Cold Fusion - Lance Parkin [120]
‘Hang on a second,’ Roz said jokingly, ‘whose side are you on here?’
The Doctor looked at her. ‘The side of justice and fairness, as always,’ he whispered.
‘From what we have seen,’ the fifth Doctor said, ‘the Ferutu can be savage: they’ve killed people in cold blood.’
‘They are fighting for their survival. As we are. They are having to put their moral qualms aside. As we are.’
Adric was frowning. ‘How do we beat them if they’re all-powerful?’
The Doctors both shook their heads. ‘The rituals they perform become increasingly complex,’ the seventh Doctor explained. ‘It needs a group of them – a coven – to draw up the more complex sigils, and the material requirements needed to compose a totem become more esoteric. In their universe, entire planetary populations act as, well, magic capacitors: they generate and store energy, ready to use it.
With billions of Ferutu acting in concert, they can restructure matter on a galactic scale. But one Ferutu on its own is just a petty conjuror, capable only of minor feats of telekinesis and telepathy.’
‘That’s why there’s always been more than one when they manifest,’ Whitfield said.
The Doctor nodded. ‘You believe me, then?’
‘You are describing a scientific system: an advanced one, but a system none the less. Clarke’s Law: “any sufficiently advanced form of technology is indistinguishable from magic.” A capacitor is a piece of technology, not sorcery, regardless of what energy it ultimately collects.’
‘Arthur didn’t rule out the possibility that magic exists,’
the older Doctor noted. ‘I am simply translating the words the Ferutu use into terms that we all understand. Make no mistake, they are magicians.’
The ground was rocking. The gun, a glass full of fruit juice and a couple of other loose items clattered off the desk. The Time Control apparatus was rattling like a chandelier.
‘An earthquake?’ Whitfield said. ‘But no seismic activity has ever been recorded in this area.’
The Doctor smiled.
Dattani sat in the command chair, listening to the Adjudicator in charge of the forces stationed at the Scientifica. The cloud cover was still almost total, but now radio signals were penetrating it. The state-of-the-art communications software aboard the Ark Royal was allowing almost perfect reception. Although they could now receive messages, the news from the planet hardly made their effort worthwhile: there was no sign of the Provost-General and the Chief Scientist was on business elsewhere on the planet when the emergency was declared.
‘Admiral, the sensors have located a pocket of enemy activity. Thirteen lifesigns matching those at the Waystation.’
‘Where?’
‘Eight kilometres beneath the planet’s surface. A cave system in the northern hemisphere.’
The tactical display came up on the main screen.
Dattani scratched his chin.
‘What’s down there?’
‘If we can trust the sensor readings, then a metal dome, about two hundred metres in diameter. There are various signatures down there of energy weapons and forcewall generators.’
Dattani broke into a rare smile. ‘Congratulations, everyone, we’ve just found the enemy base.’ He pointed out one of the heavy cruiser groups on the display. ‘Move those ships into position. Tell them we need a hole digging.’
The six heavy cruisers moved into their geostationary positions and began to pour streams of anti-matter onto the designated point. Anything that had been on the surface was instantly vaporized, along with the cloud and snow.
There was little soil to burn off, and within seconds the beams were annihilating the bedrock.
* * *
As one, the ghosts snapped their heads upwards at the rumbling noise. Medford didn’t recognize the sound either but kept his attention