threat of the cybermen page 2

The Doctor crouched beside Clara, sifting through the clothes of the dead man’s body. He discovered a wire, leading from a Cyber-chest unit, to an earpiece behind his left earlobe.

‘He was a puppet,’ he explained. ‘The Cybermen were pulling his strings.’

‘Could he not have put up a fight?’ declared Clara, ‘Given himself a fighting chance?’

The Doctor shook his head. ‘It would be like fighting your own consciousness,’ he replied.

The door to the office suddenly opened and a newcomer now entered. A woman. She had recognised the TARDIS, asked of the Doctor’s whereabouts and had been pointed in the direction where Alfred Johnson was conducting something of an interrogation.

The Doctor and Clara looked up. There in the doorway was a friend.

‘Well am I glad to see you!’ marvelled, Kate Stewart. 

~~~

Chapter Four: Strange re-acquaintances 

Kate Stewart had entered the office with force, and found the Doctor and his companion kneeling in the blood of an officer. ‘What's happened?’ she demanded. ‘Did he try to attack you?’ She gazed long and hard at them both before making any neither hasty assumptions nor judgements.

‘He pulled the trigger to his own pistol,’ said the Doctor. ‘You can see for yourself…’

‘But why would he commit suicide?’ Kate asked, stepping forward to make a closer inspection of the body.

‘Because the Doctor refused to help him,’ Clara sniffed. ‘But I suppose, he was a criminal of sorts.’

‘But he worked for us!’ stated Kate. ‘He would not have attacked you unless…’ she paused, when the Doctor cut in.

‘…unless he had reason to,’ the Doctor said. ‘He may have been used as a pawn by the Cybermen.’

Kate had heard of the Cybermen before. She had heard her father talk of them, when she was just a child. But still there were questions to be asked. ‘What are you talking about?’ she asked.

They took their seats in the office.

‘Alfred Johnson worked for the Cybermen,’ said Clara, ‘and furthermore, Alfred Johnson doesn't exist!’

Kate didn't understand. ‘But there are records,’ she countered. ‘UNIT keep files on all of its personnel.’

‘Not according to Alfred, here,’ replied the Doctor. ‘He faked his past. He came through the rift.’

‘What was his mission do you think?’ asked Clara. She stared long and hard at the Doctor.

‘To find us,’ he answered. ‘We came to Cardiff to refuel and then the rift suddenly opened. I think he opened it.’

‘But what would be his motive?’ questioned Kate. ‘Why would he do that?’

‘So he could interrogate us, find out what we knew and report in to the Cybermen,’ explained the Doctor. ‘They could then invade Earth with the knowledge they had gained, and it would all be too easy. The Cybermen would win.’

‘So why did he kill himself?’ grumbled Clara, she looked over at Alfred’s body still lying in his own blood which was slowly congealing.

‘Because I think he was doing what you said he would,’ replied the Doctor. ‘He was after all a human being, - and his intelligence was negotiating with his consciousness.’

‘So now what?’ asked Kate, ‘Where do we go from here?’

‘New York!’ declared the Doctor, ‘Where else?’

‘What makes you want to go back there?’ Clara frowned.

‘There are questions I want answered,’ he replied. ‘Would you like to come along, Kate? There's room aboard the TARDIS!’

‘Don't mind if I do!’ she said, exiting the office. On her way out she pinned a note to the door. It read: “The scene of a suicide by a rouge agent “and signed: Kate Stewart, with “If you need me, I'll be with the Doctor. You can find me in New York” added as an afterthought. 

~~~

Chapter Five: Shocking Revelations 

There were rich, blue skies over New York City.

‘The City that never sleeps!’ declared the Doctor, turning to his two associates. ‘One of the many reasons the Cybermen would find it difficult to invade.’

‘But it's just a phrase,’ said Kate, correcting him.

The Doctor, looking a little put out, leaned proudly against his little blue box. It was then that he suddenly saw it. ‘There!’ he said pointing, before disappearing down the steps of an underpass.

‘What? Where is he off to?’ said Clara, turning to Kate who had already hurried along after him.

Before long, the Doctor, Clara, and Kate were on a ride on the underground. Their surroundings were unlike those above them on the surface of the great city itself, but the atmosphere of the people going about their daily lives was uplifting still.

It was 2016 and New York had been re-built since the march of the Cyber King. The Doctor sat at the very front of the carriage, while Clara and Kate were getting along smoothly. Both had so much in common. Before long the train ride had taken the Doctor and friends into Brooklyn. Emerging from the tunnels below the fast lanes and taxis’, appeared the three time travellers.

‘Oh, so we're back here then, are we?’ commented Clara. She had recognised her surroundings instantly.

‘I'm re-tracing my footsteps,’ the Doctor told her. ‘This is where we were a short while ago before we encountered the Cyber King, but there's something else,’ he admitted. ‘And it was right here, when I realised what it was.’

Clara spun around to Kate as if to seek some sort of answer, but only the Doctor had some inclination as to what was going on.

‘Tell us what you mean, Doctor!’ urged Kate. ‘You're not making any sense.’

‘Cardiff!’ cried the Doctor. ‘Remember what happened in Cardiff, with the rift and then UNIT?’

Clara had no idea what he was on about and neither did Kate Stewart.

‘Alright,’ he said, walking up the street, ‘What happened on Solace?’

‘When on Solace?’ whispered Clara, ‘Keep your voice down!’ she urged him.

‘When we arrived!’ stated the Doctor, ‘and Daleks were following close behind!’

‘You're not saying that you had something to do with the Cyber King, are you?’ asked Clara. ‘We stopped it in the first place!’ she wailed.

‘This is my fault, again!’ the Doctor moaned, ‘I brought them to Earth, - unintentionally of course!’

‘Would either of you mind informing me of what all this is about?’ protested Kate, ‘I do have the right to know!’ she bellowed.

‘Ask the Doctor,’ uttered Clara. ‘He's lost me on this one!’

‘Well don't you see,’ the Doctor enlightened them, ‘how I'm implicated in all this?’

His friends shook their heads, blank expressions on their faces gave away the fact that they hadn't a clue.

‘I suppose I've been a bit sneaky of late,’ the Doctor admitted, ‘Because in the past, I've made mistakes.’

Kate had indicated to bench for them to sit on as Clara tried to comfort the Doctor, putting an arm around his shoulders. They discussed the issues surrounding the Cybermen, and why the Doctor felt he was in trouble.

‘You see, I lost you once,’ confessed the Doctor, referring to Clara. ‘and I thought, or rather imagined, what better way to protect you than to say nothing at all. Particularly, on things that matter very little to our adventures.’

‘What are you saying?’ she asked, desperate to learn of the truth. ‘Is there something you've kept from me?’

‘Only of our previous adventure,’ the Doctor assured her, ‘and it's nothing, really.’

‘What is it?’ she demanded. ‘What have you done?’

‘It's nothing like that,’ argued the Doctor, ‘It's what I found out.’

‘And that would be?’ nagged Clara.

‘That it was Davros, all along!’ explained the Doctor. ‘It was he who the Daleks were working for. The key was destined for his new Daleks, and with the information, they may well have gone on to become the Supreme Beings.’

‘So what has all this to do with the Cybermen?’ asked Kate. She was struggling to get her head around what the Doctor was telling her.

‘Someone's been selling secrets,’ feared the Doctor, ‘and now the Cybermen want me dead.’

‘Because of who you are?’ wondered Kate, ‘Why should they want you dead?’

‘It's not important,’ he said, miserably, ‘what really matters is how we deal with the situation, not to mention the danger we now face!’ 

~~~

Chapter Six: The Journey Home 

On the train ride home, there were several questions running through the Doctor's mind. Some, he knew could not be answered.

Kate’s thoughts were of her father, the Brigadier, wondering what he would do in such a situation. He often spoke of the Doctor to her, mostly at night when he was home, telling her bed time stories and the adventures of the Doctor as well as his own many encounters with the Time Lord. She sat opposite him, watching him rocking backwards and forth in motion with the train as it trundled on its way, and she suddenly sensed what the Doctor himself was going through.

‘I think I know what it is that's bothering you,’ she whispered, ‘and I want you to know that we're all here for you.’

The Doctor looked up, somewhat amused.

‘You think that because the Cybermen want me dead is a reason to skulk,’ worded the Doctor, ‘but because you care for me, it does not matter?’ he uttered. ‘I think you're wrong, to assume that it does not matter to me that I'm a wanted man.’

Clara sat upright in her chair and asked, ‘So you're saying it does matter to you then?’

‘Of course it matters!’ wailed the Doctor, ‘but it shouldn't to you because…’ he paused, selecting his words carefully then asked, ‘who are you to me?’

Kate was shocked, and Clara stunned. They both stared back at the Doctor open mouthed.
 
‘We're your friends,’ said Clara, ‘and that's all that matters!’

‘Who are you?’ asked Kate, disgusted with the man she thought she knew so well.

‘That's just it,’ said the Doctor, harshly. ‘You may ask but the question may never be answered.’

~~~

The journey onwards was a quiet one. Not a word was spoken.

When they emerged from the subway, the Doctor paused in thought. From a distance the doors to his ship had swung open, inviting opportunity and disaster. He spun around to his friends, agitatedly. ‘Who was the last to exit the TARDIS?’ he demanded.

Clara's actions were shifty, un-nerving, and appalling as she turned on her friend Kate. But like the friend she was, apologised afterwards.

‘It was me,’ said Kate, trying to hide the fear of facing up to the guilt. ‘I'm sorry, I didn't think.’

The Doctor looked back at his ship, he replied saying how sorry he was for trusting his dearest friend's daughter with too much. But the tone in his voice affected Kate which left her feeling somewhat sorry and forlorn.  It was almost as if she had committed some great crime.

The Doctor Inspected the familiar Police Box shell of his ship and cautiously climbed aboard. Once Inside he was greeted by the, somewhat unexpected: Cybermen aboard his ship!

As Clara entered, she was instantly pulled to one side by a one of the Cybermen as the doors were closed, unceremoniously, before Kate had a chance to come aboard.

‘NO!’ shrieked Clara. ‘Kate's out there!’

The Doctor looked over at Clara, ‘She’ll be fine.  She’s safe.’

You are our prisoner.’ stated a Cyber man. ‘You will soon die!

‘So what's keeping me alive?’ demanded the Doctor.

Their leader stepped forward, to answer his question. ‘Your TARDIS!’ he bellowed. 

~~~

Chapter Seven: A Cyber Proposition 

Kate Stewart had been about to board the TARDIS when the doors suddenly closed on her. She knocked on the blue doors, half-heartedly. She reckoned this was something that would take the Doctor a while to get over. ‘Doctor, I'm sorry,’ she pleaded. ‘Please. Open the door.’

‘I can’t do that.’ The Doctor’s voice called back at her from within the console room. ‘It’s not because I’m embarrassed or angry, Kate, it’s for your own safety as we have Cybermen on board.’

‘I didn't mean for this to happen,’ she reminded him, ‘No-one told me I had to close the doors on my way out.’

The Doctor could do nothing to change things. ‘I'm sorry,’ he said, regrettably. ‘But there's nothing I can do.’

Kate heard the cry of a Cyberman ordering the Doctor into silence. She shuddered at the sound and backed away from the TARDIS. Kate looked around her; the busy streets, the noise and traffic, the hustle and bustle continued. She was disappointed with herself for missing out on a chance to travel with the Doctor. Those bed time stories her father read to her as a child were still very much with her. But as life continued around her it now threatened to destroy those dreams as her surroundings drowned out the de-materialisation of the ship.

‘I'm sorry, Kate!’ yelled Clara. ‘This is my fault, too.’ But Kate never heard her as the TARDIS had moved on.

Clara could do very little to intervene. The Doctor looked up from the controls he had set and found the Cyber leader glaring at him from across the console.

‘Don't make the same mistake as the Daleks!’ he remarked.

It is not our intention to make mistakes, Doctor. We only seek the knowledge that you possess.

‘So why then when I asked you what was keeping me alive, you said, “my TARDIS”?’

Because the TARDIS will give us the knowledge we seek.’

Clara nudged the Doctor. ‘Don't count on him wanting anything to do with us,’ she muttered. ‘The big fella wants your ship.’

‘I think,’ said the Doctor, addressing the Cyber leader, ‘that what you ought to know is this.’ He stood back from the controls and stood at Clara's side. ‘My TARDIS only responds to me.’

There was no indication of disappointed from the Cyber leader at the Doctor’s declaration as it turned to face his minions.

You will surrender to us!’ ordered a Cyberman.

The Cyber leader circled the console until he came face to face with the Doctor. ‘Give over to us your TARDIS, or we invade the Earth.’

The Doctor didn't like the sound of that. He walked up and down a little. Feeling the pressure somewhat, he came to a decision. ‘Either way,’ he protested, ‘I will stop you.’

The Cyber leader felt threatened. He ordered his guards to detain the Doctor while he made yet another bargaining attempt with him. ‘You will make your decision once we arrive on the surface of the planet.’

The Cybermen held the Doctor still for a moment, until he answered, giving a more suitable response. Clara was left open mouthed, when she heard the Doctor say that he “approved”. He was released, and wandered back across the room towards her.

‘What was all that about?’ she asked him. ‘These Cybermen strike me as being like “outer-space bullies”,’ she deduced, ‘At least now we have the opportunity to make it up to Kate.’ She said excitedly.

‘But at a cost,’ murmured the Doctor. ‘If she's willing to forgive me, she'll help us. Otherwise we have little chance of stopping the Cybermen once I've made a decision,’ he replied. ‘It all depends on whether she can get her colleagues at UNIT to help out.’

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