Doctor Who_ Silver Nemesis - Kevin Clarke [40]
‘In any case,’ continued the Cyber Lieutenant softly,
‘your threat was meaningless.’
The Doctor looked up quizzically. ‘Meaningless?’ he repeated haughtily. ‘How so?’
‘How could you have destroyed the bow?’ asked the Cyber Lieutenant.
‘Well actually...’ the Doctor began to explain. Not another lecture, thought Ace.
There was no stopping him. ‘What I’d have done,’ the Doctor went on, ‘would have been to arrange for the bow to be neatly positioned behind the rocket sled. Then, and this is most important, I’d have arranged for the rockets to test fire at, say, a pre-arranged time.’
Automatically, following the line of his explanation, the two Cybermen obediently turned their heads, looking at the rocket sled behind which they were neatly positioned.
‘By the way,’ said the Doctor casually. ‘What is the time, Ace?’
Ace consulted her watch.
‘Almost...’ she began.
There was a booming explosion. A massive ball of flame erupted from the rocket sled as the rockets test-fired. The Cybermen were engulfed and incinerated; when the flames faded a few seconds later only a few cinders remained on the ground where they had stood.
Ace was open-mouthed. The Doctor grinned. ‘You’re running a little slow,’ he said kindly, and patted her on the shoulder.
The black smoke around them began to clear. Ace wiped her eyes, reopened them, and then froze. The Doctor, too, was very still. De Flores and Karl stood in front of them with their submachine-guns levelled. De Flores was smiling with quiet satisfaction.
‘Oh, great,’ said Ace.
De Flores ignored her, reacting as though it were the Doctor who had spoken. ‘Yes, Doctor,’ he said agreeably.
We have all succeeded in deceiving the Cybermen.’
He raised his arm. Through the torn sleeve a metallic elbow glinted. Karl’s shirt too was open at the top, revealing what had been his chest: it was partly metallized.
‘A small price to pay, I think you will agree, for the successful fulfilment of our superhuman dream.’
‘The Cybermen made the mistake of assuming all human beings to be weak and corruptible,’ added Karl superciliously. ‘We, however, are loyal to the death.’
The Doctor was silent. He appeared perplexed.
De Flores calmly approached the statue and gazed upon it in apparent rapture. ‘Now at last your long journey is over,’ he said to it. ‘You will be worshipped for ever.’ The statue did not respond. De Flores waited, but no reply or even glance was returned to him. For the first time he seemed ill at ease. ‘Doesn’t she speak?’ he turned angrily to the Doctor. ‘Doesn’t she speak?’ he barked again.
‘Not to the likes of you,’ replied the Doctor.
De Flores’ lips twisted in a thin smile. ‘She will,’ he replied. He regained his composure. ‘Now Doctor, we must part,’ he continued briskly. ‘We thank you for removing the Cybermen. And now that you have kindly done so, the Nemesis is, at long last...’
‘Yours,’ said the Doctor. But he was looking behind De Flores. There was a sudden movement and Karl and De Flores spun round. The Cyber Leader was standing immediately behind them, his laser at the ready. There was a flash of light from it and Karl and De Flores were disintegrated before their fingers could tighten on their triggers.
‘Sorry, Doctor,’ said Ace, shocked. ‘I thought I got rid of him.’
The Doctor was staring at the Cyber Leader. His eyes were steely. ‘Don’t threaten her,’ he rasped.
The Cyber Leader almost shrugged. ‘Give me control of the statue,’ he answered.
‘I can’t.’
‘Then,’ said the Cyber Leader with calm precision, ‘I will kill her.’
The Doctor looked at the Leader as though the Cyberman were a mentally deficient child. ‘Didn’t you hear me?’ he shouted. ‘I can’t. Even if I wanted to.’ He stepped right up to the Cyber Leader and stared at him closely. ‘This is technology beyond your comprehension,’
he added. ‘It can’t be reprogrammed.’
‘To destroy the Cyber race?’ said the Leader. ‘No, Doctor. You will remove the rockets so the Nemesis cannot be launched.’
‘That won’t solve anything,’ the Doctor answered.
‘When the fleet