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Flast surveyed the busy cavern of workers.
They all seemed to be performing their designated jobs as was expected –
all except two. She spotted the two Cryons sitting on the rocks, some
distance from herself and crossed to them, raising her sparkling
eyebrows.
“Why do you not work?” she demanded. “You know the Cybermen are
closing in on us every day. We must be thorough and hard-working!”
“We have no purpose,” Quar, began, “We feel that we are a disappointment
to our people.”
The accompanying Cryon, Moll, nodded in agreement.
Flast, hands on hips, examined the pair. “Well you can accompany me out
to the tombs then.”
Quar and Moll looked to each other, terror in their eyes. They knew what
this meant...
* * *
Cautiously, Flast, Quar and Moll crept along the corridor, through the
grey buildings. Flast held up a map so they could all see it.
“At the end, we all need to go south. That’s an area we’ve not yet
tackled at all.” she pocketed the old map. “Follow me.”
The trio continued nervously down the corridor and turned right at the
end. Quar spotted a row of doors, all untouched, and pointed excitedly
to the others.
“Look!”
“Good work, Quar!” said Flast, readying herself for the task ahead. “Let
us proceed!”
They all walked forwards and opened the glass doors. Each took a
different door. Inside, they found cryogenically frozen Cybermen. Flast
showed them what to do and they followed the procedure, deranging each
Cyberman so that when it awoke it would become a rogue element. In this
way, they were destroying the Cybermen’s army and quickening the return
of their planet.
They continued this process, ever wary of approaching mercenaries. But
for just a few minutes, they were alone.
The three shiny Cryons congregated again as Flast once more pulled the
map from her pocket.
“Well done! We have completed this sector. Now we must travel north
before we return to our sanctuary,” she informed her accomplices, and
they all moved off in the direction she indicated. Quar and Moll hung
back though, talking in private.
“You do realise how dangerous this is, don’t you?” Quar said.
“Yes. Junn said that there are Cybermen all over these corridors, and
that they kill on sight.”
“We will just have to hope that Flast knows what she is doing.”
“Flast is our leader. She is the designated commander. To be in this
position she must have intelligence and have gained respect.” replied
Moll.
“No-one can truly know how the Cybermen operate though,” Quar countered
ominously.
The two freezing Cryons gave each other a look, and then turned back to
Flast. They arrived in another sector, and Flast turned the corner ahead
of them. There was a scream and Quar and Moll ran to see what the
problem was. Around the corner, Flast had been lifted off her feet by
two imposing silver Cybermen. Quar almost screamed, but Moll covered her
mouth.
“They have not seen us. We must escape now!” Moll hissed loudly.
“But... but Flast!”
“There is nothing we can do for her! We must go now, before they see
us!”
Quar sighed, unhappy with the situation but knowing it was the right
thing to do. They watched as the two Cybermen carried Flast’s
comparatively tiny figure away down the corridor, then turned and, now
more careful than ever, ran back down the corridor.
They stopped inside one room to catch their breath and gather their
thoughts.
“What are we going to do?!” Quar almost shouted.
“We have to get back to our base and tell everyone what has happened.”
Moll replied, much calmer.
“Is there nothing we can do?” enquired Quar, with a flicker of hope
clinging to her voice.
“Not for Flast. She has been taken by the Cybermen. There is no return
when you are taken. We have to go now.”
Quar nodded, gulping deeply. They emerged from the room, cautiously.
Suddenly, they heard heavy footsteps further down the corridor and
immediately a pair of Cybermen came into view. Quar grabbed Moll and
pulled her behind a turning in the corridor.
“Sonic disturbance ahead, leader.” the subordinate informed its
superior.
“Excellent!”
At that moment, a deranged silver figure, fluid leaking from its ducts,
smashed a window near the two Cyberman. The unstable Cyberman lunged for
its two associates, knocking the head from the leader. The drone quickly
pulled its gun on the rogue and shot it down. It fell to the ground
instantly and the drone continued on, mentally communicating the news
with cyber command.
Quar stood up.
“Come on, this is our chance! It thinks the noise was that Cyberman, not
us!”
“Yes, we must take this chance!” Moll agreed and the pair retreated
hastily from the oncoming Cyberman.
* * *The scout stumbled through the darkness, patrolling its designated area.
Its blue vision allowed it to pick up even the smallest trace of
movement along these passages, but there was nothing. Golden gun gripped
tightly in its steely hands, it lumbered deeper into the network of
tunnels. Suddenly, its auditory sensors were alerted as sonic
interference was detected ahead.
Confidence shining brighter than its matte black armour, it marched
towards the source of the disturbance. The scout turned a corner and saw
two torches shining up ahead, revealing the identity of the intruders:
humans.
Quickly, the scout engaged in mental communications with its superiors.
The message was relayed and visual patterns were transmitted.
“Eradicate them! Eradicate them at once!” came the command wired
directly into the scout’s head.
Dutifully, the scout walked forward, silently approaching the two
humans. One turned, its blue overalls glowing fluorescently in the
scout’s vision. The human began to back away but it stumbled and tripped
over, falling onto its back. The scout shouldered its golden gun and
leant over the human, hands extended, ready for the kill...
© Copyright Dave Spilsbury, Niki
Hunter & Doctor Who Online, 2012.
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Written by:
Dave Spilsbury
Artwork by:
Niki Hunter
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