Doctor Who: Mission to the Unknown

by John Peel

  Their thoughts were cut off by the sound of a woman’s scream.

  Chapter 13

  Allies

  ‘Come on!’ Steven yelled, and started off through the bushes in the direction of the scream. It had been filled with terror, then abruptly cut off. The Doctor did his best in the enervating atmosphere to keep up with the far younger man. Neither of them cared too much about the obvious conclusion that it had to have been the woman who had tried to kill them who was in trouble.

  They broke into a small clearing, and stopped in astonishment.

  Sara Kingdom was being held, a kicking struggling captive – but there was nothing there. Her feet were several inches off the ground, and her mouth contorted, as though something was pressed upon it. Her arms were shaking, struggling with something. It would have looked almost comical, had it not been deadly serious.

  The two Visions that had grabbed Sara were attempting to drag her back to their main encampment a couple of miles through the swamps. Suddenly, they saw two more of the same ugly creatures appear, and the odds no longer seemed so fine. They could not be seen directly, but these new arrivals would be able to guess where they were from where Sara was being restrained. With one accord, the Visions dropped Sara and fled into the bushes.

  Sara hit the ground with a squelch. Two arms caught at her, and she started to struggle again. Then she realized that she could see these arms, and that they were attached to a handsome-looking man who was trying to help her regain her feet. Gratefully, she accepted the help, and stood there, shuddering.

  ‘It was horrible,’ she gasped. ‘I couldn’t see anything, but I was enveloped... It touched me, and...’ Her body shook, and Steven held on to her, comforting her. It wasn’t a hardship for him, considering how pretty she was. She didn’t seem to recognize him at all.

  The Doctor moved over and examined her with a twinkle in his eye. ‘This is an interesting change in our situation, eh, young woman?’ He peered down his nose into her puzzled face. ‘It seems like it was only minutes ago that you were trying to gun us down in cold blood.’

  The shock finally left Sara, and she understood in sudden fury who these two strangers were. Angrily, she tore herself from Steven’s arms, and her hand went automatically to her holster. ‘The traitors!’ she exclaimed. Her gun was gone, and nowhere to be seen.

  Taking no apparent notice of her hostile actions, the Doctor continued as cheerfully as before. ‘Well, of course you needn’t hang about with such terrible specimens as us.’ He waved his hand at the bushes. ‘You could always run along into the jungle, if you like,’ he added, helpfully. ‘I’m sure we won’t stop you. I should think you may get an – ah – enthusiastic welcome out there.’

  Sara took one look at the bushes, and shuddered again. Those cold, clammy claws that had grabbed at her before were out there, unseen, and waiting. She took a nervous step back towards the two men, then stopped, caught in indecision.

  ‘Whatever you may think of us,’ Steven said, ‘I think we’re a better alternative than what is waiting out there.’

  ‘Shall we join forces?’ the Doctor suggested. ‘A truce to get us away from this place?’

  Sara considered the matter as rationally as she could. She knew that her fear of the invisible creatures was unbalancing her slightly, but she simply couldn’t face them alone again. Besides, if she stayed with these two characters, she’d be able to keep track of them for when the upper hand passed back to her – as it inevitably would. ‘All right,’ she agreed. ‘But it doesn’t change anything. My orders are to kill you, and I aim to carry out your execution once we’re away from here.’

  Steven snorted. ‘Well, I hope you’ve no objection if we try to avoid being killed.’

  ‘You won’t think it’s so funny once we’re out of here,’ Sara warned him.

  The Doctor smiled, cheerfully. ‘Now, let’s not get off to a bad start for this alliance by squabbling, shall we? I think we’d first best get to firmer ground. There was a cave back over that way that should make a passable camp. Come along, come along.’ Leading the way with confidence, he started out, reversing his path. Steven and Sara, eyeing one another warily, followed behind him.

  After a moment, the first Visian turned to its companion. ‘Summon more of the People,’ he breathed. ‘These strange invaders cannot be tolerated. They must be destroyed, so that no more follow. There is not room here for our People and these ugly intruders.’

  There was a rustling of the bushes as the first Visian’s companion sped away, back to their camp. Satisfied, the remaining creature started to follow the strange intruders.

  The Dalek control room on Kembel was once again operating at maximum efficiency. The various Dalek technicians assembled about the machines were working diligently as the Black Dalek entered. It glided to the supervisor and demanded: ‘Report!’

  The supervisor spun its head section about, as its arm continued to operate the computer controls. ‘The pursuit ship is now approaching the planet Mira.’

  ‘You will order the patrol to take the captives alive.’

  ‘I obey.’

  ‘It is vital that the core of the Time Destructor is recovered,’ the Black Dalek stated.

  ‘It is possible that the fugitives know of its value to us,’ the supervisor replied. ‘They may attempt to conceal the core, or bargain for its return.’

  This possibility had occurred to the Black Dalek. ‘If necessary, we shall agree to the demands of the fugitives. We must recover the core.’

  ‘And then?’

  ‘Bargains with lesser life-forms are not important. The fugitives will then be exterminated.’ The Black Dalek spun about and returned to the conference room, where their alien allies were waiting for news.

  The monitor Dalek moved to join its supervisor. ‘I have contacted the pursuit craft,’ it reported. ‘They have landed on the planet Mira.’

  ‘Have they located the fugitives?’

  ‘Their perceptors register strong readings at a range of five units.’

  ‘Maintain contact,’ the supervisor commanded. ‘When they report the capture of the fugitives, inform the Supreme Dalek immediately.’

  ‘I obey.’

  On Mira, a patrol of Daleks had set out from their craft, working their way through the narrow pathways of the planet’s uneven surface. It was difficult going, owing to the marshy nature of the ground. The Daleks, due to their weight, could move only slowly across large stretches of the virtually nonexistent pathways. Numerous detours round mudholes and large pools of water were necessary.

  One of the Daleks was fitted with a perceptor, one of the Daleks’ standard tracking devices. It registered movement, and was extremely accurate. Abruptly, the compass-like needle began to register. ‘Perceptor recording movement at very close range,’ the Dalek reported.

  The patrol leader began to scan the area. Its head-section traversed 360 degrees without detecting anything. Switching to infra-red, it tried again, without success. ‘No visual contact.’

  The perceptor stubbornly insisted that there was a large degree of movement. Perceptor registers approaching life-forms,’ the tracker insisted. The leader scanned again, still with nothing to show for its efforts. ‘Perceptor registers movement in immediate vicinity.’

  There was the faintest hint of a bush moving. The patrol leader spun about and fired. The bush and its environs were bathed in lethal radiation. From the air, a hideous shriek registered as the death-cry of something. The patrol leader moved forward to investigate, as it could still see nothing.

  It ran directly into that nothing. Puzzled, the Dalek extended its arm. Despite the fact that it could detect nothing visually, something was sprawled across the ground just in front of it. The Dalek ran its visual equipment across its entire spectrum of operations without being able to make anything out. Finally, it turned back to the waiting patrol.

  ‘These creatures are invisible,’ it stated. ‘Keep constant checks on the perceptor. Open fire whe
n it registers contact. We will proceed.’

  Having set up their temporary camp in the small cave, the Doctor kept watch while Steven attempted to set Sara straight about what was really happening. Reluctantly, Sara had forced herself to listen, almost convinced that the story was a tissue of lies. Almost, but not quite. The terrible betrayed expression of Bret as he had died kept coming back to mind.

  ‘I swear, everything I’ve told you is the truth,’ Steven finished, wondering how much had got through to this cold-hearted creature. ‘Mavic Chen is the traitor, not us.’

  Sara shrugged. ‘It’s rather hard to accept. Mavic Chen is the most trusted man in the Solar System – and who would take the word of a couple of space travellers over his? I’d need proof of what you say to be convinced of this wild accusation.’ She thought for a moment. ‘This Taranium core – you still have it?’

  ‘Yes,’ said the Doctor. He removed it from his pocket, and showed it to her. The small, glowing device seemed so innocent – and yet how many people had already died to keep it from the Daleks?

  ‘Anyway, it’s not important any longer,’ Steven said. ‘It doesn’t matter whether you believe us or not. Bret is on the Earth, and he’ll tell the story to the right person.’ He didn’t see the expression on Sara’s face. ‘I shouldn’t be surprised if he’s got a fleet together to blast Kembel right out of the sky.’

  ‘That’s not very likely,’ Sara said, softly.

  ‘Then you don’t know Bret Vyon,’ Steven smiled. ‘He’s pretty efficient and convincing once he gets started. He won’t take no for an answer.’

  Before Steven could elaborate on Bret’s virtues, Sara cut him short. ‘Bret won’t tell anything to anyone,’ she said, flatly. ‘He’s dead.’ Seeing Steven’s stunned expression, she added: ‘I killed him.’

  Even the Doctor had not been prepared for this news. He and Steven looked at one another so despairingly that Sara discovered that she believed their wild story utterly. There was no way that they could have faked that look of terrible loss. Then their accusing eyes turned on her, and she knew she’d been a dreadful fool. ‘I didn’t know!’ she yelled at them. ‘I was only obeying my orders! I didn’t know! ’ She buried her face in her hands, sobbing, trying to escape those burning eyes, but she couldn’t. The eyes that accused her the most were her own.

  Steven and the Doctor were at a loss for words, and could offer her no comfort. Finally, Steven said, bleakly: ‘This changes things, doesn’t it?’

  ‘I’m afraid it does,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘Now we are the only ones left who can warn the Earth.’

  ‘Warn the Earth!’ Steven slammed his fist onto the wall of the cave in frustration. ‘Tell me how! We don’t even know where we are!’

  ‘We don’t need to.’

  Puzzled, Steven said: ‘I don’t understand you.’

  With a smile, the Doctor held up the core. ‘The Daleks can’t go through with their plans without this.’

  Elatedly, Steven nodded. ‘Of course! It’ll take them forever to get enough Taranium to build a replacement core.’

  The Doctor shook his head. ‘No, my boy, you don’t understand the Daleks. They won’t give up that simply. They’ll track us down and come after us. They’d follow us to the ends of space and time if they had to.’

  ‘Then what do we do?’

  ‘Wait,’ said the Doctor. ‘Wait until they find us. And then – out-think them. Beat them at their own game. They’ll be coming for us, never doubt it. When they do, we must be ready.’ He gripped his lapels, and stared off into the jungle below.

  Steven knew that the Doctor’s optimism masked his worries. ‘The odds are poor,’ he observed. ‘The two of us and her – ’ he indicated the still-sobbing Sara ‘ – against the might of the Daleks and their allies.’

  ‘The odds are great,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘But, then, so are the stakes – the life of every man, woman and child on Earth.’ After a moment’s pause, he added, more practically: ‘The sun is going down. I suspect that it will get quite cold when night falls. I’ll go and look for some wood to start a fire.’ He glanced over at Sara. ‘In the meantime, do try to comfort her. Crying women make me most uncomfortable.’

  As the Doctor disappeared into the trees, Steven walked carefully over to Sara. He put a gentle arm about her. ‘Sara,’ he began, but she wrenched away from him – this time not loathing him, but herself.

  ‘Let me alone,’ she gasped between sobs. ‘Please.’ Steven could see that she was fighting an inner battle, but knew that she simply had to be wrenched out of it, or she’d be useless to them.

  ‘Look,’ he said, awkwardly, ‘it wasn’t your fault. Like you said, you were just acting on orders. How could you know that Bret wasn’t a traitor when your superiors told you he was?’

  She looked up, drawn and haggard. ‘I killed him,’ she said. ‘I just obeyed what they told me without question. I should have known Bret better than to believe he was a traitor. I should have asked questions! I should have doubted!’

  ‘Did... did you know Bret?’

  ‘Know him?’ She looked as though her life were emptied of meaning. ‘He was my brother.’

  Mavic Chen looked around his office with considerable regret. He had spent years building up this collection of artwork, and all the power and wealth that it represented. In a short while, the Daleks would annihilate it all. He would miss these paintings, and the statues, but one had to make sacrifices. He looked up as Karlton entered.

  ‘I have a ship ready for you,’ the security man reported.

  ‘Good.’ Chen stepped to the window, looking over New Washington. The vast metropolis teamed with life – at least, for now. ‘I believe that the Daleks must have reached Mira by now.’

  ‘Yes. It looks as though the Daleks accepted my story.’

  ‘And why shouldn’t they?’ Chen turned his back on the mass of humanity outside. ‘I must be there when the Taranium core is brought back to Kembel.’

  ‘If it is,’ Karlton cautioned. ‘We don’t know that it – and the traitors – survived the transportation to Mira.’

  Chen waved the possibility away. ‘Those scientists may have been narrow-minded, but they were quite certain that their foolish experiment went satisfactorily. Now, wait until you hear from me. Assemble the force in orbit about Venus. We know the date of the Dalek attack on Earth. When this occurs, the Daleks will be too busy to pay heed to your fleet. Whatever happens, we shall outwit the Daleks.’

  Karlton nodded. ‘We should be able to destroy Kembel at that time with ease. But that will give us mastery of only this Galaxy.’

  Chen put an arm about his assistant’s shoulder. ‘Karlton, you lack vision. Why do you think I want to be on hand when the Daleks recover the core? I shall be on Kembel, with the Time Destructor. While the Daleks are expending their forces on obliterating the Earth, we shall take possession of the Time Destructor, and turn it on them. With the power of the Time Destructor in our hands, we shall be able to conquer more than this Galaxy – we shall become the masters of the entire Universe!’

  The Doctor bustled about in the trees, collecting the wood for kindling a fire. He was by no means certain they would need one, but he had been unable to bear that wretched woman’s crying any longer. Overt displays of sentimentality always pained him. He rummaged about for sticks that were dry enough to catch alight – no simple task in this damp place.

  There was a slight noise in the bushes ahead, and the Doctor carefully continued his work of collecting wood. His eyes, however, never left the bushes. He found a stick that was about four feet long, and fairly hefty. Dropping his pile of kindling, he used the stick to swipe hard at the bush.

  He hit nothing but the leaves, which rustled and gave way. There was a sound of laboured breathing to his right, and he spun about, brandishing his stick. There was more of the rasping breathing from the left, and then from all about him. He was being surrounded by these invisible foes. He lashed out with the stick, only to have som
ething unseen grab it and tear it from his hands. Something jumped at him from behind, and he felt long, thin talons clutching for his throat. The weight of the creature dragged the Doctor to the muddy ground.

  Groping about, the Doctor’s hands closed about a small rock. Wrenching it free of the mud’s sticky embrace, he swung the rock backwards. He was rewarded by the sound and feel of it striking something. A reedy cry burst from the air, and the claws were gone. Staggering to his feet, the Doctor was breathing heavily. In this humidity, any exertions were very tiring. He glared about, waiting for any sounds that might betray one of his attackers.

  The Visians had paused as the Doctor had fought. They were not brave by nature, preferring to use their invisibility as a cloak to ambush their food. Still, there were enough of them now to give one another courage. ‘Kill the intruder,’ the first Visian whispered, in its wet, reedy tones. ‘Kill it.’

  The rest of the group took up this thought, as they edged in closer to the Doctor. He could see nothing, but their thin voices carried very clearly. ‘Kill it... kill it... kill it...’

  Nervously, the Doctor began backing away. He bumped into something invisible, and then wrenched himself free. ‘Steven!’ he yelled. ‘Steven!’ The forms were closing in about him when he saw Steven dashing on to the scene.

  Taking in the sight of the Doctor, standing apparently alone, but hearing the voices chanting, Steven realized that the old man surrounded by the aliens. He looked about, and saw the stick that the Visians had torn from the Doctor’s grip. Taking it up, Steven gave an incoherent yell, and dashed forwards, whipping the stick back and forth.