Dr. Who Target 155 The Evil of the Daleks # John Peel

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.Too much depended upon him.The laboratory door opened.He was about to cry out forhelp when he realized that it was one of the Daleks fromthe house.They had obviously been clearing it of all theirequipment before destroying it, and were now finished. All Daleks are to return to Skaro, it intoned.Three more Daleks moved into the room.They werecarrying small pieces of the monitoring and recordingequipment attached to their arms. All Daleks return toSkaro, they responded. And the prisoners? the first Dalek asked. They are already in transit, one of the newcomersreplied. The human Maxtible was sent to fetch them.Theportal has been used.They must have gone through. Good. The four Daleks moved into the cabinet and thedoor closed behind them.Now he was alone again, Waterfield tried to stand.Panting, he collapsed again.It was no use.His legs felt as ifthey were paralyzed.Maxtible might have damaged hismotor nerves.The horrible throbbing in his head dulledall other pains.But he could not let that stop him.Takinga deep breath, he dragged himself slowly across the floortowards the grey box.It seemed to be so far away.His eyes kept wavering,unfocused.His arms ached, and the pounding in his headonly increased.But he refused to give in.Finally, hisoutstretched hand touched the cold metal of the lid, and hegripped it to pull himself the final few inches.There wasno time to regain his strength or breath.Scrabbling at thelid, he finally managed to open it.The glowing dials blurred as he looked at them.Hefought to focus his eyes again, but he could not makeanything out.There were no switches or any exposed wireshe could try and destroy.What could he do? Then herememberd the iron bar that Maxtible had attacked himwith.If he could get to that, maybe he could use it to pryopen the box and expose its inner mechanisms.But did hehave the strength to make his way to the bar and returnwith it? And, more to the point, did he have the time?There was a soft hiss from the end of the laboratory.Hepropped himself up, terrified that it was more Daleks, andthat they would stop him for tampering with the bomb.Then he saw that there was a gap in the far wall somekind of secret passageway and that the Doctor and Jamiewere hurrying from it over to join him. What s the matter? the Doctor asked worriedly, as hebent over Waterfield.Jamie, meanwhile, went to the sinkand wet one of the rags there.As the Doctor supported thefainting scientist, Jamie pressed the cold compress to hishead.It helped somewhat.Part of the throbbing pain diedaway, and Waterfield managed to croak out a few words. The Daleks, he gasped. They re going to destroy thehouse. He gestured feebly at the grey box. Can t turn itoff.The Doctor peered into the device. This is a timebomb, he announced grimly. The Daleks are coveringtheir tracks with their customary thoroughness.Jamie paled. Well, if you can t turn it off he began.Translating the Dalek script, the Doctor shook his head. Wait a moment.This dial is the timer. He tapped thelargest, with the ticking needle. Sixty six, sixty five. Helooked up, his face pale. We ve got just about a minute.That s all. Toss it out of a window, then, Jamie suggested. Comeon! This isn t a firework, Jamie, the Doctor told him. It lldestroy anything within about half a mile.Even youcouldn t throw it that far. Then we re doomed, Waterfield sighed. No, the Doctor told him. We can follow the Daleks.The mirror cabinet.Jamie, get that door open.Jamie ran to the door, and tugged.It refused to budge.Exerting all his strength made no difference. They velocked them from inside, he yelled. We ll never break intoit in time! The black boxes, gasped Waterfield, gesturing to alarge cupboard. In there.In the cupboard.Dalek timemachine. The cupboard? Running to the door, the Doctor threwit open. Of course.The machine from 1966.The Dalekscouldn t leave it there to be found. Jamie helped him dragthe two black boxes from the cupboard to where Waterfieldlay.They were glowing, with figures pulsing and chitteringacross their upper surfaces. And still linked to the powersource on Skaro!Jamie bent over Waterfield. Listen, man.Tell me whereVictoria is.There s no time Waterfield shook his head, lacking even the strength tospeak now.He might be able to save the Doctor and Jamie,but he had lost his only child.The Doctor hastily worked at resetting the controls onthe time boxes. Jamie, he called. The time clock.Glancing at the grey box, Jamie said. About twentyeight, I should say.There s not much time left. Then hecaught sight of something on the floor by the cabinet.Stooping, he picked it up.The Doctor gave a grunt of satisfaction as the lights onthe surface of the two black boxes began to pulse faster andfaster.The low whine they were giving out increased inintensity. Jamie! he called urgently. Quickly, join ushere.Jamie rushed over, holding out the object he had found.It was the crushed flower that Kemel had carried in hisbelt, his precious memento of Victoria. Kemel must havedropped this, he said. It was by the cabinet.The Daleksmust have taken him and Victoria through.If we canfollow them, we ll find them both on Skaro.The Doctor nodded, peering frantically between thegrey box and the time boxes.It was literally a race againsttime as to which one would trigger first.He was prettycertain he had managed to bypass most of the Dalekchecks, but he had been forced to work too quickly to becertain.The humming increased as the power built up.There was a growing unease in his stomach he hoped wasbeing caused by the temporal fluxes and not simply by fear.There was a loud click from the grey box, and thepulsing tone ceased.The surface of the box started to glowincandescently [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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