Earthshock

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deliberately.
'Are they robots?' Adric asked incredulously.
The Doctor shook his head. 'Far, far worse,' he murmured. He turned urgently
to the Captain. 'You must withdraw your crew. They don't stand a chance,' he warned
her earnestly.
At that moment, Berger managed to pan the surveillance camera to reveal
Ringway's barricade starting to disintegrate under the Cybermen's deadly barrage.
Then the screen flashed and went white.
41
Pulling off her right glove, Briggs hurried over to the armoury locker. 'Our
defences are crumbling. We must go out and help,' she said defiantly.
Before she could insert her thumb into the identification lock, the access door
leading to the walkway above the hold slid aside and Ringway strode onto the bridge,
his laser pistol levelled. 'No, Captain, you'll stay right here,' he said coldly.
Briggs glared at him in astonishment. Then a sarcastic smile gradually creased
the corners of her bright red mouth. 'The enemy's out there behind you,' she cried in
scornful falsetto. 'You're pointing your laser in the wrong direction, Mister Navigator.'
She whooped with laughter at her joke.
Ringway gave her a glacial smile. 'No Ma'am, I am relieving you of your
command,' he crowed. 'I'm sick of your sneering and your bullying.'
The Doctor gave a short, hollow laugh. 'You haven't seen anything yet, Mister
Ringway. Just wait until the Cybermen start.'
Ringway looked surprised and momentarily disconcerted. 'You know them?'
he murmured.
'Oh yes, we are very old acquaintances,' the Doctor replied affably, moving
slowly and casually round so as to keep Ringway's attention away from First Officer
Berger standing by her seat. Through the open door behind Ringway, the sounds of
the battle between the crew and the Cybermen had reached a climax. 'This slaughter is
utterly pointless, you know,' the Doctor continued, keeping his piercing gaze on the
nervous traitor.
'The crew is redundant,' Ringway declared flatly, keeping the Doctor covered.
'You even talk like a Cyberman,' the Doctor taunted him, aware that Berger
was slowly manoeuvring herself round the end of the console.
'Those tin soldiers must be paying you an awful lot for this, Ringway,' Briggs
sneered, catching the Doctor's eye.
'And I bet it isn't in gold,' the Doctor added significantly.
Adric had noticed that something was afoot. 'Why is that Doctor?' he asked
with exaggerated curiosity.
'Because the Cybermen are highly allergic to the stuff. Suffocates them,' the
Doctor explained. 'Doesn't it, Mister Ringway?'
Ringway smiled humourlessly. 'Just keep talking Doctor.'
Adric had turned away slightly and was thoughtfully fingering the large star-
shaped badge pinned on his tunic.
Briggs saw that Berger had almost reached the panel on the console containing
the release switches for the freighter's emergency bulkhead shutters. 'Ah... where do
these... these Cybermen come from, Doctor?' she asked, forcing Ringway to follow
her with his eyes as she moved beside the Doctor.
The Doctor gestured courteously to Ringway as if inviting him to answer.
Ringway stared impassively back at him. 'They originally came from Mondas, but
that was destroyed,' the Doctor replied. 'I'm rather surprised they didn't warn you
about me, Mister Ringway.'
'Perhaps you over-estimate your own importance, Doctor,' Ringway retorted
sourly.
'I doubt it. In the past I've been quite a nuisance to them...' the Doctor said
with a cheery smile.
'What are you doing there?' Ringway shouted, suddenly suspicious of Adric's
movements. Behind Ringway, Berger froze.
'Nothing,' Adric mumbled, without turning round.
42
Ringway lunged forward and swung the boy to face him. He pressed his pistol
against Adric's head and yanked his hand away from his chest. 'It's gold,' Ringway
breathed, staring at the gleaming badge.
'Only the edge...' Adric protested, flinching aside so that Ringway was obliged
to turn his back on the others.
Ringway ripped the star from Adric's tunic. 'Trying to conceal it, were you?'
he shrieked in a strange manic tone, raising his pistol to strike.
Briggs leaped forward, chopped Ringway hard across the back of the neck and
hurled him sharply against the console. At the same instant, the Doctor seized the
laser from Ringway's limp hand and picked up the badge from the deck.
'Listen!' Adric murmured. There was a forbidding silence. Everyone turned
towards the open doorway. 'The fighting's stopped...' he said.
'Quick!' Briggs yelled at Berger, who was unlocking the bulkhead-shutter
master control.
At that moment, the deck began to reverberate with a heavy tramping sound
and a fierce hissing. Several huge shadows suddenly fell across the landing just
outside the bridge. With a gigantic crash two heavy shutters slid down over the
entrances just as an enormous silver shape loomed in the doorway.
The Doctor hurried over and tapped one of the shutters dubiously. 'This won't
hold them off for long,' he warned.
'They should hold until we reach Earth,' Briggs answered, flopping into her
seat and surveying Ringway's motionless body with weary distaste. 'Earth Security
will do the rest.'
The Doctor came over to the bank of blank surveillance monitors. 'There could
be an entire invasion force,' he murmured grimly. 'How many of those silos are you
carrying Captain Briggs?'
'Oh, about fifteen thousand . . .' Briggs began. She stopped, clutching the arms
of her seat in sudden horror. 'No, Doctor . . . no . . . it's not possible...' she stuttered.
Outside the bridge, several Cybermen were examining the material of the bulkhead
shutters when their Leader strode purposefully into their midst.
'The Doctor must be taken alive,' he ordered. 'What is the delay?'
The Cyber Deputy explained what had happened.
'Our plans must not be hampered by such trivial obstacles,' the Cyberleader
rasped. 'Prepare a sonic lance.' [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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