DOCTOR WHO AND THE CLAWS OF AXOS

by Terrance Dicks

  As the sentry leaned over to help the Master to his feet, the Master smashed him to the ground with one savage blow. He ran quickly away into the trees.

  A few minutes later, Filer came across the unconscious body of the sentry, and guessed it was the work of the Master. Filer drew his gun and reloaded it, then set off for the Nuton Complex at a run.

  The Doctor and Winser examined the blob of Axonite as it sat smugly within its casket. They had subjected it to every imaginable laboratory test, and come up with precisely nothing. Winser slammed his fist down on the bench. 'Dammit, it must show some response to something.'

  The Doctor shook his head. 'It's programmed not to. It's deliberately resisting analysis.'

  Winser regarded him bitterly. 'Well go on—say, "I told you so".'

  'I told you so,' repeated the Doctor obligingly. 'Now perhaps you'll listen. Particle acceleration is the only answer. Break it down and force it to analyse itself! '

  'No. I won't risk my equipment.'

  'Then will you risk mine?'

  'I thought you said this... TARDIS wasn't working.'

  'Ah well—there is a certain malfunction in the drive system, but the rest is all right. If we could link through to the reactor and bypass the malfunction...'

  Winser began to look more hopeful. 'If your equipment is compatible with my Particle Accelerator... it might work...'

  And so might the TARDIS, thought the Doctor, though he didn't say so aloud. 'Well, it's worth a try, isn't it? After all, what else is there left to use? Now if you can convince the powers that be to bring my TARDIS down here... It's not far away, at UNIT H.Q.'

  'Just you leave it to me.' Winser marched towards the iron staircase with the air of a man determined to stand no nonsense.

  The Doctor smiled, and looked at the casket of Axonite. 'And now for you, my friend,' he murmured quietly. The Doctor was sure Chinn wouldn't agree immediately—which meant Winser would be tied up for quite some time.

  Carefully picking up the golden casket, the Doctor moved towards the Particle Accelerator.

  He put the Axonite down on the console, and began adjusting control-settings. He had just pulled back the transparent door when he heard the lab door open. Presumably Winser had returned unexpectedly... But when he looked up he saw that it wasn't Winser. It was Filer. 'Filer, my dear chap. Did you escape?' There was no reply. The Doctor looked again. The newcomer certainly looked like Filer, exactly like him. But he held himself with a certain stiffness, and the face was completely expressionless. The Doctor had encountered human replication before, during his battle with the Autons. So despite the amazing resemblance, he wasn't deceived by the creature that stalked towards him. This Filer was a fake.

  The Doctor was even more sure when the replica spoke. The flatness of the voice was another give-away. 'Come with me, Doctor. You must come to Axos.'

  'Nonsense,' said the Doctor briskly. 'I've no intention of coming with you anywhere. You're not Filer.'

  'Come to Axos.' The replica seized the Doctor's arm in an iron grip, repeating the phrase like a broken record. 'You must come to Axos.'

  The Doctor felt himself being dragged towards the laboratory door. Only his knowledge of Venusian Aikido enabled him to break free. He gripped the replica's arm, twisted, threw... The fake Filer reeled across the laboratory and slammed into a bench, sending retorts and test tubes crashing to the floor.

  A human being would have been stunned by such a fall. But the Axon stumbled to its feet and headed back towards the Doctor. 'You will come to Axos.' Its arm flashed out with amazing speed, clubbing the Doctor to the ground. The Axon began dragging him to the door.

  Suddenly another, identical figure appeared in the doorway—the real Filer. The replica dropped the Doctor, and moved in to the attack.

  Confronted by his double, Bill Filer reacted with swift efficiency. He sprang forward and delivered two swift chopping blows which should have knocked the creature out. It ignored the blows, moving forward remorselessly. Bill Filer backed away drawing his Colt Cobra. 'Doc, keep down,' he yelled, and pulled the trigger again and again.

  The crash of the heavy revolver filled the laboratory. The impact of the bullets sent the replica staggering back—but that was all. Recovering its balance it stalked forward once more...

  Abandoning his gun, Filer closed with it. They fought fiercely, exchanging savage blows. Like the Doctor before him, Filer found himself no match for the Axon's inhuman strength. He managed to trip it and send it staggering... Filer grabbed a lab stool to smash down on the Axon—and the Doctor staggered dazedly to his feet and grabbed him. Desperately the real Filer yelled, 'No, Doc, no... it's me! '

  The Doctor realised he was wrestling with the real flesh and blood. Releasing Filer he swung round. They were just in front of the Particle Accelerator—and the Axon replica, on its feet once more, was rushing towards them. They jumped aside, Filer thrust out a foot—and the Axon shot straight through the open door of the Particle Accelerator. Quickly the Doctor slammed the door shut behind it, leaped to the power-lever and yanked it up to maximum.

  Through the transparent door Filer looked on in horror at what seemed like his own destruction. The Axon replica disintegrated in the fierce blast of energy, turning first to a seething blob of Axonite, and then to a fine powdery dust. Shuddering, Filer turned away. 'I'm sure glad that wasn't me in there!'

  The Doctor was at the control, closing down the Particle Accelerator. 'You're sure it isn't?'

  'Am I sure? Doc, you don't think...'

  The Doctor grinned. 'No, I don't. Not as long as you go on calling me Doc. No Axon would ever be so frivolous!'

  Somewhat belatedly an armed guard ran into the laboratory. The Doctor looked severely at him. 'I'm afraid you're too late, my man. The excitement's over. Now then, be so good as to take me to the Brigadier! '

  The Master stood on a pedestrian footbridge which spanned the access road to Nuton Complex, studying the scene before him. His vantage point gave a good view of the main gate. Agitated sentries were running about like disturbed ants, and a stretcher-party was carrying away an unconscious body.

  The Master had just seen the Axon replica of Filer gain entry to the Complex by clubbing down the sentry. Minutes later, he had seen the real Filer run through the unguarded gate. The Master smiled. It seemed almost certain that the clumsy Axon scheme to kidnap the Doctor had failed. Unfortunately it had stirred up the Nuton Complex so much that it was impossible for the Master to get in and deal with the Doctor himself.

  He stood silently for a moment, pondering his next move, his black-clad figure almost invisible in the shadows. An army lorry drove slowly across the compound. The driver showed a pass to the sentries and drove out of the main gate, towards the bridge. Acting on impulse the Master climbed nimbly onto the railing of the footbridge. As the lorry passed beneath him he dropped neatly onto the roof.

  The UNIT lorry rumbled steadily along the country roads. Glancing into his driving mirror, the driver suddenly saw not the road behind him but a face. A bearded face with dark burning eyes that stared into his own. A voice said, 'I am the Master. You will obey me. Pull into the side of the road.' For some reason it was impossible to disobey that voice. The driver did as he was told. Once the lorry was still, a black-clad figure climbed from the roof and into the passenger seat. A few minutes later, the lorry drove on its way.

  As the ranking member of UNIT, the Brigadier had been confined in one of the Nuton Complex's VIP guest suites. Yates and Benton shared simpler quarters with the men. The Brigadier's accommodation was comfortable, even luxurious, but that didn't make imprisonment any less irksome. Watched by Jo, the Brigadier was pacing angrily to and fro, when he heard a familiar voice in the corridor outside. 'Good heavens, man, I know the Brigadier's incommunicado. I'm incommunicado myself. There's no reason why we can't talk to each other.'

  In the corridor outside, the sentry was at a loss. Certainly there seemed no reason why one prisoner shouldn't talk to
another prisoner... To his relief, Captain Harker came along the corridor. 'All right, what's going on?' The Doctor repeated his demand to see the Brigadier. Harker considered. 'All right. Let him through.' The sentry opened the door and the Doctor went in. Filer was about to follow when Harker said politely. 'I'm sorry, sir, I don't think I know you.'

  Hurriedly Filer produced an impressive-looking pass. 'Bill Filer, American Intelligence. I've got orders to interrogate these guys.'

  Harker looked narrowly at him then nodded. 'Very well.' Filer followed the Doctor into the room, and the sentry closed the door. Harker lowered his voice. 'I'm by no means satisfied about all this. I'm going to check with Mr Chinn. Keep them both here till I get back.'

  Inside the suite the Doctor and his friends were having a rapid reunion. The Doctor was hurriedly bringing the Brigadier up to date with everything that had been happening. 'So you see,' the Doctor concluded, 'after Filer saw the Master inside Axos, the Axons copied him, and sent the replica to kidnap me. Then Filer, the real Filer, managed to escape—and he saw the Axons turning the Master loose.'

  The Brigadier felt his head spinning with the flood of explanations. 'So what does all this mean, Doctor?'

  'Well, for a start it means that the Axons' whole story is a pack of lies.'

  'According to the Master they're some kind of space scavenger,' confirmed Filer. 'He said they'd destroy all life on Earth.'

  'Which also means,' the Doctor continued, 'that we must keep Axonite confined to this Complex till we discover more about it.'

  The door opened and Captain Harker came in. There was a revolver in his hand and an armed sentry behind him. 'Nobody move, please. Sentry, take this man's gun.' Filer handed over his revolver. Harker looked grimly at them. 'Well, you wanted to be here—and here you stay. My instructions are to confine you all in this suite.'

  He was about to leave when the Doctor snapped, 'If you must "confine" me it had better be in the laboratory. I'm here to help with the Axonite experiments. Ask Doctor Winser if you don't believe me.'

  'Doctor Winser happens to be in conference with Mr Chinn and Sir George Hardiman.'

  'Then take me back to the laboratory, and check with Winser when he's free. Dammit man, you might at least put me back where you found me! '

  Harker sighed. 'Very well, Doctor. You'll be confined to the laboratory. But no more expeditions please!'

  The Doctor was hustled out. Jo and the Brigadier found themselves imprisoned once more—though this time with Filer for company. Jo squeezed his hand. 'Never mind, Bill. At least it's better than Axos.'

  The Master watched a sweating squad of UNIT soldiers manhandle the Doctor's TARDIS onto a trolley and out of the laboratory. He smiled ironically to himself. The last time he had been in UNIT H.Q. it was in the disguise of a humble telephone engineer, on one of his unsuccessful attempts to kill the Doctor. It pleased him to return in a more exalted role—a visiting scientist from the Nuton Complex, vouched for by the UNIT lorry-driver.

  A little simple hypnosis had soon extracted the driver's orders and ensured his further co-operation. The Master was scarcely able to believe his own luck. The lorry was on its way to UNIT to collect the TARDIS and take it back to the Nuton Complex. The Master had decided to allow the driver to carry out his mission—adding one or two little flourishes of his own.

  He followed the trolley down the corridor then turned off into another room where a puzzled UNIT R/T operator sat over his radio. For some time he had been trying to reach the Brigadier at his mobile H.Q. at Nuton. However he had only succeeded in reaching a stolid regular army operator who continually repeated that the Brigadier was 'not available.'

  The operator looked up as the Master came into the room. 'Can I help you, sir?'

  The Master smiled. 'You can indeed. I have an important message—for immediate world-wide distribution.'

  'I'm sorry, sir. Only authorised personnel can use the international hook-up.'

  The Master laid a hand on the operator's shoulder. 'Ah, but I'm a special case. I am the Master.' His voice hardened. 'I am the Master, and you will obey me...'

  A short time later, the UNIT lorry was speeding back towards Nuton, the tarpaulin-covered TARDIS in the back. The Master sat beside the driver, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. He found it very appropriate that the message which would mean the final doom of Earth had been sent from the heart of the organisation dedicated to its protection. One bird had been killed. It only remained to kill the other. When the TARDIS arrived at Nuton, the Doctor wouldn't be very far away. The Master smiled, and fingered the laser-gun beneath his coat.

  7

  The Axons Attack

  Alone in Winser's laboratory, the Doctor was busy at the controls of the Particle Accelerator. The episode of the fake Filer had taken up valuable time. He wasn't sure how much longer he'd have the run of Winser's laboratory. As he worked, he delivered a running commentary into the control console's built-in tape recorder. 'My dear Winser,' he began, 'I do hope you will forgive this unauthorised use of your precious equipment. In case of anything going wrong, I have left you this recording of what not to do! I am now about to place the Axonite in the Accelerator...'

  The Doctor took the lid from the golden casket, opened the doors of the Particle Accelerator, and placed the container inside. Slamming the trans-parent doors, he continued recording. 'I am planning to split off a stream of Axonite particles and accelerate them through Time. I'm already linked to the computer, and my intention is to force the Axonite to analyse itself on the print-out.'

  The Doctor closed his hand over the main power lever and began pulling it very slowly towards him. In dealing with the fake Filer he had been forced to subject the Axon creature to a single colossal blast of energy, simply in order to destroy it. The idea now was to stimulate the Axonite with a series of carefully graduated rises in particle acceleration. The Doctor wasn't quite sure what would happen—but he was pretty certain that something would...

  His voice calm and steady, the Doctor continued recording, as he drew the power-lever slowly back. 'Reactor One activated. Accelerating... point one... two... three...' Inside the casket, the Axonite began to bubble and boil, sending off dazzling rays of multi-coloured light, like a burning jewel. A note of excitement came into the Doctor's voice. 'The Axonite is beginning to react...' He pulled the lever further towards him. 'Acceleration to speed of light... now!' Seething and bubbling the brightly-glowing Axonite overflowed the casket. In the laboratory, red lights flashed warningly, and the overload alarms began to ring...

  In the nearby Axon ship the results of the Doctor's little experiment were even more dramatic. The Axon leader's golden face disintegrated into a streaming mass, as the stresses became too great for him to retain his personalised form. He stumbled towards the Brain. Around him the whole ship seemed to seethe and bubble, much like the Axonite in the Particle Accelerator. Since Axos and Axonite were one, the whole of Axos was disrupted. A shrill note of alarm filled the air.

  As the Axon leader ran into the Brain area the Eye of Axos was lashing wildly to and fro on its stalk. There was hysteria in the whispering voice. 'Emergency, emergency! Nutrition cycle has been activated prematurely. Immediate recovery of the Axonite sample is essential, essential, essential...' The voice rose to a scream that echoed round the ship...

  His golden form now disintegrated into a many-tentacled mass, the Axon leader ran from the area.

  In the Nuton Complex, alarm bells were ringing loudly. Captain 'Harker's first thought was that his prisoners must have escaped. He ran along to the guest suite, relieved to find the sentry still outside the door. 'Are the prisoners in there?'

  'Far as I know, sir... unless they've broken out by a window...'

  'We'd better check.'

  The sentry opened the door, and Captain Harker ran inside—straight into an uppercut from the Brigadier that dropped him to the carpet, out cold. The astonished Filer acted by reflex, chopping down the sentry as he followed Har
ker into the room. Filer turned to the Brigadier, who was rubbing his knuckles. 'Hey, what's going on? Are we pulling a break-out?'

  'Sudden impulse,' explained the Brigadier crisply. 'All at once I got very tired of being locked up. Now I must get a message through to the U.N. You two go and find the Doctor. I'll join you later.'

  Stepping over the two prone bodies, the Brigadier marched briskly out of the room. Filer shrugged. 'Well, I guess we'd better do as he says. Where is the Doc?'

  'I suppose he's still in the laboratory,' answered Jo. 'Let's go and see, shall we?'

  Despite the clanging alarm bells, no one tried to stop them as they ran to the laboratory. They found the Doctor in front of the throbbing Particle Accelerator, staring in total absorption at a pulsating blob of Axonite which had already grown enormously in size. Jo grabbed his arm, raising her voice above the whine of the machinery. 'What's going on, Doctor?'

  He didn't seem in the least surprised to see her. 'Just a little test, Jo. Look at the Axonite! It's now taking the entire output of Reactor One and absorbing it. Absorbing the whole lot, and using it to grow... Marvellous!'

  There was a clatter of footsteps as Winser ran down the steps from the main control room. He didn't seem to share the Doctor's enthusiasm. In fact he was almost hysterical with rage. 'What's going on here?' With the strength of anger he flung the Doctor away from the controls. 'Get away from my equipment, you idiot. You're wrecking the whole apparatus!'

  Slamming the power-lever back to close-down he ran to the transparent doors.

  'Winser, don't,' yelled the Doctor. 'That's live Axonite in there!' He was too late. Winser flung open the doors—and the ever-growing blob of Axonite sucked him in and engulfed him. He vanished at once, totally absorbed by its seething mass.

  Jo screamed and turned away in horror. The Doctor leaped to the transparent doors, and slammed them shut. Fascinated. he stood staring at the huge mass of Axonite swelling before them—still growing, despite the shut-down in power.