Doctor Who_ Illegal Alien - Mike Tucker [61]
He wondered how the first Cybermen must have felt, waking up to be confronted with a blank metal sheet that had once been a face capable of producing tears and laughter.
Did the first Cyberengineers know that the removal of emotion would result in their total dedication to power and conquest? The Doctor traced a finger around the corroded eye socket, with its teardroplike indentation. Someone in the distant past of this ancient race must have known what would come from their cybernetic experimentation, someone who had made this painful reminder of the Cybermen's humanoid roots.
The Doctor placed the head on the desk and dropped into a chair, resting his chin on steepled fingers. What had happened to that scientist of conscience? Had he, too, been turned into one of these remorseless silver creatures? Had he been one of the countless Cybermen that the Doctor had destroyed over the centuries? The Doctor tapped the Cyberleader's head with his forefinger. 'Could it even be you?' he murmured.
His ears pricked up at the sound of McBride's creaking staircase. More than one set of footsteps. The unmistakable sound of British army boots. The Doctor hurriedly pushed the Cyberleader's head back into the tweed bag that Limb had given him as the door crashed open.
A dozen soldiers stormed into the office, surrounding the Doctor, their rifles levelled at his head. The Doctor raised his hands, slowly. These men were on a knifeedge, and he'd been in enough similar situations to know that any clowning about on his part at this moment was liable to get him shot.
Lazonby appeared at the door, a smug smile playing under his moustache. Behind him, Mullen lurked on the landing. The Doctor raised a quizzical eyebrow and the chief inspector looked down at his shoes. 'I'm sorry, Doctor.'
Lazonby strode into the office and snatched the bag from the desk. He peered into it and smiled. 'Well, Doctor. How nice of you to provide some hard evidence for us.'
The Doctor kept his hands in the air. 'Evidence of what?'
'Of being a spy! You are accused of passing on government secrets to enemies of the Crown. Take him away!'
The Doctor was seized by two of the soldiers and marched out of the office. He called back at Lazonby over his shoulder. 'You are dealing with forces that you cannot possibly comprehend, Major!'
Lazonby was oblivious. He pulled the gleaming head of the Cyberleader out of the tweed bag, his eyes wide. He held it aloft like a trophy.
'Perfection. Absolute perfection.'
It was cold and dark at the back of the pumping station, although Wall neither felt the cold nor feared the dark. He was hunting. He moved silently across the black concourse towards his prey. An old man, just standing there, waiting.
Easy. Almost too easy.
He could see the man with perfect clarity in the dark. The man could not see him at all. Wall enjoyed the sensation of being so close to the man that their skin was almost touching.
Breathing gently on him. Allowing his lips to brush against the old man's hair.
In his hand Wall held a cigarette lighter. He had tweaked and lengthened the wick in order to produce the largest flame possible. Let there be light. He triggered the lighter between the old man's face and his own. Four inches of flame speared upward and danced there.
The man started slightly as the ghostly, pudgy face eyes twin discs of darkness smiled in the glow, mere inches from his own face. Quickly, he recovered his composure.
'Who are you?' cooed Wall softly.
'A friend, I hope...'