Doctor Who: Mission to the Unknown

by John Peel

  ‘Emergency! Emergency!’ the Black Dalek called out. ‘Intruder alert! All perimeter patrols report in!’

  The Doctor knew that there could only be seconds now before his imposture was exposed. The delegates and the Daleks were heading towards the door leading to the space-port. Glancing around, the Doctor saw a second door on the far side of the room. With a swiftness that surprised even himself, he lunged for the Taranium core, and gripped it firmly. Then he ran for the second door.

  The delegates were caught by surprise at this, and even the Daleks had not been expecting the move. Two of them spun about, but before they could her. the Doctor was through the door, and jammed it shut behind him.

  The alarms were still blaring, but at least this room was empty. If only there was a way through from here to the space-port! Otherwise he had simply delayed his execution.

  As Steven and Katarina dumped the two bound and gagged captives out of the airlock, Bret settled down into the pilot’s couch, and started to power up the Spar . He was vaguely familiar with the design, as all SSS agents were, but had never actually handled one of these beauties before. The controls responded to his slightest touch, and the engines caught and started their build-up in a second or two. He powered up the screens, the instruments, and began to get the feel of the controls. The ship hummed below him as the power built up steadily.

  ‘Ready to lift when you are, Doctor,’ he muttered to himself, priming the main thrusters.

  Steven and Katarina returned, Steven rubbing his hands together in satisfaction. ‘They’re out of the way of the blast,’ he reported, ‘and the rest of the ship is empty. You should see what they’ve got on this thing. I always did want to travel in style!’

  ‘This craft is a ship?’ Katarina asked, in awe. ‘It is most beautiful, but I see neither sails nor oars. How then will it move?’

  ‘Like a dream, believe me,’ Bret informed her. It was a shame she was so stupid, because she was really rather a pretty thing. He couldn’t understand why she seemed to be so out of things.

  At that second, the alarms went off outside. The instruments picked them up perfectly within the ship, and the trio looked in horror at the screen.

  ‘Something’s gone wrong,’ Bret snapped. ‘We can’t give him any longer.’ On the scanners, he could see Daleks starting to emerge from the city complex. He reached for the main switches, only to be stopped by Steven.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Steven asked, shocked. ‘We can’t just leave the Doctor here!’

  ‘He knew the risks he was taking,’ Bret answered, pushing Steven aside. Steven jumped back.

  ‘I won’t let you!’

  The time for rational discussion had passed. Steven knew many forms of fighting, but Bret was a trained agent. A single blow to Steven’s stomach left the young man sprawled on the foor, gasping for breath.

  Bret turned back to the controls, only to have Katarina hurl herself on to his arm. ‘You cannot desert the Doctor! We must wait for him!’

  Strangely reluctant to hit this innocent girl, Bret instead slammed his fist down on the thruster controls. ‘The matter is academic, girl,’ he snapped. ‘We lift for space in fifteen seconds.’

  Below them, they could feel the power of the Spar ’s main engines building towards the peak required to take them into the sky.

  Chapter 8

  Devil’s Planet

  A flashing light caught Bret’s eye. ‘The outer door!’ he cried. Steven and Katarina had left it open when they had dumped out their captives. ‘It must be shut! Quick, or we’ll all be sucked out into space when we take off!’

  Katarina wasn’t certain what he meant by the words, but his sense of urgency needed no translation. The young Trojan ran after him back to the airlock door. Bret moved to hit a large, red button there, and then paused, a smile creasing his tired face.

  ‘Doctor!’

  The old man, puffing and panting, had arrived at the airlock at almost the some second. He held out a hand to be helped in. Bret took it, dragged him unceremoniously inside, and hit the button to close the door.

  As he did, the engines built up to a terrific whine, and the floor beneath Katarina began to shake. She was thrown to the floor, and held in place by the terrific acceleration of the take-off. Not understanding, she was terrified.

  ‘What is happening?’ she called, looking frantically around, then staring in terror at the Doctor.

  ‘It’s all right, child,’ he called, from his own position on the floor. ‘Just a rather rough take-off. It seems to be this young man’s usual manner of doing things. It will ease in a moment.’

  ‘Sorry, Doc,’ Bret apologized. ‘We didn’t have much time to waste, and when I heard the klaxons going...’

  The pressure stopped, abruptly, and all three of them could sir up again. ‘That’s quite all right,’ the Doctor replied. ‘You acted correctly.’ Bret stood, and helped the Doctor to his feet. The old man stabbed his chest with his finger. ‘But I shan’t tell you again not to call me Doc!’

  Steven appeared in the doorway to the control room, relief written all over his face. ‘I thought I heard an argument, Doctor. It’s good to see you made it.’

  ‘Argument? Me?’ The Doctor sniffed. ‘I suppose I’d better check that the controls are set properly.’ He strode past his companions, into the control room.

  The Black Dalek entered the central control room on Kembal, and studied the floor below. The monitor supervisor raised its eye-stick.

  ‘Attitude seven,’ it reported. ‘Speed three thousand. Rising.’

  ‘Ship has attained gravitational escape velocity,’ a second reported.

  ‘Cut in automatic trackers,’ the Black Dalek ordered.

  The supervisor did so. ‘Trackers operational.’

  ‘Charge neutronic randomizer.’

  From a further console, another Dalek reported. ‘Ship is entering the range of the orbital stations. Weapons are ready.’

  ‘Do not destroy!’ the Black Dalek ordered, almost in panic. ‘The core must not be destroyed!’

  The Dalek acknowledged, and began shutting down the weapons systems of the satellite defences of Kembal. The fleeing aliens would have to be allowed through this barrier.

  ‘Stand by randomizer,’ the Black Dalek commanded. ‘The intruders most be taken alive.’

  Bret sat back from the controls, a smile of deep satisfaction on his face. ‘That’s it,’ he reported. ‘We’re now locked in on a direct path back to Earth.’

  ‘How can we return to Earth?’ Katarina asked, puzzled. She pointed to one of the screens in front of him. It showed the hazy outline of Kembel. ‘We have just left it.’

  ‘That’s not the Earth,’ the Doctor explained, gently.

  Bret had had quite enough of all of this. ‘What’s wrong with this girl?’ he demanded of the Doctor. ‘She doesn’t seem to know anything!’

  Steven smiled. ‘She’s from Troy.’

  ‘Troy!’ Bret echoed. ‘But Troy was destroyed thousands of years ago.’

  ‘Quite right,’ the Doctor agreed, not wanting to get into complicated explanations. ‘That’s why her knowledge is a trifle out of date. Yours, however, seems admirable on the matter of piloting this ship.’ He had cast off Zephon’s robes, and now took a comfortable chair. ‘Now, I think it’s time we took stock of our situation.’

  Steven and Katarina followed his lead. Bret swung the pilot’s chair around to face him. He looked at Katarina with wonder, but tore his attention back to the Doctor.

  ‘What exactly do we know?’ Steven asked.

  ‘Only that the Daleks have allied themselves with the governments of the outer galaxies,’ the Doctor began.

  ‘And that they are planning an invasion of the Earth and the other planets in the Solar System,’ Bret added.

  ‘Well, at least we’ve not got a chance to warn Earth,’ Steven observed. ‘How long will it take as to get there?’

  ‘Three days,’ said Bret.

  The Doct
or rubbed his hands together, and chuckled with satisfaction. ‘Excellent, excellent! I think it unlikely that the Daleks will be able to act before that time – particularly as I’ve got this!’ Dramatically, he withdrew the core of the Time Destructor from the folds of his cloak.

  Bret looked at the glowing instrument with puzzlement. ‘What is it?’

  ‘A small device that feeds from the energies of Taranium.’

  ‘Taranium!’

  Raising an eyebrow, the Doctor asked: ‘You’ve heard of it?’

  ‘That can only be found on the planet Uranus,’ Bret exclaimed, taking a closer look at the device. ‘It would take years to mine that amount.’

  ‘Fifty years, to be precise.’ Seeing the baffled expressions on the faces of Steven and Katarina, the Doctor deigned to explain. ‘Taranium is probably the rarest mineral in the Universe. You have to process billions of tons of ore simply to get a milligram of it. It has the quality of being able to absorb enormous amounts of energy.’

  ‘And if that energy is released,’ Bret added, ‘and harnessed... well, then you’ve got a pretty potent force at your command.’

  Steven eyed the small core with respect. ‘So what are the Daleks going to do with it?’

  The Doctor shook his head, thoughtfully. ‘I’m not certain. They have developed a weapon that they call a Time Destructor.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘I wasn’t able to stay around and find out, my boy.’ He stared at the Taranium core as if seeking inspiration. ‘The Daleks have been studying time for almost a century, and they use the power of Taranium to effect their control of it. If you recall, when I first met you, the Daleks were hunting me down a time machine – and that was powered by a small amount of Taranium – even less than is present in this core.’ He looked seriously at his three companions., ‘Whatever the Daleks wanted this for, it most be terribly dangerous – and terribly evil! But – it is unable to function without this.’

  ‘And we’ve got it,’ Bret said, happily, and sat back in his chair. ‘Then I don’t think we have to worry too greatly about the Dalek threat any more.’

  ‘You’re quite wrong, young man,’ the Doctor said, vehemently. ‘Dangerously wrong! Oh, certainly, we’ve got this...’ He tapped the core carefully. ‘And because we have it, the Daleks will go to any lengths to recover it.’ Dawning awareness showed on the faces of the others, and the Doctor nodded grimly. ‘We haven’t escaped from danger – in fact, the danger has barely begun!’

  The conference room had calmed down somewhat since the launch of the Spar . Unable to think of anything else to do, the delegates clustered about the table, muttering to themselves, and watching the Daleks’ activities. Both Mavic Chen and the furious, humiliated Zephon kept to themselves, though. Eventually, the door to the control centre hissed open, and the Black Dalek glided back into the room, followed by six others. They took their places about the table, and the delegates understood that they were expected to do likewise. As soon as everyone was standing at their lecterns, the Black Dalek scanned them all. Finally, it spoke.

  ‘The core has been stolen by enemy agents. The council must determine who is at fault here.’ The eye-stick rested firmly on Zephon. ‘It was through your negligence that the intruders entered the conference.’

  That was too much for Zephon’s pride to bear. ‘Had the Daleks made complete security arrangements,’ he retorted hotly, ‘then the intruders would never have reached the city!’

  ‘Had the Master of the Fifth Galaxy been less arrogant,’ Chen suggested, carefully, ‘they would not have found a means of access so... conveniently waiting.’ He laid a slight stress on the last words, implying that Zephon knew more than he was telling.

  Zephon realized this, and scowled. ‘I believe the intruders came from the Solar System,’ he accused.

  ‘Indeed!’ Chen calmly raised an eyebrow. ‘Did you see them?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then your allegation is preposterous.’

  The silky, obsequious human was getting on Zephon’s nerves. He pointed at the man, trembling in fury. ‘How did the intruders know that the Taranium was here, and that it was to be handed over, if they were not from the Solar System?’ Dramatically, he spread his arms to include the other members of the panel. ‘None of the other representatives here knew what Mavic Chen was bringing.’

  The Black Dalek’s eye-stick moved to cover Chen. ‘Explain,’ it commanded.

  Chen looked carefully about. ‘This is ridiculous,’ he said, finally. ‘Why should I arrange for the mining of the mineral to be carried out in secret for fifty years only to have it stolen?’

  ‘A thirst for power!’ exclaimed Zephon, accusingly. ‘Perhaps you wanted to use the core for yourself!’

  ‘How?’ Chen countered. ‘Only the Daleks know how to assemble the Time Destructor. I only provided the vital ingredient.’

  Zephon knew that the other delegates were becoming more and more convinced of Chen’s innocence. He realized that the Black Dalek was looking at him again. ‘I did not know about the core!’ he cried. ‘How could I?’

  ‘You knew about the intruders,’ the Dalek pointed out.

  Looking about wildly, Zephon retorted: ‘We all did! You were going to deal with them! You said...’

  ‘Silence!’ The Black Dalek had had enough of this foolish prattling. ‘It is agreed that you are guilty of negligence.’

  His influence now strangled, Zephon drew himself up to his full height. ‘You cannot do without me,’ he said, coldly. ‘If I go, the Masters of Celation and Beaus go with me!’

  ‘You threaten our unity?’ the Black Dalek asked.

  ‘I have nothing to say,’ Zephon anwered, summoning all of his tattered pride about himself. ‘I will leave now.’ He cast one final stare of disgust at his fellow delegates about the table, and then turned his back on them.

  The way to the space-port was blocked by four Daleks. For the first time, Zephon had a twinge of fear. His arrogance drained away, and he turned back to see six impassive faces and seven eye-sticks regarding him.

  ‘Destroy him!’ the Black Dalek ordered.

  The four Daleks fired. Zephon screamed, twisted and fell, a smoking corpse. The other delegates carefully looked away from the body. The Black Dalek studied each one in turn, then spun to face the supervisor.

  ‘Where is the ship now?’

  ‘Course seven area seven. It is approaching the influence of the planet Desperus.’

  ‘Order the pursuit ships to positions,’ the Black Dalek commanded. ‘Prepare the randomizer.’ It turned back to the delegates. As expected, they were trying to pretend that the death of Zephon had had no effect on their unity. ‘The core will be recovered,’ it promised. ‘The intruders will be annihilated!’

  The Doctor replaced the Taranium core in his pocket and smiled at Katarina, Steven and Bret. ‘You young people are very fortunate,’ he informed them. ‘Very few people have ever seen this much Taranium.’

  Steven wasn’t all that impressed. ‘Well, now that we’ve seen it, what do we do?’

  ‘We do nothing,’ the Doctor replied airily. ‘And by doing nothing, we do everything. Do I make myself clear?’

  ‘Not at all,’ Steven said. The Doctor was hardest to deal with when he was feeling smug. ‘What was all that supposed to mean?’

  ‘My dear young man,’ the Doctor smiled, ‘you ask so many questions. Why not be like Katarina over there? She doesn’t ask hundreds of questions – she simply looks and learns. Why don’t you try the same thing?’

  Katarina was seated by Bret at the controls. She stared at a small, milky-looking globe on the main screen. This business of pictures that moved was very strange to her. She reached out, and her fingers touched something smooth. ‘What is this?’ she asked.

  Thinking she was referring to the planet, Bret looked up. ‘Oh, that’s the planet Desperus,’ he explained. ‘We have to pass close by it. It’s called the Devil’s Planet.’

  ‘An
ybody live there?’ asked Steven, interestedly.

  ‘Live?’ Bret snorted. ‘Exist would be a better word for it. Haven’t you ever heard of that place?’

  ‘We’ve – ah – been out of touch with things for a while,’ the Doctor explained hastily, to stave off further questions. He knew that Bret would not believe the truth about the TARDIS.

  ‘Oh.’ Bret shrugged. ‘Well, about fifty or sixty years ago, the crime rate was getting rather out of hand on Earth. Prisons became pretty full, and the towns were getting quite dangerous places to live. You risked your life walking alone in the streets.’

  ‘The pleasures of civilization,’ the Doctor interposed, caustically.

  ‘Quite. Then Mavic Chen was elected as Guardian of the Solar System, promising sweeping reforms.’ Bret considered what they now knew of Chen’s motives. ‘Anyhow, one of his ideas was borrowed from the primitive past. In the 20th century, one of the nations used to send its criminals to an island. Virtually no one ever escaped. And civilization was free of such men. Well, Chen used Desperus for something like that. Murderers, the criminally insane, those sorts of people, were all shipped here and left to fend for themselves. No wardens, no guards and no escape.’

  ‘Poor things,’ the Doctor observed.

  ‘Poor things nothing!’ Bret retorted. ‘They are all killers, kidnappers, and worse. They are thoroughly depraved, and unfit to live in the company of their fellow men.’

  Katarina shuddered as she contemplated the globe on the screen. ‘I am glad that we are going past that place of evil.’

  ‘So am I,’ Bret assured her, fervently. ‘I doubt we’d live long down there.’

  In the control room on Kembal, the Dalek technicians were all working at their panels. The large screen at the front of the room showed the path being taken by the stolen Spar . Its course was drawing closer to Desperus all the time.

  ‘Ship is at closest approach,’ the supervisor finally announced.

  ‘Operate the randomizer!’ the Black Dalek ordered.

  There was subdued hum from the controls, as the technicians obeyed. Outside, a bluish beam of light shot into space, travelling a very carefully calculated trajectory...