‘You think you can?’ Lord Ernhardt asked.
‘I have the gleam of a hint of the start of an idea. Just get everyone down in the tunnels and keep them safe.’
Lord Ernhardt nodded and turned to his guard captain. ‘Caplan – assemble everyone by the Watchman’s workshop. I must go to Marie, she’s with Victor. We need to move him too.’
‘Victor!’ The Doctor slammed his palm into his forehead. ‘Your son – I was forgetting. He could be the key to this.’
‘Doctor – he’s barely alive.’ Lord Ernhardt’s expression was grave. There was a catch in his voice as he said: ‘I doubt he will survive the day.’
‘I think he’s more robust than you give him credit for. Come on!’
Olga sat with Marie beside the bed. Lady Ernhardt’s first thought as they emerged from the tunnels had been for her son. Olga didn’t understand how someone who was artificial could have such feelings. But she had witnessed how the mothers of the children she taught felt about them, and she saw the same love and anxiousness in Marie Ernhardt.
The woman had a child, and loved him. It was simple. And perhaps that made her more human than Olga …
The young man in the bed seemed exactly as he had been when Olga had seen him before. It was possible that he hadn’t even moved. He remained pale and still, the bed covers pulled up to his chin.
They sat in silence for several minutes. They were still sitting there, watching Victor Ernhardt’s pale features, when Lord Ernhardt and the Doctor joined them.
‘Marie, my love – we have to move him,’ Ernhardt said gently. He put his hand on his wife’s shoulder. The cuff of his other sleeve flapped empty at his side.
‘We cannot,’ she said, without looking away from her son’s prone figure in the bed. ‘The Watchman’s instructions are clear.’
‘The Watchman is dead,’ the Doctor told her shortly. Olga raised her eyebrows, but the Doctor ignored her. ‘We can’t leave him here for the Cybermen.’
‘Caplan is getting everyone into the tunnels for safety,’ Ernhardt explained. ‘We might be safe here, but I suspect not.’
‘I shall stay with him. I’ll protect him,’ Marie insisted.
‘My Lady,’ Olga said gently. ‘Marie – you can’t just stay here with him alone.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because if you do,’ the Doctor said, ‘who will protect you from him?’
As he spoke, he stepped up to the bed. Marie Ernhardt cried out, reaching to stop him as he grabbed the covers. But she was too late. The Doctor threw back the sheets and blankets to reveal the young man lying there.
Olga screamed.
Lord Ernhardt took a step backwards, crossing himself. His wife’s mouth dropped open. Only the Doctor did not seem surprised.
Beneath the covers, Victor Ernhardt had the body of a Cyberman. A human head on top of a body pieced together from the salvaged remains of several Cybermen. A mechanical Frankenstein’s monster.
From above came the distant sound of the castle gates being smashed open. Shouts and screams. Running feet.
Victor Ernhardt sat up suddenly. His eyes opened. Around the irises, where there should have been milky white, his eyes were flecked with silver.
Chapter 17
The courtyard was in turmoil. The main gates were shattered and broken, hanging off their hinges. The walls either side had collapsed where the Cybermen forced their way through.
Now the silver warriors were moving through the courtyard, hunting down anyone they could find. Caplan and the guards did their best to hold the Cybermen back, while keeping out of range of their lethal blows.
Klaus and Nicolai hurried the children and their mothers through the inner gates and down the steps towards the catacombs. At any moment they expected to hear the tread of the Cybermen coming after them. Expected to turn a corner and find a Cyberman waiting for them.
‘Where’s my daddy?’ Jedka demanded. ‘I want my daddy. He should be here to look after us.’
‘I’m sure he’s fine,’ Klaus assured her. ‘He probably has other people to look after.’
Jedka glared at him, and Klaus realised that maybe he’d not given the best answer. ‘He’ll be here soon, I’m sure.’
Olga was so much better at this than him – where was she? He prayed she was safe.
‘Back – everyone get back!’ the Doctor warned.
Victor took a hesitant step forwards. It was an awkward, uncoordinated movement, as if he was getting used to his body.
‘Victor?’ Marie Ernhardt said. She made to go to him, but her husband pulled her back.
‘I’m not sure it is Victor any more,’ he said. His forehead was creased with sorrow.
‘Why has he woken?’ Olga wondered. ‘Why now?’
‘Because the Cybermen are nearby and in force,’ the Doctor explained. ‘He’s caught up in the system, become part of their network. He’s drawing power from it, like the other Cybermen. Somewhere in that mishmash of circuitry the Watchman has included a network link.’ He raised his sonic screwdriver. ‘And I’ve got to break it, or he’ll kill us all.’
The tip of the screwdriver lit up, and it let out a high-pitched whine. Victor seemed to sag, his head lolling sideways.
‘No!’ the boy’s mother screamed, and threw herself at the Doctor. She knocked his hand aside, and the sonic screwdriver clattered to the floor. ‘I won’t let you harm him!’
‘I’m not harming him – I’m saving him!’
But Marie held on tight to the Doctor, pushing him away from her son.
Olga hurried forward to scoop up the sonic screwdriver. It was still operating, so she aimed it at Victor. ‘I’m sorry, Marie,’ she breathed. ‘So sorry.’
With a grunt of pain, Victor sank to his knees. There was an echoing clang as metal made contact with stone. Slowly, he raised his head, and the silver flecks had gone from his eyes. He stared across at Marie, as she held the Doctor back.
His voice was a metallic rasp, but filled with emotion and feeling that no Cyberman could ever have. ‘Mother?!’
‘That’s better!’ The Doctor shook himself free from Marie. ‘Well, don’t just stand there – give him a hug.’ He nudged the astonished Lord Ernhardt. ‘You too, Ernie. Go for it, go on.’
‘What have you done?’ Olga asked as she and the Doctor watched the tentative embrace of parents and child.
‘I broke the link, separated him from the Cybermen’s network. Cut him loose. Gave him his freedom. Well – up to a point.’
‘He will be all right?’
The Doctor sighed. ‘Oh, I doubt it. But unless we get moving, none of us will be all right.’
He clapped his hands together for attention. Once everyone was looking, the Doctor went on: ‘Right – here’s the plan. Olga, you go and help with the children. Keep away from any Cybermen, though, right?’
‘I should stay with you,’ she protested.
‘No,’ Lord Ernhardt told her. ‘Your children need you.’
‘My children?’
‘Yours as much as anyone’s,’ the Doctor said. ‘They need you. They respect you. They love you. Right,’ he went on before Olga could respond to this, ‘Lord Ernie – you too. The villagers respect you as well. So you and the Mrs help Olga and the others get everyone down into the tunnels and keep them safe.’
‘Very well,’ Lord Ernhardt agreed.
His wife nodded. ‘Come with us, Victor.’
‘Um, no, actually,’ the Doctor said. He smiled apologetically. ‘Victor’s coming with me. I need his help if we’re to defeat the Cybermen.’
Lord Ernhardt frowned, but he nodded. ‘Very well, Doctor.’
‘He can go with you,’ Marie agreed. ‘But I am coming too.’
*
The Cybermen were advancing across the courtyard. Gustav, the tavern keeper, lay in a crumpled heap beside the wall. He’d got too close to a Cyberman and paid the price. Henri was dabbing at the man’s wounded forehead with a damp cloth.
> Caplan had organised his few remaining guards into a line across the area. They struggled to hold the Cybermen back, but were being steadily forced to retreat. Caplan whirled round as the Doctor, Marie and Victor emerged from a doorway behind. He stared in confusion at Victor.
‘It’s all right,’ the Doctor shouted above the sound of sword on Cyber-armour. ‘He’s on our side.’
‘I hope you know what you’re doing,’ Caplan said.
‘I know exactly what I’m doing,’ the Doctor told him. ‘I’m taking Victor and we’re climbing to the highest point of the castle. Er – where is that, by the way?’
Caplan pointed to one of the towers that rose above the courtyard. ‘That’s the highest.’
The Doctor shielded his eyes from the ever-present rain and peered up at the tower. It was on the other side of the attacking Cybermen. ‘Is that a flagpole up there? Ideal. I don’t suppose there’s a way up there without getting past our friends?’
‘None,’ said Caplan.
‘That figures. All right, Caplan – you and Lady Ernhardt get us past the Cybermen, and then make sure they don’t follow us.’
‘Lady Ernhardt?’ Caplan said, surprised. ‘But – this fight is no place for my Lady.’
‘Quite right. I’m coming with you,’ Marie said.
‘No,’ the Doctor insisted. ‘You want to keep Victor safe? You make sure we get up there unharmed.’ He turned to Caplan before she could argue. ‘And don’t worry – Victor’s mum is quite capable of looking after herself, and probably you too. Now, the rest of your men need to protect the villagers. Lord Ernhardt and Olga have gone to help them.’
The Cybermen were slower than they had been. The Doctor guessed they were getting low on power – but nowhere near low enough to have to return to their hibernation chambers. The cost of tiring them that much would be way too high, he thought.
With Caplan swinging his sword at the nearest Cybermen, and Marie taking them on hand-to-hand, the two forged a path for the Doctor and Victor to hurry through to the base of the tallest tower. The Doctor shoved Victor through in front of him – though his shove probably went unnoticed by the young man who was almost all Cyberman. The Doctor followed, slamming and bolting the door behind them.
‘For all the good that will do,’ he murmured.
‘What is the plan?’ Victor asked. He had the inflection of a normal human being, but his voice was a metallic rasp.
‘Get to the top. Do something clever,’ the Doctor said. ‘In that order.’
They had barely started up the curving stairway when they heard the splintering sound of the door below being smashed open.
The sound of the battle above filtered through to the tunnels. Klaus and Lord Ernhardt ushered the villagers along. Olga tried to keep the children in order. Most were with their parents, but some seemed to prefer being with her.
Jedka reluctantly held her mother’s hand. ‘Where’s Daddy?’ she demanded yet again.
‘He’s busy, my darling.’ Her mother looked at Olga appealingly.
‘I haven’t seen him, not for a while,’ Olga said. She couldn’t lie and say the man was all right. She simply didn’t know.
‘He can take care of himself,’ Jedka’s mother assured the girl.
Jedka glared at her. ‘I know that, Mummy. But I want him to take care of us.’
They closed every door behind them as they went. But Olga knew it would not be enough. If the Doctor’s plan – whatever it was – failed, then sooner or later they would all die. Or worse, she thought, remembering the human limbs attached to cybernetic bodies, recalling Victor Ernhardt …
*
The steps seemed to go on for ever. The Doctor wasn’t tired, not yet. But Victor was slowing noticeably. The good news was that all the Cybermen would be slowing, too, as their power was slowly depleted.
But without Victor, there was no point in the Doctor getting to the top of the tower. So he did his best to encourage the young man – he had to think of him as a man, despite what had been done to him. He was a human with a cybernetic body, not a Cyberman with a human head.
Except that the Doctor knew what he was planning to do to him, and it was something he could only do to a Cyberman …
Finally, they emerged onto the rain-swept platform at the top of the tower. Storm clouds were rolling in and thunder rumbled round the sky.
‘The Cybermen seeded a huge storm,’ the Doctor shouted above the thunder. ‘It’s taken a while to build, but it’s coming now. So it’s a good job their power converter isn’t working or we’d be in real trouble.’
‘We are in real trouble,’ Victor grated back at him. ‘What must we do?’
The Doctor was holding on to a rusted metal flagpole secured to the centre of the platform. If he let go, he thought there was a real possibility he might get blown over the parapets. Grasping it with one hand, he rummaged through his pockets with the other.
‘Got some bits of the power converter here. Thought they might come in handy.’
He pulled out various components, sorting through until he found what he needed. He held them against the metal flagpole.
‘Here – give me a hand. Hold these in place while I fix them there and wire them up.’
Victor seemed unaffected by the incoming storm. He stood defiantly, rain lashing down his metal body as he held the equipment where the Doctor had shown him. The Doctor set to work with the sonic screwdriver, and soon everything was secured – a mishmash of componentry held together by broken wires and frayed cables.
‘What now?’ Victor asked as the Doctor inspected his handiwork.
‘Now we need the lightning to strike the pole. Well, just one other adjustment.’ He turned from the flagpole, and raised the sonic screwdriver. ‘And that’s an adjustment to you – I’m sorry.’
‘What are you doing?’ Victor sounded interested rather than concerned.
‘I’ve rigged a sort of bypass power converter. It will flow the power by induction into a suitable receptacle. But not until it’s stored up a vast amount. It won’t be a steady stream of energy to power the Cybermen – it will be a sudden blast. I’ve disabled the safety cut-outs on their ship’s systems, so I hope the blast will destroy them.’
‘And how do I help with this?’
‘I have to flow the power into the Cyber network. And to do that I need to adapt a Cyberman as an input channel. A dead one or some components of one won’t do, as they cut off the connections. So it needs to be a working, conscious Cyberman.’
‘And that will kill the rest of the Cybermen?’
The Doctor nodded. ‘Sure will.’
‘Will it …’ Victor hesitated. ‘Will it kill me?’
‘Honest answer?’ The Doctor finished his sonicing. ‘I don’t know.’
Victor nodded his human head. ‘Thank you.’
‘Thank you? For what?’
‘For an honest answer.’
If the Doctor had anything to say to this, he didn’t get the chance. A Cyberman stood in the doorway from the stairs. It stepped out onto the roof. Lightning stabbed through the sky, and the flagpole sizzled with energy. The components the Doctor had fitted glowed and hummed into life.
Behind the Cyberman came another. They marched towards where the Doctor and Victor stood watching.
‘Not enough power yet,’ the Doctor said quietly. ‘We need more lightning. More time.’
‘You will come with us,’ the first Cyberman said.
‘Why?’ the Doctor demanded.
‘You display knowledge and intelligence beyond these other primitive humans. You are of value to us.’ The Cyberman turned to Victor. ‘You will be fully converted. You will be like us.’
‘No,’ Victor said. ‘I will never be like you.’
‘You have no choice.’
The storm was growing rapidly. Rain sheeted down, drenching the Doctor and cascading down the Cybermen’s armour. Another bolt of lightning struck the top of the tower.
‘F
elt the heat of that,’ the Doctor said. ‘Not long now. I hope.’
‘You will come now.’ The Cybermen reached out for Victor and the Doctor.
‘No – leave them alone!’
The shout came from the top of the stairs. Marie Ernhardt hurried out onto the roof. ‘Get away from my son!’
But the Cybermen ignored her. One of them grabbed Victor’s metal arms. The other closed in on the Doctor.
Victor fought back, but he was held tight – however the Watchman had assembled his body, it was weaker than the other Cybermen. Marie grabbed the Cyberman, prising its grip away from Victor’s arms. Victor was knocked aside, crashing into the wall. One of the parapets broke away under the impact, the stone crashing down into the courtyard far below.
For a moment, Victor teetered on the edge of the tower. One foot slipped back, into space. Then Marie rushed across and grabbed his flailing metal arm. She heaved him back to safety.
The Cyberman she had been grappling with was close behind her. It reached for Victor again, arms about to close on him in a deadly embrace. But Marie grabbed it, dragged it away. The Cyberman turned, lashing out. The blow caught the woman across the shoulders, knocking her backwards. She clutched at the arm as she fell – dragging the Cyberman with her. Dragging it over the edge of the tower.
Locked together, the two figures fell through the gap in the broken parapet and disappeared from sight.
‘No!’ Victor shouted.
But they were gone.
More Cybermen emerged from the stairway and advanced across the storm-swept roof. Two of them grabbed Victor.
‘Doctor?’ the metal man implored.
Lightning split the sky. Thunder echoed round the valley.
‘That should do it!’ With a tremendous effort, the Doctor pulled himself away from the Cyberman holding him and watched as the indicator lights on his makeshift power converter showed that it had reached maximum capacity.
‘Brace yourself, Victor,’ he yelled.
And nothing happened.
Chapter 18
If the Cybermen were becoming slowly more sluggish, Victor now seemed re-energised. But the Doctor warned him to do nothing – for the moment.
Doctor Who: Plague of the Cybermen Page 15
