Doctor Who_ Delta and the Bannermen - Malcolm Kohll [40]
‘Through shot and shell, eh Billy. We’ll teach these blighters a lesson...’
The door opened and the Doctor entered, leading Delta and her daughter. The Doctor surveyed the preparations with some satisfaction. ‘Excellent effort, Mr Burton. Billy, could you please fetch a ladder.’
‘Right away, Doctor,’ said Billy, sheathing his sword and scuttling out of the door.
Billy smiled at Delta feeling quite important now that he was fully armed. ‘Don’t worry Delta – those Bannermen will be sorry they ever left... er... wherever it was they came from.’ Delta smiled at Billy encouragingly.
The Doctor turned to Delta. ‘Now, are you sure that you know what you have to do?’
‘Yes, Doctor,’ she replied.
‘Then it’s only Mr Burton who needs to be briefed.
Now, if you could just turn on your Public Address system..
Burton clicked on the heavy amplifier and stood the microphone on his desk. Everything was ready...
Inside the Bannermen ship the pilot had just unlocked the heavy arms arsenal. As the soldiers leapt through the door they were issued with a brace of weapons.
The Bannermen all looked a sorry sight after the bee attack, with faces puffy, eyes closing, and lumps and stings covering every inch of exposed flesh. Gavrok was the worst stung and consequently in the worst mood. His unstoppable rage had transformed itself into a deadly blood lust. As his men streamed past he gave them a final word of warning. ‘Once inside you will kill everyone except the young princess. I will take care of her personally.’
Gavrok jumped out of the hatch and strode off towards the camp.
Billy was dragging the powerful speaker box from his room while the Doctor leant a ladder against the wall of Burton’s office. The Doctor ascended the ladder with Billy clambering up behind him, hauling the speaker box.
Together they managed to get the heavy object onto the apex of the roof. In the distance they could see the sinister black uniforms of the approaching Bannermen. Wires dangled from the speaker box into Burton’s office.
Billy watched nervously as the Bannermen came closer.
‘Now?’
‘Not yet...’ said the Doctor, keenly watching the approaching danger. ‘What a charming bunch they are. It looks rather like they may have been in recent combat with a swarm of bees,’ he chuckled. Billy was too tense to see the joke and kept his eyes firmly on the Bannermen.
Gavrok stopped and sniffed the air like some kind of jungle animal. He could sense danger but couldn’t see where it was coming from. Directly in his path was the TARDIS. Gavrok unclipped a fragmentation grenade from his belt and pulled the pin with his teeth, his red eyes scanning the horizon like lazer beams.
Up on the roof Billy was squirming with tension. ‘Now?’
‘A moment’s impatience would mean our certain annihilation,’ snapped the Doctor. The strain was beginning to show. The Doctor knew that they would only have one chance against Gavrok, and if that chance were squandered then the ferocious Bannermen would triumph, with disastrous results for all.
Gavrok’s regular scanning motion picked something up.
‘Snipers come forwards,’ he hissed. Two Bannermen armed with long slim silver assassin weapons, complete with high powered magnascopes, came abreast of their leader.
However, Gavrok wanted to choose his moment – nearly as exquisite as the pleasure of victory was the look in the victim’s eyes when they knew for certain they had been defeated. And in this case Gavrok was adamant that they would all be made to pay for the bee attack. Yes, he would choose his moment with care.
Gavrok unhooked the spiral horn from his belt...
Up on the roof Billy could barely contain his nerves.
‘I think they’ve spotted us, Billy,’ said the Doctor. ‘Stand by...’ The Doctor pulled a lump of beeswax from his pocket and gave half of it to Billy who quickly stuffed it into his ears. Mel and the others were standing on a table, peering through an airbrick at the Bannermen massing outside.
Gavrok was within spitting distance of the TARDIS
when he noticed the circle drawn in the dirt around the base