested in the power struggle under way between Mavic Chen and the Daleks. Instead, he was getting more and more apprehensive as they were led further and further into this complex. At one stage, they were taken across a catwalk hundreds of feet above a huge hangar. Within the vast room were hundreds of Dalek saucers, all of them being prepared for launch. Thousands of Daleks were swarming about the base, none wasting even a glance on the small party. Immense machinery was now in motion, and energy fields pulsated in the background. Daleks on their flying discs were in the air, checking and sealing each of the saucers, ready for their launch. It was clear from the feverish pace of the activity that the signal to the launch of their vast armada was close at hand.
The day of Armageddon for the entire Universe was drawing perilously near.
The Doctor felt a chill of pure terror run through him. Glancing around, he saw that both Sara and Steven felt the same shudder of horror. Was there the slightest chance of the three of them
managing even to slow this gigantic fleet, those hundreds of thousands of Daleks now poised to strike?
The Doctor quietly tapped Steven on the arm, and slipped him something, ‘Take this, my boy.’
His companion took it, and glanced swiftly at it before dropping it, unseen by the others, into his pocket. ‘A key to the TARDIS?’ he whispered. ‘Why, Doctor?’
‘I can’t explain now,’ the Doctor hissed back, an almost insane hope being all that was left to him. ‘But if the opportunity presents itself, you’re to take Sara back to the TARDIS – do you understand?’
Sara had caught the last part of the conversation. ‘What about you, Doctor"
He glared at her in annoyance. ‘You’re always asking questions, young woman – and I find that most irritating!’
‘I think we should stay together,’ Steven offered.
‘There’s no sense in us all taking risks,’ the Doctor argued. ‘Now, promise me you’ll do as I say?’
Steven knew that the Doctor had a habit of getting his own way. He also knew that this time, neither he nor Sara would make it easy for the Doctor to boss them about. ‘Only if you tell me what you’re planning.’
This didn’t sit at all well with the Doctor, who disliked being questioned as to plans – especially since he made most of them up on the spur of the moment. However, he saw that Steven was quite serious, and he had to make an effort to explain. ‘It’s just a faint chance,’ he hissed. ‘I don’t know whether I’ll be able to use the situation to our advantage, but Mavic Chen is obviously going to cause some kind of a disturbance. I shall simply seize whatever chance I am presented with – as must you.’
Slowly, Steven nodded. ‘All right, Doctor – I promise.’
They continued on in silence, each of them deep into their own thoughts. They continued to pass swarms of Daleks moving about the base, many carrying items of machinery. Finally they halted, and the lead Dalek swung round to face Manic Chen.
‘New orders have been received.’
‘It’s about time,’ he snapped. ‘And they are?’
‘You are to escort the prisoners to the Dalek Supreme.’
‘I’m glad that you are finally being sensible,’ the traitor smiled. He gestured at the Doctor, Sara and Steven with his blaster. The Dalek moved into place behind Mavic Chen, its own gun raised.
‘We are to... assist you,’ it grated. The gun was centred on the small of Mavic Chen’s hack. Oblivious to this, Chen gestured for the Doctor to proceed. Reluctantly, the Doctor advanced towards the door, which slid open to receive them as they all trooped in.
So this was the real operations room! The Doctor’s quick glance took in the computer banks lining all the walls, and the three levels of catwalks running about the room. The far wall in its entirety was taken up with a map of the local cluster of Galaxies. The Earth’s was pulsing with a sickly green glow, designating it the target of this first attack. Closer to them, the Black Dalek stood, waiting.
In front of the Black Dalek was the Time Destructor. It had been disconnected from its external power source, and had been set into operation. There was a faint hum coming from the device, and slow pulses of light throbbed throughout the barrel of it The vital Taranium core was inserted into it, and the Taranium itself was now powering the device. Though it was not activated, the Doctor could feel the strong forces that it could manipulate, as though they were tightening about him. It was weapon of almost incalculable power.
And it was in the control of the Daleks!
Mavic Chen sensed none of this. The glance he gave to the Time Destructor was one filled with the lust for power, not of horror for its dimension-racking abilities. Ignoring the device. he then strode to the Black Dalek ‘Once again,’ he declared, ‘I – Mavic Chen – Guardian of the Solar System, have helped the Daleks in their plans of conquest.’
The Black Dalek didn’t even look at him. Its gaze was firmly centred on the Doctor. They had met only once before, though the Doctor had been in disguise then, when he stole the core. ‘Our Alliance has ended,’ the Dalek Supreme informed Mavic Chen coldly.
‘Fools!’ the Guardian called. ‘I have saved you again and again from the results of your own incompetence! I – Mavic Chen – will decide when our Alliance will end.’
Steven looked at Chen in horror. ‘He’s insane. He’s totally insane.’
‘They’ll kill him,’ whispered Sara,
The Doctor quite agreed – but why were the Daleks waiting so long? A suspicion began to creep into his mind. ‘Both of you,’ he said softly. ‘Move with me. Slowly, towards the Time Destructor...’
Mavic Chen had finally gone over the edge. His mind, consumed for years with his own brilliance and Machiavellian grandeur, had consumed itself in its own fires. He had lost all contact with reality, certain of his own ultimate triumph and immortality. It was only right that he should be in command here, and that the Daleks should be his allies – no, his servants ! ‘You – Dalek Supreme ,’ he ordered. ‘Tell the Daleks that they are to take their instructions now from me .’
The Black Dalek simply looked at him, and the others took its lead. To anyone else. being surrounded by Daleks all staring at him would have been unnerving. To Mavic Chen, however, the reverse was the case. He simply assumed that the Daleks were paying attention to him because they were his servants.
‘Good,’ he purred. ‘I am pleased to see such rapt attention. It had always been my intention to take command of your invasion forces with my own troops. Now. they will not be needed. They are all waiting in the Solar System for the Dalek fleet to pass them by. when they would then strike at Kembel and aid me. Now, however, you can simply destroy them, along with that over ambitious assistant of mine, Karlton. I, personally, shall take command of the invasion of the Solar System! The Universe will be mine!’
Steven, Sara and the Doctor edged closer inch by inch to the Time Destructor. while the Daleks’ attention was centred on Mavic Chen. Chen, still blind to his true status, continued with his commands. Turning to the closest Dalek, he ordered: ‘You – bring me the invasion reports.’ He turned to a second, and then suddenly realized that the first one had not moved. Turning back to face it. he snapped: ‘It is essential that I know which stage the operation is in at present. Move!’ The Dalek continued simply to look at him.
Furious now, Chen spun round and pointed an accusing finger at the Black Dalek. ‘You failed to pass on my orders!’ he yelled. ‘ Why?’ Again, there was no reply, simply the wordless, unblinking stare. Chen drew his blaster and pointed it at the Dalek Supreme. ‘Failure to obey brings only one reward!’ He opened fire.
The deadly weapon had no effect at all on the Black Dalek. This finally penetrated through the haze of insanity that had enveloped Mavie Chen, and he ceased firing. He stared at his weapon, then at the Dalek, the support knocked from under his arrogance. Finally, the Black Dalek spoke.
‘Exterminate him!’
The Daleks moved forward, their guns ready. They did not, however, open fire. Chen glared, wild-eyed, at the circle around him, and then at the Dalek Supreme.
‘You cannot turn against me!’ he howled, ‘You will all be punished for this! You will be the ones exterminated! I, Mavic Chen, Guardian of the Solar System, future First Ruler of the entire Universe, Immortal – I decree this!’
Then, suddenly, he lunged forward, breaking free of the circle of Daleks. He ran towards the door, as the Daleks spun and fired. Their weapons melted the frame of the door, but Mavic Chen had already dashed through, and was in the corridor beyond.
‘Pursue and exterminate!’ the Black Dalek commanded. The Daleks followed the fleeing maniac into the corridor.
Chen whipped about, and threw his useless gun in the direction of his pursuers. ‘You will pay for your crimes against your ruler!’ he screamed. ‘You cannot kill me!"
The Daleks opened fire, and several of the bursts of rays caught him squarely. Mavic Chen staggered slightly, staring at them as the wave of ene
rgy washed over him. As it ceased, Chen suddenly realized that he had been terribly, terribly wrong. He was not immortal after all...
Chapter 14
The Destruction Of Time
As the lifeless body of Mavic Chen hit the floor, the Dalek executioners turned away from it, and moved back into the control room. As they did so, they could see that the Doctor and his companions were bent over the Time Destructor, and that the Doctor was doing something to is controls.
‘Move back!’ the lead Dalek ordered, raising its gun.
The Dalek Supreme had been watching the destruction of Mavic Chen, and had allowed his attention to wander from the Doctor. Now its head snapped around, and it saw that the Doctor had managed to activate the Time Destructor. The barrel of it was pulsing faster, and the whine was much more audible. ‘Do not fire!’ it ordered the execution squad.
‘No, you can’t , can you?’ the Doctor said, smugly. ‘I thought it was most interesting that your ray guns were not used until Mavic Chen broke and ran – away from the Time Destructor.’ He looked about. making certain that all the Daleks within range were stopped. ‘I assume that your firepower could damage the device.’ He smiled around the room, then wiped the expression from his face as he glared at the Black Dalek. ‘Send one of your Daleks over here.’
The Dalek Supreme had little option. It indicated to the closest Dalek to move forward. The Dalek glided over to the Doctor, keeping its gun distinctly lowered.
The Doctor nodded in approval. To Steven and Sara, he said: ‘Get behind it!’ As they moved to obey, the Doctor stooped and set his arms about the Time Destructor. The device was surprisingly light as he lifted a from its cradle. It was pulsing slightly faster now, and the whine was spiralling up through the musical octaves. The Daleks instinctively edged forward, until the Doctor spun to face the Black Dalek again.