Cold Fusion - Lance Parkin [112]
Target that Waystation and fire.’ He paused. ‘I’m so sorry, my dear.’
The radio had gone dead again. Solim shook it, although she knew intellectually that the action would have no effect on the nanocircuits inside the device. She moved over to the hole in the wall, where the foredroid was waiting for her.
‘Weather’s clearing,’ it informed her.
Solim looked up. A neat circle of pale blue daylight had appeared in the black clouds directly above them.
The drone they had found bobbed between them.
‘WARning: IT’s -’
White light surrounded everything, shining through the droids, the brickwork, even the mountains. Solim made a reflex action with her hand, but before the hovertanks even received the command they burst open and evaporated, along with everything else.
The ghost saw the plan, built up over the last year, to assemble legions of Adjudicators and an armada of war rockets. An elite military force dedicated to the Unitatus, humanity and the destruction of Earth’s enemies, operating in secret, able to deploy ultimate weapons. The largest military force assembled since the dying days of the Galactic Wars, composed of the finest military minds in human space.
It felt its comrades as they were attacked. The ghost screamed, clutching itself.
‘Regroup! Withdraw!’ A flame began to run the length of its arm. Before it had reached the shoulder, the apparition had vanished.
Time started again. Two energy bolts sliced the thin air in front of Medford, who fell to the floor rubbing his throat. To the Doctor’s astonishment, the Provost-General was grinning, looking his most avancular. Whitfield and one of his officers moved to help him up. The Doctor tried to move forward, then remembered that he was still linked to the Time Control Unit.
‘What happened?’ the Chief Scientist asked him.
‘A visit from the enemy,’ Medford said, giving the Doctor a look that worried him, ‘an attack. But we repulsed it. Now it’s time to take the fight to them.’
The, Doctor stepped forward. ‘That’ll be very nice for you, I’m sure. Now, if we could just get this TARDIS
underway, then I’d be happy to help you.’ The Doctor pointed at the switch again, for added emphasis.
‘Stand away,’ Medford ordered, drawing his pistol. The Doctor took a step back.
‘Provost-General. I appreciate that you are having a little local difficulty here, but whatever it is, whatever the true nature of these ghosts, it pales into insignificance compared the damage this TARDIS has already done.’
‘I know exactly what damage this TARDIS can do,’
Medford said. He tapped at his wrist communicator.
‘Quartermaster, are you ready?’
‘ We are outside the Machine now, sir. ’ The Doctor looked out of the observation dome, A small group of Adjudicators were by the door of the crashed TARDIS. There was something else there, too: a trolley of some kind.
‘Set them to detonate on rematerialization.’
‘Aye, sir’ As the Doctor watched, the trolley rolled through the doorway. The door swung shut automatically.
‘We recovered all but one of them, Doctor, and your companions told us about the other one.’
The Doctor frowned. ‘Where are they?’
‘That need not concern you. We’ve been aware of the alien threat for a year now, Doctor. That’s plenty of time to plan.’
‘’Lian, what are you talking about?’ the Chief Scientist was clearly not in on the whole scheme.
‘Your friend the Provost-General has assembled quite an arsenal, including two dozen fusion bombs. He’s about to use them.’
‘Is this true?’ Whitfield’s question was barely whispered.
‘I’m sorry, Juno,’ and from his tone of voice, the Doctor thought that Medford genuinely might be, ‘but these are desperate times... the peacekeeping force was never going to be enough. The Unitatus –’
‘I don’t care about your stupid men-only secret societies.
What was that about fusion bombs?’
Medford looked out of the observation port. ‘They are primed and ready. Now they are loaded aboard that the Machine and in ten minutes they will detonate, destroying the Doctor