Doctor Who_ Space War - Malcolm Hulke [50]
As they went forward again the ground on both sides rose in big rock-covered shoulders. Some distance ahead were cliffs and the Doctor thought he could see the mouths of caves. Between them and the cliffs lay huge boulders, as though some giant had cast pebbles along the floor of the valley.
The General looked up at the sides of the valley. ‘That’s where we should be, Doctor, with a commanding view—’
The Master suddenly stepped out from behind a boulder a few yards ahead of the party. ‘Hello, Doctor! There you are at long last!’
General Williams raised an arm to halt his party. ‘Surrender or you will be shot down!’ He aimed his blaster gun to fire.
‘No! ‘ said the Doctor. ‘He’s unarmed.’
‘Thank you. Doctor,’ called the Master. ‘Always the good pacifist. I am unarmed, but not alone. I’ve brought some old friends along to meet you.’
As he spoke a Dalek glided out from behind the boulder, its deadly firing weapon trained on the Doctor.
‘Don’t do anything rash, Doctor,’ shouted the Master. ‘Look around you.’
The Doctor looked up at the rising ground. On all sides Daleks had appeared.
‘What are these machines?’ asked General Williams. ‘He says they’re your friends.’
‘The Master’s little joke,’ replied the Doctor. ‘No, they’re not machines, not exactly. They are what remains of one of the greatest species of the galaxy. Unfortunately they turned to war, a terrible conflict of nuclear weapons. It backfired on them. Through mutation they started to decay. Realising that soon only their brains would be left, they devised these mobile domes that you see now all around us. In their bitterness they became the most vicious, ruthless creatures ever to live in Space. They are my most deadly enemies.’
‘Then they must be destroyed,’ said General Williams. He called to his soldiers, ‘Open fire!’
Before the Earth soldiers could raise their weapons, the Daleks had fired on them. Williams tried to raise his blaster gun but the Doctor knocked it from his hands.
‘It’s no good, General. We must submit.’
The Doctor, General Williams and the Draconian Prince were led into the main meeting cave of the Ogrons’ stronghold. A Dalek was waiting. It addressed the Doctor in a harsh, mechanical monotone.
‘Doctor, you are in the power of the Daleks. You will be taken to our planet and exterminated.’ Even the Ogrons present quavered at the deathly sound of the Dalek’s voice.
‘If I may speak,’ said the Master. ‘This man has been my enemy as well as yours. He does not fear death. I wish him to suffer a worse punishment. Leave him with me so that he can see the results of the war which my cunning and skill has created. Let him see the galaxy, including that planet Earth he loved so well, in ruins. Then exterminate him.’
The Dalek turned towards the Master. ‘He will re-main your prisoner until the war is concluded. Then you will bring him to us. We shall return to our planet now and prepare the army of the Daleks.’ The Dalek glided away down a corridor into the darkness beyond.
‘I suppose I should thank you,’ the Doctor told the Master. ‘You seem to have saved my life.’
‘Not for long, Doctor. It will be a very short war.’ The Master turned to the Ogron guards. ‘Take him away.’
The Doctor was put into the cell with Jo, who promptly flung her arms round him. General Williams and the Prince were placed in the adjacent cell. The hole Jo had dug was filled in with rocks.
‘These Dalek creatures,’ the Prince spoke through the bars. ‘Why do they wish to set my people against Earth?’
‘Because war will mean the end of both empires,’ explained the Doctor. ‘The Dalcks will emerge as supreme rulers.’
‘Doctor,’ Jo said excitedly, tugging at his sleeve, ‘I’ve got one of those things. Look! I stole it when I escaped for a while.’ She produced the dull grey box, keeping it well out of sight of the Ogron guard on the other side of the bars.
‘What is