Doctor Who

by Mike Tucker

  The coffee cup slipped from Delitsky’s fingers as he watched the armoured figure stamp across the hangar towards the mining bell. There was a sharp intake of breath from behind him. Robbins had spotted it too.

  Seemingly oblivious to them, the armoured figure crossed the hangar to where the other suits of pressure armour stood in neatly ordered ranks, abandoned in the middle of preparation for use as soon as Delitsky had called a halt to mining operations. It stood there for a moment, almost like an officer inspecting troops on parade, then turned and strode towards a portable control console standing in the corner of the hangar. As they watched, it reached out with massive steel hands, operating the controls with surprising dexterity.

  ‘What is it doing?’ whispered Robbins staring at the massive figure hunched over the console.

  Delitsky suddenly realised exactly what it intended to do and scrambled to get back into his control chair. ‘Claire! Sound the general alarm!’

  ‘Sir!’

  ‘And tell Palmer to get a security team down here!’

  The tranquil calm that Delitsky had been enjoying was abruptly shattered as, for the second time that day, emergency alarms blared around the control room.

  Delitsky scrabbled frantically at the keyboard on the panel in front of him, desperately trying to dredge up seldom-used security codes and passwords from his memory. All the lights on control panel to his left suddenly went off, and console shut down with a soft click.

  ‘No, no, no.’

  Robbins had realised what it was attempting too. ‘Chief, it’s using the override protocols.’

  ‘I know, I know.’ Sweat beading on his forehead, Delitsky punched code after code into the computer, but as more and more panels went dead around him he realised with cold dread that he wasn’t going to succeed. However fast he worked, the creature in the hangar was working faster.

  He punched the console in frustration as the final panel on his console shut down. As if to taunt him, the words ‘OVERRIDE PROTOCOLS ENGAGED’ started to scroll across the screen above his head.

  ‘How did it know?’ he snarled in frustration.

  ‘Because all the time it’s been lying in the medical bay it’s been hardwired into your mainframe.’

  Delitsky turned to see the Doctor standing there. Behind him more and more people were beginning to hurry into the room. Palmer and Harrison had their g-Tasers out. It didn’t take a genius to work out what had happened. His heart sank as Nettleman and Rince appeared in the doorway. No doubt they’d both have something to say about this.

  The Doctor strode across to the observation window. ‘You didn’t bother locking him out of your systems because you thought that it was Baines in the armour, but at the same time as it’s been recharging, our visitor has also been learning, studying, absorbing data.’

  He peered down at what was unfolding in the hangar below with interest.

  ‘Baines was a senior mining technician, yes? Presumably with a fairly high level of security clearance. Well, now it probably knows as much about this rig’s computer systems as Baines did.’

  Delitsky hauled himself from his now useless command position and turned on Palmer angrily. ‘I told you to keep a guard on that thing. How the hell did it get past you?’

  ‘Yes, Captain,’ snapped Nettleman. ‘I think we’d all like an answer.’

  Palmer ignored him, holding Delitsky’s gaze. ‘There was nothing we could do, Chief. As long as it’s got its gravity inverters active we’ve no way of stopping it without risking damage to the hull.’

  ‘So you just let it walk down here and take control of my rig?’

  ‘The Doctor thought that—’

  ‘I don’t give a damn what the Doctor thinks, Captain Palmer. It’s you that I pay to keep this rig secure, not him. Now what do you suggest we do about this?’

  Delitsky stabbed a finger at the suited figure in the hangar below. Having ensured that it wouldn’t be interrupted, it had now grasped hold of one of the empty suits of mining armour and was dragging it into the open mining bell.

  As the crew watched helplessly from the control room, it remerged from the bell to grab hold of another suit of armour, then another, and another.

  ‘How many of those things were down there?’ asked Rince nervously.

  ‘Five,’ murmured the Doctor quietly.

  ‘What?’ Delitsky snapped.

  ‘There are five of them,’ repeated the Doctor. ‘Look.’

  Having loaded four of the armoured suits into the Bell, the creature in Baines’s suit had turned its attention back to the controls.

  ‘Having worked out that they can survive in our low pressure environment inside the pressure armour, it’s going back down to bring up the other four.’

  ‘He’s activating the automatic drop procedures, Chief,’ Robbins called from her console. ‘The only way you’re going to stop him now is …’ She paused. ‘… Is if you Purge.’

  ‘Purge?’ The Doctor looked at Delitsky accusingly.

  Delitsky glared at Robbins, then gave a sigh of resignation. ‘It’s a last-ditch emergency device. It severs the winch cables and releases main hangar doors, jettisoning the bell.’

  ‘Letting it fall to the centre of Saturn.’

  ‘I’ve got to think about the safety of my crew, Doctor.’ He strode across to his console. ‘It’s doubtful that that “thing” can know about it. It’s not something widely known outside senior operational personnel. Hardly surprising. Would you go down in that bell if you knew there people in charge who had the option of cutting you adrift?’ From the tone of his voice, the Purge was an operation that Delitsky didn’t approve of. ‘Since it doesn’t know about it, it’s unlikely that it’s been able to lock out those circuits.’

  ‘Delitsky …’ The Doctor placed a hand on the Rig Chief’s shoulder. ‘Don’t.’

  Delitsky turned to yell at the Doctor, but there was something about the man’s expression that made him stop.

  ‘We know so little about these creatures. They could be a previously unknown species, a whole new life form living in the clouds of Saturn, hidden for thousands, for millions of years. They could simply be visitors. They could be stranded here. They could be so many things, I really just don’t know.’

  He looked pointedly at the controls that Delitsky was about to activate.

  ‘What I do know is that if you use that, then we lose any chance that we have of ever finding out what they are or why they are here. Yes, I know we haven’t exactly had the perfect house guest, but it’s been alone, in a totally hostile environment, and someone on this rig has already made an attempt to kill it. I think it deserves the opportunity to rescue its friends, and explain its actions, don’t you?’

  Delitsky was silent for a moment, then gave a deep sigh, and nodded. ‘All right, Doctor. Let’s give it the benefit of the doubt.’

  The Doctor smiled, and the two men turned and watched as the huge hangar doors snapped open, and mining bell started its long decent into the atmosphere of Saturn.

  The control room had become uncannily quiet as everyone just stood and waited. It had now been over ten minutes since the bell had dropped into the atmosphere of the planet below.

  ‘Any sign of movement yet?’ asked Delitsky impatiently

  ‘No.’ Claire Robbins shook her head. ‘They’re still stationary at the same coordinates where we lost contact with Baines.’

  Delitsky glanced at Teske. ‘Life readings?’

  The medic was staring at her screens in amazement. ‘It’s incredible. I’ve never seen readings anything like this before.’

  ‘Captain Palmer.’ Delitsky turned to his security officer. ‘Recommendations, please?’

  ‘We’ve no idea what we’re facing here, Chief. It might be wise to get some backup.’

  ‘Backup?’

  ‘My security team on this rig is just six, Chief …’ She let that fact just hang there.

  Delitsky nodded. ‘Claire, any joy with those long-range co
mms yet?’

  ‘Not yet, Chief.’

  ‘I need to know that they are back up the moment you do.’

  The Doctor had been listening to their exchange with a concerned look. Bill nudged him. ‘What do you think they are?’ she whispered.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said the Doctor. ‘A high-pressure life form of some kind.’

  ‘So, they’re … Saturanians or something? They live on Saturn?’

  ‘That’s what we are about to find out.’ The Doctor tapped a finger on the screen. ‘Bell ascending.’

  As the huge winches started to reel the bell back towards the rig, the Doctor could see the security team tensing, fingers tightening on the triggers of their weapons. The actions taken by the people in this room during the next few minutes were crucial. First contact with a new species could go one of two ways, and he knew from bitter experience what the consequences could be if things went badly.

  He glanced across at Captain Palmer, but the young security captain was looking cool and collected, hands well away from the weapon on her belt. The Doctor allowed himself a moment of optimism. There were good people in this room. Palmer, Teske, Delitsky …

  His gaze shifted to the frightened faces of Nettleman and Rince. Then again, there were always wild cards …

  The massive winches suddenly started to slow.

  ‘Here we go,’ murmured Bill nervously.

  It seemed as though everyone in the control room was holding their breath. Then, in a cloud of methane vapour, the mining bell emerged through the hatch, like a magician appearing through a stage trapdoor in a puff of smoke. With a blare on the klaxons the hangar doors swung shut with a clang that shook the floor, then total silence descended on the control room.

  Every pair of eyes in the control room was now focused on the sphere sitting on the floor of the hangar. Delitsky was half in, half out of his chair, watching the hatch with bated breath.

  There was a sudden hiss of hydraulics, and the Doctor felt Bill jump alongside him as the hatch started to open. One by one, five huge armoured figures pulled themselves from the pod, making their way clumsily down the walkway and lining up in front of the control room window.

  For a moment they just stopped, silent and motionless, then one of them stepped forward, raising an armoured hand as if in greeting. A distorted cracking voice hissed from the speakers.

  ‘We are the Ba-El Cratt. We wish to claim asylum on this station.’

  Chapter

  12

  Laura Palmer had to admit that her account of this tour of duty was definitely going to raise a few eyebrows when she finally got around to writing her memoirs. Assuming that everything wasn’t completely hushed up by the intelligence services, of course. During her time at the Academy she had heard plenty of rumours of clandestine agencies within the Federation that dealt with situations like this, and had no wish to find out whether those rumours were true or not. She was just glad that Delitsky was taking charge of things rather than Nettleman.

  As always she had nothing but total respect for the Rig Chief. Despite having already had to put up with a day that would have reduced a lesser man to a gibbering wreck, he was dealing with this latest development with a coolness that she wished she felt herself.

  By contrast, Nettleman and Rince (two perfect examples of ‘lesser men’) were cowering near the door to the control room, looking just about ready to run screaming.

  Watching everything was the Doctor, his expression indecipherable. Laura had never met anyone so difficult to read. There were times when he seemed to treat everything going on around him as if it was just some kind of elaborate game, and yet, when it had mattered, he had been quick to act in a way that had already saved countless lives. She just wished that she knew his ultimate intentions.

  Her pulse rate started to increase as Delitsky took a step towards the hangar windows, confronting the aliens below. As he did so, Laura noticed, he positioned himself close enough to his control console that he could reach the Purge control for the hangar. As she watched, his fingers started to slowly tap in the release codes that would allow him to open the doors and vent the entire hangar into space. The Doctor obviously noticed it too, and she saw his lips tightening in concern.

  ‘I’m Jorgen Delitsky.’ The Rig Chief’s voice boomed through the speakers. ‘I’m in charge here. You say I’m addressing the Ba-El Cratt – well, what are you and where do you come from?’

  One of the five armoured figures stepped forwards, the featureless helmet tilting backwards as if staring up through the glass observation window.

  ‘We come from a system many light years from here,’ came the sibilant, whispering voice. ‘We are refugees from our home world, fleeing an aggressor that has virtually wiped us out. Extensive damage to our engines caused our ship to crash into the planet below. We have been trapped for many planetary cycles.’

  ‘You say you want asylum here, and yet you’ve attacked us.’

  ‘We apologise for any distress we have caused. We have tried numerous methods of making contact, but our species are very different to each other. In the end, direct action, and the use of your pressure vessels, was the only course left open to us.’

  ‘Killing one of my crew in the process.’

  Laura could tell that Delitsky was struggling to keep the anger from his voice.

  ‘Your crewman is not dead.’

  Excited muttering filled the control room at that revelation. Delitsky shushed them angrily.

  ‘Baines is still alive?’

  ‘He is safe on board our ship.’

  Laura watched as the Doctor’s brow furrowed, and a look of confusion settled across his features. It was obvious that he didn’t believe that.

  Delitsky was obviously having a hard time believing it too. ‘Our sensors have picked up no evidence of any ship.’

  ‘It is deep within the atmosphere of the planet,’ explained the hissing voice. ‘Far deeper than your primitive sensors are able to penetrate. If you will allow us asylum here, we can work with you to recover our ship. And your crewman.’

  Turning off the comms channel, Delitsky turned to face his crew.

  ‘Well, thoughts?’

  Jo Teske stepped forwards. ‘If there’s any chance that Baines is still alive …’

  ‘Yeah, I know.’ He looked across at Laura. ‘Captain Palmer?’

  Laura thought for a moment, wanting to choose her words carefully. ‘The Ba-El Cratt are talking of asylum, of wanting refuge from an aggressor. That means there’s something hostile out there, and if it starts to look as though we’re taking sides …’ She paused. ‘Chief, if there is any possibility that this is going to turn into a war, we are simply not equipped to deal with it. If there’s a chance of saving Baines then I agree with Dr Teske that we should take steps to recover him, but I think we need that backup. I think that we should request a gunship from the barracks on Ganymede immediately.’ She shot a look at the Doctor, suddenly feeling a need to reassure him of her intentions. ‘Just as a precaution.’

  Laura could see Nettleman pushing his way across the room, voicing his protest at Delitsky’s decision.

  ‘This is a Kollo-Zarnista matter, Delitsky. You cannot allow the military to take any kind of action in this facility without direct orders from the board.’

  ‘This has gone way beyond the jurisdiction of Kollo-Zarnista,’ snarled Delitsky angrily. ‘There are five aliens in the hangar, Nettleman. Five members of a previously uncontacted species. That makes it a Federation matter!’

  ‘But do you really think that it’s necessary to involve the military?’ The Doctor also didn’t seem happy about it.

  ‘Yes, I do,’ said Delitsky, obviously satisfied that his senior team were all on the same page as him. ‘Robbins. I don’t care what the systems tell you about storm interference, I want a priority channel to Colonel Vanezis on Ganymede, right now.’

  ‘Yes. Sir.’ Claire Robbins hurried to her console.

  ‘What do yo
u want to do about these five, Chief?’ asked Palmer indicating the aliens in the hangar.

  Delitsky was just drawing breath to answer when the back blew off the communications console.

  The Doctor ducked as sparks and flames spat across the control room. Total panic descended as people dived for cover, fearful of another explosion. He quickly snatched a fire extinguisher from the wall and hurried towards the burning console. As the clouds of billowing gas smothered the flames, Robbins staggered to her feet, coughing and spluttering. Casting the extinguisher aside, the Doctor helped her to a chair.

  Jo Teske was there in an instant, checking her hands and face for burns.

  ‘I’m OK,’ coughed Robbins.

  ‘You were lucky,’ said Jo grimly.

  The Doctor agreed. The force of the blast had been directed away from her. It hadn’t been a big explosion, but if she’d been in the path of it … He crouched down and peered into the smoking remains of the comms console.

  Bill scurried nervously to his side, nose wrinkling at the smell of scorched plastic that now filled the control room. ‘What happened?’

  ‘She was cut off,’ said the Doctor, grimly inspecting the shattered circuits. ‘By someone who really didn’t want that message to get out.’

  Bill’s eyes widened. ‘A bomb?’

  ‘No, not exactly.’ The Doctor peered into the charred mess. ‘My guess is that someone rewired things so that when the transmitter was brought up to full power it would overload.’

  ‘You mean more sabotage.’ Delitsky was standing behind them, staring in the wrecked console in disbelief.

  ‘I would say so, wouldn’t you?’ The Doctor’s face was grim.

  ‘But who?’ Delitsky jerked a thumb at the hangar window. ‘Them?’

  ‘How?’ The Doctor raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘There’s only been one of the Ba-El Cratt here until now, and never left alone. Besides, the first sabotage attempt was directed against them.’ He stood up, wiping the ash and soot from his hands. ‘No, your saboteur is someone a little closer to home, which brings us to the question of what are you going to do with your guests?’ The Doctor looked pointedly at the Purge control on Delitsky’s control console. ‘After all, the hangar bay might not be the safest place for them to stay …’