where dead men slumber page 2

'Doctor. You live.' said the Cyber-controller.

'Only just, but you know I have to stop you.'
 
'The Cyber-race must contin-' the Cyber-controller began but the Doctor cut in:

'Yes, yes. I know all that. You must try another way of surviving without wiping out entire species, you know.'

'Why have you returned?'

'To stop you from carrying out your plans against the Earth fleet.'

'You have no means to stop us.' observed a Cyberman.

'I have my wits.' the Doctor replied, ' I may not be able to save those poor souls you have in there,' the Doctor indicated the images of the Gamma J crew being converted into Cybermen, 'but I can stop you from taking anymore lives.' The Doctor looked about the control room, searching for one control panel that he had in mind that would help him in his plan against the Cybermen.

'You will die!' said the Cyber-controller as two Cybermen moved towards the Doctor, but he quickly moved towards the control panel he had been looking for and went about adjusting its settings. As he did so, the two Cybermen having reached him, suddenly became detached from the metallic floor of the control room and began to float uneasily above him.

The Doctor held on to the nearest thing that was securely fixed to the ground as the other Cybermen and the Cyber-controller too floated into the air. 'The gravity unit has been deactivated!' said a Cyberman, at which point the Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the console before him and watched as the control panel explode, completely disabling the gravity controls.

'There, that should keep them busy,' mused the Doctor and floating away from the console, headed for the door and exit from the control room. He floated down the corridors through the space station, passing various Cybermats and Cybermen struggling to get control of their flailing limbs, all helpless in the zero gravity.

After a while, he had located the TARDIS, where he had left it and, to his surprise, outside the doors leading to the Fuel Depot. Outside the doors also were two Cybermen who were struggling for control of their limbs just like the others the Doctor had seen earlier.

'The bomb!' suddenly realisation dawned on the Doctor, 'Oh my!' He moved, floating, using his arms to guide him towards the door. The Cybermen instinctively reached out to grab the Doctor but without success. He ducked under them removed his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and using it, opened the door to the fuel depot. All the time the Cybermen tried their best to stop him, and he floated on by and through the doorway.

Once inside the Doctor took in the layout of the fuel depot and instantly recognised the alien technology. He floated down towards the bomb and began to decipher the intricate instruments that operated its controls.

Unbeknown to him, as he busied himself with the bomb, a Cyberman had floated into the room and was heading in his direction, its arms out stretched. It had observed the Doctor's movements and had copied them and with control had a means to stop the Doctor from sabotaging their plans.

The Doctor's reaction was to pull the glitter gun from his pocket but as he struggled the Cyberman moved ever closer to him. Once it had emerged from his pocket the Cyberman knocked it from his hand and it went spinning through the air back towards the door.

'Oh dear,' said the Doctor and grabbed the floating Cyberman and together they struggled for a moment until suddenly there was a blast of the fine gold filaments from the glitter gun.

Floating in the door way was the familiar figure of Jamie McCrimmon. 'Doctor! Are you alright?' came the Scottish tones.

'Oh my, Jamie. Am I pleased to see you!' called the Doctor as he struggled to get clear of the Cyberman, which now floated lifeless through the air of the Fuel Depot as the fine gold dust did its work on its chest plate. 'Are you are ok? Where's Victoria?' he called and moved back towards the Cybermen's bomb to continue with the disarming.

'Och, she's still sleeping, thought it best not to wake her. And then I saw these creatures on the TARDIS scanner. What are they, Doctor? They look like-'

'Cybermen.' the Doctor finished. 'They are, Jamie. Or to be more exact, the first of their kind.'

'But they're so different from the others I've seen. Like, like on the Moonbase.'

'Yes. Well, these are more human, than those we saw on the Moonbase. Anyway, first things first, I need to deactivate this bomb...'

'Bomb?' exclaimed Jamie and he floated down to the Doctor's side.

'Yes, well, not now, Jamie. I'll explain everything later, Jamie.' The Doctor continued with the work at hand. 'What happened to the other Cyberman outside the door?' he asked.

'Och, easy. I just gave him a wee push and he floated away down the corridor.'

'Then it's likely to be back soon with more Cybermen.' He turned to Jamie cautiously looking over his shoulder at the doorway. 'Go back to the TARDIS and wait for me there.' Jamie was about to protest but the Doctor said, 'Now don't argue, Jamie. I want you safe in the TARDIS. I'm nearly done and I'll be right behind you.'

With his protesting dashed before he could utter a word, Jamie floated up again towards the doorway and back to the safety of the TARDIS. The Doctor watched him go and finally disconnected the bomb. 'That should send them running...or should that be flying?' he muttered and he too floated upwards and back towards the TARDIS. As he opened the door, he caught a glimpse of the Cybermen drifting down the corridor towards him, the Cyber-controller leading the way.

'Stop! Stop!' it's voice buzzed throught the air. 'We will survive, Doctor. We must survive.'

'Not like this.' muttered the Doctor and disappeared through the door into the console room.

Jamie stood watching the scene outside the TARDIS on the scanner screen. The Cybermen had arrived outside the ship trying desperately to gain control of their lifeless limbs. He noticed two of them entering the Fuel Depot.
'Hey, Doctor. Those creatures are heading for the bomb!'

'Oh dear, are they?' the Doctor said, ' Well, I just need to set a few things in motion.' He moved around the console room adjusting switches and dials on the many sided console. When he flicked the final switch he looked up at the scanner screen.

Suddenly, the Cybermen were reacting diferently than their lifeless situation. Their chest units began to spark and smoke began to poor from their tubes and wiring that covered their bodies.

'What did you do, Doctor?'

The Doctor looked away from the screen and switched it off with the controls on the console. 'I flooded the space station with deadly radiation,' he said sadly.

'Are they dead, Doctor?' Jamie asked.

'Yes. Yes, Jamie. I'm afraid so. They're all dead. I had no choice. Others would have died if I hadn't stopped them.' He continued with the TARDIS controls and the column at its centre began to move up and down indicating the TARDIS in flight.

'Will they survive, Doctor?'

'Yes, Jamie. They always survive.'

THE END

written by
COLIN JOHN
from an original idea by
JAMES WATTS
copyright 2009

artwork by
COLIN JOHN
copyright 2013
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