Doctor Who_ The Forgotten Army - Brian Minchin [62]
234
THE FORGOTTEN ARMY
Amy stamped her foot in frustration. 'Yeah, I get it. But I'm not the one drowning in dandruff and hair gel.'
'Sam.' The Doctor looked deadly serious. 'Sam, I need you to listen very carefully. Somewhere in there, Sam is still alive. You are more than a puppet, and you need to try very hard to remember that.'
The Vykoid controlling Sam laughed hysterically. 'Why are you even trying? It's like cattle going to the market. You are going to be sold, so stop mooing.'
The Doctor wasn't put off. 'Sam, you need to listen to me.
This city was built on dreams of freedom. The American dream wasn't built on might and weapons. It was built by hard work and the hope of freedom on the other side. That's why you came here, that's why your great grandparents came here. This is the city of the free, and no one in it, simply no one, can ever accept being a slave. Focus on that feeling, Sam, the dream of freedom you have in you - use it to overpower what you're feeling.'
Amy leant close to the Doctor and whispered, 'Do you think it'll work?'
The Doctor met Sam's eyes and continued. 'You need to believe in yourself, Sam. You are more than this, you are not meant to be a slave. Sam - this is your big day. The moment you become famous. Help me, and I can stop this happening.
Trust me, Sam, and trust yourself.'
The Vykoid controller looked rattled. He pulled 235
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on the levers, but it seemed that Sam was no longer responding. Moving so fast he was a blur of energy, the controller was slamming buttons and yanking every control he had, but to no avail.
With every movement an obvious effort, Sam raised his hand, grasped the Vykoid and yanked the chair from his head. 'Ow!' he winced as the tiny wires they'd drilled into his skull ripped out. He bent double, but then straightened up with pride.
'I did it!'
The Vykoid was dangling from Sam's hand, furiously trying to bite and scratch his way free.
'As for you...' Sam lifted the Vykoid higher. 'How dare you do this to me?' He inspected the troll-like figure with a scientist's eye. 'What an ugly little creature you are.'
'Over here, Sam.' The Doctor was holding out his hand.
Carefully taking the Vykoid by the scruff of the neck, he took out the sonic screwdriver and scanned the small creature from head to toe. 'Here, hold this. Gentle with him now.'
The Doctor handed the Vykoid to Amy and clambered up to the top of the Torch. Standing precariously on the crossbeams, he touched the sonic screwdriver to the very peak of the Torch and then leapt down, a huge grin on his face.
'Done!'
'Is that it?' Amy said, bewildered. 'Here, take this back... I don't want him.'
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The Vykoid's leathery face was screwed up and knotted with anger.
'Ah, let him go,' said the Doctor. 'He can't stop us now.'
Amy dropped the Vykoid to the floor and dusted her hands together, glad to be rid of the alien. 'So why are you looking so pleased with yourself?' she asked.
The Doctor led Amy and Sam to a tiny porthole and looked out towards New York.
That's one of the biggest cities in the world,' he told them.
'The best of everything is there. But it's not about being bigger. It doesn't matter who has the biggest guns or the most money or the most troops. The mightiest army can fall to the smallest. The Vykoids showed us that. But they made a mistake, a tiny mistake. They should have killed us when they had the chance.'
'What have you done?' Sam asked.
I can't make the mob turn on them. I can't even stop the Time Freeze. But I can do something they don't expect...'
'Which is?'
'That teleport beam. They've programmed it for humans.'
'Yeah, I gathered,' Amy said.
'Erik does everything with his remote control. Very technological race, the Vykoids, they love to put too many functions into a device. Their beam comes 237
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from the highest point of the Statue of Liberty.' The Doctor pointed up. 'Right here.'
Amy looked out. 'But they're all still captives. The Vykoids have rounded everyone up.'
The Doctor grinned.