Part 1 (1/2)

DOCTOR WHO.

AND THE DESTINY OF THE DALEKS.

By TERRANCE d.i.c.kS.

1

The Dead City

Through the vortex, that mysterious region where time and s.p.a.ce are one, sped a police box that was not a police box at all. It was, in fact, a highly sophisticated s.p.a.ce/time s.h.i.+p called the TARDIS, a name taken from its initials, Time and Relative Dimensions in s.p.a.ce.Inside its impossibly large control room (for the TARDIS was dimensionally transcendental) was a many-sided central console. Beside it a very tall man with a shock of curly hair was making minute adjustments to the larynx of a robot dog.The robot dog was called K9, and the man trying to repair it was that mysterious traveller in time and s.p.a.ce known as the Doctor. He wore loose, comfortable clothing, topped off with a broad-brimmed floppy soft hat, and an incredibly long multi-coloured scarf. He was muttering crossly as he worked. 'How can a robot possibly get laryngitis? What do you need need it for?' it for?'Naturally enough poor K9 didn't reply. Without looking up the Doctor yelled, 'Romana!'A girl came into the room, carrying, with some difficulty, a full-length mirror on a stand. 'Yes, Doctor?'The Doctor looked up and blinked in astonishment. The girl who had answered his call wasn't the girl he expected. Or at least she didn't look like the girl he expected. 'Sorry, I thought you were Romana. Have you seen her? And anyway, what are you doing here?''Regenerating. Do you like it?''Nonsense, only Time Lords regenerate, and you're not a Time Lord. You're the Princess Astra, and we left you back on Atrios.' The Doctor remembered his manners. 'It's very nice to see you again, Princess Astra, but how did you get into the TARDIS? Did you stow away?''Doctor, I'm Romana, I tell you.' The girl set up the mirror in a corner and began studying her reflection thoughtfully.The Doctor stared at her. The face and the body were Princess Astra's, even the voice, but there was something else... The essence, the personality was that of Romana. The Doctor realised that he was indeed looking at his Time Lady companion in the body of Princess Astra, or to be more accurate, in a body exactly like it.The explanation was simple enough, at least to the Doctor. Time Lords had the power of bodily regeneration, the ability to change a damaged or worn out body for a new one by a unique and complex process of molecular readjustment. Although they weren't immortal, they went through a considerable number of reincarnations in the course of their amazingly long lives.What surprised the Doctor was not the mere fact of Romana's regeneration, but the seeming casualness with which she was treating the occasion - not to mention the degree of regeneration control she seemed able to exercise.The Doctor's own regenerations had been rather haphazard affairs, usually in response to some kind of crisis, and the bodies he'd acquired had been very much a matter of pot luck.Romana, on the other hand, seemed to be changing bodies as casually as she might have changed her dress. Except that the body she'd finished up with was a direct copy of someone else's. The Doctor frowned, remembering that in a purely academic sense, Romana's qualifications from the Time Lord Academy were rather higher than his own. No doubt that accounted for her superior control.Rather reprovingly he said, 'You can't wear that body!''Why not? I thought it looked very nice on the Princess.''You can't go around wearing copies copies !' !''Well, I don't see why not.' Romana gave a twirl in front of the mirror, studying the effect of the new body and the new dress she'd chosen to go with it. 'I mean, it would be a bit embarra.s.sing if she and I both turned up at the same party wearing identical bodies, but as we're not going back to Atrios again...'The Doctor shook his head. 'No!' he said firmly. 'It just won't do. Go and try another one, go on.'Romana sniffed indignantly, and marched out.The Doctor went on working. Some time later a very small girl came in, and posed in front of the mirror. 'I quite like this one, but it's a bit short.'The Doctor spoke without looking up. 'Well, go away and lengthen it.'The small girl went out. For a time the Doctor was able to get on with his work in peace.The peace ended when someone else strode heavily into the room.The Doctor addressed the silent K9. 'Fancy trying to look like someone else. It's all vanity anyway. People attach too much importance to outside appearances, it's what's inside that counts.' He looked up to see an enormously tall girl looming over him. 'No, no, no, far too big,' he said crossly. The re-transformed Romana went out again.The Doctor worked on. Soon Romana reappeared in the guise of an exotic female of some alien race. 'Ughh! Take it away,' said the Doctor. The apparition retreated hastily.The Doctor sighed. 'Look,' he called. 'All you want is something warm and sensible, something that will wear well, with a little style and flair to it...'There was no answer from the adjoining room. Soon afterwards yet another girl appeared. She wore a long coat, high boots, a very long multi-coloured scarf, and a big floppy hat which almost covered her face. 'Like this, Doctor?'The Doctor looked up and beamed approvingly at the outfit, which had something strangely familiar about it. 'Now that's more like it. Good heavens, that's absolutely right for you. I never knew you had such a sense of style.'He stood up, and the girl spun round before him. 'I thought you said external appearances weren't important, Doctor.''Well, no, but it's nice to get them right though, isn't it? I mean, how can you go wrong with a look like this!'The Doctor lifted the brim of the floppy hat, looked underneath and saw an attractive but very familiar face.Romana had come almost full circle: she was back in her Princess Astra body.'Oh, no!' groaned the Doctor.'What's the matter, don't you like it? I think it will do very nicely. Imposing forehead, nice hair, neat little chin. The arms are a bit long, but I can always take them in a bit.''No, the arms are fine,' said the Doctor helplessly. 'It's just that...' He sighed, realising he'd been outmanoeuvred. 'Oh, all right, have it your own way.''Oh, good! I'll go and get rid of these silly clothes then.''But I like like that outfit.' that outfit.''Never mind,' said Romana demurely. 'Remember, Doctor, it's what's inside that counts!' She turned to leave. 'Incidentally, where are we going?''I don't know. That's up to the randomiser, remember?'At the end of their last adventure, Romana and the Doctor had almost been tricked into handing over the all-important Key of Time to the evil Black Guardian. At the last moment, the Doctor had tricked his adversary, scattering fragments of the Key to the far corners of the cosmos. To escape the enraged Black Guardian's revenge the Doctor had built a device called the randomiser into the directional circuits of the TARDIS. The Black Guardian could hardly discover where he was going next if he didn't know himself.Romana s.h.i.+vered, feeling that they had exchanged the frying pan of the Black Guardian's revenge for the fire of any number of unknown dangers. She smiled bravely.'Well, wherever it is, call me when we get there!'She went away, and the Doctor continued to work on K9.The landscape was bleak and harsh, an arid stone plain scattered with strangely angular rocks. Thunder growled menacingly in a dark and alien sky, and the very ground seemed to s.h.i.+ver and vibrate.Beneath a mountain of loose rocks was an overhanging cliff edge. A wheezing, groaning sound mingled with the noise of the thunder, and the square blue shape of the TARDIS materialised directly beneath the overhang.The thunder rumbled, the ground shook, and a scattering of loose stones began rolling down the mountainside and pattering on the roof of the TARDIS.The Doctor was studying his instruments. 'We've arrived, Romana!' he called.Romana's voice floated from the next room. 'What's the place like?''Breathable atmosphere, but a high degree of seismic activity.''What do you mean, psychic activity! Ghosts?''Lots of earthquakes.''Oh, seismic seismic . I thought you said psychic.' . I thought you said psychic.'The Doctor was only half-listening. 'Side-kick?' he mumbled, baffled.Romana misheard him. 'Like it? How do I know? I haven't seen it yet.'The conversation didn't seem to be getting very far. 'Romana, if you want to talk to me, will you please come in here and do it properly.'Romana came into the control room, still in her Princess Astra body, but now wearing her new outfit, tailored to fit. 'There, what do you think?''Very nice,' said the Doctor perfunctorily, and handed her two pills. 'Take these, will you?''What are they?''Anti-radiation capsules. The levels out there are very high.' He handed her a tiny device rather like an egg-timer. 'Here's a bleeper, it'll go off when you need the next dose.'Romana swallowed two pills, then stowed the bleeper away in a belt-pouch, pleased that the Doctor seemed to be taking sensible precautions for once.'Let's see where we are.' She switched on the scanner. It showed a bare rock wall.'Oh, very very promising,' said the Doctor. promising,' said the Doctor.'Well, we'd better go and take a look.''I suppose so.' The Doctor picked up K9's brain section and inserted it back in the case. Immediately the little automaton began rus.h.i.+ng backwards, making rasping, whirring sounds. The Doctor dived on K9, made a quick readjustment, and the robot dog was still.Romana looked down at him. 'What went wrong?''I'm afraid I forgot the most important thing my cybernetics teacher taught me.''What was that?''When replacing a robot brain, always make sure arrow ”A” is pointing to the front.'The Doctor got to his feet and opened the TARDIS's doors.They stood outside the TARDIS looking around them. There was little to see, just an endless bare plain with a scattering of rocks, stretching away into fast-gathering darkness.'Not the most inviting of planets, is it, Doctor?''You know,' said the Doctor softly, 'I have the most extraordinary feeling I've been here before!'The sensation of familiarity, known as deja vu deja vu , was a common phenomenon among time travellers. , was a common phenomenon among time travellers.'Just an impression, or something you actually recognise?''Nothing tangible. I just seem to sense something, a pervading air of...''Evil?''Yes... evil evil . You feel it too, then?' . You feel it too, then?''Shall we go back to the TARDIS and try somewhere else?'The Doctor considered for a moment. Perhaps it would be better to go back. But his sense of curiosity was too strong for him, that and a strange feeling of - destiny. Randomiser or no, somehow the Doctor felt he had come to this planet because he was meant meant to come here. He gave Romana a look of mock-indignation. 'Go back? And leave me wondering for the rest of time where I'd been? I'd never sleep at nights!' to come here. He gave Romana a look of mock-indignation. 'Go back? And leave me wondering for the rest of time where I'd been? I'd never sleep at nights!'Determinedly the Doctor set off and, a little reluctantly, Romana followed him.As they moved away, a few more loose rocks slithered down the mountain and rattled against the roof of the TARDIS.They walked for some time across the featureless plain, and soon the TARDIS was swallowed up by the darkness that gathered around them. All the time great threatening claps of thunder rolled around the darkening alien sky and the ground beneath their feet seemed to shudder in response.The Doctor stopped and picked up a handful of pebbles, studying them thoughtfully. 'Interesting.''Precious stones?''Only in the archaeological sense - but in that way, they could be more valuable than diamonds.' He looked round. 'I need a larger sample to be certain. Ah, there we are!'The Doctor pointed to a squarish rock, half buried in the ground. He knelt beside it and cleared away the surrounding rubble, rubbing the lichen from the rock's smooth surface. 'Yes, I was right - as usual!''How modest, Doctor.''See what you can make of it,' challenged the Doctor.Romana knelt and studied the block. 'Some kind of composite material... gravel in a binding of limestone and clay.'The Doctor nodded approvingly. 'And limestone and clay make...?''Cement.''Correct! And if you add gravel you get...?''Concrete?''Congratulations, Romana, you have all the makings of a first-cla.s.s navvy! Yes, concrete, or the closest alternative this planet can produce. The point is, it was manufactured, Romana. Manufactured.' The Doctor gestured at the endless rocky plain around them. 'All this rock and stone, all these fragments, all manufactured. Brick, concrete, plaster, cement, all pounded and pulverised, reduced to rubble.' He straightened up. 'We're walking across the remains of what was once a great city. A great city, brought to dust. But by what?'The only answer was another roll of thunder.

2

Underground Evil

'What about the people who lived here?' said Romana. 'What happened to them?' She looked at the grey desolation all around them and then back at the Doctor. 'Those tremors we felt... maybe they destroyed the city?'The Doctor wasn't listening. He stood, head c.o.c.ked, trying to pick up some distant sound. Above the eerie moaning of the wind came a faint, whining, whirring sound, as if some kind of powerful machinery was in operation some distance away.'You hear it?'Romana pointed. 'It seems to be coming from over there.''Then that's the direction we'll take!'Some time later, after an interminable journey across the grey stone plain, they were standing amidst a pile of enormous concrete blocks which were strewn haphazardly across the plain, as though some giant child had knocked over a pile of building blocks. It was obvious that they were the scattered and broken remains of some colossal building.Romana said, 'Buildings this size don't just fall down. Maybe it was earthquakes after all.''It was something pretty devastating. But remember the radioactivity - 'The Doctor broke off as the ground began to quake and shudder beneath their feet. The whining of machinery had started up again. Romana said nervously, 'Well, whatever it is, it looks as if it's happening again!''It's pretty close now,' shouted the Doctor, and indeed it was. The sound seemed to be coming from directly under their feet. Soon it wasn't just a whine but a great howling scream, accompanied by a shuddering vibration that seemed to jar every nerve in their bodies. Loose rocks rattled and bounced on the stony ground, the concrete blocks groaned and creaked, and the Doctor and Romana clutched each other for support. The screaming rose to an unbearable crescendo, then suddenly, mercifully it cut off, leaving a silence that almost seemed to hurt.The Doctor shook his head and stuck his finger in his ears. 'Anything broken?''Only my nerve! I feel as if every bone in my body has been disconnected. That was drilling equipment, wasn't it?''Maybe we've struck an underground dentist! Let's get going before it starts up again.'They moved on past the scattered concrete blocks. Behind them the whirring of the great underground drill had started up again, and they moved faster, hurrying away from the shaking ground and the unbearable, bone-jarring howl.Eventually the sound died away behind them. The Doctor led the way round yet another huge concrete block. Suddenly he ducked back into cover, motioning Romana not to move.He peered round the edge of the block, and Romana crept up to join him.Before them was a strange and eerie sight.Directly ahead was an open s.p.a.ce, a kind of amphitheatre, ringed by jagged blocks. Across this s.p.a.ce, a weird-looking group was moving slowly and silently towards them. There were six of them, and they were human, or at least humanoid in form. They wore the tattered and grimy remnants of what might once have been some kind of uniform. Strangest of all, their hair and skin were a dead, unearthly white.Leading the little procession was a woman, a smokily blazing torch held above her head.Behind her came four men, carrying a kind of crude stretcher, raised shoulder high. A body lay on the stretcher.Behind them came the sixth and last member of the party, another woman. She too was carrying a blazing torch.It was quite obvious what was happening. The scene could have been duplicated on innumerable planets, in countless societies. The man on the stretcher was dead, and this was his funeral procession.In the centre of the open area the procession halted. The stretcher was lowered reverently to the ground. The women with the torches stood motionless at the head and feet of the corpse, while the four men began gathering loose pieces of rubble and building a kind of long, low cairn over the body. They worked with swift urgency, and soon the body was completely hidden by rocks.When the work was done, one of the women found a flat piece of stone, scratched a few symbols on it with a piece of pointed rock, and propped it against the head of the cairn.For a while the two women and the four men stood grouped around the funeral mound, heads bowed in silent communion, mourning their dead. Then they turned and moved away into the darkness.'Why do they leave their dead on the surface, covered with stones?' whispered Romana. 'Why don't they bury them?''Adaptation to local conditions. Just you try digging a six-foot hole through concrete rubble!''They were so silent, Doctor. So slow, they moved like the living dead!''The living dead,' repeated the Doctor softly. 'Zombies! Perhaps we've found a planet where zombies rule.''Shut up!''Coming with me?''Where?''We want to know more about this planet, don't we? This is a chance to find out.''How?''By examining that body.''Doctor, you can't...''Why not? Apart from one basic difference, the dead are very much like the living.''Your reasoning is very logical, Doctor - but I think I'll stay here and keep watch, if you don't mind!''I'd appreciate that.' The Doctor began creeping away, and then paused. 'By the way, if you should meet one of them them ... you can always tell a genuine zombie by its skin. It feels icy cold to the touch!' ... you can always tell a genuine zombie by its skin. It feels icy cold to the touch!'The Doctor slipped away. Romana s.h.i.+vered, as if she could already feel an icy hand upon her shoulder. It was a legend common to many planets and many cultures, she thought: the walking dead, brought back from the grave, usually to act as slaves for some evil sorcerer. But of course it was only a legend - wasn't it?The Doctor headed towards the burial mound, smiling a little guiltily to himself. Perhaps it had been unfair to make Romana's flesh creep like that, but her icy Time Lady composure sometimes got on his nerves. He hadn't been able to resist the chance of shaking it just a little.He reached the mound and began pulling away the stones, all thought of supernatural terrors driven out by scientific curiosity. Very soon he had uncovered the dead man's face. It was thin and wasted, hair and skin ghastly white. He cleared more stones and uncovered the upper part of the body. As he had suspected, the uniform proved to be an astronaut-type coverall, its breast marked with military insignia. Gently, the Doctor unsealed a pocket and took out a plastic wallet. He examined the contents for a moment, and nodded thoughtfully to himself. He pocketed the wallet and began working his way back towards Romana.Romana, meanwhile, was sitting huddled against her rock, trying to convince herself that the faint night sounds all around her were completely natural, nothing at all to worry about.She glanced back at the burial mound and saw the Doctor had gone. She guessed he was moving back towards her, temporarily out of sight behind one of the chunks of masonry, but his sudden disappearance was somehow unnerving all the same.She turned round in a slow circle, peering into the surrounding darkness.Was that the sound of stealthy movement she could hear? 'Doctor?' she called, nervously. 'Doctor, is that you out there?'A white hand reached out and touched her on the shoulder...She spun round with a gasp of terror - and saw the Doctor, who had just appeared round the side of the giant block.'I wish you wouldn't do that,' she said angrily.'Sorry, did I startle you?''Oh no, of course not! Doctor, look at your hands!'The Doctor looked. His hands were a ghastly white. He brushed them against his coat, leaving a trail of fine white dust.'Well, did you discover anything?'He produced the plastic wallet. 'The deceased was s.p.a.ce Major Dal Garrant, a combat pilot serving with the Third Galactic Fleet. Home planet, Kantra''Kantra? That's a tropical planet, nothing like this place at all.''That's right. A trifle humid for my taste, but quite attractive in its way.''What's a Kantrian doing living, or rather dying, here?''Odd, isn't it? He died of a combination of malnutrition and exhaustion, by the way.''Hardly surprising in a place like this.''Except that he ought to have died of radiation poisoning first,' said the Doctor slowly. He held up his box of capsules. 'The Kantrians haven't developed bio-technology to this level yet, so...'Suddenly, there was a screaming roaring sound, from above not below this time. A fierce blue light streaked rapidly through the night sky overhead.'A s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p!' said Romana.'That's right. And it's landing on the other side of that rise. Come on!'They reached the top of the rise just in time to see the s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p coming down to land. It was saucer-shaped, revolving rapidly, so that details were obscured in a blur of spinning lights.'Recognise the type, Romana?''Hard to tell under these conditions. Judging by the size and general design, a s.p.a.ce cruiser of intergalactic range with time warp capacity. Possible origin Star System 4X Alpha 4.''Well, I haven't got my Janes Book of s.p.a.ce Craft Janes Book of s.p.a.ce Craft with me,' said the Doctor gravely, 'but by and large, I think I agree.' with me,' said the Doctor gravely, 'but by and large, I think I agree.'The s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p touched the planetary surface sending up an immense cloud of fine white dust. When the dust cleared they saw to their surprise that the s.h.i.+p was still spinning - sinking deeper and deeper into the ground. When the motion finally stopped, only a small pointed turret was left above ground, projecting from the surface like the conning tower of a submarine.'Interesting technique,' said the Doctor thoughtfully. 'Camouflage and protection rolled into one!'Romana looked at the inconspicuous mound, all that remained visible of the huge, gleaming s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p. 'Well, for a place that looked dead to start with, there's certainly a lot going on here.'The Doctor grinned. 'We've probably arrived at the beginning of the tourist season. How far away would you say that s.h.i.+p is?''Not more than a mile.''Just the right distance for a nice bracing walk!''You want to go down there?''It would be ungracious not to go and welcome our visitors. We can always say we're from the Tourist Board!'They began to descend the Slope.If it was only a mile to the s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p, it was a very long one, thought Romana. They plodded across the plain and somehow the s.h.i.+p didn't seem to be getting any nearer.Romana's attention was drawn to a group of ma.s.sive shapes just off to their left. At first she had thought they were more of the enormous blocks, but as they came closer she saw that these were actual buildings, ruined and roofless, but with the original shapes still clearly discernible. For some reason the devastation which had overtaken the planet seemed slightly less complete just here. She was about to suggest to the Doctor that they go and explore them, when there was the sudden crump crump of an explosion. of an explosion.'That sounded awfully close,' said Romana uneasily. 'What do you think it was?''Sounded like some kind of land mine, or a bomb.'There was another explosion, and then another. They were getting closer.'Look!' screamed Romana. A line of explosions was moving rapidly across the plain towards them, one after another, as though someone was setting off a whole series of bombs.'We'd better get under cover,' yelled the Doctor.'This way!' shouted Romana, and began running towards the group of ruined buildings.The Doctor followed, but the explosions seemed to be chasing after them.They dashed inside a vast, partly roofless pillared hall, and crouched down behind a ruined wall.The line of explosions came closer, closer...The hall began to shudder and vibrate. Several pillars actually collapsed and a chunk of wall fell, far too close to them for comfort. The explosions came closer, closer still - and then pa.s.sed by, disappearing in the distance.Romana gave a sigh of relief. 'What was all that, Doctor? Were they firing at us from the s.h.i.+p?''I don't think so. The explosions are just a by-product. Someone's blasting away the rubble down there, using high-impact phason drills.''On a ruined planet like this?''Apparently. And since it can hardly be the natives, that someone must be importing some pretty powerful technology.'One of the room's supporting pillars, broken almost in two by the explosions, chose this precise moment to give way. It cracked, wavered and began toppling slowly, almost majestically towards them, bringing a section of roof down with it.'Look out!' screamed Romana. But she was too late.The pillar collapsed, burying them under a pile of rubble.

3

The Daleks