Doctor Who: Plague of the Cybermen

by Justin Richards

  ‘I worry about him constantly,’ Lady Ernhardt said.

  ‘It’s in your nature,’ the Doctor told her. ‘Now, come on.’

  They hurried through the small wooded area to the church wall where the Doctor and Olga had kept watch earlier. Outside the church a lone Cyberman stood amongst the gravestones and the piles of soil where its fellows had erupted from the earth.

  ‘Funny,’ the Doctor said quietly. ‘I’d have expected them to leave two Cybermen at least. They like to work in pairs.’

  ‘Why’s that?’ Olga wondered.

  ‘Oh, it means one can stay on station, keeping guard while the other …’ The Doctor’s voice tailed off and his frown deepened.

  ‘While the other – what?’ Lady Ernhardt asked.

  ‘While the other patrols the immediate area,’ the Doctor said. ‘But let’s not get too hung up about that. The chances of a patrolling Cyberman finding us must be about, ooh, the same as winning the lott—’

  Olga grabbed his arm, cutting him off. ‘Doctor – it found us.’

  ‘What?’ The Doctor was appalled. ‘But I never win the lottery. Not unless I cheat and check what the numbers are going to be first.’

  As he spoke, he peered through the trees to where Olga was pointing. There was a glint of silver in amongst the damp green and brown. The Doctor blinked the rain out of his eyes, and saw that the Cyberman was making its way steadily in their direction. It might not have seen them yet, but it soon would.

  ‘Change of plan,’ he whispered. ‘I was hoping to get back into their ship through the church. But that’ll have to wait. Instead – run!’

  He set off along the side of the wall, keeping his head down so the Cyberman in the graveyard could not see them. Olga and Lady Ernhardt followed him as fast as they could manage over the rough, overgrown ground.

  ‘I think he’s seen us,’ Olga gasped, catching up with the Doctor.

  ‘I think you’re right.’

  From behind came the steady thump of the Cyberman’s feet stamping down on the vegetation as it stalked through the wood. It thrust aside branches and ignored saplings, striding inexorably after the Doctor and his friends.

  Where the wall turned to follow the outline of the churchyard, the wood started to thin out. Beyond was a field – an empty, open space with bare earth broken only by a sparse tufts of grass poking through the mud. Puddles lay across the surface, rain spattering into them.

  The Doctor looked back, to see the Cyberman was gaining on them. The only way of escape was across the field to the woodland on the other side. But they’d be exposed the whole way.

  ‘Here’s hoping he doesn’t decide now’s the time to try out the energy levels in his blaster.’

  ‘Doctor …’ Olga cautioned.

  ‘Not now – no time.’ He grabbed her hand, reaching back to help Lady Ernhardt. ‘Don’t want you feeling left out. Now come on – it’s squelching time!’

  They ran across the field of mud. Each step went deep into the quagmire, water welling up round their ankles.

  By the time they reached the middle of the field, each step was an effort. It seemed as if the mud was trying to suck them down into the ground.

  The Cyberman fared no better. Being heavier, it sank even deeper into the mud. But it managed to maintain a steady untiring pace while the Doctor and the women got gradually slower and slower. Finally, as they neared the woodland, there was more grass and the ground began to dry out.

  The trees on this side of the field were not as dense or as healthy as those in the small area close to the grave yard. The branches were thin and misshapen, leaves stunted and sickly, withered and dry. The Doctor and his friends stumbled through the brittle woodland, until they collapsed on a mossy bank.

  ‘We don’t have long before he reaches us,’ the Doctor said. For once he seemed out of breath, too.

  ‘These trees,’ Lady Ernhardt said, showing no sign of being out of breath, ‘they look like they’re dying.’

  ‘Ah.’ The Doctor looked round. ‘Yes,’ he said slowly. ‘You were trying to tell me something just now, Olga. I have a nasty feeling I know what it was.’

  She was still too breathless to reply, but pointed back towards the field they had just traversed.

  ‘Field by the church,’ the Doctor said. ‘Where the Cybership crashed, and nothing grows.’

  He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and held it up. The end lit up brightly and it emitted a frantic chattering sound.

  The Doctor whistled through his teeth. ‘Good news and bad news, people. The good news is that Cyberman’s going to be in trouble soon because they don’t like this type of radiation any more than humans do.’

  ‘And the bad news?’ Lady Ernhardt asked.

  ‘The bad news was sort of implied in the “any more than humans do” bit of the good news.’

  ‘Are we dying?’ Olga finally managed to gasp.

  ‘Not if I can help it. But yes – probably.’ The Doctor rummaged in his pockets. ‘Need a tablet and fast. Then we need to get out of here. Also fast. With the right medication, and so long as we don’t linger, we should be fine.’

  Through the sickly trees, they could see the Cyberman struggling to the edge of the field. Another few moments and it would be on more solid ground.

  ‘Ah!’ The Doctor gave a muted cry of triumph and produced a paper bag out of his jacket pocket. ‘Oh. It’s empty.’

  ‘We handed out all the blue tablets,’ Olga reminded him.

  The Doctor had opened up the bag and was peering inside. ‘Thought I kept a couple … Aha!’ he declared. He pulled a small blue pill from inside the bag and gave it to Olga. ‘Take it now.’

  She did as she was told, and the Doctor retrieved another tablet which he ate himself.

  Lady Ernhardt held out her hand. But the Doctor scrunched the bag into a ball and stuffed it back in his pocket.

  ‘Right,’ he said, ‘time to get moving. The radiation will slow the Cyberman down, maybe even kill him, given enough time. But we shouldn’t hang about here.’

  ‘But – Lady Ernhardt needs a blue tablet,’ Olga said.

  ‘Please,’ Lady Ernhardt said, her hand still out.

  ‘I only had two,’ the Doctor said.

  Olga stared in astonishment. ‘But … We should have broken them in half, or ground them up and shared them out or something – anything.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I need a tablet,’ Lady Ernhardt said.

  ‘No you don’t,’ the Doctor said.

  Her hood had fallen back as they crossed the field. Her fair hair spilled out over her shoulders. The sunlight filtering through the clouds and the trees dappled her perfect, impossibly young features.

  ‘But – why?’

  The Doctor gave a short, confused laugh. ‘Well – because you’re not real.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Doctor,’ Olga said, ‘what are you talking about?’

  But the Doctor was staring back at Lady Ernhardt. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘You didn’t know? I thought you knew.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Lady Ernhardt asked, her voice a whisper, but not a trace of reaction on her face.

  ‘Of course, you’ve had no exposure to complex mechanisms, no knowledge of robotics, only the slightest idea about clockwork. How could you know?’ The Doctor paused, his face creased in sorrow before he said: ‘Marie Ernhardt died soon after her son was born. Years ago.’

  ‘No!’

  ‘The Watchman made you.’

  A single raindrop fell from a withered leaf and splashed onto Lady Ernhardt’s face, tracing a line down her cheek. ‘Made me? But – my memories … My life …’

  ‘All implanted somehow. You never suspected because you’d been programmed never to suspect. I am so sorry.’

  Olga swallowed. How could the woman not know what she was? Was the Doctor even right about her? She wasn’t sure if she felt sorry for the woman, or scared of her.

  ‘The Watchman had
probably found some Cyber technology even then,’ the Doctor said. ‘Nothing too advanced but it gave him clues, got him started. I’d guess that Marie Ernhardt died giving birth, or from complications. That might explain why her son Victor was such a sickly child.’

  ‘Doctor!’ Olga said urgently. ‘The Cyberman!’

  The Doctor turned from Lady Ernhardt just as the Cyberman crashed through the woods towards them. A tortured electronic burbling came from its mouth. Its arms flailed and lashed out as if the creature had lost all control over them. One metal hand connected with a tree truck, splintering the wood.

  ‘The radiation’s affected it,’ the Doctor shouted above the noise. ‘But it’s still lethal. It’ll try to kill us.’

  He jumped aside as a Cyber arm whipped past his head. The Doctor grabbed Olga, pulling her after him, out of the way. But he wasn’t quick enough. The Cyberman lashed out again, an uncoordinated movement, but a lethal one. The Cyberman’s fist crashed towards Olga’s head. There was a sickening crunch as it connected.

  But not with Olga. The fist impacted on Lady Ernhardt’s arm as she blocked the blow. Before the Cyberman could move, she grabbed the fist in both hands, and wrenched the arm downwards. As the Cyberman toppled, Lady Ernhardt struck it again, this time in the chest. The metal monster reeled backwards, colliding with a tree.

  As it rebounded, Lady Ernhardt caught hold of the creature’s head. With a violent twist, she wrenched it from the Cyberman’s shoulders. Sparks exploded from the neck cavity and the Cyberman careered sideways, arms still flailing. It took a dozen steps, then collapsed to its knees before falling forwards.

  ‘You’re hurt!’ Olga rushed to Lady Ernhardt.

  The woman was staring down at her arm. The sleeve of her cloak had been ripped open, and there was a jagged cut across her forearm. But there was no blood.

  The Doctor leaned across and pulled gently at the flap of broken skin. He folded it back like a piece of vellum, revealing the shining brass gears and cogs within the arm. Rods and levers clicked into place as Lady Ernhardt slowly flexed her automated fingers.

  Chapter 15

  Olga took Lady Ernhardt’s hand in hers. She smoothed the artificial skin back into place. ‘It means nothing.’

  ‘On the contrary, it means everything,’ Lady Ernhardt replied. She met Olga’s gaze as the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to seal the wound.

  ‘That should do it,’ he said.

  ‘It only hides what’s underneath,’ Lady Ernhardt said. ‘It doesn’t alter it.’

  ‘Yes, well talking about what’s underneath, we need to get down to that Cybership. And there’s only one Cyberman guarding the church now, so come on.’

  They took a longer route back to the church, to avoid crossing the muddy field again. A storm was breaking, lightning lancing across the sky and thunder echoing round the valley. Rain pelted down, and by the time they got back to the graveyard they were drenched.

  The Cyberman still stood on guard exactly where it had been. If it was aware of the fate of its comrade, it gave no hint of it.

  ‘Power’s so low they might just think he’s dropped off the grid,’ the Doctor murmured. He stuck out his bottom lip and blew hard in an attempt to dislodge the rain from the end of his nose. ‘They don’t seem to be taking any extra precautions, anyway.’

  ‘So what do we do?’ Olga asked. ‘How do we get past the Cyberman?’

  ‘I could—’ Lady Ernhardt began.

  But the Doctor cut her off. ‘No, you couldn’t. You were lucky against that other one – he was weakened by radiation poisoning and his power was depleted from trudging across a muddy field. Never thought I’d say that about a Cyberman, but there you go.’

  ‘So how do we get past that and into the church?’ Lady Ernhardt demanded. ‘Do you have any idea?’

  ‘Of course I do. I have a strategy that’s worked before. Though possibly under rather different circumstances. But there’s no reason why it shouldn’t take care of a Cyberman.’ The Doctor shook his head sending raindrops scattering from his hair. ‘I’m going to bung a rock at it.’

  *

  The Doctor prised a stone from the wall that curtained the graveyard. He picked one that was about the size of an egg and fitted snugly in his palm. He tossed it from hand to hand to test the weight.

  ‘You’re sure this is a good idea?’ Olga asked him.

  ‘Ask me again in five minutes.’

  ‘You’re really just going to throw that at the Plague Warrior?’ Lady Ernhardt asked.

  ‘Really. I throw it from here, then run and join you two over there.’ He pointed to the other side of the graveyard. ‘Where you’ll be waiting.’

  ‘If you say so,’ Olga agreed.

  ‘I do say so.’

  ‘You propose to draw the machine man over to this side of the graveyard so we can slip into the church behind it,’ Lady Ernhardt summarised.

  The Doctor gave her a big, smiley thumbs-up. ‘Bingo.’

  As plans went, the Doctor was later able to reflect, this one did quite well right up until the point where he threw the rock. Olga and Lady Ernhardt made their way carefully and quietly round the wall to the far side of the graveyard. They were helped by the pummelling rain which reduced visibility considerably. The rain was so heavy that even the Cyberman’s infrared capabilities would be disoriented, the Doctor thought.

  He waited until he was pretty sure they were in the right place, though it was difficult for him to see through the rain, too. And he couldn’t just stick his head up over the wall to check or the Cyberman might see him too soon.

  After what seemed like more than enough time, the Doctor stood up, took careful aim at the metal figure, hurled his rock at it … and missed. The rock shot past the Cyberman, and carried on until it clattered against the wall of the graveyard behind it. Close to where the Doctor had sent the women.

  Immediately, the Cyberman jerked into life. It turned towards the sound, and marched across to investigate. In front of it, Olga’s face appeared above the wall as she looked to see what had happened. She disappeared again at once, but the Cyberman had seen her. It quickened its pace.

  The Doctor grabbed another rock, and threw that. It glanced off the Cyberman’s shoulder, but the creature did not deviate from its course. Rather than try again to distract it, the Doctor ran. Head down, he charged through the rain along the side of the wall – and collided with Lady Ernhardt coming the other way. Olga was right behind her.

  ‘Change of plan,’ the Doctor announced. ‘Over the wall and into the church while he’s looking the other way, come on.’ He laced his hands to make a step for Lady Ernhardt, but she had already jumped up onto the wall, pulling Olga after her.

  ‘Not sure I’m really needed here,’ the Doctor muttered, scrambling up after them.

  The Cyberman was still on the other side of the graveyard. It didn’t stop at the wall, but crashed through the precarious structure, sending stones flying in all directions. It turned quickly one way, then the other, hunting its prey.

  But the Doctor and his friends were already inside the church, shaking the rain from their hair and hurrying down towards the crypt.

  ‘That was easy,’ the Doctor said brightly. ‘Now for the tricky part.’

  The door from the back of the crypt into the catacombs had been smashed apart by the Cybermen as they broke through into the church. The floor was strewn with splintered wood. The Doctor, Olga, and Lady Ernhardt picked their way through the debris and out into the catacombs.

  ‘Hope I can remember the way,’ the Doctor joked. But neither of his companions reacted.

  They made their way through the tunnels, the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver lighting the way. Every so often, they paused and listened for any sound that might suggest they were not alone.

  ‘You think there will be more Cybermen down here?’ Olga asked.

  ‘They won’t have left their ship unguarded,’ the Doctor told her. ‘The question is, how many? And can we g
et past them?’

  ‘That’s two questions,’ Lady Ernhardt pointed out.

  ‘And just how pedantic should one be in these sorts of situations?’ the Doctor went on, as if he hadn’t heard her.

  The Doctor’s caution seemed infectious. As they approached the area where the ship was buried, they slowed down and spoke in whispers. Finally, they arrived in the large cavern where the villagers had battled against the Cybermen.

  ‘No bodies,’ the Doctor noted, holding up the sonic screwdriver.

  ‘Is that a good thing?’ Lady Ernhardt wondered.

  ‘Depends who took them, and what they’ve done with them.’

  ‘There are no guards,’ Olga whispered.

  ‘Not that we can see,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘Cybermen aren’t arrogant by nature, but maybe their resources are stretched a bit thin and they really have sent every available Cyberman to secure the village.’ He caught sight of Olga’s expression. ‘Don’t worry, everyone will be fine up in the castle. The only way in is over that narrow bridge across the ravine and …’ He hesitated, a frown deepening across his face.

  ‘Except, that’s not the only way in,’ Olga said.

  ‘There is access from these tunnels,’ Lady Ernhardt said.

  ‘And the Cybermen know about it,’ the Doctor said. ‘One of them was in the Watchman’s laboratory.’ He slapped his palm hard against his forehead. ‘Think – why don’t I think? I should have thought of that.’

  ‘You were preoccupied,’ Olga told him. ‘None of us thought of it.’

  ‘No excuse!’ The Doctor took a deep breath and turned a complete circle on the spot. ‘Right, I have things to sort out on the Cybership, then we get to the castle and warn them. And block off the tunnels.’

  ‘Should we go on to the castle ahead of you?’ Olga asked.

  ‘Do you know the way?’

  Both women shook their heads.

  ‘Probably not a good idea, then. You’d better stick with me.’

  They left the cavern, and took the tunnels that led to the fractured side of the ship.

  ‘Won’t they expect us to come in this way?’ Olga asked. She was aware they had entered this way twice already.