Doctor Who: Prisoner of the Daleks (14 page)

This particular Dalek had already reached screeching level. 'O
BEY THE
D
ALEKS
! Y
OU WILL OBEY
!'

'Just remember,' Cuttin' Edge said coolly, 'that eyestalk's
mine
.'

'B
E SILENT
!' The Dalek's sucker arm suddenly extended and grasped Cuttin' Edge's chest. The black cup gripped and squeezed and Cuttin' Edge howled. Then the Dalek released him and he fell to the floor, gasping for breath and rubbing his chest.

Scrum helped him to his feet. 'You're going to get yourself killed!'

'T
HE NEXT PERSON TO SPEAK WITHOUT PERMISSION WILL BE EXTERMINATED
,' grated one of the other Daleks. 'N
OW REMOVE YOUR OUTER GARMENTS
.'

Slowly the prisoners unfastened their heavy winter jackets and dropped them on the floor. Cuttin' Edge's bravado may have been inspirational, but he had very nearly paid for it with his life. The Doctor was trying to keep a low profile and merge in with the group, keeping his head down. But Koral had already seen enough. She was looking at him curiously, but the Doctor pretended not to notice and stared down at his canvas trainers.

Two Daleks approached the group, sucker arms extended. 'P
RISONERS WILL BE SCANNED AND CATEGORISED
,' said one. 'S
TAND APART
! M
OVE
!'

The little group shuffled around until they were all separate and in a line. First to be scanned was Scrum. The suckers roved all over him, emitting strange electronic warbling noises. 'S
PECIES – HUMAN
.' The Dalek spoke the word as if it tasted foul. 'M
ALE
. P
HYSICAL CAPACITY – LEVEL FIVE POINT NINE
. M
ARGINAL USE
.'

'Marginal?' echoed Scrum, affronted.

The Daleks scanned Cuttin' Edge. 'S
PECIES – HUMAN
. M
ALE
. P
HYSICAL CAPACITY – LEVEL SEVEN POINT FIVE
. S
UITABLE
. Y
OU WILL BE TAKEN TO THE MINE TO WORK FOR THE
D
ALEKS
.'

The Daleks then moved on to Koral, who was standing next to Bowman.

'S
PECIES – UNKNOWN
,' announced one of the Daleks. 'F
EMALE
. P
HYSICAL CAPACITY – LEVEL NINE POINT FOUR
. S
UITABLE
. Y
OU WILL BE TAKEN TO THE MINE TO WORK FOR THE
D
ALEKS
.'

Koral looked fearfully at Bowman. He reached out and squeezed her hand gently; and it was easy for Koral to see the relief in his eyes – relief that she hadn't been declared too dangerous and killed on the spot.

The Daleks moved on, scanning Bowman next. He stood straight, shoulders back, chin up, almost as if he was back on the parade ground.

'S
PECIES – HUMAN
. M
ALE
. P
HYSICAL CAPACITY – LEVEL SEVEN POINT SIX
. W
AIT
!' Something had attracted the Dalek's attention. 'E
XTEND YOUR ARM
.'

After a brief pause, Bowman thrust out his left arm.

The Dalek's eye focused on the small white scar running down his forearm. 'E
VIDENCE OF SUBCUTANEOUS TRANSMITTER REMOVAL
!'

Another Dalek moved forward, its blue eye zeroing in on the scar. 'X-
RAY CONFIRMS TRANSMITTER HAS BEEN REMOVED
.'

'Transmitter?' Scrum whispered. 'What transmitter?'

'Hell, I dunno, pal,' Cuttin' Edge whispered back. 'But Bowman don't look happy.'

Bowman glared stonily at the Dalek and lowered his arm. 'Guess it's your lucky day,' he growled.

'What's going on?' Scrum wanted to know. Like the others, he could sense something was up, and his curiosity – kindled by panic – was enough to make him forget the orders not to speak.

But the Daleks were too preoccupied with Bowman to notice. 'S
TEP FORWARD
! K
NEEL
!'

'I'm not kneeling for you,' Bowman replied simply.

The Dalek behind Bowman simply thrust out its sucker arm, aiming for the back of Bowman's left knee. His leg folded and Bowman hit the metal floor with a grunt.

Koral started forward, clearly alarmed. But the Doctor reached out and took her arm, shaking his head fractionally. She looked at him in despair.

'I
NITIATE BRAIN SCAN
!' Two Daleks extended their suckers, closing them around Bowman's head. There was a shrill, piercing whine and Bowman gasped loudly, flecks of saliva jumping from his lips.

'Leave him alone!' yelled Scrum, moving forward, but Cuttin' Edge grabbed him and pulled him back.

The Doctor, too, had to grab hold of Koral again to prevent her from physically attacking the Daleks. 'Don't be stupid!' he hissed.

The suction cups retracted and Bowman fell forward, onto his hands and knees. He was trembling violently, his head hanging low between his arms, fighting the urge to vomit. There were angry red weals on his face where the suckers had gripped him.

The Daleks were screeching at each other with excitement. 'A
LERT
! I
NFORM
C
OMMAND
! P
RISONER IDENTIFIED AS
S
PACE
M
AJOR
J
ON
B
OWMAN
!'

'W
E OBEY
!' shrieked a pair of Daleks.

'Space Major?' echoed Cuttin' Edge. He sounded shocked. '
Space Major
?'

'Since when?' Scrum asked.

'Since the very beginning,' said the Doctor. 'Remember when Auros was destroyed? Bowman knew about the Osterhagen Principle. Only senior members of the Earth military would have access to that kind of information. No wonder the Daleks are so excited... it can't be often they catch someone as important as this.'

'Important?' Cuttin' Edge frowned. 'He ain't important. Well, not that kinda important.'

'The Daleks would appear to disagree.'

At this point a new Dalek arrived – it had a similar bronze shell to all the others but they obviously deferred to it as chief, backing away slightly to allow it access to the prisoners. The Doctor surmised that this would be the Dalek designated as overall commander of the prison.

'S
TAND
!' ordered the Command Dalek, looming over Bowman. 'S
TAND IMMEDIATELY
!'

Koral helped Bowman to his feet. He was unsteady, uncharacteristically pale and listless. His eyes were cloudy and he looked confused. Koral turned and spat at the Command Dalek. 'Leave him alone! Do not touch him or I will rip out your guts!'

'R
ELEASE THE PRISONER
!' Already, the spittle was evaporating from the Dalek's head dome in a tiny, pathetic puff of steam. 'H
E IS TO BE TAKEN FOR FULL BRAIN EXCORIATION
.'

'You will have to kill me first!' Koral roared. She lunged at the nearest Dalek, flicking out her claws and gouging bright sparks from its armour plate.

But two Daleks fitted with claw manipulators had already moved in and seized her. They gripped her arms and practically lifted her off her feet, kicking and struggling.

'Y
OU WILL OBEY THE
D
ALEKS
,' said the Command Dalek.

'Why don't you just exterminate me!' Koral yelled.

'I
T IS NOT NECESSARY
,' intoned the Dalek. 'Y
OU ARE REQUIRED FOR WORK IN THE MINES
. B
UT YOU HAVE DISOBEYED THE
D
ALEKS
. O
NE OF YOUR PARTY WILL BE PUNISHED
.'

Bowman looked up groggily. 'No...' he croaked.

The Dalek glided forward. 'T
HE WEAKEST MEMBER WILL DIE
,' it said.

Cuttin' Edge choked. 'No!' he bellowed, knowing exactly what this would mean.

'D
ISABLE THIS HUMAN
,' ordered the Command Dalek. One of the others lowered its gun-stick, aiming for Cuttin' Edge's legs, and fired. A bright blue flash lit the area and Cuttin' Edge collapsed to the floor. He then lay there, hands scrabbling at the metal, unable to get a grip. His legs were completely immobile.

'I can't feel my legs!' he cried.

'Y
OU HAVE SUFFERED TEMPORARY NEUROLOGICAL DAMAGE
,' one of the Daleks informed him. 'M
OBILITY WILL RETURN IN DUE COURSE
.'

Cuttin' Edge swore at the Dalek, completely unable to stand. Tears of pain and frustration ran hotly down his cheeks.

Scrum was watching all this, his face white with fear. He could hardly breathe. He knew exactly what was coming next, but his brain, normally so quick, had simply stopped thinking. He was completely unable to speak. His mouth dropped open wordlessly as two Daleks slowly turned to face him.

'E
XTERMINATE THIS HUMAN
,' ordered the Command Dalek.

The twin beams caught Scrum full in the chest, illuminating him with a deadly, coruscating charge. He screamed and flung his arms out wide, the bones darkly visible through the irradiated flesh. And then he fell to the floor, sprawled across the metal next to Cuttin' Edge.

'No...' said Cuttin' Edge, almost silently. '
Please, no
...'

Then Scrum's face tipped slowly over, and Cuttin' Edge saw that his eyes were still open, but they were charred black and utterly dead.

Scrum's smoking corpse lay between the prisoners and the Daleks.

All that could be heard in the minutes that followed was the dull, persistent throb of the Dalek machinery.

'There was no need for that,' said the Doctor quietly. He didn't look up. He was staring down at the body, his fists clenched hard. 'He wouldn't have harmed anyone.'

'H
E WAS OF NO USE TO US
,' replied the Command Dalek.

Its voice grated on the Doctor's nerves, and he closed his eyes to shut out the sight.

'You'll pay for this,' said Cuttin' Edge. He tried to sit up on the floor, teeth gritted as his legs filled with agonising pain. 'I'll make you pay.'

One of the Daleks circled around Cuttin' Edge, eyestalk fixed on him. 'S
ILENCE
. Y
OU WILL BE TAKEN TO THE MINES AND MADE TO SERVE THE
D
ALEKS
.'

'No! Never! Kill me now, you metal b—'

'Cuttin' Edge!' barked Bowman. 'Leave it. Just... stay alive as long as you can.'

Cuttin' Edge looked up at him, his eyes wet with tears. There was a world of despair in those eyes, and they had turned to the only person who had ever believed in him, looking for hope, for reason, for anything. 'How?' he asked, eventually.

'Kid,' said Bowman, 'Just do your best.'

The Command Dalek approached Bowman. 'Y
OU WILL BE TAKEN FOR DEEP-LEVEL INTERROGATION
. T
HE PROCESS INVOLVES BRAIN EXCORIATION AND SURGERY
. Y
OU WILL NOT SURVIVE THIS PROCESS
.'

Bowman did not reply. He merely looked the Dalek straight in the eye, his face as impassive as rock.

The Dalek moved a little closer, and then rasped, almost gloatingly, 'T
HE INFORMATION YOU POSSESS WILL SERVE THE
D
ALEKS
. I
T WILL BE USED TO AID US IN OUR VICTORY AND HELP IN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE HUMAN RACE
.'

'Yeah, right,' Bowman grunted. 'Tell me something I don't know.'

'Y
OU WILL OBEY THE
D
ALEKS
!'

Bowman raised an eyebrow. 'That a fact? What if I choose not to? What if I say you can take your gun-stick and—'

'S
ILENCE
!'

'Why? What are you going to do to me, Dalek? I'm too valuable for you to exterminate. You need me alive for interrogation, remember? To help you wipe out mankind or something.'

The Dalek quivered, its arm and gun twitching with annoyance. The lights on its head flashed manically as it replied: 'Y
OU WILL BE MADE TO COOPERATE
. I
F NECESSARY YOU WILL BE PERMANENTLY DISABLED AND TAKEN TO THE INTERROGATION CHAMBER BY FORCE
.'

Bowman straightened up, squaring his shoulders. 'Forget it. I'll walk. Which way is this interrogation chamber, anyway?'

Once again, the Doctor felt like he wanted to punch the air. There was Scrum, murdered in cold blood, and Cuttin' Edge with his legs paralysed, about to be dragged off with Koral to who knew what. But Bowman, the great, bloody-minded, thick-skinned and irresistible human being that he was, had still found a way to maintain his dignity.

Koral had other ideas. She tried to free herself from the grip of her guards, but it was useless. Not even her alien sinews could break the grip of the Dalek claws. She pulled towards Bowman, her spine bent like a bow and her fangs bared, but it was no good.

Bowman saw her and just shook his head. 'I'll be OK,' he lied.

'No,' Koral said. Her voice came out as a pathetic croak. She turned to the Doctor. 'Please... You can't let them take him away.'

The Doctor swallowed. 'I can't stop them, Koral.'

'You can! You
know
you can!'

He shook his head. 'I can't.'

'What's she talkin' about, man?' asked Cuttin' Edge. 'What's she sayin'?'

The Doctor looked away. 'Nothing. She doesn't know what she's talking about.'

'I do!' Koral's eyes flamed. She looked across at Bowman, who stood watching with a slightly puzzled frown on his old, craggy face. Then she turned back to the Doctor. 'You know the future. You've
seen
it. You know what happens. You know
more
than him.'

'Koral, stop it,' ordered the Doctor. 'You don't understand!'

'I understand that they are going to take him and cut out his brain!' Koral yelled. 'And you're just standing there, letting them do it! And he doesn't know
anything
. Not compared with you!'

The Doctor took a step towards her. Around them, all the Daleks had also turned to watch the altercation. 'It doesn't work like that. I can't let that happen.'

This time Koral did not reply. She simply stared at the Doctor, a look of utter desperation on her face.

The Doctor looked away.

Bowman caught his eye and shook his head slowly. His meaning was clear:
don't do it.

'T
AKE
J
ON
B
OWMAN TO THE INTERROGATION LEVEL
,' ordered the Command Dalek.

Two Daleks began to herd Bowman towards a ramp leading further down into the Dalek base. He walked ahead of them, head high and shoulders squared. He didn't look back.

'Wait,' said the Doctor.

The Command Dalek swung round to face him.

The Doctor cleared his throat. 'Can I have a private word?'

'S
PEAK
,' ordered the Dalek.

'Well, this is probably going to be a bit embarrassing...'

'E
XPLAIN
!'

'Look, I really hate it when people say this sort of thing, but...
Do you know who I am
?'

The Dalek said nothing. It simply stared.

The Doctor stepped towards it, lowering his head slightly so that his mouth was level with the Dalek's neck grille. Ignoring the oily, noxious vapour that came from within, he leant a little closer.

And whispered something.

The effect on the Dalek was literally electric. Its head lamps flashed involuntarily and it suddenly jerked away, arm, gun and eye quivering like the antennae of an alarmed cockroach.

'A
LERT
!' it cried, head spinning from side to side. 'A
LERT
! S
CAN THIS PRISONER
!'

Two Daleks glided forward, suckers extended.

The Doctor stood, hands held wide. 'Come on,' he said with a smile and a wink. 'You know you want to.'

The sucker arms scanned his body up and down and then both Daleks became agitated. Ever so slightly, they seemed to move back, giving the prisoner a little more space. 'Emergency!' one of them shrieked. 'E
MERGENCY
! I
T IS THE DOC–TOR
!'

'It's the twin hearts, isn't it?' asked the Doctor. 'They're such a giveaway.'

Several Daleks took up the chant, a note of hysteria entering their voices: 'It is the Doc–tor! I
T IS THE
D
OC–TOR
!'

'Please,' smiled the Doctor modestly. 'No autographs.'

The Command Dalek aimed its blaster at the Doctor. 'D
O NOT MOVE
! D
O NOT MOVE
! Y
OU ARE THE
D
OC–TOR
! Y
OU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE
D
ALEKS
. Y
OU WILL BE EXTERMINATED
!'

'Oh, come off it. Not before you've had a chance to interrogate me, surely?' The Doctor looked around the assembled Daleks. 'At least a quick question-and-answer session. No?'

Throughout the vast, metallic cavern, a ripple of agitation spread through the Dalek ranks, with the Doctor at its very centre.

Despite himself, Cuttin' Edge was impressed. 'Dude, you got some
serious
presence. What the hell did you say to them?'

'Just enough to make Space Major Bowman look like third prize in the Christmas raffle. Sorry about that.' The Doctor turned to Bowman with an apologetic shrug. 'I'm afraid they're not going to be all that interested in you now. Try not to feel too downhearted.'

'I always knew there was something you weren't telling us,' replied Bowman. 'Turns out you're Dalek Enemy Number One. Congratulations.'

The Doctor nodded sadly. 'I know. Funny how things turn out, isn't it?'

'S
ILENCE
!' shouted the Command Dalek. 'D
O NOT SPEAK
! Y
OU ARE A PRISONER OF THE
D
ALEKS
! Y
OU WILL BE TAKEN FOR INTERROGATION
! A
ND THEN YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED
! E
XTERMINATED
!'

'You always make me feel so welcome.'

This was now altogether too much for the Dalek. Its sucker arm thudded into the Doctor's stomach and he folded, the wind whooshing out of him. As he lay on the floor, gasping for air, the Command Dalek turned back to Bowman. 'You will be taken to await your interrogation. The other members of your crew will be taken to work in the core mines.'

Two Daleks lifted Cuttin' Edge and, dangling him like a puppet, took him away with Koral, heading for a doorway that led deeper into the prison.

Koral looked back at Bowman, shouting, 'I will come back for you!'

And then the door closed and Bowman knew that would be the last he ever saw of her.