'I'm afraid we haven't time for that,' the Doctor said briskly. 'One of my companions was lost in the Wastelands almost as soon as we arrived. I'd be very glad if you'd give us some help in finding her.'
Mogran looked ill-at-ease. Glancing around for a solution he caught sight of General Ravon, and passed the buck with polished skill. 'I'm afraid that's outside my sphere. But General Ravon here will give you all the help he can. I must go and inform Davros of my Commitee's decision.' Mogran left the room, and Harry turned aggressively to Ravon. He didn't much fancy leaving Sarah's fate in the hands of one who'd so recently been their enemy.
'Well, General,' he demanded, 'can you help us?'
'As a matter of fact, I believe I can,' Ravon replied surprisingly. 'One of our agents inside the Thal dome sent a report about a newly arrived girl prisoner who led some kind of breakout among the slave-workers. Gave the Thals a lot of trouble before she was recaptured.'
Harry said eagerly, 'Well, that certainly sounds like Sarah. What's all this about slaves?'
'The Thals are using prisoners to load their last great rocket. It's their super-weapon. They think they'll win the war with it.'
'You don't seem very worried.'
Ravon smiled confidently. 'No matter how powerful the rocket, it will never penetrate our protective dome. Davros had it reinforced with a protective coating, a new substance with the strength of thirty-foot concrete.'
'Congratulations,' said the Doctor drily. 'Now how can you help us find Sarah?'
Ravon looked doubtful. 'One of my agents could get you into the service shafts under the Thal rocket silo. But after that, you'd be on your own.'
'Understood,' said the Doctor. 'Let's be on our way.'
He seemed ready to set off at once. Harry caught his arm. 'I'm as anxious to rescue Sarah as you are, Doctor, but do you think there'd be time for a bite to eat first? It's been all go since we arrived.'
The Doctor looked at Ravon who said, 'Yes, of course. Come with me and I'll arrange it.'
As they followed him from the room Harry said, 'I suppose we'll have to cross those Wastelands again.'
'That's right.' The Doctor smiled. 'And then our troubles will really begin.' You might almost have thought he was looking forward to it.
Councilor Mogran was an extremely worried man. Somehow everything was going far too smoothly. He'd expected fiercely determined opposition from Davros. Instead he was encountering an unnerving degree of cooperation. 'An investigation?' Davros was saying. 'But of course, Councilor Mogran. I welcome your inquiry into my work here. The Kaled people sacrifice much to give us the materials we need. They have a right to know how our work is proceeding. My only hope is that when they learn of our achievements their patriotism will be re-fired.'
Mogran could say little in face of such sentiments. "I am grateful for the way you have accepted this decision, Davros. There is one thing more-until the inquiry is concluded, all work on the Daleks must be suspended.'
'If that is your wish, then I must obey. It will take time to close down certain equipment. Shall we say twenty-four hours?'
The request was so reasonable that Mogran did not dare to refuse it entirely. 'Shall we say twelve hours?' he countered.
'It will be difficult—but it will be done.'
Mogran prepared to leave. 'Then it remains only for me to thank you for your co-operation.'
Davros bowed his ghastly skull-like head. 'It is simply my duty. The investigation will revealonly my loyalty and total dedication to our cause.'
Mogran left the laboratory. Nyder, who had been a silent witness to the confrontation, leanedover Davros's chair. 'We cannot allow this investigation. The stupidest councilors cannot fail to see that the Daleks will give you total power. They will end the experiment.'
'There will be no investigation,' Davros answered. 'Mogran has just signed the death-warrantof his city. Only we, the Elite, will go on.'
Nyder looked at him in astonishment, but said nothing.
'I want twenty of the genetically mutated creatures installed in the machines immediately. They will be our shock-troops in the battle for survival.'
'they're still erratic, mentally unstable,' Nyder protested.
'They will not be allowed total self-control. I shall prepare a computer program to limit their actions. Come, Nyder. We are going on a journey!'
The Doctor and Harry were close to their destination—the Thal rocket silo where they hoped to find and rescue Sarah. After a hasty meal, Ravon had handed them over to one of his agents, a weasel-faced man who spoke only when strictly necessary. Disguised in the hooded cloaks of mutos, the Doctor and Harry had been led by way of hidden paths and abandoned trenches across the central Wastelands to the outskirts of the Thal dome. Shifting a carefully hidden hatchway, the agent had then gone underground, leading them through an interminable series of cramped tunnels and passageways where mysterious machinery hummed and throbbed. Finally he had stopped in a corridor junction, pointing to a ladder, bolted to the wall, which gave access to a hatch cover. 'You're right underneath the silo now. That's all I can do for you. Here's your map!' And with that he had slipped away into the darkness.
Harry and the Doctor stripped off their muto disguise. 'Well, might as well get on with it,' said the Doctor. He climbed the ladder till he was high enough to raise the hatch cover a few inches and peep through the gap. 'Seems clear enough. Come on, Harry.' Carefully the Doctor lifted the hatch and climbed through, reaching down to help Harry after him.
They replaced the cover and looked at their surroundings. They were in a featureless concrete corridor. Nearby was a door, the top-half glassed in. A notice read, LAUNCH CONTROL. The Doctor checked his map. 'We seem to have surfaced in the administrative block,' he whispered. "But we're pretty near the rocket.'
Impelled by his usual curiosity, the Doctor couldn't resist a swift peep through the glass panel in the Launch Control door. He stiffened in sudden surprise and beckoned Harry over. Harry joined him. The place was crowded with all the paraphernalia of a rocket control room, but now it was full of people too. Some wore military uniform, others robes like those of Kaled councilmen, though of different design. They were surrounding two central figures, who were set apart from the rest. To Harry's astonishment he saw Davros, in his wheelchair, Nyder beside him. He nudged the Doctor. 'What's the chief scientist of the Kaleds doing in the Thal rocket base?'
The Doctor touched a finger to his lips. With infinite caution he opened the door the merest crack, and Harry heard the metallic, inhuman tones of Davros. '...my concern is only for peace, for an end to the carnage that has virtually destroyed both races.'
Davros was talking to a high-ranking Thal minister, summoned especially for this incredible meeting. Like his Kaled opposite number Mogran, the minister was a tall, imposing man with an air of great authority. There was scepticism in his voice. 'Why not try to convince the Kaled government to make peace?'
'I have tried, time and time again. They will settle for nothing less than total extermination of the Thals.'
Davros's deliberately provocative announcement was greeted with angry murmurings. 'Then they deserve to perish:' the minister replied coldly. 'And perish they shall. Our rocket—'
'—will be a total failure.' The voice of Davros completed the sentence. 'The Kaled city dome cannot be penetrated. It is protected by a special material of my invention. Your rocket will hardly scratch it—unless you accept my help.' Nyder produced a sheaf of papers and held them out. 'This is the measure of our sincerity. A simple chemical formula. Load the substance into normal artillery shells and bombard the Kaled dome. The dome will be weakened, its molecular structure made brittle. Then your rocket will penetrate with virtually no resistance.'
The Minister took the papers and looked at them incredulously. 'Why do you give us this information, when it means the end of your city?' 'No price is too great for peace,' Davros said solemnly. 'When the war is finally over, I ask only to be allowed to take part in
the reconstruction of our world. And, remember, by dawn tomorrow this planet could be at peace.'
The Minister spoke slowly, 'If you would give me a moment to confer with my colleagues alone?' Davros's chair began moving toward the door.
The Doctor and Harry ducked back, and disappeared around the corner. After a moment they heard Nyder's lowered voice. 'Do you think they believed you, Davros?'
'They are hungry for victory. They will use the formula and fire their rocket, no matter what they think.'
The door opened and again they heard the minister's voice. 'A barrage of shells containing the formula will begin at once. The rocket launch will follow immediately. I shall see that you are given safe escort from the city.'
As the Minister led his two visitors away, the Doctor and Harry emerged from hiding. "We'll have to warn the Kaleds,' muttered the Doctor.
'Not before we find Sarah,' Harry said firmly.
'Of course not,' agreed the Doctor. 'Come on, Harry, don't just stand there.'
Guided by the Kaled spys map, they made their way along the corridors toward the rocket. Suddenly the Doctor heard footsteps approaching from an intersecting corridor. He peered round the corner and saw two Thal guards, both dressed in antiradiation suits, marching along the corridor toward him. He ducked back, whispered a few words to Harry, and then stepped blithely around the corner. Hat on the back of his head, long scarf dangling, the Doctor had passed the two guards before they had time to take in his extraordinary appearance. As soon as it did register, both guards spun round, rifles leveled. 'Hey,' called one of them. 'Who are you?'
The Doctor walked back toward them, his eyes wide and innocent. 'Well, as a matter of fact I'm a spy. I wonder if you could help me-I'm looking for this rocket of yours...'
The astonished guard gaped at him—giving Harry Sullivan time to fell him with a rabbit-punch below the ear. The first guard dropped, the second turned—and the Doctor knocked him out. They dragged their victims around the corner and out of sight.
Beneath the towering bulk of the huge rocket, the motley band of slave workers was coming to the end of their task. Sarah staggered wearily as she came out of the rocket. Sevrin caught her by the arm, supporting her. One of the guards laughed. 'Don't worry, that was the last consignment. You can have all the rest you need now.'
As the prisoners came out of the rocket they were bunched into a group under the rifles of a couple of guards. The rest of the Thal soldiers marched away. Sarah looked at Sevrin. 'If the rocket is loaded, why are they keeping us here?' The giant muto shrugged. 'Why should they bother to move us?'
Sarah looked up at the rocket. 'But when that thing goes off, we'll all be killed.'
'Our lives are of no more interest to them.' Sevrin seemed resigned to his fate, but Sarah certainly was not. Their second shift on the rocket had been a fairly short one, and so far Sarah was feeling no ill effects other than normal tiredness. She was fairly sure her exposure had been too short to do serious damage, and she was by no means ready to abandon hope of escape.
She looked around. Only two guards now—they could always have another go at breaking out. Her heart sank as two more guards in radiation suits walked into the silo. They walked up to the soldiers guarding the prisoners, then suddenly jumped them. There was a flurry of blows and the Thal soldiers were knocked out. The new arrivals started removing their radiation suits. To her amazement and delight, Sarah found herself looking at the Doctor and Harry Sullivan.
The Doctor ran across and gave her a hug. 'Are you all right, Sarah?'
'I am now,' she said. 'But weve got to get out of here. The Thals are just about to set this rocket off.'
'I know. Sarah, you've got to go with Harry. Harry, here's the map, you can find a way out. Get to the Kaled dome and tell General Ravon what we've learned. He must evacuate at once.'
Sarah looked at the Doctor sadly, realizing that their reunion was to be very brief. 'What are you going to do?'
'I'll try to sabotage the rocket and delay the launch. There's no time to argue, off you go!' He turned to the other prisoners. 'Go on, all of you- you're free. Escape while you can!'
Dazedly the prisoners began stumbling off. Sarah noticed a bewildered Sevrin staring about. 'You come with us, Sevrin,' she called. The muto moved over to join them.
The Doctor waved his arms. 'Off you go, the lot of you—I've work to do.'
Sarah still hesitated, but he was obviously quite determined. Harry took her arm. 'Come along, old girl, or we'll all be caught.' Sarah allowed him to lead her away.
Harry took Sarah and Sevrin out of the silo and along the corridors. His eyes were on theground and he stopped when he saw a hatch like the one they'd emerged from. 'This'll do.'With Sevrin helping, Harry lifted the hatch and sent first Sevrin, then Sarah down into the darkness of the service tunnel. just as he was about to climb down himself, Thal soldiers ran round the corner, firing as they came. Harry bolted through the hatchway, bullets whizzing over his head, landing on top of Sarah and Sevrin. 'Come on, they're after us,' he yelled. The three disentangled themselves and set off along the tunnel at a run.
In the silo the Doctor heard the sound of firing and hoped his friends were still safe. Then he dismissed them from his mind, reserving all his concentration for the task at hand. He studied the rocket thoughtfully. Perhaps if he started by severing the exterior fuel lines... The Doctor took a knife from the body of an unconscious guard and purposefully approached the massivetail fin of the rocket. He leaned forward, jabbed with the knife... there was a sudden shower of blue sparks, and a crackling noise. Twisting in agony, the Doctor's body was thrown clear across the silo. He crashed to the ground and lay still.
In the Rocket control room, a technician studied a flickering dial. 'Better check the silo,' he called to a guard. 'Someone's trying sabotage.'
The Thal minister, waiting to watch the launch, said anxiously, 'Any damage?'
The technician shook his head. 'He ran into our electrical defense system. Probably dead by now.' In the silo, guards were running toward the motionless body of the Doctor.
7 COUNTDOWN TO DESTRUCTION
The Doctor heard a voice moaning and muttering. 'Must stop rocket... warn...' To his surprise he realized the voice was his own.
There came another voice. 'Still alive is he? A shock like that should have killed him immediately.'
Then a gruffer voice, 'What do we do with him, Minister?'
'Oh, I've no time now,' said the first voice fussily. 'Leave him where he is till after the launch. I'll interrogate him myself if I've time. Otherwise you chaps can have him.'
The Doctor opened his eyes cautiously, then closed them again, since the whole room was spinning like a Catherine wheel. He made a mighty effort and tried again, first one eye than the other. He was in the rocket control room, the room in which he'd watched Davros betray his people not so long ago. But he couldn't move...
The Doctor realized that he had been lashed by the arms into a wheeled metal chair and shoved into a corner, a piece of unimportant, unfinished business to be dealt with later. The room was a bustle of activity as civilian and military VIPs got in the way of the technical staff desperately preparing for the countdown.
The minister was looking at a monitor screen which showed a picture of the Kaled City beneath its protective dome. The dome was in a bad state now, broken in several places, with creeping stain spreading over its surface. 'It's working,' said the minister exultantly. 'The Kaled dome is breaking up. Starting the countdown!'
Helpless in his chair the Doctor shouted 'No—you can't.' No one took any notice—except for the guard, who gave him an absent-minded cuff to silence him. Everyone was intent on the big digital clock which dominated the main control panel. It was counting down from fifty—forty-nine, fortyeight, forty-seven...
Other monitors were alive now, showing the missile on its launch pad. The clock was still counting down, through the thirties, twenties, into single figures ... ten, nine, eight, sev
en, six, five ... Using the wall behind him as a lever, the Doctor kicked fiercely backward, sending his wheeled chair skidding into the main control console. He lashed frantically with his feet at the instrument panel, but the guard pulled him back, and the Doctor's feet flailed uselessly in the air. Two ... one... blast-off! Helplessly the Doctor watched as the missile lifted from its pad and set off on the brief journey toward the Kaled dome.
Now everyone's attention shifted back to the monitors showing the dome as, battered and broken, it awaited final destruction. There was a blinding flash, a distant explosion that shook the control room. When the smoke cleared the Kaled dome had disappeared. Flames roared in the crater that had replaced it, like those of some newly born volcano.
Cheers and shouts echoed through the Thal control room. Only the Doctor sat silent, his head slumped on his chest, appalled as always by the corrupting brutality of war. Thousands of their fellow-creatures dead, and these people were cheering. On top of that, there was his own, personal loss. He had sent Sarah and Harry back to the Kaled City—the city that was now no more than a guttering inferno on the monitor screen.
The same terrible picture was seen on another monitor screen, this one in Davros's Bunker, some miles from the Kaled City. The Bunker had been far enough away, and sufficiently deep underground to escape the effects of the rocket. Davros and his Elite Corps of scientists and security men were quite unharmed.
Davros wheeled his chair away from the screen. 'Switch it off,' he ordered, and one of the scientists hurried to obey. Davros turned to the awe-stricken group around him. 'Never fear, my friends. We shall avenge the destruction of our city with retaliation so massive and so merciless that it will live in history.' He touched the control of his chair arm and a group of three Daleks glided into the laboratory. They formed a line before Davros, awaiting his commands. Davros looked around the room. 'Let our vengeance begin with the destruction of the Thal agent, Ronson. It was he who betrayed us to the Thals. He gave them the formula which made possible the destruction of our beloved city.'
Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks Page 6
