Doctor Who_ Attack of the Cybermen - Eric Saward [25]
The instability worsened, and although the creature clawed at the tunnel’s brickwork for support, he couldn’t control the wild spasms in his limbs. Then suddenly he let out a terrible roar and started to flail at the air. Smoke began to pour from his respirator as tiny tongues of flame licked and danced along the pipework on his chest.
Twisting and turning frantically, as though wrestling some enormous invisible serpent, the Cyberman let out a final terrible, ear-piercing scream and collapsed. A moment later he exploded.
Once the smoke had cleared, the Doctor, followed by Peri and Russell edged their way into the debris-strewn tunnel.
‘That was awful!’ Peri prgtested. ‘Why did you have to kill him in such a terrible way?’
The Doctor looked fraught. ‘I only meant to stun him,’
he said, picking up the Cyberman’s gun. ‘I must have set the lance too high.’
Peri felt sick. ‘Can we get away from here?’
The Doctor nodded.
Balancing precariously on his one good leg, Russell had somehow managed to manoeuvre himself into a crouching position. ‘It’s a robot!’ he exclaimed, prodding at a piece of fractured body-plate.
‘Not quite.’ The Doctor pointed at the oozing head. ‘It also had a living brain.’
This observation did not help Peri’s stomach.
‘What’s more, there are bound to be other Cybermen around. We must get away from here and back to the TARDIS.’
The Doctor helped Russell into a standing position.
‘How will you deal with them?’ asked Peri.
‘Surely we’ll need the army for that?’ chipped in Russell.
The Doctor shook his head. ‘These are no ordinary warriors,’ he said. ‘First we’ll need a plan.’
A tiny blue light flashed on the console indicating a Cyberman had been terminated. This event generated concentrated activity in Cyber base. Knowing they had been discovered, the Cybermen’s contingency plan had come into operation and they were preparing to withdraw to a prearranged secondary base.
‘The intruders must be captured before they leave the sewers,’ the Leader intoned in his flat mechanical voice.
‘Getting-a-bit-rough-is-it?’ Charlie said mimicking the monotone.
Pointing a large, menacing, finger at him, the Leader said: ‘Remain silent, or you will die.’
Charlie shrugged. Death no longer seemed a threat; after being taken prisoner by the Cybermen, he had not expected to leave the sewers alive. What had really disturbed him was how readily he had resigned himself to the fact of a sudden demise.
‘I shall go ahead and prepare our secondary base,’ said the Leader to his Lieutenant. ‘I will take a small guard and the two prisoners.’
Charlie nudged Lytton. ‘Why are they overreacting?’ he whispered. ‘No one’ll find them here.’
Lytton rubbed a finger along the lid of his left eye as though massaging the ball beneath. ‘They’re undermanned,’ he said, at last. ‘They’re not certain, if attacked, they could successfully defend this place.’
‘What about help from the ship you mentioned? The dark side of the moon?’
‘That is there – they are here.’ Confused, Charlie wrinkled his brow. He wasn’t very good at deciphering cryptic statements. ‘The ship is their only means of getting home. They won’t risk losing that to save a group of their own who have failed. What’s more, this lot know it.’
Lytton glanced around the bustling room. ‘I do believe,’ he added smugly, ‘you, Griffiths, are witnessing a very rare sight indeed – nervous Cybermen.’
As he spoke, two guards lumbered up and ordered them to move. As they approached the door of the base, it silently swung open and they were pushed into a sewer tunnel outside. The Leader, flanked by three guards, followed, and the motley crowd moved off.
The ladder leading from sewer to inspection pit was still in place, but the handcuffed policeman had gone.
‘Didn’t you cuff him to the ladder?’ asked Peri.
The Doctor nodded. ‘Never mind about that for the moment.’ He steered Peri to the bottom rung. ‘Up you go.’
Slowly she started to climb. ‘Faster than that!’ She glared down at the Time Lord and was tempted to do