Doctor Who_ Illegal Alien - Mike Tucker [105]
Kraus merely whimpered at him. Was this the Butcher of Cracow?
Schott struck the senior officer hard across the face. It seemed to bring him to his senses.
'Kraus, we have to fire the gun! If you won't do it, I must '
'No. We have to get out of here!'
Kraus began scrambling up the turret.
'You saw what happened to the driver?
He was halfway out when the energy bolts hit. Still inside the tank, his legs twitched and kicked, catching Schott in the face.
SS Brigadeführer Kraus hung there, his legs dangling inside the fuselage, his body limp across the gun turret, like a broken soldierdoll.
The tank trundled on, driverless.
'It's no good,' the Doctor said quietly. 'The console is ruined. I can't disarm it. I can't stop the countdown.'
'Doctor... ' Still cradling his left side, George Limb stepped forward. 'Are you trying to tell us '
'In less than two minutes there is going to be a massive explosion. I can't stop it. We will all be killed.'
'The TARDIS...' Ace chimed in hopefully.
'We would never get there in time,' said the Doctor. Ace had never heard such a note of finality in his voice. He seemed utterly resigned to their fate. 'I'm sorry, Ace.'
There was a flurry of movement. With a speed that belied his age, George Limb was bounding over to the metal staircase which ran up the wall of the chamber.
At the foot of the stairs Captain Hartmann still lay, drooling and mumbling to himself.
Seeing Limb's approach he seemed to stir from his morphine dream.
This man...
The Englishman...
Hartmann's fist closed on the pistol which now lay at his side. He raised it and pointed it directly at Limb's head. His finger pulled the trigger all the way back.
There was a click.
'A Walther P38, Captain,' said Limb. 'Seven bullets. You fired seven bullets into that machine.'
Limb straightened up. From under his jacket he produced a stubby, silver tube. A Cybergun.
'Heil Hitler,' the old man said evenly, and discharged the gun's lethal burden. Hartmann's alreadyprostrate body arched under the impact and then fell back on to the metal stairs, dead.
'Limb!' the Doctor shouted. 'What are you doing?'
'Don't try to stop me, Doctor.' the old man replied. 'I bear you no malice, but I will shoot you if I have to.'
'I know what you're planning, Limb. Don't do it! The machine is dangerous! You risk damaging the fabric of spacetime!'
'I am sorry, Doctor. I would wish you both well, but in the circumstances it seems pointless.'
The old man was already hauling himself up the stairs towards Peddler's office.
'Doctor, what's he on about?' asked Ace.
'The Cybermen's time machine. I left it powered up. He's going to try to escape in it. Escape to the future.'
Limb made the gantry at the top of the stairs and disappeared into Peddler's office. The Doctor bounded for the staircase.
'I've got to stop him!' he yelled. It was no longer just a case of the destruction of this compound. A tear in spacetime could mean the end of everything.
George Limb scrabbled at the clasps that held shut the glass hatchway to the podlike device. For all its future technology the device was mechanically crude. He hefted open the hatch and climbed inside, closing and locking it behind him.
The machine was already humming with power. The controls two levers, one button looked childishly simple. He pressed the button.
Outside the Cyberchamber the tank ran on. Schott struggled to aim the massive 88mm gun. He let fly with its deadly payload, directly into the massed ranks of Cybermen.
The effect was impressive. A dozen Cybermen, at least, were caught in the blast and obliterated. A wall came down.
The tank lurched over fallen masonry and Cyber bodies, crushing them like eggs.
Schott clutched his chest. It was tight. He could barely breathe. He would never manage to reload that huge gun and get another round off, he knew. Somehow, Schott had to stabilise the tank. Crawling back to the front of the vehicle, he realised it was hopeless. It was like climbing into an oven.
Outside he could still hear the crackle