Doctor Who: Prisoner of the Daleks (22 page)

'The Daleks will have to come this way,' whispered Bowman. 'We stay here and attack when the first one passes overhead. You strike first, disabling it. Then I'll do the rest.'

Koral opened her mouth to ask a question but a grating, metallic voice suddenly echoed across the silo.

'D
OC–TOR
!' The word was spat across the void with cold purpose.

The Doctor looked up from his work, sonic screwdriver clamped between his teeth. He raised his eyebrows and gave a little wave when he saw Dalek X approaching along the access gantry.

'S
TAND AWAY FROM THE SILO CONTROL SYSTEM
,' ordered Dalek X.

The Doctor removed the sonic screwdriver from his mouth. 'Sorry! Bit busy right now. Why don't you come back a little later?'

'S
TAND AWAY OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED
.'

'I wouldn't open fire in here if I were you,' the Doctor cautioned. 'Astronic fuel vapour – boom!'

'S
TAND AWAY
!'

The Doctor turned his back on the Dalek, working with feverish haste at the controls with the screwdriver. 'I'll be right with you,' he called over his shoulder. 'Just wait there a sec.'

'D
OC–TOR
!'

The Doctor let out a huge, impatient sigh and turned around. 'Look, what is it? I've already told you, I'm
busy
.' He waggled the sonic screwdriver to show how busy he was.

'Y
OU HAVE THREE SECONDS TO STAND AWAY FROM THOSE CONTROLS BEFORE
I
EXTERMINATE YOU
!'

'Don't be daft. Exterminate me and you'll never get the TARDIS.'

'W
E WILL BREAK INTO THE
T
IME
V
ORTEX WITHOUT IT
!'

'I doubt that.'

'T
HEN WE WILL FIND A WAY TO PENETRATE THE
TARDIS
DEFENCE SYSTEMS WITHOUT YOU
. D
ALEKS ARE NEVER DEFEATED
!'

The Doctor's eyes widened. 'Wanna bet?'

The grating slid away beneath Dalek X, and Koral lunged upwards, claws extended. She ripped into the antigravity mechanism under the Dalek's base, tearing through the metal and plastic in a shower of angry sparks. There was a flash of energy and the Dalek shuddered, visibly sinking as his power to levitate faded.

'M
OBILITY IMPAIRED
!' shrieked Dalek X as he crunched down heavily onto the walkway. His gun and sucker arm waved around in sudden panic as he searched for his assailant. 'I
CANNOT MOVE
!'

Bowman rose up behind the Dalek, clutching the ion bolter. He rested the barrel against the neck grille as the head spun around and Dalek X's eye focused on him.

'H
UMAN ASSAILANT
!' cried Dalek X, his voice rising in pitch. His shoulder section began to turn, bringing the gun-stick round to bear on Bowman.

Bowman held the Dalek's gaze for a long moment, leaning in so that his face filled the creature's vision. Then, very carefully, he said one word: '
Exterminate
.'

And pulled the trigger on the bolt gun.

The gun was set to automatic. A succession of heavy ion bolts rammed through the barrel and into the Dalek's neck.

'A
LERT
! A
LERT
! C
ASING BREACHED
!' yelled Dalek X, shuddering as each bolt shot home. 'F
ORCE SHIELDS INOPERATIVE
!'

Smoke and flames began to spew from the ruptured grille and the living thing inside suddenly let out a piercing yell of agony. Bowman switched position, ramming the bolt gun against a different section of the neck, and squeezed the activator. More ion bolts rattled into the Dalek and the whole machine seemed to shake under the impact. Dalek X's cries rose above the crackle and spit of the fire, and Bowman was forced to step back as the skin on his hands began to burn.

But the ion bolter was empty. Every round had been stamped into the Dalek's neck section, disrupting the electrical controls and skewering the creature inside. With a snarl of disgust, Bowman raised his boot and pushed the blazing Dalek X off the gantry. He tipped and then fell, trailing smoke and a bloodcurdling shriek until he disappeared into the darkness.

'Ex-Dalek,' muttered Bowman, dropping the empty bolt gun after it. Then he sank to his knees, exhausted, blood pouring from his leg.

Koral crawled across and helped him up. 'We're not finished yet,' she told him. 'Come on...'

'Good work,' said the Doctor as they joined him by the controls. 'Clever, too. The underside of a Dalek can't be properly force-shielded because of the gravity repellers. Take those out and you'll short-circuit the rest of the defensive fields. Well done.'

'Never thought I'd be the one to KO Dalek X,' grunted Bowman.

'Well now we've got the chance to KO his Command Ship and every other Dalek here as well. I'm almost done.' The Doctor made a last adjustment to the wiring on the control panel and then snapped the access hatch shut. He clicked off the sonic screwdriver. 'There.'

'Will it be enough?' Bowman asked. 'I mean the
Exterminator
is one big ship, Doctor.'

'You'll be able to see the explosion from the other end of the solar system,' the Doctor promised. 'Believe me, it's more than big enough.' He paused. 'But there is a problem.'

Koral looked up, recognising a grave note in the Doctor's voice. 'What?'

'The detonation relies on the safety override failing to function. I can't do that by remote control, and nor can I set a timer on it.' He looked at them grimly. 'Someone will have to stay and hold the manual override lever down until the silo reaches critical.' He tapped a metal lever on the control panel. 'It's a failsafe measure.'

'We knew this was a suicide mission,' said Bowman.

Koral agreed. 'What are we waiting for? Let's do it.'

Still the Doctor hesitated. 'By my reckoning, the TARDIS is parked directly up there...' The Doctor pointed upwards. 'And... well, we could have made a run for it. Just.'

'You still can,' said Bowman. 'I'll hold the failsafe lever. You can go with Koral.'

'What? No!' said Koral, horrified.

'I'm injured anyway,' Bowman said. 'Get going with the Doctor, and leave me here.'

'No!' Koral argued, stricken. 'I will not leave you! The Doctor can—'

'He already risked his life once for me, Koral. And anyway, only he knows how to fly that ship of his. At least this way you and he both get to survive. Now go on, get going...'

But Koral was having none of it. 'No! You go! I'll stay, I'll hold the lever! I won't let you die, Bowman!
I love you
!'

The last three words were blurted out. Bowman gaped at her but then clamped his mouth shut. The Doctor looked desperately from one to the other.

Then Bowman grasped Koral by the shoulders and kissed her, hard. 'I love you too,' he growled. 'Which is why there is no question of me going while you stay here. What would be the point?'

'Um, excuse me...' said the Doctor.

'No!' Koral choked. She held Bowman's face in her hands and looked up imploringly. 'No, I can't let you go, not now...'

'Running out of time here...' warned the Doctor.

Bowman rubbed a tear from Koral's face with his thumb. 'Don't cry. You'll set the Doctor off – you know what a wimp he is.'

'What?' the Doctor frowned.

'See, he's cryin' already...'

Koral looked at the Doctor, and Bowman quickly shifted his hand to grip her neck and shoulder between his strong fingers. He squeezed on the nerve junction there and Koral stiffened, suddenly losing consciousness. Bowman caught her as she fell, then, hoisting her into his arms, held her limp body out to the Doctor. 'Here – take her and go.'

'Bowman...'

'At least this way she survives!' Bowman's voice was ragged with emotion. 'And so do you. Now go!'

The Doctor took Koral in his arms. 'I'll look after her.'

'You'd better.'

There was a clang from the far side of the silo and a group of Daleks filed through the doorway. The Doctor turned, hesitated for a moment. Looked back at Bowman.

'Give us as long as you can,' he said.

Bowman gripped the failsafe lever. 'Get outta here.'

The Doctor hurried across the gantry to the far side of the silo and started up the steps. It was hard going with Koral in his arms but he was determined to escape. He owed Jon Bowman that much at least. Koral was regaining consciousness, murmuring as he pounded up the metal steps, heaving for breath.

At the top he lost his footing and collapsed, crashing to the floor. He held on to Koral but she had suddenly woken up to what was happening. She struggled against him as they got up. 'Let me go! Let me go back to him!' she cried.

'No! Koral! You've got to run! We only have seconds left!'

'Bowman!' screamed Koral.

The Doctor held her back. 'It's too late! We've run out of time! He wants you to live, and that's the least you can do!'

He dragged her along the corridor but she fought him every step. Eventually he turned and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her. 'Stop fighting me! Think what Bowman would have wanted! If you go back now we all die. Is that what you want? Is that what you think he'd want?'

She sobbed, then allowed herself to be pulled along after him. The Doctor opened the door at the end of the passage and they burst out into the cold Hurala night. There were stars above them and, directly ahead, the TARDIS, big, bold and blue. The Doctor almost yelled with delight and relief.

The Daleks glided across the gantry. Bowman watched them come, a grim smile on his bloodied lips. They hadn't even seen him yet, leaning over the control panel, one hand gripping the failsafe lever. Indicator lights on the controls were flashing intermittently, lighting his face spasmodically with a hellish red glow.

'A
LERT
!' screeched the first Dalek. 'H
UMAN PRISONER IDENTIFIED
!'

The Doctor and Koral staggered towards the TARDIS.

'H
ALT
! E
XTERMINATE
!'

They heard the Daleks behind them. The heard the shrill whine of the extermination beams and the alleyway flickered with light. The Doctor zigzagged, pushing Koral ahead of him. The air was filled with a sharp, hot tang of ozone.

'Run!' the Doctor bellowed.

'What about the key?'

'What about it?' The Doctor held up his hand and the key flashed as he inserted it into the TARDIS lock. The police box doors snapped open and they both shot straight inside.

The Daleks converged on Bowman.

He stood, unsteady but unbeaten. One hand remained on the lever, sticky with blood. He grinned defiantly at the Daleks as they approached.

'So long, suckers.'

And he pulled the lever.

Instantly the whole world seemed to shake, as if a giant hammer had laid a deathly blow deep inside the planet. There was a distant, heavy reverberation from far below, a growing roar as an unstoppable chain reaction began.