Part 33 (1/2)

'Then we'd better check, hadn't we?'

As Quinn entered Lesterson's smoke-filled laboratory, Valmar was beside him. Both carried pads as they were a.s.sessing the damage. People were starting to emerge now that the fighting was over and the Daleks smouldering ruins. Quinn knew he'd have to get on to the comm units and broadcast a plea for unity soon, but he wanted to be able to give out some concrete information on their status when he did so.

Polly and Ben looked up from where they crouched beside the Doctor's still form.

Quinn's heart almost failed him. 'Is he all right?'

'He's okay,' Ben replied, grinning. 'He just took a jolt of power and knocked himself out.'

As they spoke, the Doctor's eyes flickered open. His initial terrified expression calmed into a big, lop-sided grin as he realized that they were all still alive.

Quinn elbowed past the smoking Dalek casing. 'It was a miracle,' he told the Doctor. 'How did you do it?'

The Doctor hated explanations. 'What happened?' he asked, feigning ignorance. That often worked. Clambering to his feet with Ben's help, he stared as if in shock at the wreckage of the Daleks. Smoke was billowing out of the mouth of the capsule, too. He put a finger to his mouth, like a guilty schoolboy. 'Oh dear, what did I do?'

Ben clapped him on the back, grinning wildly. 'You destroyed the Daleks, that's what you did.'

Polly added: 'Don't be so modest!'

With a satisfied smile on his face, the Doctor looked around him. 'Did I do all this?'

'You know you did,' Polly accused him.

Valmar laughed. 'You used the power from the colony's generators and amplified it, then fed it back into their static power lines. It sent ma.s.sive surges through the Daleks and blew them apart.'

'Did I indeed?' The Doctor looked smugly pleased with himself.

Valmar's tone grew a little less congratulatory. 'You may have stopped the Daleks, Doctor, but do you have any idea of the damage you've done to the colony?'

The Doctor blinked hard and his face fell. 'Oh.' He glanced back at the smouldering wreckage of the power generator. 'Bit of a blow back, was there?' he asked, apologetically.

'A blow back blow back?' Valmar couldn't believe it. 'Our power supply has been destroyed destroyed! It'll be months before we can get things back to normal!'

Quinn gave the technician a dig in the ribs. 'Valmar...'

He shook his head.

'Oh dear,' the Doctor murmured uncomfortably. He fidgeted under Valmar's glare. 'This is is unfortunate.' unfortunate.'

'He did save all our lives,' Quinn pointed out.

Valmar gestured at the devastated room. 'But did it have to be this way?'

'Did a lot of damage, did I?' the Doctor asked guiltily.

Valmar threw up his hands, giving up. The Doctor nudged Ben and Polly. 'Come on,' he whispered. 'I think we'd better get out of here before they send us the bill!'

Epilogue.

The surface of Vulcan was unchanged. One day, the Doctor knew, the humans would remake the world. The bleakness would vanish under a canopy of green. The colony would become just the first of many cities. The humans would thrive.

Of course, the next few months would be a bit rough on them. Still, the results should be worth a bit of adversity.

Pulling out his recorder, he started to pipe a cherry jib.

With his hat back on his head, he felt quite a new man once again.

Ben followed behind, still locked in an argument with Polly he'd begun when they had slipped out of the colony.

'I mean, I didn't exactly expect bra.s.s bands to be playing, but I would have thought at least a thank-you would have been in order.'

'Ben,' Polly answered, 'I suspect they're only thinking of all the victims, both of the Daleks and of Bragen. They're in mourning, not a mood for celebration.'