Doctor Who_ Space War - Malcolm Hulke [0]
AND THE SPACE WAR
By MALCOLM HULKE
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Based on the BBC television serial Doctor Who and the Frontier in Space by Malcolm Hulke by arrangement with the British Broadcasting Corporation
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1 Link-up in Space
The year 2540.
Earth Cargo Ship C-982 slid silently through Space on its way back to Earth. Once a smart dull grey, much of its paintwork had been scorched away by countless take-offs and landings through the atmospheres of Earth and Earth’s many planet colonies. The dark shape of the spaceship was relieved by lights shining from the port-holes in its blunt nose. Inside the flight deck two men sat at the controls, both dressed in scruffy space overalls, both bored with the monotony of piloting their cargo ship through millions of miles of Space.
While Hardy made a routine check of the ship’s controls, the younger space pilot, Stewart, leaned back and stretched his arms. ‘You know what I’d like?’
Hardy drew a tick on his controls check list. ‘What?’
‘A job on one of those luxury space-liners. First Officer on the Mars-Venus cruise, that’d suit me.’
Hardy continued with his work. ‘You can keep it. Spit and polish, cocktail parties with the passengers...’
Stewart took up on Hardy’s theme, but with enthusiasm. ‘And a uniform with gold braid instead of these overalls, and all those beautiful space stewardesses! I’ll have that any time.’
The older man put away his check list, satisfied that the spaceship’s speed, direction and internal temperature were all in order. He started to pull on his safety belt. ‘The way things are heading you’re more likely to wind up piloting a battle cruiser.’
Stewart was quick to answer. ‘There’s not going to be a war.’
‘Didn’t you see the President on television last night? The Dragons have attacked two more of our ships. How much longer do you think we’ll stand for it?’ He used the slang word for Draconians. Of all the species and life forms on the millions of inhabited planets of the Milky Way Galaxy, two had become dominant—Earthmen and Draconians. Over the past century Earth and Draconia had competed to colonise other planets, until now both possessed vast empires in Space. Fortunately the two planets were far apart, in opposite ‘legs’ of the swirling galaxy. By tacit agreement they confined their colonising to their respective halves of the Milky Way and generally, though not always, observed an agreed frontier in Space between each other.
Stewart also pulled on his safety belt. ‘I’m a born optimist. They steal a few of our cargoes, we steal a few of theirs. But it’ll blow over. Neither side could afford an all-out war.’ He checked the hyper-space dials. ‘We’re ready for the jump.’
Hardy spoke to Earth Control on the ship’s transmitter. ‘Cargo Ship C-982 preparing to enter hyper-space at 22.17, seven two, two thousand five hundred and forty.’ He turned to Stewart. ‘Let’s shoot.’
Stewart touched the hyper-space lever and the spaceship leapt into speed faster than light. The sudden force riveted both men to their seats. Hardy was the first to notice the strange object spinning towards them on the monitor screen. ‘You see that?’ he shouted excitedly.
Stewart looked. ‘What is it?’
‘Dragons. They’re going to attack.’
Stewart tried to get the spinning object into focus. It looked like an oblong box and was coming straight for them. At one end of the shape a blue light flashed. ‘That isn’t a ship. I’ve never seen anything like it.’
‘Well, it’s going to hit us, whatever it is.’
‘That’s their bad luck,’ said Stewart. ‘But better pull out of hyper-space.’
Hardy had already seized the microphone. ‘Cargo Ship C-982, about to pull out of hyper-space now...’
For a moment the spinning object with its flashing blue light filled the monitor screen. Then, abruptly, as the spaceship slowed, the object vanished.
‘Fancy that,’ said Stewart, making a young man’s pretence that he hadn’t been frightened. ‘You’d better report it.’
‘They’ll never believe us,’ Hardy growled. ‘But you’re probably right.’ He spoke into the microphone. ‘Cargo Ship C-982 to Earth Control.