Read Online Doctor Who: Prisoner of the Daleks by Trevor Baxendale - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Trevor Baxendale
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trickled down through the frosted globes on its base unit.
'It's thawing itself out. The casing is doing it automatically.'
'This is bad news, man,' said Cuttin' Edge.
'The worst,' confirmed the Doctor. 'It's not strong enough to control the machinery yet, but it will be...'
Bowman said, 'Not really interested in your opinion, Doctor. All I know is we've caught ourselves a live Dalek here. I don't know anyone who's ever done that before.'
'It's better than that,' said Scrum excitedly. 'It's thawing out very slowly. We've got it totally under our control. If we disable the weaponry and self-destruct system we can render this thing completely harmless.'
The Doctor frowned at him. 'No Dalek is ever completely harmless.'
'So what are you suggesting, Scrum?' Bowman asked.
'I suggest we open this thing up,' Scrum replied. 'And ask it a few questions.'
EIGHT
The Wayfarer suddenly became a hive of activity. Scrum and Cuttin' Edge set about securing the Dalek, wheeling in equipment and tools into the cargo hold with an air of professional urgency.
The Doctor caught up with Bowman in the corridor, heading for his cabin. 'You can't be serious about this.'
'I'm deadly serious,' replied Bowman over his shoulder. 'This is a golden opportunity to gain first-hand intelligence from an actual Dalek. No one's ever done that before.'
'Bowman, it's a golden opportunity to get us all killed ,' the Doctor argued. 'Why don't you just take the thing back to Earth Command? Let them handle it.'
'No way. Earth Command is too far from here. We're in deep space, Doctor. Out here, no one can hear you whinge.'
'Bowman, I mean it—'
'Me too. We're on our own, Doctor. Just us and a Dalek. I've waited a long time for this.'
The Doctor let out an exasperated gasp. 'You're messing with things you just don't understand!'
Bowman rounded on him. 'No,' he growled. 'I understand the Daleks only too well, Doctor. I've fought them all my adult life. Fought them. I saw good soldiers and friends gunned down by those things, vaporised, like they never even existed. We all listened to the leaders of Auros being shot out of space in cold blood...'
'Believe me, no one knows the terrible things the Daleks can do better than me but—'
'Really?' Bowman paused in the doorway to his cabin. He looked doubtfully at the Doctor. 'That thing killed Stella. And you know how those Dalek guns work, don't you? On full power, they can blast a human being into atoms in a split second. But they never do that. Every Dalek dials down the power on its gun-stick to the specific level that will kill a human being. Then they lower the power setting just a tiny bit further, so that the beam burns away the central nervous system from the outside in, meaning that every human being dies in agony. So it takes a full two to three seconds for a Dalek to exterminate one of us – and that's deliberate .'
'I know,' said the Doctor. 'I know all that. But it still doesn't mean that what you're about to do is right. You can't just use it as an excuse to take your revenge for Stella's death.'
'But revenge is what I want,' said Bowman simply.
Cuttin' Edge had used the cargo loader to suspend the Dalek upside down from the ceiling. Its base unit was clamped into the lifter's giant metal slide grips. It hung in the middle of the chamber, its dome section level with Scrum's head.
'Perfect,' said Scrum, giving the thumbs up. 'See if you can secure the arm now.'
Cuttin' Edge was standing at the remote-control unit for the cargo loader. A few deft adjustments and a powerful metal clamp moved down from the lifting apparatus to grab hold of the Dalek's sucker arm. Cuttin' Edge increased the torque until the clamp began, very slowly, to dent the metallic tube which made up the arm. It was utterly immobilised.
The door to the cargo hold slid open and the Doctor moped in, hands in pockets. He looked up at the Dalek and
'It's thawing itself out. The casing is doing it automatically.'
'This is bad news, man,' said Cuttin' Edge.
'The worst,' confirmed the Doctor. 'It's not strong enough to control the machinery yet, but it will be...'
Bowman said, 'Not really interested in your opinion, Doctor. All I know is we've caught ourselves a live Dalek here. I don't know anyone who's ever done that before.'
'It's better than that,' said Scrum excitedly. 'It's thawing out very slowly. We've got it totally under our control. If we disable the weaponry and self-destruct system we can render this thing completely harmless.'
The Doctor frowned at him. 'No Dalek is ever completely harmless.'
'So what are you suggesting, Scrum?' Bowman asked.
'I suggest we open this thing up,' Scrum replied. 'And ask it a few questions.'
EIGHT
The Wayfarer suddenly became a hive of activity. Scrum and Cuttin' Edge set about securing the Dalek, wheeling in equipment and tools into the cargo hold with an air of professional urgency.
The Doctor caught up with Bowman in the corridor, heading for his cabin. 'You can't be serious about this.'
'I'm deadly serious,' replied Bowman over his shoulder. 'This is a golden opportunity to gain first-hand intelligence from an actual Dalek. No one's ever done that before.'
'Bowman, it's a golden opportunity to get us all killed ,' the Doctor argued. 'Why don't you just take the thing back to Earth Command? Let them handle it.'
'No way. Earth Command is too far from here. We're in deep space, Doctor. Out here, no one can hear you whinge.'
'Bowman, I mean it—'
'Me too. We're on our own, Doctor. Just us and a Dalek. I've waited a long time for this.'
The Doctor let out an exasperated gasp. 'You're messing with things you just don't understand!'
Bowman rounded on him. 'No,' he growled. 'I understand the Daleks only too well, Doctor. I've fought them all my adult life. Fought them. I saw good soldiers and friends gunned down by those things, vaporised, like they never even existed. We all listened to the leaders of Auros being shot out of space in cold blood...'
'Believe me, no one knows the terrible things the Daleks can do better than me but—'
'Really?' Bowman paused in the doorway to his cabin. He looked doubtfully at the Doctor. 'That thing killed Stella. And you know how those Dalek guns work, don't you? On full power, they can blast a human being into atoms in a split second. But they never do that. Every Dalek dials down the power on its gun-stick to the specific level that will kill a human being. Then they lower the power setting just a tiny bit further, so that the beam burns away the central nervous system from the outside in, meaning that every human being dies in agony. So it takes a full two to three seconds for a Dalek to exterminate one of us – and that's deliberate .'
'I know,' said the Doctor. 'I know all that. But it still doesn't mean that what you're about to do is right. You can't just use it as an excuse to take your revenge for Stella's death.'
'But revenge is what I want,' said Bowman simply.
Cuttin' Edge had used the cargo loader to suspend the Dalek upside down from the ceiling. Its base unit was clamped into the lifter's giant metal slide grips. It hung in the middle of the chamber, its dome section level with Scrum's head.
'Perfect,' said Scrum, giving the thumbs up. 'See if you can secure the arm now.'
Cuttin' Edge was standing at the remote-control unit for the cargo loader. A few deft adjustments and a powerful metal clamp moved down from the lifting apparatus to grab hold of the Dalek's sucker arm. Cuttin' Edge increased the torque until the clamp began, very slowly, to dent the metallic tube which made up the arm. It was utterly immobilised.
The door to the cargo hold slid open and the Doctor moped in, hands in pockets. He looked up at the Dalek and
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