Doctor Who: Kerblam! by Pete McTighe

Author:Pete McTighe [McTighe, Pete]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Space Exploration, Time Travel, Action & Adventure, Media Tie-In, General
ISBN: 9781473533479
Google: MBSVEAAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 63268804
Publisher: BBC Digital
Published: 2023-07-12T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Source Code

All across the warehouse complex, lights pulsed and flickered. Machinery sprang to life; conveyor belts began to move again, control panels illuminated, robots jolted to attention and the System’s familiar, bass-throb hum started to reverberate.

Kerblam was back online.

Upstairs, Charlie was the focus of everyone’s attention, sitting in Slade’s most comfortable chair. While the Doctor checked him out for physical damage, Judy rubbed his arm in a maternal fashion. ‘Are you sure you’re alright?’

Charlie nodded, even managed an embarrassed smile. ‘It’s not every day you get attacked by a robot.’

‘It is if you travel with us,’ said Graham dryly.

Judy was still trying to process what had happened. She watched Yaz cradle the Postman’s severed head in her hands, examining the wires poking out of its neck.

‘Pretty impressive move back there, Judy,’ Yaz decreed. ‘Where’d you learn that?’

‘There are radical groups on Kandoka who still oppose automation. Sometimes they stage protests at factories or attack worker bots. I’ve watched some of their holo-streams.’

The Doctor arched an eyebrow. ‘Are you an undercover radical?’

‘I like to be educated. I’ll hear all the arguments and make up my own mind, thanks very much. For some people, it’s not about meeting quotas, it’s about restoring human workers in every sector’.

‘Sounds good to me,’ responded Ryan.

‘That horse has bolted,’ Judy replied flatly. ‘Industry won’t go backwards. But there has to be a compromise. Work gives us purpose.’

‘You should be running this company,’ remarked the Doctor as she took the robot’s head from Yaz and started to dismantle it.

Judy managed a smile. ‘Things would be different, I promise you that.’ Then she looked to Charlie. ‘You’re very quiet, are you sure you’re not hurt?’

‘Bruised ego, that’s all,’ Charlie replied.

Judy watched the Doctor remove the Postman’s grinning faceplate and dig around in its circuitry. ‘This has never happened before, with any of our robots. There are protocols.’

‘Protocols can be rewritten.’

‘When Dan Cooper went missing, there were Postmen stalking the shelving aisles,’ Yaz reminded them. ‘They came after me.’

Judy shook her head. ‘None of this should be possible. The Postmen never leave Dispatch. We’d know, the System would alert us.’

‘I’d strongly suggest that you can’t trust your System,’ noted the Doctor.

Judy considered that gravely. The System controlled everything in the warehouse complex and beyond – it had incredible reach and power, so if it was acting against them … the implications were terrifying.

The Doctor kept digging at the robot’s inner workings. ‘Yaz, Ryan, I could do with some eyes downstairs. Check out the warehouse floor, make sure everything’s running as normal. The last thing we need are more homicidal robots.’

‘On it,’ replied Yaz, already heading for the door with Ryan right behind.

Charlie jumped up to follow them. ‘I’ll come.’

‘Oi, you’ve just been manhandled,’ Graham interjected. ‘Stay here and put your feet up.’

‘I’m fine, honest,’ Charlie reassured him. ‘I’d rather keep busy.’ And he disappeared with the others into the corridor.

Judy watched as the Doctor removed a wafer of blackened circuitry from inside the Postman’s face and sniffed it.

‘Looks like Grace’s cooking,’ declared Graham.

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