by John Peel
‘Thanks.’ Ian stood up and stretched. He felt bone-weary, and rather envied Barbara and Vicki, both fast asleep in the cave. First, though, he returned to squat by the Doctor. ‘Things look pretty bad, don’t they?’
Evasively, the Doctor admitted: ‘It’s not entirely encouraging, my boy.’
Ian gestured into the blackness. A raucous cry was suddenly stifled, and something began to eat. It was better not to see what. ‘The Daleks are lurking out there in the jungle, waiting to destroy us. Even if they fail, the fungoids might do the job for them.’
‘Yes, yes,’ the Doctor agreed, impatiently. ‘Yet there is some consolation for us. There must be an intelligent species here. Something put those lights in the jungle. And something made these light rods that have been so handy.’
‘I know.’ Ian looked grimly at the Doctor. ‘But did it occur to you that those somethings we haven’t met might be more dangerous than the things we have?’
‘You’re tired, my boy. Get some rest. Only time will tell; time reveals all things.’
Ian nodded, and moved back into the cave. Smiling at how peaceful Barbara and Vicki looked, he settled down near them. He was even more tired than he had thought; within two minutes, he was deeply asleep.
In the entrance, the Doctor sat, staring into the blackness, intent on staying awake. It was up to him to stay awake...
The Dalek Leader completed his report into the sub-space radio. There was a pause as the Dalek Prime assimilated the information. Finally, there came a reply.
‘You have lost four Daleks, yet the Doctor and his companions survive.’
‘Affirmative.’
‘Your progress is not acceptable. At the first opportunity, you will pursue and eliminate the Doctor. You must not fail. You must not fail. ’
‘I understand.’ The Leader understood perfectly; if the Doctor managed to elude him this time, the Dalek Prime would have no mercy. ‘His time machine is being guarded.’
‘Yes.’ There was a pause, then the Dalek Prime said: ‘We have no further supplies of taranium in the Dalek Empire. Yours is the only time machine that can be constructed. You must not fail.’
‘I understand.’
The Dalek Prime broke the contact. The Leader considered the matter carefully. The assassination squad was the only hope that the Daleks had to track the Doctor through time and space until further supplies of taranium could be obtained. Since the closest known deposits lay within the Terran Empire, there would be little chance of another time ship being constructed until the Earth had been defeated. The assassination squad must succeed this time—it must!
Despite his good intentions, the Doctor had fallen soundly asleep in the entrance to the cave. His gentle snorings disturbed nothing, but were the signal for activity. In the roof of the cave, a small section opened like the iris of an eye. After a moment, a thin cable emerged. This moved slowly down, flexibly peering back and forth. At its tip was a small sensor. Like a snake, it checked the sleeping quartet, and then moved in for a closer look at Ian. It scanned the human, and then went on. Vicki... Barbara... and finally over the insensate form of the Doctor. It paused longer with him than with the others, as though puzzled. Then, just as silently, it retreated into the roof of the cave. The iris closed, and all was still again.
With a start, the Doctor awoke. His first thought was that day had broken. His second was a feeling of guilt for having slept while on watch. His third, as he opened his eyes, was of sheer astonishment.
All through the evening and the night, he and his companions had been running through the forest. They had dodged the carnivorous plants; they had eluded the Daleks; they had fought and defeated the robot Doctor. And all of that time, they had missed the most incredible thing. The Doctor clambered to his feet and stared outwards over the forest in amazement.
Above the insane growths of the surface of the planet stood an immense city. Huge legs rooted to the forest floor held it in place. The underside of the city was smooth. It seemed to lead from directly above the cave towards the horizon. About a mile away, the city split into two sections, leading to the right and to the left. This enabled the Doctor to survey the incredible architecture of the place. Towers soared toward the skies; roadways and ramps ran about at all levels. Complexes abounded. The entire city was like a metallic fantasy, an architectural rhapsody, blending art and function. Thin spires gave way to what looked like minarets and prayer towers. Cathedrals of steel led into sections that were mirrored glass, reflecting the sunlight downwards. It was a blending of all the cities the Doctor had seen in his travels that had been built by sophisticated, technological races. The entire place was an engineering miracle.
There was no sign of life, however. No cars, hovercraft, airplanes, helicopters, rockets or people were visible. There was no movement of any kind.
Forcing himself to look away from this staggering sight for a second, the Doctor turned his head. ‘Chesterton! Barbara! Vicki! Wake up! Wake up ! Come, look at this!’
Hearing his companions stirring, the Doctor turned his attention to the city again. From his inside pocket, he removed the compact binoculars he always carried, and unfolded them. The construction work of the city was perfect. Everything melded into a form of beauty and function. Nowhere was there evidence of decay or repair. Neither—even under this closer scrutiny—was there any sign of life.
‘Good Lord!’ Ian exclaimed, joining him. ‘That was above us all last night? And we had no idea!’
‘It’s... huge!’ Vicki whispered in awe.
‘Well, Chesterton, I think you’ll have to admit that the fungoids couldn’t have built that.’
Vicki was still taken by the vastness of the structure. ‘It must be thousands of feet off the ground!’
‘Quite.’ The Doctor smiled cheerfully at the others. ‘Come along. We must try and make contact with the beings that live there.’
‘How do you plan to get in, Doctor?’ Ian asked. ‘Fly?’
This was too much for the elderly traveller. ‘Chesterton, my dear boy, you are without doubt the most—’
‘I don’t think we’d get very far whatever way we took,’ Vicki said dully. ‘Look.’
As the others followed her outstretched finger, they saw what she had seen. Three Daleks were moving through the jungle.
‘They’re coming this way!’ Barbara exclaimed.
‘They must have found the light housings in the daylight,’ Ian muttered.
‘We’ll have to make a run for it,’ the Doctor decided.
‘They’d see us in an instant,’ Ian objected. ‘There’s not much cover from here, is there?’
‘Well, we can’t just stand here and wait to be found!’ Vicki cried.
Barbara was still scanning the forest. She pointed off to the right. ‘There are three more over there!’
‘They’re trying to box us in,’ Ian realized. ‘They must have a good idea where we are.’
‘The cliff above this cave,’ Vicki suggested. ‘Couldn’t we climb out that way?’
The Doctor glanced down at the Daleks, then upward at the climb ahead of them. ‘No,’ he decided, sadly. ‘It’s too steep. They’d be able to pick us off like flies while we struggled up that path.’
There was only one thing that Ian could think of to save the others. ‘I’ll make a break for it and try to lead them off.’
Barbara gripped his arm. ‘No, Ian!’
He shook himself free of her hold. ‘It’s your only chance,’ he insisted. ‘If I can hold their attention for a few minutes, it’ll give the rest of you a chance to slip off into the jungle.’
‘You’d be in the range of their guns,’ Vicki objected.
Ian gestured down the slope to the left. ‘There’s a scattering of boulders there. If I can make it to those, then I’ve a fair chance of staying one step ahead of them.’
The Doctor looked out in despair. While they were talking, the Daleks were getting closer. ‘I don’t like your plan, Chesterton,�
�� he commented, ‘but I’m afraid there’s no better way.’
‘All right.’ Ian was glad to have the Doctor’s support. They all knew that Ian’s chances of escape were slim at best, but at least the Doctor was backing him up. ‘Give me about thirty seconds after I’ve made the break, then get out of here.’
‘Where shall we meet you?’ Barbara refused to consider the possibility of losing Ian again.
‘The closest of the city stilts. We should be able to find it easily enough, even in this forest.’
The Daleks were drawing closer to the cave all of this time. Ian looked out and saw this. ‘Get under cover,’ he whispered. ‘I’m going in a moment...’
The Leader turned to its second in command. ‘Report!’
‘Squad two reports strong perceptor readings directly ahead.’
‘Attack pattern,’ the Leader ordered. ‘Our enemies must not be allowed to elude us again!’
The patrols began to split, gliding through the trees and growths towards the cave above them. The Leader surveyed the ground. ‘Section four will enter the cave. Section two will circle to the boulders. It is the targets’ only line of escape. If they attempt to leave the cave, then shoot on sight.’
Section two moved off to cover that avenue. The rest of the squad continued to close in on the cave.
Ian swore under his breath. ‘Two of them are moving in the boulders,’ he called back to his friends. ‘They’ve cut off all escape.’
‘We should have expected it,’ the Doctor said, glumly. ‘For all of their evil, they are not stupid.’
‘They’ve got us completely pinned down, Doctor,’ Ian pointed out. ‘There’s no way we can leave this cave alive now.’
At that instant, there was a sound from behind them, in the back of the cave. Behind it was a room that was almost blinding in its whiteness. Blocking the entrance was a strange creature.
It was about five feet tall, and as much around. It had a small circular base, from which it grew like a balloon. Its surface was not smooth, but broken into triangular sections, like a miniature geodesic dome. A thin band ran about its middle. On the top of this being was a small arrangement of antennae. In several places across its form, there were discs in motion, several of them quite brilliant. There were no signs of arms, or features. From this odd being came a single word:
‘Enter!’
Chapter 12
The Mechonoids
The travellers looked at this creature with a mixture of awe and suspicion. After a moment, it repeated in its electronic tones: ‘Enter!’
Ian made up his mind. ‘I don’t know what it is, but we’ve got nothing to lose.’
The others were in complete agreement: with the Daleks behind them, following this being could hardly prove worse. They hastily entered the small room that their... host occupied. As they did, the door closed behind them. Then, after a second, there was a slight humming noise.
‘It’s a lift,’ Barbara said. ‘We’re going up—into that city.’
The Doctor was examining their saviour. ‘You rescued us from rather a nasty situation down there,’ he said, attempting to start a conversation. The creature gave no response. ‘I suppose you’re wondering who we are, and what we’re doing here, umm?’ The being made no movement, and gave no sign that it was even listening to the Doctor.
‘I don’t think you’re getting through,’ Ian commented.
Vicki moved forward, and reached her hand out, hesitantly, to touch the creature. As she did so, she gave a yelp of pain, and whipped her hand back. ‘It’s electrified!’ she cried.
‘Yes,’ the Doctor agreed, thoughtfully. ‘No doubt it is discouraging all attempts at conversation. We shall just have to wait and see what it has in store for us.’
The first Dalek into the cave looked about in surprise. ‘There is no one here,’ it reported.
‘Not possible,’ its companion replied, entering the cave also. ‘Perceptor readings indicated that our targets were here.’
There was only one explanation for this puzzle. The first Dalek turned to the new arrival. ‘Subject the walls to seismic detector tests.’
The other Dalek moved forwards. Instead of the habitual sucker-stick on its arm, it possessed a small device that emitted low-frequency sound waves. Scanning with the device, it soon located the small lift-shaft at the back of the cave.
The first Dalek moved in to examine this area. After a moment, it communicated to the Patrol Leader. ‘It is required that we penetrate the wall in the cave. Section four must return to the time craft for the electrode unit.’ It turned back to look again at the hidden door. ‘Wherever our quarry has gone, we shall follow—and exterminate!’
‘I think we’ve arrived,’ Ian announced, as the lift slowed, and then stopped. The door opened, and they were looking out into the city itself.
There was a huge open space, stretching for almost half a mile in front of them. There were trees, and neat floral , arrangements. Beyond those were the buildings gleaming metallically in the sunlight. The only signs of life were numerous other creatures identical to their host. These were gliding along the pathways, engaged in their own unfathomable tasks.
The being with them slid out of the lift, then waited. Taking their cue, Ian, Vicki, Barbara and the Doctor followed. The metal being led the way through what was quite evidently some form of park. The grass was cut, the plants neatly tended, the trees perfect. There was no sign of neglect, or even of work that needed doing. Whenever the party passed others of this metallic race, the creatures would stop, spin and seem to watch, before they continued on their way.
They left the park behind them, and their host led the way to a tall building. As they approached, a doorway opened. The creature moved aside. It was obviously inviting them to enter. Ian led the way, looking about as he entered the room. As soon as the others followed, the door behind them slid shut. The creature that had led them there then moved away, apparently uninterested in further events.
The room that faced the travellers was quite amazing. It was large and spacious, with a high ceiling. Along the left wall ran what seemed to be a bank of computers, screens and read-outs. The far wall was shuttered, obviously some kind of window. In the right wall was a sliding door, leading off. It was closed at the moment. Various items of furniture showed futuristic designs. A low couch, several comfortable-looking chairs, small tables with lamps upon them. All were of pastel colours—blues, greens and pinks being the most common after the basic white of the room. On the walls hung several abstract paintings. Half-way down the right-hand wall stood the only incongruous item, a ladder leading to a sliding shutter in the ceiling.
Barbara headed for the couch and sat down. After a moment, she smiled. ‘Well, they obviously intend that we should be comfortable.’
Ian moved to join her, testing the spring of the couch as though he were sizing it up to purchase. ‘Mmm, yes, not bad.’
‘I don’t like it,’ the Doctor announced, glowering around the room as a whole.
‘Why ever not?’ Vicki asked, gently. ‘It’s clean and comfortable, and those robots seem friendly enough.’
‘Yes, yes, the robots ,’ the Doctor stressed. ‘Have you not noticed something very singular about this place, um?’
‘Such as what?’
‘We’ve seen only those robots,’ the Doctor observed. ‘No animal life, human or otherwise.’
Ian stood up again. ‘That’s true,’ he said, realizing what the Doctor was getting at. A robot force of the size and efficiency of the one that they had seen suggested a large population for them to be serving. So where was everybody?
Right on cue, the door to the other room opened. Standing in the doorway was a young man in his late twenties, obviously very human. He had blond hair, expertly trimmed, and was dressed in a one-piece outfit with what were obviously military flashes of some kind unknown to the travellers. As he paused in the doorway, his face showed a number of emotions flickering past: surprise, disbelie
f, hope, and then a great grin spread across his handsome features as he bounded into the room, hand thrust out.
‘You... you’ve come at last!’ he cried, wringing Ian’s hand. ‘I’d given up hope,’ he added, shaking Barbara’s hand. ‘I never thought I’d see another human being as long as I lived!’ he confided to Vicki. ‘I can’t tell you what all these years alone have meant,’ he added, pumping the Doctor’s reluctant arm heartily.
The four friends were taken aback—as much by the stranger’s enthusiasm as by their surprise at seeing him. He looked at their astonished faces for a moment, and then caught himself.
‘It’s been so long, I’m forgetting my manners,’ he apologized. ‘My name’s Taylor, Steven Taylor.’
‘Steven.’ Ian smiled. ‘Well, I’m Ian Chesterton, that’s the Doctor—Vicki—and Barbara Wright.’
Steven grinned again, and tried to start another round of shaking hands. The glare that the Doctor gave him stopped him in his tracks, and he let his hand fall. ‘This is great, huh?’ he said, still beaming away. ‘I don’t know what to say—I’m lost for words! I thought if I ever met anyone again I wouldn’t stop talking for a week!’
‘And you’ve made good inroads on that resolution already,’ the Doctor snapped. Then, softening, he asked: ‘How long have you been here?’
Steven shrugged. ‘As near as I can judge, about five years.’
‘Five years ?’ Vicki echoed. Barbara shushed her.
Steven nodded. ‘I am—was—a fighter pilot. I was off course and had a flare in the main thruster. By the time I recovered, the ship was hopelessly lost, and I had entered this system. My fuel was low, and when I approached this planet—well, the gravity was too strong for me to escape with what little fuel I had. I managed to land—pretty roughly, and wrecked my ship. I wandered around for several days, spending the better part of the time avoiding those fungus things. One night, I saw this path of lights and followed it to a cave. The next morning, the Mechonoids captured me.’
‘ Captured ?’ Barbara echoed. ‘You’re being held here?’