Doctor Who_ War Of The Daleks Part 20

'Our troops are preparing to strike,' the Black Dalek answered.

The Dalek Prime studied the information as it came in. The a.s.sault via the lifts had been broken, but surely Davros would have antic.i.p.ated that. It was such an obvious move. Therefore, there had to be a second a.s.sault. Several of the Black Daleks had defected to Davros's side, and they all knew the layouts of the city perfectly. So there had to be another way to approach the control room.

And then the Dalek Prime realised the weak spot his own room overlooking the city. A wall of gla.s.s, easily accessed by hoverbouts and the rebels certainly possessed those. To the Gold Dalek, he ordered, 'Prepare for an a.s.sault from my quarters. Bring all available warriors to cover this side of the building.'

'I obey!'

The Dalek Prime felt certain that this was the direction from which the a.s.sault would come. Now it was covered, he turned to pay attention to the rest of the battle. The Thals had escaped their cell, and boarded their s.h.i.+p. They were, logically, planning to flee Skaro in it. There had been no report from the Red Dalek escorting the Doctor to his TARDIS, so it wasn't very difficult to a.s.sume that the Doctor had something to do with the Thal escape. He was no doubt with them as they took back their s.h.i.+p. The Dalek Prime ordered an a.s.sault to regain the s.h.i.+p.

Davros was retreating, as was to be expected. Though he had boasted that he led his troops, this was a lie, as usual. Davros was very concerned with preserving what little was left of his own skin. His forces needed the s.p.a.ceport in case of retreat. Davros always prepared for defeat, even when he was convinced of his own infallible ability to win. He was insane, but no fool. The Dalek Prime could not afford to allow Davros the opportunity to escape. This civil war had to end here and now, one way or the other. The Dalek race must be unified and pure again. If Davros were to flee, everything the Dalek Prime had planned for would be for nothing. It would all have to be fought over again.

Whatever happened, Davros must die.

The Dalek Prime began to move his a.s.sault force into position to intercept the retreating Davros.

'We're almost up to power,' Argini reported. 'Beginning release of docking clamps.'

'Hurry,' Chayn urged him, studying the screens. The Daleks had begun to cut at the airlock door. 'They'll be through shortly.'

Sam curled up beside Chayn, eyes focused on the screen. As a result, she was the first to see what was happening. 'A counter-attack!' she exclaimed. 'The other Daleks are moving in!'

Davros's Daleks moved through the shattered docking bay, firing at anything that didn't give the correct identifying signal. Several Spiders scurried across the room, dodging blasts aimed in their direction, then pausing to return fire. They had finally made it to the ramp where the Thal s.h.i.+p was still docked.

At the top of the ramp, a party of Daleks was attempting to breach the airlock door. If they succeeded, it would prevent the s.h.i.+p from lifting off, but would render it useless until repairs could be made. It was clear, though, that the Thals were already inside and powering up their s.h.i.+p. Allowing the craft to lift off would render it useless to Davros, too.

'Destroy them,' the Red Dalek in command ordered. Its forces began the a.s.sault on the loyalist Daleks, aiming primarily at those cutting through the doors who started to return fire. In seconds, the ramp was ablaze with wrecked Daleks.

The Red Dalek watched as three of the Spiders managed to get to the That s.h.i.+p, digging into the exterior with their legs, and watching, as ordered, not joining in the fight. They would be the last line of attack if all else failed.

And then the Thal s.h.i.+p came to life, subs.p.a.ce engines screaming as the docking clamps were released. The generators powered up instantly, their roar drowning out the sound of gunfire in the room.

'Take us up!' Ayaka yelled, and Argini slammed home the controls.

Freed from the restraints, the Thal s.h.i.+p whirled up into the sky, away from the city below. In the last seconds, Sam had seen the backwash from the drive annihilate the Daleks fighting on the ramp. Then the city fell away below them so fast that Sam was nearly airsick.

'No ground fire,' Cathbad called. 'The city's defences are trained inwards, not upwards. We're escaping.'

On the screens, the city shrank, and then the mountains, too, vanished into the curve of Skaro as the Thal craft rose higher, shooting through the tenuous cloud layer.

'We've made it!' Chayn called out ecstatically.

'Hardly,' Ayaka answered, settling into the command seat. 'We've only pa.s.sed the first barrier. We're off Skaro, but still deep in the heart of their empire.' She shook her head. 'We're going to be very lucky if we get out of this alive.'

CHAPTER 11.

THE ODYSSEUS STRATAGEM.

The Doctor gave Sam a rea.s.suring smile and patted her hand. 'I think you can probably let go of that gun now,' he said gently. 'There's not a lot to shoot at in here.'

Sam let it fall to the ground with a clatter. 'Why can't we just load everybody into the TARDIS and take off? That way, we'll avoid all the Dalek defences.'

'It's not the time for the TARDIS quite yet,' the Doctor answered. He seemed to be deep in thought.

'Approaching the first line of satellite defences,' Cathbad reported, calling up a schematic. It showed several hundred small satellites in orbit about Skaro, each of them bristling with fire power.

'I'm on it,' Chayn answered from the communications board. 'I'm recalling the Dalek command codes and transmitting the appropriate ones. Hopefully, they'll recognise us as friends and let us through.'

'If the Daleks don't change their codes regularly,' Ayaka answered. 'I've got every spare person on cannon duty.'

'How many is that?' the Doctor asked quietly.

'Twenty-five,' Ayaka replied. 'Everyone outside of this room who's still alive.'

Sam realised that over half of the captive Thals had not survived to escape. She felt almost numb to their deaths, and it worried her that she was becoming too conditioned to slaughter. 'Shock,' she told herself. 'Please let it be shock.'

As the s.h.i.+p approached the satellite ring, the tension became almost unbearable. Cathbad was studying the devices from his own panel. 'They're all powered up,' he reported. 'I don't know if it's because of us or because of the situation down on the planet.'

'I'm not getting any acknowledgment codes,' Chayn reported, her voice strained. 'Shouldn't they be answering by now?'

'All gun crews,' Ayaka said into the microphone on her seat. 'Prepare to open fire on my command.'

Closer... closer... Sam's stomach seemed to be in knots now, and she stared hard at the closest screen.

'Codes being transmitted!' Chayn cried happily. 'They're responding.'

'Weapons are turning away,' Cathbad announced. 'They've accepted us.'

'Keep watching!' Ayaka ordered sharply. 'This could still be a trick.' On the screen, their position continued to show as they approached the orbital of the satellites...

...And then pa.s.sed through it unscathed. The satellites had their attention focused elsewhere. The codes, it appeared, were still valid.

The tension in the room drained slightly, but this was still not the final hazard to be faced. There were still the floating s.p.a.ce platforms on the edges of Skaro's system.

'Ten minutes to platforms,' Cathbad announced. 'Traffic is light in this section of s.p.a.ce.'

'Everyone's somewhat occupied fighting on the surface,' the Doctor said. 'We're insignificant at the moment.'

Ayaka nodded, her attention mainly on the readouts. 'Keep us on course,' she ordered. 'And monitor the platforms. As soon as we're in range, start transmitting the recognition codes. This is going to be a lot harder. The satellites were simply robots; there will be Daleks on the platforms, and if they get suspicious, they may want visual confirmation.' She glanced at the two wrecked Daleks in the control room. 'And they aren't likely to be rea.s.sured by what they would see.'

Sam sighed, and glanced at the Doctor. He seemed to have retreated into himself, a faint frown on his forehead. 'Doctor,' she said gently, 'is something wrong?'

'Yes,' he answered, abstractly.

'What?'

He shrugged. 'I don't know yet.'

Sam didn't know what to say so she kept quiet, watching the crawl of their progress on the screen.

As the Dalek Prime had antic.i.p.ated, Davros's forces broke into the short corridor from his quarters, antic.i.p.ating a swift victory. Instead, they were met with heavy fire from the Gold Dalek's forces. Explosions and discharges filled the air as both sides clashed. In the control room, the Dalek Prime felt only satisfaction, knowing that he was still out-thinking his greatest foe.

Davros would not win this conflict. Such a thing was unthinkable.

'The a.s.sault on the control room has faltered,' the Black Dalek reported. 'The Dalek Prime antic.i.p.ated the raid, He has established a blockade.'

'It is to be expected,' Davros answered. 'We can still surmount the problem. Have a force attack the power generation station. All power to the control room must be cut off. Then have a second force plant explosives in the ruined lift shafts. When they are in place, detonate them.' Davros chuckled to himself. 'If we cannot get up to the control room, then we shall bring the control room down to us...'

Sam turned her attention back to the smaller screen beside her again. It was still showing the exterior view of the s.h.i.+p looking aft. There was no ramp to see now, of course, but there was something else that bothered her. Leaning forward, she tapped Chayn on the shoulder. When the engineer turned round, Sam pointed to the screen. 'Look,' she said. 'Here.'

Chayn studied where Sam was pointing and then stiffened. The hull had what looked like a shadow cast across it in one section where there should be nothing to cast a shadow. 'Trouble,' Chayn agreed. 'Ayaka! It looks like something's managed a small hull-breach. It's not in a sensitive area, so we're not losing air, but it wasn't there a few minutes ago.'

Ayaka caught on immediately. She studied the same picture on her own console, then tapped the microphone. 'Team eight leave your cannon and investigate the breach in section D.'

There was no reply.

'Trouble,' Sam guessed. It wasn't the deduction of a genius.

The door to the bridge opened, and a Spider Dalek leapt inside, bringing its gun round to fire.

Chayn didn't even think. The rifle she held came up and fired. The recoil almost blew her across the room. She wasn't a terrific shot, but the Spider Dalek was virtually too close to miss. The top third of it exploded backward, sending it cras.h.i.+ng back into the corridor. Ayaka sealed the door instantly.

The Doctor offered no congratulations. He turned grimly to Ayaka. 'I'd like to think that was the only one that sneaked aboard, but I wouldn't want to bet on it.'

'Nor I,' she agreed. She managed to raise another team, and had them sweep the s.h.i.+p. They all waited in silence. Two more Spiders were discovered and terminated, and then no more appeared. 'We seem to be clean again,' she reported.

'Just in time for the next crisis,' Cathbad observed. 'We're approaching the s.p.a.ce platforms.'

Once again, the codes were transmitted. They were within range of only two of these platforms, but each was far more dangerous than the satellites they had already pa.s.sed. These were under direct Dalek control, and these Daleks might want a more tangible response than simply codes.

The seconds seemed to crawl by as the distance closed. 'No response yet,' Chayn breathed, her eyes rapt on her instruments. The Doctor slipped into a seat beside her, studying the panel too.

Sam saw that they were now almost entering the orbit of the first platform. Was this going to work?

'They're demanding visual contact,' Chayn reported, a catch in her voice.

Oh, great...

'Spin the s.h.i.+p,' the Doctor ordered abruptly. 'Let them see the hull breach. Then retransmit the acknowledgment codes.'

'Do it,' Ayaka ordered, and Argini bent to the controls.

Chayn looked worried. 'You're trying to make them think our visuals are damaged,' she realised. 'Do you think they'll believe it.'

'I hope so,' the Doctor replied. 'Let me know if they change their request.' He turned to Cathbad. 'Are we being targeted?'

'Very definitely.' Cathbad gestured to his panel. 'Almost everything they've got will be coming at us if they don't fall for this.'

'Then start praying that they fall,' the Doctor suggested.

Sam's stomach seemed to have given up attempting to combat the tension. She just felt sick, and almost resigned. If the Daleks did open fire, at least it would mean an end to this continual strain on her shattered nerves. How much longer could they go on living?

'They've sent the recognition codes,' Chayn said, with a sigh of relief. 'You did it, Doctor!'

As Sam watched, their track crawled past the platform orbit on the screen.

'We're not safe yet,' Ayaka cautioned. 'They could be trying to make us feel secure before they blast us.'

'They're realigning their weaponry,' Cathbad reported. 'They've stopped targeting us. We seem to be free and clear.'

'I'll believe that when we are are free and clear,' Ayaka responded. 'Everyone, stay alert until we can go to full drive. The second we clear this system, engage light speed.' free and clear,' Ayaka responded. 'Everyone, stay alert until we can go to full drive. The second we clear this system, engage light speed.'

'No!' the Doctor exclaimed, jumping to his feet. 'Don't even think about that!'