Doctor Who_ Silver Nemesis - Kevin Clarke [43]
When it had faded into the sky, Ace and Richard found themselves looking at each other in shock, as was the Doctor. Only the Cyber Leader appeared calm. ‘We shall watch its progress,’ he said smoothly to the Doctor.
‘Certainly,’ the Doctor replied with perfect self-control.
He switched on the ghetto blaster’s holographic display, and a hologram began to take form once again immediately above the machine. They all began to watch.
Many hundreds of dots could be seen around the Moon.
The Cybermen’s fleet had been augmented since the last viewing, and its ships hung in space like a swarm. From the Earth another, single and smaller, dot appeared, approaching the very centre of the fleet. The nearer it grew, the brighter the Nemesis became, until it was glowing so brightly that the other dots were becoming less visible.
Then it exploded.
The entire hologram was instantly flooded with a dazzling, impossibly bright white light which slowly faded until only the occasional star glittered distantly in the awesome reaches of silent space. The Cyber Leader involuntarily stepped forward. He passed his hand through the image in utter disbelief, but the Doctor, who had taken off his spectacles and polished them on his handkerchief, was now gazing at him in quiet satisfaction.
‘No...’ grated the Cyber Leader.
‘Yes,’ replied the Doctor firmly. ‘The fleet has been destroyed.’
‘But... how?’
‘Simple.’
‘The Nemesis was under my command. I ordered it only to liaise with our force.’
‘Ah, but I had ordered the Nemesis to destroy it. When you took control and changed the instruction through me, I simply asked the statue whether it understood what you said; I didn’t say anything to it about obeying you.’
The Leader looked murderously at the diminutive figure in front of him. ‘Then you will join them,’ he said, aiming his laser at the Doctor’s head.
The Doctor shrugged. ‘Worth it,’ he said simply, and closed his eyes.
As he did so, Richard seized his chance. He pulled out the gold-headed arrow that had been embedded in the door of the TARDIS since the first battle on the building site, and rushed forward. The Cyber Leader’s finger was tightening on the trigger as Richard shoved the arrow with all his strength into the chest panel. The Leader dropped his weapon and fell writhing to the ground, rattling wildly.
The Doctor opened his eyes. ‘Goodbye,’ he said.
The Cyber Leader was still.
The Doctor slapped Richard on the back. ‘That seems to be that,’ he said. ‘Thank you.’
Richard nodded. ‘It’s nothing, master. I wish only that I could have saved my lady also. But she was one with your statue.’ He looked away sadly across the muddy, grotesque terrain: the half-built modern houses, the cement mixers and excavators. ‘How shall I live now?’ he asked. ‘Stranded here, a stranger in this time.’
The Doctor nodded sympathetically. ‘I know just how you feel,’ he agreed. ‘However...’
But Ace beat him to it. ‘We’ll give you a lift,’ she said brightly.
Richard clearly did not understand.
‘Take you back,’ translated the Doctor.
Richard looked at him in wonder. ‘Is’t possible?’ he whispered.
‘Anything’s possible,’ smiled the Doctor.
‘Why,’ said Richard, ‘methinks I hear celestial music.’
The Doctor, no stranger to these imaginings, smiled indulgently. ‘And I’d like to buy you a drink on the way,’
he added. ‘If you’ve got the time.’
Richard smiled broadly. ‘No Doctor,’ he said firmly. ‘I shall buy you a drink.’
‘In that case I know just the place,’ said the Doctor.
‘Speaking of celestial music...’
11
In the pub garden, their table was still free