Doctor Who_ The Doomsday Weapon - Malcolm Hulke [56]
'You mean that thing?' The Doctor indicated the drum-like object in the middle of the floor.
'This whole room,' said the Master, 'and the hundreds of miles of corridors of electronic equipment that stem from this room. It is all the Doomsday Weapon. That,' and he pointed to the construction in the middle of the floor, 'is the control console.' He went to the console and gently ran his fingers over the controls. 'With this our control, we can rule all life on every planet in every galaxy.'
'We?' said the Doctor.
'Of course,' said the Master. 'Are we not both Time Lords? Isn't it our destiny to work together as partners?'
The Doctor heard sounds coming from the corridor. 'I think it may shortly be our destiny to die together if we're caught in here.'
The huge doors slowly started to open. 'Over here,' said the Master, waving his gun at the Doctor. There was nowhere in the room to hide, so the two of them took up a position with their backs to the wall close to the doors. The Master kept his gun at the ready. The huge doors continued to open, and then ten or more of the otter-faced priests entered. The Master and the Doctor stood there in wonder to see what the priests were about to do.
Using their buggies for quick transport, Captain Dent and the IMC men were now 35 safe kilometres away from the colonists' spaceship. Only one IMC guard remained near, a volunteer who was sitting lookout on a hill near the colonists' dome, using night binoculars for any sign of the colonists leaving their craft. Once back in his ship, Captain Dent went straight to the control room and sat comfortably in his captain's chair. He turned to the radio microphone.
' Captain Dent to colonists' spaceship, ' he said. ' Do you hear me? '
There was a crackle of static, then Ashe's voice. ' We hear you, Captain Dent. '
' What's delaying you? ' said Dent.
' An electrical fault in our life-support system, ' said Ashe. ' We are just completing repairs. '
' Good, ' said Dent. ' Then get off this planet! '
He switched off the microphone. Morgan had come up behind him. 'That's a laugh,' said Morgan. 'They don't need a life-support system, not if that old crate is going to blow itself to pieces!'
Dent turned on the microphone again, and tuned into the IMC guards' frequency. ' Captain Dent here, ' he said into the microphone, ' speaking to lookout guard. Any sign of movement around that old spaceship? '
The guard's voice came back clearly. ' No, sir. Their hatch remains closed. No one's tried to leave the ship. '
' Keep watching, ' said Dent. ' If that hatch opens one millimetre, tell me immediately. '
' Yes, sir, ' said the guard's voice.
Dent switched off the microphone, leaving the wave-length open for incoming transmissions. He thought for a moment, then turned to Morgan, 'Get the men ready to go over to that so-called Primitive City .'
'Couldn't it wait till daylight?' said Morgan. 'Once that old ship's taken off, there's only us and that fake Adjudicator and that Doctor man left on the planet. We can wipe them out in no time.'
'I want everything finished and done with tonight,'. said Dent. 'By first light I want to radio IMC Headquarters on Earth and tell them to send in the heavy mining gear, and I want to be able to report that this planet is entirely clear of everyone. So get moving!'
'Yes, sir,' said Morgan, and hurried out to get ready the guards.
Captain Dent sat thinking. Then he turned the ship's external television eye in the direction of the sky over the colonists' dome and spaceship. He hoped that very soon he would see the glare of the colonists' ship taking off on its last journey.
The IMC guard acting as lookout crouched on top of the little hill overlooking the colonists' spaceship, his night binoculars piercing the darkness as he watched the hatch of the ship. He was cold and the rocky surface was too uncomfortable