Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion (18 page)

Hibbert snatched at one central thought. ‘Then if you exist as one, you can die as one!'

He leaped towards the tank, crowbar raised. But before he could reach it an Auton stepped from the shadows and blasted him from existence. At a sign from Channing the Auton blasted at Hibbert's body with its energy-gun until, like Ransome before him, he had totally disappeared.

Channing suddenly stiffened. Through the eyes of an Auton posted in the woods near the factory, he saw the
UNIT jeeps flashing by. Channing wondered again at this stupid insistence of the humans on fighting to the very last minute. He left the Restricted Area to prepare to meet them.

Jolting across the woodlands between the trees, the Brigadier's little force had driven the jeeps to the very edge of the wire fence surrounding the factory. Swiftly and efficiently two soldiers cut a gap in the fencing. The Brigadier went through first, followed by the Doctor and Liz, carrying the two linked packs. The handful of soldiers followed after them. They moved swiftly and silently to the factory buildings, and up to a small back door. It was locked. At a nod from the Brigadier one of his men blew it open. The little group moved through the shattered door and into the factory itself.

They looked round in amazement. The place was totally deserted now, and the strange alien machines were silent, their work for the moment over.

‘Where's everybody gone?' said Liz uneasily.

‘They're here – somewhere,' said the Doctor. ‘That's the place we want.' He pointed towards the Restricted Area. But before they could take another step, armed men appeared from hiding and sprang up all round them. Liz was delighted to see they wore the uniform of the Regular Army.

‘You've got some reinforcements after all, Brigadier,' she said.

The Doctor glanced around. ‘I don't think so, Liz,' he said gently. ‘Those guns are pointed at us.'

To her utter amazement Liz saw that he was right. The young Captain in charge of the soldiers had drawn his
revolver and was covering the Brigadier.

‘Brigadier, you and your men are under arrest. Please lay down your arms immediately.'

From the door of the Restricted Area, Channing watched. It had amused him to have his factory guarded with human soldiers.

The Brigadier could scarcely believe his ears. ‘What the blazes do you think you're up to, man?' he snapped. ‘Don't you realise that we're being invaded, and this place is the centre of it all? Put down that gun and give me some help.'

Confidently the Brigadier strode towards the young officer. The Captain raised his revolver. ‘I'm sorry, sir, but I have my orders. I'll shoot if you force me to. Now order your men to lay down their arms, or my men will fire.'

‘Then they'll have to shoot, Captain.' The Brigadier's voice was calm. ‘We came here to do a job and we're going to do it. Now are you really going to open fire on a fellow officer? Or are you going to be sensible and place yourself under my command?'

Liz glanced at the Doctor. She nodded towards the weapon they carried, but the Doctor shook his head. It might or might not work against the Autons, but against human soldiers it was useless.

Liz looked at the young Captain, wondering what he would do. It was obvious that he had not expected things to go this far.

The Brigadier said: ‘Well? Make your mind up. Because I assure you I'm going in there.' He nodded towards the Restricted Area. Concealed behind the doorway, Channing watched impatiently. By now the Brigadier should have surrendered, since he was so hopelessly outnumbered. Again
this tiresome human insistence on continued resistance. Were they too stupid to give up? Channing wondered.

There was an edge of panic in the Captain's voice. He stubbornly repeated: ‘I have my orders.' The Brigadier took another step forward.

Suddenly the Doctor's voice broke the tense silence. ‘I'm no expert in military matters, but surely the Brigadier outranks you. Shouldn't you obey his orders now?' For a moment it looked as if the Captain would give way. He lowered his revolver. Then someone stepped from the shadows. It was, or rather it seemed to be, General Scobie. Liz felt the Doctor tense with excitement beside her. He gave her a warning tap on the elbow and began to edge towards the General. Liz followed with the power-pack.

The Captain turned thankfully to the figure of General Scobie, relieved to be free of his terrible responsibility.

‘For the last time, Brigadier, will you surrender, or shall I order my men to shoot you down?' The General's voice was harsh and threatening. Not a bit like the real Scobie, thought Liz. But real enough to convince those soldiers.

By now Liz and the Doctor had edged their way round the group and were standing close to Scobie.

The Brigadier said: ‘Now, listen to me, Captain, this is not the real General Scobie.'

‘I'm sorry, sir, but it certainly is,' said the Captain. ‘I've served on the General's staff. I know him well.'

‘Perhaps I can settle the argument,' said the Doctor. ‘Would you care to say a few words into this?' He held the microphone-like object close to Scobie's face and snapped: ‘Switch on, Liz!'

Liz reached inside the power-pack and turned on the controls.

Scobie said: ‘What is this nonsense…?' He clasped his hands to his face and fell writhing to the ground. His body became still.

The Captain turned on the Doctor. ‘You've killed him!'

‘Oh, I don't think so,' said the Doctor. ‘You see, he was never really alive.' He knelt by Scobie's body and turned it over. The face had become blank, lumpy, featureless. Like that of an Auton.

(Far away in London the real General Scobie suddenly awoke, and was astonished to find himself alone in the Replica Room of the waxworks.)

The Captain gazed at Scobie's face in horrified unbelief.

‘Well,' snapped the Brigadier, ‘
now
will you place your men under my orders?'

The last vestige of doubt disappeared from the Captain's mind. ‘Yes, sir,' he said.

Then from inside the Restricted Area marched a line of Autons.

‘Take cover!' yelled the Brigadier. UNIT men and Regulars found what cover they could behind the factory machinery. The Auton hands dropped down on their hinges, and energy-bolts blazed from their guns. The Brigadier and his soldiers did their best to hold the advancing Autons. The bullets from the Regulars' rifles had little or no effect. But the Brigadier had equipped his men with sub-machine-guns and grenades, and the UNIT armoury had even managed to produce one anti-tank rifle. The heavier weapons did have some effect. As the soldiers returned the Autons' fire, the din in the little factory was deafening. Liz watched horrified as several soldiers, struck by sizzling energy-bolts, were hurled clear across the room to collapse like empty sacks against
the walls. From the corner where she and the Doctor were hiding, she saw Autons cut to pieces by machine-gun bullets, and blown to pieces by grenades. An Auton arm blown clear from the body continued to lash wildly round the room, spitting energy-bolts like a demented snake.

Liz became aware that the Autons were gaining. Their line was moving ever closer to the spot where she and the Doctor were hiding. She tugged at the Doctor's sleeve. Surely they ought to fall back too? The Doctor shook his head. He gestured to Liz to be ready with the power-pack. Then, quite deliberately, the Doctor rose to his feet. He stepped full in the path of an advancing Auton and thrust the transmitter near its face. Without waiting to be told, Liz switched on the power-pack. The Auton suddenly slumped, collapsing almost on top of them.

Huddled behind the shelter of the Auton's body, Liz and the Doctor waited, as the line of other Autons swept over and past them. Liz's nose was no more than an inch from the Auton's outstretched arm. She looked at the big hand – it was the left one, the one without the gun – and shuddered at the blunt fingers with no fingernails. Then the Doctor tugged her to her feet.

‘We've done it, Liz,' he whispered exultantly, ‘we're behind the enemy lines.' With the battle raging behind them, Liz and the Doctor ran for the now unguarded door to the Restricted Area.

Once they were inside, both stopped in amazement. The room seemed to be empty. It was dominated by the vast coffin-shaped tank. Inside the tank something enormous heaved, and seethed and bubbled.

Liz looked up at the Doctor. ‘There's something alive in there,' she said. ‘Oh yes,' said the Doctor mildly. ‘I rather
thought there would be, you know. It was the logical next step. You remember, poor Ransome told us about it.' The Doctor sounded pleased to have his theories confirmed. To her amazement Liz saw that his face showed not fear, but a sort of detached scientific curiosity.

‘Now, I wonder…' said the Doctor, and he walked round the tank as if contemplating a swim in it.

‘Doctor, you're not going in there,' said Liz, as the Doctor dragged over a crate to stand on.

‘Someone's got to, you know. Our friend in there is the key to everything.'

‘Quite right, Doctor. But your discovery has come too late.' Channing stepped from behind the tank, and stood facing them.

‘Oh, I don't know,' said the Doctor. ‘There's a saying on this planet that it's never too late.'

Channing looked at the Doctor. ‘You speak as if you are not one of the humans.'

‘As a matter of fact, I'm not.'

‘I thought as much when you first came here. Your mind has a different feel to these humans. There are depths in it I cannot reach.'

The Doctor said: ‘Like you, I am not of this planet. But I didn't come here of my own choice. Why did you come?'

‘We are Nestenes. Our purpose is conquest – always. We must spread the Nestene mind, the Nestene consciousness throughout all the galaxies.'

‘We?' asked the Doctor keenly. ‘You speak for all your people?'

‘I am all my people,' said Channing simply. ‘We are the Nestenes. We are all one.'

‘A collective brain, a collective nervous system, is that
it? And as far as Earth is concerned, all housed in that life form in the tank?'

‘Exactly so!' said Channing. His voice rose to an exultant shout. ‘Would you like to look upon the true form of the Nestenes, Doctor – before you die?'

The fluid in the tank heaved and bubbled in a final convulsion. The whole side of the tank shattered open, as the Doctor and Liz leaped back.

Standing towering over them was the most nightmarish creature Liz had ever seen. A huge, many-tentacled monster something between spider, crab and octopus. The nutrient fluids from the tank were still streaming down its sides. At the front of its glistening body a single huge eye glared at them, blazing with alien intelligence and hatred.

The Doctor stood peering up at it with an expression of fascinated interest. ‘Remarkable,' he said. ‘Quite remarkable.' Then he shouted: ‘Now, Liz!'

But just as he spoke the Nestene monster lashed out with one of its many tentacles and began to drag the Doctor towards it. Liz switched on the power-pack. Nothing happened.

‘Now, Liz! Now!' the Doctor shouted urgently. Again Liz flicked the controls, and again there was no result. Liz realised that when the monster grabbed the Doctor, the lead connecting the Doctor's machine to her pack had been pulled out.

The monster was dragging the Doctor closer and closer. He struggled frantically as a second slimy tentacle wrapped itself round his throat, beginning to throttle him. Liz ducked under the creature, scrabbling for the other end of the lead. She grabbed it and began to plug it in. Angrily, yet another tentacle wrapped round
her
, but with a final desperate effort
Liz managed to jam the lead into its socket.

Immediately, there was a hum of power from the Doctor's machine. As Liz turned the power up to its highest notch the Doctor shoved the microphone-shaped transmitter up to the single blazing eye. Immediately, the monster gave a single agonised howl that seemed to shatter Liz's eardrums. The tentacles holding Liz and the Doctor lost their power and they fell to the ground.

Then, as they watched, the hideous creation that had housed the Nestene mind began to blur and dissolve. It seemed to melt away before them like a wax model in a blast of fierce heat.

Finally there was nothing left but a sort of vast spreading puddle of thick, slimy liquid. For a moment that single eye remained floating in the puddle, glaring its hatred at them to the last. Then it, too, dissolved. The Nestene was dead.

Liz and the Doctor picked themselves up. The Doctor saw Channing, face downwards where he had fallen. He turned the body over. Like Scobie's Replica before him, Channing now had the crude blank features of an Auton. The Doctor looked up. ‘Nothing to be frightened of, my dear,' he said gently. ‘It's only a waxwork.'

A minute or two before, as Liz was struggling to reconnect the Doctor's machine to the power-pack, Brigadier Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart had resigned himself to the end of a not-inglorious military career. He and his men had fought a gallant rearguard action across the factory, many being blasted to extinction by Nestene energy-bolts in the process. The few left alive were now trapped in an angle of the factory wall, under a deadly crossfire from two groups of advancing Autons. The Brigadier cut an advancing Auton
in two with a savage burst from his sub-machine-gun. The gun emptied itself, and the Brigadier automatically reached for another magazine from his belt. But the belt was empty. Another Auton appeared in front of the Brigadier, its wrist-gun aimed at point-blank range. The Brigadier gazed into the nozzle of the gun, waiting for the final blast. Then, to his amazement, the outstretched arm seemed to wilt before his eyes. It drooped, and the Auton crashed to the floor. All around, the other Autons were collapsing too.