Post by John Darnacan on Jun 25, 2008 11:49:48 GMT
Part 18 – Negotiation or Betrayal
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“Bring Deiter to me and I will provide you with a complete dossier on your new enemy, as well as the deactivation codes,” said the Doctor.
“This behaviour is inconsistent with our profile of the Doctor,” reported the CyberController. “He does not betray allies.”
“Allies? What allies? I just want my friend back. Besides I’m sure your profile of me is quite outdated. I’ve grown selfish and bitter in my old age.” The Doctor pulled a memory device from his pocket. “OK, here’s the deal: everything you need to know about your new enemy, all for the price of one potential Cyberman, which I’m sure you can spare. But it’s a time-limited offer; very limited by the look of that solar flare.”
“Take the device from him.” A Cyberman stepped forward and clamped down on the Doctor’s arm, removing the device from his hand. The Cyber Controller accessed the memory device.
“I am afraid the files are encrypted.”
“We can decypher any encryption.”
“Faster than a solar flare? I don’t think so.”
“What do you want?”
“Subject 9086651065, Deiter Ostermann. Here and now! I expect it’s only six minutes until the solar flare hits.”
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Faye turned her attention to the life pod controls. She searched for some equivalent to the TARDIS’s fast return switch to no avail. There did seem to be some sort of manual ‘joy stick’. At first, she cautiously tapped it gently, and then more aggressively. It did nothing as far as she could tell, no feeling of changing inertia, no change in any gauges. She eventually realised that the pod had been launched, but not activated.
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The Cybermen brought the unconscious Deiter to Cyber Control.
“We have brought the human you requested,” announced the CyberController. “Provide us with the encryption key!” The Doctor walked over to Deiter. He pointed the light of his sonic screwdriver into Deiter’s eyes to gauge their reaction.
“Provide us with the encryption key!” repeated the CyberController.
“Very well, it’s 7155 repeated 100 times.”
The CyberController entered the encryption key into the console. And reviewed the unlocked data. “We have never heard of this Mendarian Order.”
“I believe that was the point,” replied the Doctor. “Well, best of luck; relish your victory.”
The CyberController turned to the attending Cyberleader. “Download the data to all Cybermen, and initiate countermeasures.”
He turned back to the Doctor and Deiter. “Resume cybernisation of subject 9086651065, and kill the Doctor.”
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After several minutes of trial and error, Faye was able to turn on some of the life pod’s systems. She was grateful she hadn’t accidentally opened a hatch or vent. A slight tap on the stick finally created a change in trajectory. She pushed the stick to the left to attempt to turn around and head back to the sphere. Unfortunately, she pushed too hard, resulting in an uncontrolled spin. The centrifugal force flung her head against the bulkhead, giving her a nasty and bloody gash on her forehead. It took her several more minutes to slow the spin of the craft. Eventually, she was able to reduce the spin to slow drift. She had a fair view of the SolarSphere when it happened. An entire section, a large trapezoid-shaped piece shell seemed to explode at the edges.
Under the stress of the explosion, it then seemed to break into three large sections and several smaller ones, with even smaller pieces of debris floating between them. Even the smaller shell sections were a mile thick and many miles across. At that moment, she realised the Doctor was dead. If the Cybermen had successfully converted Deiter, he might have survived. In Faye’s mind, that was worse than death. She couldn’t imagine a Deiter version of Maynberc.
She was about to sob in grief, but another emotion emerged: terror. Enourmous sections of the newly ejected shell were racing toward her, and her life pod was too small to withstand the mass and momentum of the oncoming structures. Collision was imminent.
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To be continued...
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“Bring Deiter to me and I will provide you with a complete dossier on your new enemy, as well as the deactivation codes,” said the Doctor.
“This behaviour is inconsistent with our profile of the Doctor,” reported the CyberController. “He does not betray allies.”
“Allies? What allies? I just want my friend back. Besides I’m sure your profile of me is quite outdated. I’ve grown selfish and bitter in my old age.” The Doctor pulled a memory device from his pocket. “OK, here’s the deal: everything you need to know about your new enemy, all for the price of one potential Cyberman, which I’m sure you can spare. But it’s a time-limited offer; very limited by the look of that solar flare.”
“Take the device from him.” A Cyberman stepped forward and clamped down on the Doctor’s arm, removing the device from his hand. The Cyber Controller accessed the memory device.
“I am afraid the files are encrypted.”
“We can decypher any encryption.”
“Faster than a solar flare? I don’t think so.”
“What do you want?”
“Subject 9086651065, Deiter Ostermann. Here and now! I expect it’s only six minutes until the solar flare hits.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faye turned her attention to the life pod controls. She searched for some equivalent to the TARDIS’s fast return switch to no avail. There did seem to be some sort of manual ‘joy stick’. At first, she cautiously tapped it gently, and then more aggressively. It did nothing as far as she could tell, no feeling of changing inertia, no change in any gauges. She eventually realised that the pod had been launched, but not activated.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cybermen brought the unconscious Deiter to Cyber Control.
“We have brought the human you requested,” announced the CyberController. “Provide us with the encryption key!” The Doctor walked over to Deiter. He pointed the light of his sonic screwdriver into Deiter’s eyes to gauge their reaction.
“Provide us with the encryption key!” repeated the CyberController.
“Very well, it’s 7155 repeated 100 times.”
The CyberController entered the encryption key into the console. And reviewed the unlocked data. “We have never heard of this Mendarian Order.”
“I believe that was the point,” replied the Doctor. “Well, best of luck; relish your victory.”
The CyberController turned to the attending Cyberleader. “Download the data to all Cybermen, and initiate countermeasures.”
He turned back to the Doctor and Deiter. “Resume cybernisation of subject 9086651065, and kill the Doctor.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After several minutes of trial and error, Faye was able to turn on some of the life pod’s systems. She was grateful she hadn’t accidentally opened a hatch or vent. A slight tap on the stick finally created a change in trajectory. She pushed the stick to the left to attempt to turn around and head back to the sphere. Unfortunately, she pushed too hard, resulting in an uncontrolled spin. The centrifugal force flung her head against the bulkhead, giving her a nasty and bloody gash on her forehead. It took her several more minutes to slow the spin of the craft. Eventually, she was able to reduce the spin to slow drift. She had a fair view of the SolarSphere when it happened. An entire section, a large trapezoid-shaped piece shell seemed to explode at the edges.
Under the stress of the explosion, it then seemed to break into three large sections and several smaller ones, with even smaller pieces of debris floating between them. Even the smaller shell sections were a mile thick and many miles across. At that moment, she realised the Doctor was dead. If the Cybermen had successfully converted Deiter, he might have survived. In Faye’s mind, that was worse than death. She couldn’t imagine a Deiter version of Maynberc.
She was about to sob in grief, but another emotion emerged: terror. Enourmous sections of the newly ejected shell were racing toward her, and her life pod was too small to withstand the mass and momentum of the oncoming structures. Collision was imminent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be continued...
