Doctor Who_ Tenth Planet Part 17

'Wait!' Barclay, who had recovered a little, was sitting up and calling him back. As the new commander of the base, he spoke with a new sense of authority and purpose. Ben halted and turned to him.

'If you try to tackle the s.p.a.cecraft single-handed, you haven't a chance. We don't know how many more Cybermen there are.'

'So?' asked Ben.

For answer, Barclay pointed to the Cyberleader's transmitter which had been left on the top of the console. 'There's the thing they use to contact each other.'

Ben shrugged and lifted up the black box-it resembled a portable transistor radio.

'I don't know how to work it ! '

'Do anything,' said Barclay. 'Send out a signal-draw them here.'

The other men within earshot murmured their disapproval. Dyson, who had been testing the various life support systems to ensure that none had suffered in the recent emergency, turned to him. 'Is that wise?'

'If they take off in their s.h.i.+p,' said Ben, 'we'll never see the Doctor and Polly again.'

He picked up the Cyberman transmitter.

'Hold on.' Dyson rose to his feet. 'You may bring them all back again.'

'That's a risk we've got to take,' said Ben. He looked down at the many b.u.t.tons on the Cyberman transmitter. His hand hovered indecisively, then he started pressing them.

Immediately, the small transmitting light began to twinkle; the set emitted a high-pitched buzz.

'That should do it!' said Ben. 'It sounds like some sort of warning signal, anyway.

How long do you reckon we've got before they arrive?'

Barclay rose to his feet. 'We'd better get ready for them.'

'I'll go down and get the weapons,' volunteered Ben. As he spoke, the tracking room lights started to flicker and dim down.

'What's happening?' said Ben.

'The emergency power supply must be running out. Why haven't they got those rods back in? We'll freeze to death here within twenty minutes without the base reactor.'

The lights had now become so dim that-apart from the glow from the various monitor screens-the long low room had become a collection of dim black shapes.

''Are can't face them in the dark,' called Ben. 'Are there no torches here?'

'Yes,' said Barclay. He was feeling his way over to the side wall.

Behind him, Dyson flicked the PA switch connecting the console mike to the reactor room. 'Philips, Barker,' he called, 'can you hear me? Why aren't those rods back in?'

Ben turned; all he could see of Dyson was a vague shape outlined against the blue projection screen.

'You're forgetting, mate,' he said. 'We ripped the wires out, didn't we?'

Dyson cursed. Barclay turned round, flashlight in hand, and switched it on. He turned the light beam towards Ben. 'I've got one for you.'

As Ben moved to get it, Barclay shone the light towards the door. The beam flicked over the rows of consoles, the faces of the waiting technicians and, by the door, three silent silver figures...

For a moment, the torch shook in Barclay's hand. The voice of one of the three Cybermen rang out: 'Further resistance is useless. Drop your weapons!'

As the Cyberman spoke, the lights began to brighten back to full power.

The tired, strained men turned to face the third Cyberman invasion of the Snowcap Polar Base.

'You fool!' screamed Dyson. He turned to Ben. For a moment Ben thought he was about to break into tears. 'I warned you not to activate that thing.' He pointed to the black Cyberman transmitter box.

Barclay shook his head wearily. 'No, some kind of warning must have gone out earlier-at the time of the fight. They'd never have made it here in time otherwise.'

'Silence!' snapped the voice of one of the Cybermen. 'We have been patient with you. But this will not continue. You have fought us and destroyed many of our number.

Your bomb must be activated immediately, otherwise we shall commence killing every single man in this room.'

He pointed at Ben. 'Starting with this man.'

The Cyberman raised his weapon and aimed it at the sailor. But they were interrupted by a high-pitched shout from the R/T technician. He had been staring at the large screen, and adjusting the controls of the radio-telescope to bring it into sharp focus.

'Look at Mondas ! ' he cried.

Everyone in the room, men and Cybermen alike, turned to look at the screen. The planet's alternation from light to dark had now speeded up to such a rate that it seemed to visibly flicker-like a slow-running movie projector showing a silent film. The land ma.s.ses and the dried-up seas that so closely parallelled those on Earth were still visible-but something new was happening!

'Fantastic!' Dyson exclaimed. 'It seems to be... melting!'

As they watched, huge fissures and cracks appeared. Trickles of white-hot lava were running from the cracks and down the face of the planet. The whole surface seemed to be bubbling and erupting, creating thousands of minor volcanoes. The land ma.s.ses began distorting and running together. The glare from the planet was now so intense that they had to s.h.i.+eld their eyes to look at it.

'It's falling to bits!' exclaimed Ben.

'The end of Mondas,' Barclay's voice rang out triumphantly. 'The Doctor was right.'

In their excitement, they had forgotten the Cybermen standing behind them. The cosmic drama on the huge screen had taken all their attention. Now Ben turned to see how the Cybermen were reacting to the end of their planet.

'Look!' he called. The men turned to look at the three silver figures.

Like their planet, the Cybermen seemed to be suffering a visible change. Their arms had dropped; the Cyberweapons had fallen to the floor; each was teetering slightly on his feet.

As the men watched, they slowly began collapsing down on one knee, then the other. Finally, they pitched forwards on to the floor.

Ben ran over and picked up one of the Cyberweapons-but it was unnecessary.

The plastic accordian-like chest units of the Cybermen were already turning soft-as though the plastic was melting. Cracks appeared, and a grey, evil-looking foam began coursing out.

'They're shrivelling!' said Ben.

Behind him, Dyson calmly gazed down at the three Cybermen. 'They must have been completely dependent on power from Mondas. They had no time to transfer their power unit to Earth.'

They turned back to look at the Tenth Planet-but it existed no longer. A huge s.h.i.+fting amoeba-like corona of gas surrounded its few solid remaining segments.

'It's turned into a super-nova,' said Barclay. 'In half an hour it will disperse to the far corners of the universe.'

They watched the distorted flare of gas grow fainter and fainter as it spun away from Earth. The technician struggled vainly to keep it in the telescope lens.

Abruptly, the R/T system spluttered into life and the voice of Terry Cutler came through, ringing loud and clear of all static. ' Zeus Five Zeus Five to to Snowcap Snowcap. Are you reading me?

Come in, please. Zeus Five Zeus Five to to Snowcap Snowcap. Are you receiving me?'

'Quick,' Barclay turned to Dyson. 'Answer him.'

Dyson leant over and spoke into the mike. ' Snowcap Snowcap to to Zeus Five Zeus Five-hearing you loud and clear.'

After a moment's pause, Cutler's voice came over. 'Say, what's happened? Where have you been?'

'Here, give it to me,' said Barclay.

Dyson moved aside and Barclay sat down at the console. ' Snowcap Snowcap to to Zeus Five Zeus Five.

Report your fuel position.'

'O.K. Everything's suddenly working normally. How about getting me out of here?'

'We are on emergency power at the moment. We will handle your splash-down as soon as we get full power back.'

He turned to Dyson, relieved to be back at work once more. 'Start checking on the base's main units.'

Dyson nodded and hurried back to his console. All over the room, the men had now resumed their normal positions and were starting the complicated splash-down procedure.

Ben looked from one to the other in bewilderment. 'Hey,' he said, 'what about the Doctor and Polly? They may have killed them.'

But both men, utterly engrossed in their routine jobs, were oblivious to his words.

Without waiting for a reply, Ben rushed over to the dead Cybermen, picked up one of the fallen weapons and dashed out of the door.

Again the base loudspeakers crackled into life. ' Snowcap Snowcap, Geneva here.'

Immediately Barclay leant forward, pressed the switch down and responded. 'h.e.l.lo Geneva- Snowcap Snowcap here-fully operational.' here-fully operational.'

Wigner's voice came over. ' Snowcap Snowcap. Who is that? Dr Barclay?'

'Yes. We're getting full power back. The danger is apparently over. What is the global situation?'

'The Cyberman menace has ended all over the world. We're just picking up the pieces. Let me have a full report as soon as you can.' Wigner's clipped voice cut off abruptly as he moved on in his round-up of the I.S.C. bases.

Barclay leant back for a moment and grinned across at Dyson. 'We certainly will!'

he said, speaking to no one in particular. 'Did you hear that?' He laughed ironically for a moment. 'He wants a full report.' He raised his hands in the air in a desperate gesture.

'Where exactly do we begin?'

The Cybers.h.i.+p had also been affected by the energy loss. The vibration had died away-and a great flash had lit up the forward compartment-followed by the unpleasant smell of burning plastic-as Mondas disintegrated. The Doctor and Polly were struggling to get out of their bonds-but the silver bands held them.

'If you could only reach that control.' The Doctor nodded over the wall beyond, where the controls activating the bands were situated.

Polly tentatively stretched out one of her long legs, but it was quite impossible to reach it from her chair. 'It's no use, Doctor,' she wailed despairingly.

Already the Arctic cold had begun to seep into the abandoned s.p.a.cecraft. The bright alloy walls seemed to be loosing their l.u.s.tre. It was as though several years of slow corrosion were being telescoped into as many minutes. The only lights still working were the phosph.o.r.escent emergency lighting panels.

Polly saw something. She held her breath. The door was opening slowly. 'Doctor!

Doctor! Look!' she called.

The Doctor jerked his head around. The muzzle of a Cyberweapon was poking through the doorway at them. The sudden shock seemed to prove too much for the Doctor.

His head slumped forward, eyes glazed, just as Ben stepped into the room.

'Ben!' Polly burst out in a great explosion of relief. Illogically, she seemed almost angry. 'Did you have to give us such a shock? And what took you so long?'

Ben grinned down at her. 'Sure you want to hear it right now, d.u.c.h.ess? Well...' He leant back against the wall. 'There's nothing I like better than a captive audience, so here goes...'

'Don't you dare!' Polly squealed. She nodded over to the wall unit. 'The controls are over there. Just press them-and make it quick!'

'Will do.' Ben glanced at the Doctor-but the Doctor didn't look up. He went over to the wall and pressed the b.u.t.ton. The straps receded into the chair and Polly jumped up.

She started rubbing her cramped wrists.

'Oh boy ! ' Polly said. 'I'm frozen. I'll never grumble about the TARDIS' heating system again after this!'

But Ben wasn't listening. He was looking down at the Doctor. 'What's happened to him?'

'I don't know,' said Polly. She came closer.