by Mike Tucker
‘Well, I’m not wrong, am I?’ Realising that she wasn’t going to get anything from the Doctor, Jo had turned to Bill, obviously needing to unburden her frustration on someone. Anyone.
Bill shrugged. What Jo was saying seemed pretty reasonable, but Delitsky’s orders had been pretty clear, and he didn’t strike her as a man who changed his mind easily.
‘Perhaps if you could persuade Captain Palmer?’
On cue, Laura Palmer pushed open the double doors of the canteen and made her way over to the coffee machine. She looked exhausted, and Bill suddenly felt a pang of guilt at all the trouble she and the Doctor had caused her.
No. Bill corrected herself. All the trouble that the Doctor had caused her. She was just being dragged along in his wake. As usual.
Pulling up a chair beside them, Palmer slumped down into it.
‘Laura, you’ve got to let me examine whatever is in that suit.’ Jo Teske leaned forward urgently. She was obviously not going to give up easily.
‘You heard the Chief’s orders,’ said Palmer wearily.
‘But Baines—’
‘Look,’ snapped Palmer irritably. ‘Do you imagine that anyone is more concerned about Baines than Delitsky?’ Her voice softened. ‘Jo, we’re all strung out, and I’m really not in the mood for a fight. I’m sure that as soon as Delitsky has got in touch with head office, then you’ll be able to examine … whatever it is in there. But until then, I can’t let you in there.’
‘What if you could talk to it without going in there?’ The Doctor had opened one eye and was watching the two women with interest.
‘What?’
‘I’ve got plenty of equipment in the TARDIS that could probably do it …’ Bill could see a mischievous glint in the Doctor’s eye.
‘Oh, no …’ Captain Palmer was clearly not happy about this plan to circumnavigate her orders.
Jo Teske obviously had no such qualms. ‘The Chief’s orders were not to let anyone into the med-bay. He didn’t say anything about us finding a way to communicate.’
‘No.’
‘Where did the TARDIS end up, by the way?’ asked the Doctor innocently. ‘The crew in the hangar mentioned something about moving it to the equipment bay.’
‘Doctor, please.’ Laura Palmer was starting to get frustrated now. ‘I’m stretched enough as it is, I really don’t want to have to put a guard detail on your ship as well.’
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. ‘I really hope that you are not intending to deny me access to my ship, after all the help I’ve been giving you.’
Bill glared at him. He really could be such a jerk sometimes. Needling people just so that he could study their reactions. She took another sip of hot chocolate. It really was disgusting. She pushed the paper cup to one side. There had to be something better than this. Pushing her chair back from the table, she meandered back to the drinks dispenser, casting her eyes over the various beverages that it offered. Perhaps the coffee would be better.
As she reached out for the button, the lighting in the canteen changed abruptly, changing from harsh white to a deep red. For a moment Bill wondered if this was some new emergency, some new danger, but no one else in the canteen was paying the slightest notice to the change of mood.
Mentally kicking herself, Bill realised that the rig operated a system of artificial night, adjusting the lighting to give the crew a clearly defined ‘day’ and ‘night’. As if to confirm her theory, the few crewmembers still present in the canteen began to make their way out, yawning and muttering their goodnights to colleagues.
With the lighting change came a noticeable drop in temperature. Suddenly feeling distinctly chilly, Bill looked around for her jacket, and then remembered with dismay that she had left it in the med-bay. She glanced over at the Doctor, but he, Jo and Captain Palmer were so engrossed in their argument that they were barely even aware of her.
Figuring that she wouldn’t bother disturbing them, Bill hurried across the canteen and out into the corridor.
For the second time that day, the delicate sensors of COM-RADE 561 detected an unauthorised transmission from Kollo-Zarnista Mining Facility 27 and, once again, its attempts to fulfil its function and alert the security mainframe to that fact were blocked by a series of complicated commands that immediately set up a programming conflict inside its positronic net.
As circuit diagnostics attempted to resolve the dilemma, the transmission data flowed unimpeded through its subspace relay.
‘Raptor, this is Ringbearer, are you there?’
‘Of course I’m still here. Where else did you think I’d be? What’s going on up there? Have you got any more information about those two strangers yet?’
‘No, no they don’t show up on any Federation file.’
‘So, they’re not undercover Feds, then. At least that’s good news.’
‘Forget about those two for a minute. There’s something else going on here. There’s been another accident.’
‘Another one? Safety standards must really be slipping.’
‘No, listen … They’re saying that it was sabotage.’
‘Sabotage? Then surely your two strangers …’
‘It’s not them. The man stopped it becoming a disaster.’
‘Look, I’m not liking the sound of all this. If we have to pull out …’
‘No, no. Please, you can’t.’
‘Then find out what’s going on and get things back on schedule. Raptor out.’
As she made her way towards the med-bay, Bill noted that the dim red lighting of the artificial night gave the entire mine a completely different feel. It reminded her of a submarine movie that she had watched on Netflix round at Shireen’s flat a few days ago …
She stopped for a moment, unable to stop herself grinning. It really was only a few weeks ago that her life had been completely normal, and yet, here she was, in the future, on a space station orbiting Saturn. Somehow watching a movie on Netflix was never going to be able to top that.
Rubbing her arms to keep warm, she set off along the corridor towards the med-bay. Unlike earlier the entire rig seemed virtually deserted now. Presumably now that operations had ceased and ‘night’ had fallen the crew were all in their cabins watching whatever the fifty-first-century equivalent of Netflix might be. Or in the bar.
Just as with her observations in the canteen, Bill was surprised how ordinarily human everything was. She might be thousands of years into her planet’s future, but life still seemed to revolve around the same old routines of eating, sleeping and working. Weirdly, it made her feel optimistic … The human race had launched itself into space bringing all that was good and bad about the species with them. There were still people who seemed open, and honest, and friendly, others who were mean, stupid and greedy.
The door to the med-bay came into view around the gentle curve of the corridor and Bill saw that, ironically, one of those mean, stupid people was sitting right in front of her. The guard that Palmer had placed on duty was Officer Sillitoe.
Apparently startled by her approach, he jerked out of his chair, glaring at her suspiciously. ‘What are you doing here?’ he growled. ‘Delitsky said you weren’t allowed in here.’
‘Actually, he said that the Doctor and Jo weren’t allowed in here,’ said Bill firmly.
Sillitoe frowned, obviously struggling to remember exactly what his orders were. The Doctor had been right. He really wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.
‘What do you want?’
‘My jacket.’ Bill nodded towards the door. ‘I left it on the chair next to the bed.’
‘Well, you can’t have it. No one is allowed in there.’
‘I’m cold!’
‘Tough luck.’
‘But it’s right there!’ Bill pointed through the glass door. Her denim jacket was clearly visible draped over the back of the plastic chair next to the gurney. ‘Look, if you aren’t allowed to let me into the room then fine, but there’s nothing stopping you going in th
ere and getting it for me, is there?’ She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. ‘Or are you so junior you have to get permission from Captain Palmer or Sergeant Harrison to do that?’
That did the trick.
‘All right, all right. Jeez …’ Sillitoe rolled his eyes and tapped in the entry code that opened the door.
Bill had to stifle a laugh. ‘Easy,’ she murmured.
‘What?’
‘I said “Thanks”.’ She smiled sweetly at him.
Grumbling under his breath, Sillitoe crossed the room to the bedside and snatched up the jacket from the chair. As he turned back towards the door, Baines, or rather the thing inhabiting Baines’s suit, suddenly sat up.
Before Bill could utter a word of warning, a metal arm lashed out, swiping Sillitoe off his feet. Bill watched in horror as the security guard’s body arced across the room, crashing into a medicine cabinet and landing in a shower of metal trays and broken glass. Bill hurried forward to help him, but the armoured suit heaved itself off the gurney, wires and cables tearing from the wall as it lurched towards her, getting between her and the motionless Sillitoe.
‘Sillitoe! Wake up!’ yelled Bill. ‘Officer Sillitoe, you’ve got to wake up!’
The suit stopped, the huge metal helmet inclining slightly as if listening. Then it turned its attention to the prone security officer lying in front of it and raised a huge foot.
‘No!’ yelled Bill in horror. She dashed forward, snatching up a bottle from the floor and hurling it with all her might.
She ducked as the creature swung at her viciously, smashing the bottle out of the air, the huge arm missing the top of her head by inches. Lunging forwards, Bill grabbed Sillitoe by the shoulders, heaving with all her strength desperately trying to pull him backwards. As she did so, she lost her footing amongst the scattered contents of the medical cabinet and crashed to the floor.
The suit lumbered forward like some huge metallic Frankenstein’s monster, the armoured boots slamming down onto the floor like sledgehammers with every step. Looming over them it raised two huge fists. Bill threw up an arm to ward off the blow, already knowing how futile a gesture it was.
From the far side of the room came two deep ‘thuds’ that rattled the teeth in Bill’s head. The armoured suit staggered backwards, arms flailing as it struggled to stay upright.
In the doorway, Bill could see Palmer and Harrison, their gravity-Tasers trained on the metallic monster. Covered by Harrison, Captain Palmer moved swiftly across the room. She fired again and this time the gravity pulse sent the armour toppling backwards. It landed hard back on the gurney, which collapsed with a deafening crash.
Bill felt a hand grip her own, and looked up into the face of the Doctor. He hauled her to her feet.
‘You OK?’
Bill nodded. ‘Thanks.’
‘How’s he?’ The Doctor looked down at Jo Teske who was trying to bring Sillitoe around.
‘He’s out cold. Possible fractured ribs, and there could be a concussion.’
‘You can save the detailed diagnosis for later,’ Palmer barked at them. ‘Just get him out of here!’
The Doctor might have been unused to being shouted at, but he also knew when it was counterproductive to argue. With an ease that took Bill by surprise, he heaved Sillitoe’s unconscious body off the floor, hoisting him onto his shoulders in a fireman’s lift.
‘Ladies first.’
They hurried out of the medical bay, the Doctor taking care with each step not to trip on the scattered contents of the cabinet. Satisfied that they were out of harm’s way, Palmer followed, the gun in her hand never wavering from the armoured figure as it struggled to regain its feet. As soon as they were all safely out in the corridor she stabbed at the keypad, locking the door behind them.
The Doctor gave a snort of derision. ‘Fat lot of good that’s going to do. Glass.’ He rapped a knuckle on the door, just to emphasise his point.
Bill rolled her eyes. ‘You’ve got a better idea, of course.’
‘Of course I do, I’m the Doctor. But I do rather have my hands full at the moment.’ The Doctor indicated the unconscious security officer slung over his shoulder. ‘Where can we take him?’
‘My quarters,’ said Teske. ‘I should have enough bits and pieces there to make him comfortable.’
Miners and support staff had started to emerge from their cabins now, curious as to what the commotion in the corridor was. Jo waved a couple of them over, and between them they gently lifted Sillitoe from the Doctor’s shoulders.
They slowly began to make their way down the corridor when the door to the med-bay exploded outwards in a shower of fragmented glass.
The Doctor grabbed Bill by the hand and dragged her to one side as the suited creature emerged into the corridor.
‘Harrison,’ yelled Palmer. ‘Help me take him down.’
‘No, wait!’ The Doctor waved frantically at her to stop, but it was too late. Bill huddled into the Doctor’s side as the two officers opened fire with their g-Tasers. Gravity pulses whipped past them, and there was a flicker of energy as they were deflected from the armoured suit, shattering what was left of the door into fragments. Glass crunching underfoot, the creature turned and started to advance along the corridor. There were screams of panic as the crewmembers in its path fled.
‘You can’t stop him with those,’ bellowed the Doctor. ‘Look.’
He pointed at two bulges on the shoulders of the suit. Bill could see they were now glowing with a strange green light.
Palmer groaned. ‘He’s engaged the gravity inverters.’
‘Exactly. All the time he’s been in the medical bay the suit has been recharging. Now, given that it was designed to withstand the gravitational pull of Saturn, using gravity pulse weapons is at bit like shooting at it with a peashooter, yes?’
Palmer swore loudly. ‘All right, Harrison, we’re going to have to come up with another plan.’
‘How about this one?’
All eyes turned to the Doctor.
‘Wait.’
‘Wait?’ Palmer glared at him. ‘Wait for what?’
‘That suit has no armaments, correct?’
‘Not as such, no, but whatever is inside that armour, it could still make a mess of this place if it wanted.’
‘But it’s given no indication of that being the intention.’
‘It just tried to kill a man!’
‘The creature woke up from a major trauma after someone interfered with the controls on its pressure system. It’s probably frightened and in shock.’ The Doctor pointed towards the suit as it lumbered along the corridor. ‘So, the question is, where do we think that the big fella is going now?’
‘The canteen?’ offered Bill. ‘Perhaps it’s hungry.’
The Doctor shot her a disparaging look.
‘The service lift,’ said Palmer.
‘Exactly.’
‘It’s heading back down to the hangar.’
Bill was puzzled. ‘But why is it going back there?’
The Doctor’s eyes were sparkling. ‘Because it’s going to get its friends.’
Chapter
11
Jorgen Delitsky sat in the cool, quiet calm of the control centre, glad for a few moments just to sit and think. Even though he spent virtually every moment of his working day here, there was something about the place when it was empty that he found relaxing. The red ‘night’ lighting, the background hum of the machinery, the pattern of the lights blinking on the consoles, even the slight breeze from the air-con all combined to create something that he found almost tranquil.
He was well aware that Jo Teske thought that he was crazy. Most of his team couldn’t wait to get away at the end of the shift, hurrying to meet friends or lovers in the bar or the cinema or the rec room. Delitsky had never been able to relax anywhere like that. He was always aware of people being slightly tense around him, of modifying their behaviour because ‘the boss’ was present. That in
turn made him uncomfortable and so he tended to retreat here instead.
‘Penny for them, Chief?’
He became aware that Claire Robbins was watching him curiously. There was always one senior officer on duty in the control room in case of emergencies, and Robbins had drawn the short straw this evening.
‘I was just wondering which of the rim planets might need a man with my talents … What do you think, Claire, can you see me cutting down trees on Androzani Major?’
‘Hm … Dunno, Chief. I’ve never seen you as the outdoor type.’ She gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘Things really looking that bad?’
Delitsky sighed. He had just used emergency powers to overrule two senior Kollo-Zarnista executives and bring a multi-billion-dollar mining facility to a complete standstill, he had evidence of diamond theft and sabotage taking place amongst his crew, he had lost a miner overboard and now there was a previously unknown alien species lying in his medical bay.
‘Yeah … I really think that they might be.’
He suddenly felt annoyed with himself for being so downbeat. He was damned if he was just going to give in to the likes of Nettleman and Rince. This was his rig and every decision he had made had been for the right reasons. The problem was, no one back on Earth had the slightest inkling of what was going on yet.
He pulled himself out of the command chair and stretched. ‘What’s the status with long-range communications? Is that storm still screwing things up?’
Robbins glanced down at her control console and shrugged. ‘It’s still blowing force ten, but it’s moving. Another hour, I guess, and we should be able to punch through the static. Until then, it’s short-range comms only.’
Delitsky nodded. ‘Let me know as soon as things improve. Oh, and Claire? Make sure my report goes before Nettleman’s, OK.’
She grinned. ‘Got it, Chief.’
Draining the last dregs of cold coffee from his mug, Delitsky was about to make his way to the machine in the corner for a refill when movement from inside the hangar caught his eye. As he watched the doors to the service elevator slid open, and a suit of pressure armour emerged.
