Doctor Who: War Machine by Ian Stuart Black

Author:Ian Stuart Black
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science-Fiction:Doctor Who
ISBN: 9780426203322
Publisher: Target Books
Published: 1989-03-15T10:00:00+00:00

8. The One Who Got Away

The Doctor paced up and down in Sir Charles’s library, while his host looked on anxiously.

‘Take my advice, Doctor. Try to relax. There’s no point in upsetting yourself like this.’

‘He should have been back hours ago,’ said the Doctor. ‘I should never have let him go.’

‘You know what young people are like.’ Sir Charles tried to ease matters. ‘He’s probably quite forgotten your instructions. He could be off doing something else.’

The Doctor shook his head. ‘Not that young man. He seemed far too responsible to me. No – if he hasn’t phoned back it’s because he isn’t able to. Something must have happened.’

‘But what?’

The Doctor didn’t like to speculate.

‘But if you’re really concerned,’ went on Sir Charles, ‘perhaps we should contact the police.’

‘Using the police at this stage might just drive this menace underground,’ said the Doctor.

Sir Charles had heard all this before, as the Doctor had expressed his fears.

‘But what menace?’ he barked. ‘You can’t tell me what you suspect... And you can’t show any evidence either! What worries me, Doctor, is that if this sort of rumour gets out, what is going to happen to our "Switch-On" day? People have worked for years for this occasion. This type of talk would ruin everything.’ ‘We may very well have more than rumours to contend with, if we’re not careful,’ said the Doctor grimly. He began to stride up and down again... ‘Where is that boy!’

Ben found he was looking up at the Machine as though it were a living being. Although it was the Major at its side who did the talking, it was obvious who–or what–dominated the scene. They were all subjected to this inhuman creation. All, except himself, in that packed store room. It was like facing a judge– or, more exactly, an executioner.

The Major was listing a series of actions, charging him with some new type of crime.

Ben listened in a daze.

‘You tried to warn human authorities of the work going on in this building,’ intoned the Major. ‘You are clearly an enemy of mechanised evolution.’

It was the first time he had even heard of it, Ben thought.

‘Nothing must prevent Machines from taking over from mankind the domination of the universe. This is the next stage in the growth of the life-force on this planet. In order to achieve this, all obstacles are to be destroyed... You have acted as such an obstacle.’

It was clear that a judgement had been passed. The trial had been conducted in a few brief moments, and was now over. This was to be a lesson to those present–although they didn’t need any lessons; they were absolute converts already.

The Machine began to build up a different sound within, the lights glowed placidly. Justice was about to take its course. It moved forward slightly – the heavy arm began to rise.

No one moved or protested – nothing extraordinary was happening.

‘Are you all out of your minds?’ Ben tried to struggle, but he was firmly held by half a dozen men.

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