Doctor Who and the Robots of Death

by Terrance Dicks

  'You thought you'd get away with it, didn't you,' screamed the voice. 'Well, now I've got proof!'

  'Zilda, have you gone mad?' Uvanov checked an indicator to see where the voice was coming from. 'What are you doing in my quarters?'

  'You filthy murderer!' The voice echoed through the control room. Uvanov gave an agonised look at the spectrograph screen. 'Take over, Toos—and don't lose that storm!' He ran from the control room.

  Zilda's voice came pouring from the speaker. 'You filthy, murdering, disgusting animal...'

  'Uvanov's on his way down,' called Toos. 'Zilda, what's wrong?' There was a click and the speaker went dead.

  Dask said thoughtfully, 'It appears that the killings have affected her mind.'

  'No, it's more than that,' said Toos. 'Something's happened. She's found something out...'

  Poul showed the Doctor and Leela into the crewroom. 'You two wait here, I'll go and get the others.' He hovered agitatedly in the doorway. 'If you're right about this, Doctor... You can't imagine what it means...'

  'What do you mean, I can't imagine?' said the Doctor indignantly. 'Of course I can imagine. This isn't the only robot-dominated society in the galaxy, you know.'

  There was a buzz from the communicator, and Poul hurried over to it. 'Poul here.'

  The voice of Toos came from the speaker. 'Poul, Zilda just came over on the command speaker and accused Uvanov of being the killer. You'd better get over to his quarters as fast as you can. He left Control like a scale twenty storm!'

  'I'm on my way. Stay here, you two.' Poul dashed from the room.

  Leela looked at the Doctor to see if they should follow, but he shook his head. 'No, sit down, Leela. Whatever's happening has happened by now, and I've got to think.' He sunk back onto a couch. 'What was it you called the robots, Leela?'

  'Creepy mechanical men?'

  'Yes... you know, people never really lose that feeling of unease about robots. The more of them there are the greater the unease, and, of course, the greater the dependence. It's a vicious circle. People can neither live with their robots, nor exist without them.'

  'So, what happens if this strangler really is a robot?'

  The Doctor paused, considering how the contagion of fear could spread through a planet like some terrible plague. Robots everywhere destroyed in blind panic, technology grinding to a halt... 'Oh, I should think it means the end of this civilisation!'

  Poul shot through the door of Uvanov's office and came to a halt. Zilda was sitting at Uvanov's desk. Uvanov stood behind her, his hands on her throat. As Poul watched, Uvanov released his grip and Zilda slid slowly forwards until she lay slumped, face down across the desk.

  She was dead.

  8 Sabotage

  As Poul moved slowly forward, Uvanov looked dazedly up at him.

  'Strangled, like the others.' Gently he stroked Zilda's hair.

  'Yes,' said Poul quietly. 'Just like the others.' He flicked his communicator. 'SV.7 to the Commander's quarters, please.'

  'She really hated me, you know. But I didn't hate her. I thought perhaps after this tour, if I became rich... Uvanov sighed, staring into some impossible future. Then suddenly, as if someone had flicked a switch, he became his old self again. 'I must be getting soft,' he said disgustedly. 'Now look, the two we found are still locked up, so there must be more of them on board. Get those tin-brained robots to make another search, a proper one this time. I'm going back to Control.'

  Poul barred his, way. 'No, Commander.'

  'What do you mean, no?'

  'I'm confining you to your quarters, relieving you of command.'

  'You're what?' Suddenly Uvanov realised what was in Poul's mind. 'Look, you fool, Zilda was dead when I got here.'

  'What were you doing then, making doubly sure?'

  'I was checking to see if she was still alive, feeling her throat for a pulse. Now, get out of my way.'

  Uvanov made a sudden rush. Poul stepped neatly to one side and floored him with one short, chopping blow. With an expression of utter astonishment on his face, Uvanov hit the floor.

  Leela stood poised in the centre of the crewroom, turning her head slowly from side to side. It was as if she was in the jungle of her native planet, trying to sense the presence of some hidden enemy. 'Something's wrong, Doctor.'

  'That's true,' said the Doctor gloomily. He seemed lost in thought.

  'No, I mean something different, some new danger. Something that could destroy us all.'

  'You're letting your imagination run away with you,' said the Doctor, but he didn't believe it. He knew Leela's instinct for approaching danger was uncannily accurate.

  'Doctor, can't you feel it?'

  'No, I can't,' said the Doctor irritably, 'and neither can you!'

  There was a sudden tremendous jolt that flung him from his couch onto the floor, the lights went out, there was a blare of alarm sirens and a scream of tortured motors.

  Slowly, the Doctor picked himself up. 'Please don't say I told you so,' he begged. The lights flickered then came on again, though more dimly this time.

  'What happened, Doctor?'

  'We'd better find out,' said the Doctor grimly. 'Come on!'

  On the Control deck Toos climbed to her feet, gripping the edge of a console with one hand. The other arm felt numb...

  Poul's voice came from the speaker. 'Toos, what's happened?'

  'Something must have jammed the motors.'

  'What does Borg say?'

  'Nothing, he doesn't answer. Dask has gone down to check.'

  'Well, I'm going too. Just try and hold her steady.'

  'Oh, thanks,' said Toos satirically. 'I'd never have thought of that!'

  Poul turned to see SV.7 standing in the doorway. 'Restrain the Commander,' he ordered.

  SV.7 looked down at Uvanov's body. 'The Commander is hurt?'

  'He'll be all right, but just keep him here.'

  Poul hurried away.

  The Control deck was being shaken by the steadily rising throb of the atomic motors. Toos was struggling unsuccessfully to restore things to normal. The ship had stopped, but the atomic motors were still churning. Power-levels were rising dangerously. Around her, robots went about routine duties with their usual calm. 'All motive units are now on overload,' said V.16 placidly. 'All readings are now ten per cent above the safety margin.'

  The Doctor hurried in and made his way across to Toos, Leela behind him. 'What happened?'

  She stared at him. 'How did you two get free?'

  'Never mind that,' said the Doctor impatiently. 'What's going on?'

  'We're out of control. It's all I can do to keep her upright!'

  The calm voice of V.16 came again. 'All motive units are still on overload,' said the robot brightly. 'All readings are now twenty per cent above safety.'

  'You'll have to cut the power,' snapped the Doctor.

  'If I do, we'll sink,' said Toos flatly.

  The Doctor nodded. Only the hovercraft-like action of its drive units kept the massive Sandminer afloat on the sea of fine sand. Without them it would sink like a crippled submarine, down, down, down, to unimaginable depths. But even so... 'If you don't cut the power, she'll blow herself to bits,' the Doctor pointed out.

  'And us with her,' said Leela.

  Toos's hand hovered over the controls in an agony of indecision. Suddenly Dask's voice came from the speaker. 'Hullo, Control. Are you, there, Toos?'

  Dask, what's happening down there?'

  'I have just found Borg,' said Dask. 'He appears to have been strangled.'

  'All readings are now thirty per cent above safety,' said V.16.

  'What's happened to the drive units?' asked Toos desperately.

  'The drive links appear to have been sabotaged in some way. I can try to repair them, though it's not my field. I'll need a Delta repair kit.'

  Toos shook her head. 'No, Dask, come back to Control, I need you here.' She looked hard at the Doctor.

  'I know what you're thinking,' he
said apologetically, 'but we had nothing to do with it—really!'

  Toos wasn't convinced. 'Strange how you're always around when something goes wrong.'

  'It's a gift,' said the Doctor cheerfully. 'Now, may I remind you that unless you cut the power we shall all be blown up?'

  Toos hesitated, but there was no alternative. 'V.14! Stop all motive units.'

  The robot's silver hands moved over a control panel. 'Motive units will not stop,' it reported placidly. 'We have negative response. Control failure is indicated.'

  Toos looked helplessly at the Doctor. 'Someone's sabotaged the drive controls. We can't cut the power.'

  'All readings are now forty per cent above safety,' added V.16 helpfully.

  'What's the final limit, before the motive unit reactors explode?'

  'I don't know. Can't be much over fifty per cent.'

  'Get me a severance kit now!'

  The scream of the motors had risen to a higher pitch, and the whole control room was shuddering and vibrating.

  'Severance kit quickly, V.3,' ordered Toos. A robot ran to a locker and returned with a plastic tool-pack. The Doctor opened it and began sorting through it. He took out a formidable-looking pair of insulated shears, and ripped the front panel from one of the two main power control consoles.

  'Doctor, what are you doing?' shouted Toos.

  'Fighting sabotage with sabotage. It's our only chance!'

  Dask ran into the control room, and paused in astonishment at the sight of the Doctor, not only free but apparently engaged in wrecking the control room. 'What are you doing? Get away from there.'

  The Doctor looked up. 'What? Ah, there you are. Just the man I need. Get the gentleman a severance kit, somebody.'

  A robot thrust a tool-kit into Dask's hand, and he stared at it in astonishment.

  'Well,' snapped the Doctor. 'Are you going to help me? Or would you rather we were all blown up?'

  The scream of the tortured atomic motors rose to a final crescendo.

  9 Pressure

  The Doctor waved Dask to the adjoining control-bank. 'We've got to cut the Zeta power-links. You do the port drive unit, I'll do starboard.'

  The Doctor was already groping inside the control console with the insulated shears, and a moment later Dask was at the other console, doing the same.

  They worked silently, sweat dripping from their foreheads. Suddenly, the Doctor gave a grunt of satisfaction. 'Got it!' There was a bright flash and a shower of sparks from the Doctor's console.

  'Now you, Dask,' shouted the Doctor. 'Get the other one!'

  Moments later there was a flash from Dask's console.

  The Doctor went over and slapped him on the back. 'Good man!'

  Dask straightened up, his usually impassive face showing sign of the tremendous strain. The tortured scream of the motors faded away.

  'All motive units are closing down,' said V.16, reporting success in exactly the same tones it had used for disaster. 'All readings falling to safety.'

  'Good,' said the Doctor cheerfully. 'Now our troubles really begin!'

  The scanner screen flickered and went dark.

  V.14 said, 'Surface scanners now inoperative.'

  'We're sinking,' said Dask, his voice as calm as that of the robot. Checking a depth gauge he added, 'Rate of descent, two metres per second.'

  The Doctor looked quizzically at him. 'I like a man who stays calm, Dask—but this isn't the Titanic, you know.'

  'I'm sorry, Doctor, I fail to understand the allusion.'

  'If the damaged motive units can be repaired,' said the Doctor impatiently, 'then the miner can refloat itself. But there's not much time, we'd better get on with it.'

  'I will see what I can do,' said Dask calmly.

  'Good! Let me give you a hand.'

  'That will not be necessary, Doctor. It will be better if you stay here and repair the control links.' Dask hurried away. The Doctor went over to the control console, reached for the toolkit, and set about repairing the damage he had just caused.

  Toos watched him anxiously. 'There's not much time, Doctor. Pressure on the hull is increasing all the time.'

  The Doctor went on working. 'I'm sure Dask knows what to do.'

  Leela sniffed. 'It's getting warmer. And the air smells different.'

  'The refrigeration and filtering systems are being affected by the pressure,' said Toos sombrely. She reached for a control, wincing as a stab of pain shot through her left shoulder.

  A light flashed on the communications console and Toos said, 'Yes?'

  A voice said, 'This is SV.7 here. Commander Uvanov is injured. Poul has instructed that he be restrained. Confirmation is required.'

  'Confirmed. SV.7, I want damage control teams at work in all sections, and I want a full mine integrity check carried out at once. Clear?'

  'Yes—Commander.'

  Toos winced and rubbed her shoulder again, and Leela saw that her right arm was dangling uselessly. 'Let me see that,' demanded Leela, and began examining Toos's arm and shoulder with skilful fingers. 'Badly wrenched, but I don't think anything's actually broken. Why didn't you say something earlier?'

  'I had too much to do!'

  The Doctor looked up from his work. 'Well, you've nothing to do now, Toos, not till I get finished. Look after her, Leela.'

  Leela took Toos by her good arm and led her firmly to the crewroom. They found a First Aid pack in one of the lockers, and Leela made a rough but effective job of strapping up the damaged shoulder. Since she'd grown up in a tribe perpetually at war, she was well used to dealing with all kinds of injuries. As she added the finishing touches to the strapping, Leela said, 'My tribe has a saying—if you're bleeding, look for a man with scars.'

  Toos gave her a puzzled look and felt her injured shoulder. It was surprisingly comfortable. 'Thank you very much, Leela.'

  Poul burst into the crewroom. Before he could speak Toos said sharply, 'Why is Commander Uvanov under restraint?'

  'Because he murdered Zilda. I think he must have killed the others too.'

  'No! Why would he do it?'

  Poul shrugged helplessly. 'Who knows? Maybe he's been quietly mad all along.'

  'Uvanov?'

  'I've been checking the file Zilda was studying when she was killed.' Poul paused impressively. 'A few trips ago, Uvanov murdered one of his crew, deliberately left him outside the Sandminer to die rather than lose a promising storm.'

  'I don't believe it!'

  'I was there, Toos—though I didn't get the full story till I read the file. Kerril was there too, and the others. Only they're all dead now, of course.'

  'But there'd have been an enquiry, he'd have been stripped of command.'

  Poul laughed cynically. 'It was all hushed up. Uvanov gets results, he's one of the best Commanders the Company's ever had. They didn't want to lose him. A note on his confidential file and that was that. Unfortunate accident, case closed. Until Zilda turned up...'

  'What has all this got to do with her?'

  'I should have recognised the resemblance before,' said Foul simply. 'The dead man was her brother.'

  In the silence that followed, Leela realised that great drops of sweat were rolling down everyone's faces, and they were all gasping. It's getting hard to breathe,' she whispered. There was a sudden silence as all three realised their position, trapped in a metal coffin sinking down into a bottomless ocean of sand.

  'Hull pressure now five hundred metres,' said V.16 from the speaker. 'All safety margins now exceeded.'

  There came a hollow groaning of metal under intolerable stress. 'That's the hull,' whispered Poul. 'She'll go any minute now.'

  The Doctor strode into the crewroom. 'Do you know what I think—?' he began. No one answered. Dask's voice came from the speaker. 'Hullo, Toos?'

  'Yes, what is it?'

  'I've repaired the damaged motive units. I'm starting up again now.'

  'I think Dask is very clever!' said the Doctor cheerfully. 'Hullo, Toos, how's the ar
m?' He examined the strapping. 'Did you do that, Leela? Excellent job!'

  The Doctor beamed at them, in sudden good spirits.

  The surface of the desert rippled, stirred, broke open, and the Sandminer rose like some rusty prehistoric monster from the depths, sand pouring from the metal of its sides. Limping, crippled, but once more a living thing, it began moving slowly across the surface of the desert.

  'Damage to the life-support system is superficial,' reported SV.7. 'Feeder ducts, however, are extensively damaged, and it will be some time before normal functioning can be resumed.' The robot voice droned on.

  As Toos listened attentively to the robot's report, the Doctor drew Leela to one side. 'I want you to stay close to Poul. Try not to let him out of your sight.'

  Leela nodded. 'You think he's lying, Doctor?'

  'Well... he's certainly not telling the whole truth.' 'Where will you be?

  'I think I'll go and have a little talk to our dumb friend.'

  Leela was puzzled for a moment, then she remembered. 'You mean the mechanical man that first captured me? The one that wasn't supposed to talk but did?

  'That's right. D.84.' The Doctor slipped away.

  Leela drifted across to Poul and Toos, who were listening to SV.7 completing its report. 'There is one further matter. Repairs to the main gears and forward tracking section will take several days.'

  'Anything else? asked Toos.

  'Four Voc-class robots were rendered inoperative by the impact when the drive units jammed. They have been placed in Security Storage.'

  'What's Security Storage?' asked Leela.

  Toos said, 'There's a strict legal code governing the disposal of robots.'

  SV.7 stood waiting for further instructions, and Poul snapped irritably. 'All right, SV.7, get out!'

  'Yes, Poul,' said the robot impassively, and moved away. 66

  'Robots,' muttered Poul. 'There are more rules about them than there are about people.'

  'With reason,' said Toos. She shifted position, and winced as a pain shot through her shoulder. 'I think I'll go and lie down in my cabin.'