Doctor Who_ Silver Nemesis - Kevin Clarke [35]
The corners of the statue’s mouth twitched slightly in the merest imitation of a bitter smile, perhaps more of a grimace. ‘It is only my present form,’ said the voice. ‘I have had others which would horrify you.’ There was the slightest pause. ‘I shall have both again.’ The words hung in the air. Ace gazed on in fascination. ‘You are surprised I speak?’ asked the Nemesis.
Ace struggled to find her voice. ‘I... I know you’re living metal,’ she replied.
Again, the statue seemed almost to smile. ‘I am whatever I am made to be,’ it said calmly. ‘This time Lady Peinforte named me Nemesis, so I am retribution.’
Ace became aware that a sudden wind had picked up.
Debris blew past her feet and she shivered again. The stare which the statue had directed at her was so intense that she looked away, towards the entrance to the building site. At the gateway she saw a group of Cybermen. There appeared to be seven of them, including the Lieutenant and the Cyber Leader.
‘Catch you later,’ she said to the statue, and ran towards the buildings. The statue did not respond.
As soon as Ace was gone, the clicking of the abacus stopped, and the Doctor at last looked up. His eyes met those of the statue and for an instant an understanding of some kind seemed to pass between them.
9
Ace peered cautiously over the window-sill of what would eventually become a front bedroom of the half-completed house if, she reflected, the house ever got completed; if there was ever a world left for it to be completed in. Below her, the Cybermen were carefully advancing, spread out and silent, their laser weapons at the ready.
Ace took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm herself. Whatever happened, they must be kept away from the Doctor until he had finished and could set the rocket sled on to its correct course.
At that moment she was jolted back to reality by a loud explosion. A cloud of smoke enveloped the Cybermen, and for an instant she could glimpse them floundering uncertainly, looking about them for the source of the attack. Ace grinned to herself.
She took out the first of the gold coins and loaded it into the sling of the catapult, then, remembering the Doctor’s firm injunction, took careful aim at the chest panel of the nearest Cyberman. She drew the catapult elastic taut; there was a second’s pause, then she fired.
The Cyberman’s reaction was even more immediate than she had expected. The coin evidently lodged inextricably in his chest panel and the ugly death-rattle began instantly. The Cyberman keeled over, clutching desperately at his chest as the others turned to observe him, it seemed to Ace, in slow motion. For a few seconds she watched, fascinated, and then as their heads began to turn in search of the position of the attacker, she remembered herself in time and was running from the room and down the stairs.
The Cyber Leader, however, his reactions a milli-second quicker than those of his inferiors, had glimpsed her as she turned from the window. His voice grated thickly:
‘Destroy the human female.’
The other Cybermen scanned the area, their lasers ready. The Cyber Leader’s voice reached a semitone higher. ‘Find and destroy her,’ he said.
The Cybermen spread out around the half-completed building and began to search for Ace. They peered through the empty windows into the uncompleted rooms but there was no sign of her on the ground floor. At a signal from the Lieutenant, three of them moved purposefully inside.
Once in the house, they double-checked the downstairs rooms. The interior of the understairs cupboard was blasted with lasers but contained no human female. The unfitted kitchen was empty, as was the unfinished living room. The house shook as the heavy steps of the Cybermen clumped up the stairs, but even this failed to frighten their target into making a break for freedom. Upstairs, the bathroom and bedrooms too were empty.
Outside, Ace carefully completed her silent descent of the drainpipe and reached the ground. For the flicker of an instant a memory crossed her consciousness of slipping equally silently