3. Motorcycling in Maputo
Dawn came. It was the beginning of a new day. At Cyber Control on the Command Level, Delta confronted the Cyber Leader. She looked hard at the Cyber Leader, her serious expression unwavering.
“You are required,” the Cyber Leader said. “You have been selected.”
“I will not submit myself to you,” she said defiantly. “Not for my people; Chumeria or anyone else in the known universe against you Cybermen!”
“You cannot resist us,” the Cyber Leader said. “You will be like us. You will be cleansed of pain and emotion.”
“I defy you, Cyber Leader,” Delta said. “I defy your very being!”
“Be warned, Chimeron Queen,” the Cyber Leader told her. “Aggressive and hostile elements will not be tolerated. You will be eradicated if logic does not prevail.”
“Don’t give me anything about logic,” she retorted. “My friend the Doctor will see to it that you are stopped.”
“The Doctor will abandon you once he knows the truth of your secret,” the Cyber Leader answered back. “What you protect in your reputation.”
Delta’s mouth twitched for a moment. Just then, the Doctor and Michael entered as they were escorted by Cybermen.
“Hello there,” the Doctor greeted, doffing his panama hat. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything. Very nice decoration you’ve done to this place. A shame you won’t be staying very long.”
Ignoring the Doctor, the Cyberman in charge of the group addressed its leader. “We encountered the Doctor when he attempted to rescue his associates. We have brought him to you, Leader.”
“Very astute of you to do that, Cyberman,” the Doctor scoffed. “By the way, you haven’t met my friend yet, have you? This is Michael. Michael, this is…”
“That human is to be processed,” the Cyber Leader announced. “He will become like us. Take him away.”
At that, Michael was apprehended by the Cybermen. He struggled to break free. “No! Get off me!” he cried. “I don’t want to be like you!”
“Conversion is compulsory,” the Cyber Leader insisted. “All inhabitants of this settlement will submit to Cyber-conversion. Everyone will become like us.”
“Doctor!” Michael cried. “Doctor, help me! Can’t you do something?”
“Let him go, Cyber Leader,” the Doctor said, serious. “He’s not compatible.”
“Then he must be terminated,” the Cyber Leader said.
“No, wait!” the Doctor interrupted, shaking his hands. “That’s not what I meant. He’s valuable. He’ll be of better use to you if you keep him alive.”
“All information shall be extracted from him once he becomes like us,” the Cyber Leader declared before he ordered again. “Take him away.”
With that, Michael got taken away by the Cybermen.
“No! Please!” he cried. “Let me go please!”
Soon, Michael was out of sight with the Cybermen escorting him away. Delta and the Doctor turned to the Cyber Leader.
“What about us?” Delta demanded. “Aren’t we to be your servitors?”
“Your organic shells shall remain intact for a little while,” the Cyber Leader stated, “once we have extracted the essential information from you.”
The Doctor checked on Delta. “I’m glad to see you alright,” he said.
“We won’t be alright for very long if the Cybermen have their way,” Delta feared.
“We require you Chimeron Queen to comply with our request,” the Cyber Leader said. “We put it to you so long ago.”
“Never,” Delta replied. “A Chimeron Queen will never submit to the Cybermen.”
“You see, Cyber Leader,” the Doctor taunted. “Even Chimerons are resilient. You should’ve looked them up. This one managed to overcome the Bannermen.”
“We will have her,” the Cyber Leader reiterated. “The Cyber race will be complete with her in our unity.”
“It’s not as easy as you think though, is it?” the Doctor said challengingly.
Delta was astonished by what the Doctor said. “You know about this, Doctor. You know what the Cybermen want from me.”
“Of course,” the Doctor replied. “I’ve known about it for quite a while. I spotted the connection between you; the Cybermen and the bees. It all makes sense.”
“Elaborate, Doctor,” the Cyber Leader demanded. “Elaborate.”
The Doctor took a moment before he addressed the Cyber Leader again. “You want a new controller. Not a Cyber Controller as such, but something far more exquisite. You want Delta…to become your Cyber Queen.”
A moment of tense silence ensued.
“Yes Doctor,” Delta confirmed. “They want to convert me to become their queen.”
“It’s the same with all insect-like species,” the Doctor gradually said. “Especially bees. They have their own hives. When a swarm of bees die, a new one gathers around their queen. They depart to set up the next hive. It’s the same with the Chimerons.”
“That’s correct, Doctor,” Delta said. “There was hope for me when I left Earth. A new hive for the Chimeron race was to be born once my daughter – the new queen of Chumeria – gave birth.”
“You were the survivor of your old hive, Delta,” the Doctor reminded her. “You’re still a queen. Even with your Billy who became a Chimeron, you were able to prosper.”
“But the Cybermen came,” said Delta. “They came and converted millions of my people. Millions of Chimerons turned into one of them. And I was responsible for it.”
“I know. I’ve seen it,” the Doctor said.
Delta looked amazed at the Doctor.
The Cyber Leader then interrupted, “We wish to free the Chimeron Queen of her pain. She can rejoin her old hive and become part of it again. We can make her complete as much as we want to be complete. She will become like us.”
“Those Chimerons became Cybermen,” Delta said angrily. “They were dead once they became Cybermen. I will not dishonour their memory.”
“And even if you could convert her,” the Doctor added, “you can’t survive without the Zorbius crystal. You need it, remember?”
“Then give it to us, Doctor,” the Cyber Leader demanded. “Give us the crystal, or else you will be terminated.”
The Doctor glared at the Cyber Leader once it had made its threats.
Michael found himself strapped to the conveyor belt. He continued struggling to break free but he couldn’t. A Cyberman loomed above him. Michael shuddered at the blank face staring down at him.
“Please!” he begged. “Let me go! I don’t want to become like you!”
“You have nothing to fear,” the Cyberman told him. “There is nothing to fear. We remove all unnecessary emotions from your brain. Happiness; sadness; love. All will be eradicated.”
“But I want to be happy,” Michael protested. “I want to be sad! I want to know love! I’d rather die than become zombie-like like you!”
“Irrelevant,” the Cyberman said. “The conversion process will commence immediately.”
Michael watched as he saw the drill heads lower down upon him and make for his head. They swirled and sizzled as they reached for his skull.
“No!” Michael cried. “Please! Don’t do this!” His cries became screams “No! No! NO!!!!!”
Suddenly, the machine stopped. The drills stopped turning. Michael couldn’t believe it. He’d been saved by a stroke of luck.
“Malfunction detected,” the Cyberman stated. “Must analyse.”
“Analyse this, gear box!” shouted someone from behind.
The Cyberman turned around and Ace appeared. She fired a radiation-filled coin from her slingshot and hit the Cyberman’s chest unit. Once hit, the Cybermen shuddered violently before exploding into pieces.
Ace sighed with relief. “Phew! One down; twenty-five more to go, I think.”
“Is that you, Ace?” Michael asked, unable to see her with being strapped to the conveyor belt.
“Yep, Mike!” Ace answered. “I’m here to rescue you.”
“Good,” said Michael relieved. “Get me out of this horrid contraption. I want to know if I’m still alive.”
“Sure,” Ace answered. “Hang on a minute.”
With that, Ace went over and unbolted the straps that were on Michael whilst on the conveyor belt. After he’d been unbolted, Michael got up and groaned.
“Feeling stiff?” Ace asked.
“Yeah,” Michael answered. “Shouldn’t have shot up so soon, should I?”
“Oh I don’t know,” Ace shrugged. “I guess an ache in the back must’ve been reassuring for you. Considering that you were about to become all metal.”
“A prospect I’m glad to avoid,” Michael said. “Thank you, Ace.”
“You’re welcome.”
Gradually, Michael got off the conveyor belt and onto his feet with Ace’s help. Once on his feet, Michael met Ace’s gaze. She looked deeply into his eyes. They were caught in each other’s trance. Eventually, they snapped out of it as Michael cleared his throat.
“You saved my life, Ace,” Michael said gratified. “I couldn’t be more grateful.”
“You could be more than grateful if you start helping me,” Ace suggested.
“Oh yes?” Michael became curious. “How?”
“The Doctor was with you,” Ace reminded him. “Where is he?”
“Upstairs,” Michael replied. “In the Cybermen’s control room.” He then realised. “You’re not thinking of going up there, are you?”
“We have to get him and Delta out of there,” Ace said. “They’re depending on us.”
“But we’ll get killed,” Michael protested.
“Listen,” Ace stressed to him. “I’ve got enough radiation-filled coins to slingshot at them and enough Nitro to blow up a whole Cybermen platoon. We can get through this!”
“And if we can’t?” Michael asked.
“I’m determined to stop this Cybermen invasion just like the Doctor is,” Ace said. “I’m determined to save many people that were like Tasha. And I’m bringing you along with me! Okay with that?”
Michael thought about this for a moment. Eventually, he came to his senses. “Okay! What can I do to help?”
“Good sport,” Ace slapped Michael on the back. “Now the way to do this is…”
But before Ace could go on, shots rang out. She and Michael ducked as they turned to see some Cybermen enter with Vladimir leading them.
“Fugitive located,” one Cyberman stated. “Confirmed. Two fugitives.”
“Excellent!” Vladimir exclaimed. “Now we’ve got two for the price of one! Ain’t that right, Ace; Michael!”
“Great,” Ace groaned. “Just what we needed.”
“You were followed,” Michael said, almost accusingly.
“There’s still a chance,” Ace told him. “Now do as I say!”
“Yes?” Michael eagerly anticipated.
“Run!” Ace shouted as she took Michael’s hand and they ran for it out of the conversion chamber.
Vladimir fumed with anger. “They’re escaping! Do you nincompoops see that?!”
“Pursue them,” one Cyberman commanded. “Pursue the fugitives at once.”
In a corridor close by to the conversion chamber, Ace and Michael continued to run for it. However, Ace lagged behind a bit whilst Michael was already ahead of her.
“Ace, what are you doing?!” Michael shouted. “You said for us to run! So let’s keep running!”
“Just want to slow these guys down a bit,” she said before she shouted to the Cybermen chasing after them, “Oi! Happy faces! Here are some coins in your eyes!”
With that, Ace fired with her slingshot and shot radiation-filled coins at them. Some of the Cybermen got hit and they fell down to the ground, clutching at their chest units, groaning and choking. The rest of the Cybermen kept coming at them.
“There’s still more of them,” Michael warned her. “They’re still coming! You can’t slow them down, Ace! Not with coins!”
“No,” Ace agreed. “Not with just coins. But maybe with this.”
Ace took out a can of Nitro-9, which had been bulging in another of her jacket pockets.
“You’re not going to use that, are you?!” Michael asked, shocked.
“I always love a big bang!” Ace cheered, as she opened up the can and threw it at the advancing Cybermen. “Quick, Mike!” she cried. “Run!”
Ace ran on ahead, dragging a baffled Michael with her. One of the Cyber Scouts caught the Nitro-9 can and tried to throw it away. It couldn’t.
“Unable to detach canister,” the Cyber Scout said. “Adhesive material applied.”
At that, a mighty explosion occurred. Running up ahead, Ace and Michael fell to the ground once the Cybermen had been blown up. They looked back to see the damage caused by Ace.
“You certainly sorted them out, Ace,” Michael remarked. “Well done!”
“Yeah,” Ace became apprehensive. “And we’ll soon be sorted if we don’t shift it. The ceiling’s about to fall in! Look!”
Ace and Michael looked up to see the ceiling above their heads about to collapse.
Michael turned on Ace. “You and your explosives!”
“Come on, Mike,” Ace cried. “Run!”
They got up and made a run for it before the ceiling collapsed. The rest of the Cybermen were joined by Vladimir who saw the ceiling cave in. Vladimir also saw Ace and Michael running up ahead on the other side of the rubble.
“They have destroyed four of our units,” one Cyberman reported to Vladimir. “Scout patrol #7. They must be replaced with upgraded units.”
“Meanwhile those two are getting away,” Vladimir snapped. “Never mind about your dead units! Stop them before they can do anything else!”
“A report must be sent to Cyber Control,” the Cyberman insisted. “All units adhere to me.”
The Cybermen began to remove the rubble blocking the corridor whilst Ace and Michael ran on ahead, escaping to find the Doctor and Delta.
“I gave you an instruction, Doctor,” the Cyber Leader said. “Hand over the Zorbius crystal to me.”
The Doctor became weary of the Cyber Leader’s incessant demands. He began to wonder how he managed to tolerate the Cybermen.
“I haven’t got the crystal, Leader,” he said. “It’s in someone else’s possession.”
“You are lying,” said the Cyber Leader said.
“Why would I lie about a thing like that?” the Doctor challenged. “And even if I knew where that person who’s got the crystal is, I wouldn’t tell you. My life’s on the line for that.”
“So is ours,” the Cyber Leader stated.
“Oh! So you consider yourselves living beings, do you? You live ordinary lives? You have sunny picnics and eat rice puddings?”
“This is our way of life. The Cybermen are life.”
“Don’t give me that,” the Doctor scorned. “You abandoned your freedom to life the moment you encased yourselves in metal. All you do is intimate and infiltrate various species to become like you in order to survive.”
“We must survive,” the Cyber Leader declared. “We will survive!”
“And having the Zorbius crystal gives you the survival. The ability to control all of space and time. To convert all of those who aren’t like you.”
“It is our way to survive. I repeat. We must survive.”
“Something which I won’t permit.”
“Tell us where the crystal is.”
“No!”
“Then witness the termination of your friend.” The Cyber Leader turned to one Cyberman standing next to Delta. “Terminate her.”
The Cyberman complied as it advanced upon Delta. Delta backed away. The Doctor recognised who the Cyberman was.
“Ah yes!” he declared. “The ill-fated Joaquim. He could’ve remained human had I led him away from his destiny. But then, what had to be had to be.”
“Terminate,” the Cyber Joaquim said. “I must terminate the Chimeron female.”
As Delta backed away from Cyber Joaquim, the Doctor stood between them.
“Joaquim, can you hear me?” he began. “If there’s any hint of humanity left in you, disregard your Leader’s orders.”
“I must…terminate,” Cyber Joaquim struggled to say. “Terminate.”
“Disregard previous instructions,” the Doctor commanded.
Gradually, the man that had once been Joaquim but had now become a Cyberman began to turn and face the Cyber Leader. He sounded confused when he spoke.
“Must…must I…terminate?”
“Follow your instructions,” the Cyber Leader ordered. “Complete your objectives. Terminate the Chimeron Queen now.”
Cyber Joaquim turned back to to face Delta again.
Delta, standing behind the Doctor, whispered in his ear. “Doctor, you said you knew who he was. You called him Joaquim.”
“Yes,” the Doctor grimly replied.
“Can’t you do anything for him?” she asked.
“No,” he answered. “What’s done is done? Whatever’s inside that human brain trapped inside a metal shell…must make its own decisions.”
As the Cyber Joaquim advanced before the Doctor and Delta, Ace and Michael turned up. Attempting to distract Cyber Joaquim, Ace held out a can of Nitro-9.
“Freeze!” she cried. “Freeze, Cybermen! Let the Doctor and Delta go! Or else we go boom! See here! I’ve got the Nitro to prove it!”
“Cyber Unit #103,” the Cyber Leader ordered. “Eradicate the human female.”
Cyber Joaquim turned from the Doctor and Delta and marched towards Ace. Ace kept onto the canister in her hands whilst Michael tried to veer her away.
“Come on, Ace,” he said urgently. “Let’s get out of here! This Cybermen’s going to make us dead if we stand here!”
But at that moment, Cyber Joaquim stopped in his advance. Giving a cold blank stare at Ace and Michael, Cyber Joaquim soon turned back to the Doctor and Delta. He then turned back to Ace and Michael again.
“I must….I must….” Cyber Joaquim struggled to say.
“What’s happening, Doctor?” Delta whispered.
“Moral dilemma,” the Doctor told her. “Interesting, isn’t it?”
There was a scene of confusion as Cyber Joaquim veered from side to side.
The Cyber Leader saw this. “Cyber Unit #103,” it persisted. “Carry out your instructions.”
A moment of tense silence ensued.
Then Cyber Joaquim spoke. “No! I…will…not…eradicate!”
Cyber Joaquim gave out a shriek of rage before he fired his gun-like weapon at the Cyber Leader. The Cyber Leader shook and shuddered before it collapsed to the floor.
Turning to the Doctor, Cyber Joaquim said, “Go, Doctor! Go now!”
“Come on Ace; Delta; Michael,” the Doctor said urgently. “Out of here!”
Making a break for it, the Doctor; Ace; Delta and Michael escaped the Cyber Control centre. Cyber Joaquim shook and shuddered before he collapsed to the floor. Emotion soon overwhelmed his circuitry.
“I feel….I feel…alive!” he declared.
Outside, the Doctor, Ace, Delta and Michael sighed with relief once they’d escaped and felt the fresh air into their lungs.
“Here we are!” the Doctor cheered. “All safe and sound! Thank goodness!”
“Doctor, what just happened back there?!” Delta wanted to know. “That Cyberman saved us!”
“Yes,” the Doctor said pleased. “Joaquim was able to see the error of his ways in becoming allies with the Cybermen. Through his metal casing, he was able to process his emotions past the inhibitors and express compassion to save us.”
“You tricked him,” Ace said accusingly. “You tricked him into becoming a Cyberman.”
“I had to, Ace,” the Doctor argued. “In order to preserve the flow of time.”
“Don’t give me that,” said Ace, upset.
“Can we debate about this another time?” Michael suggested. “The Cybermen will catch up with us very shortly and we need to get out of here!”
“Michael’s right,” the Doctor agreed. “We have to get to a place of safety where the Cybermen won’t find us.”
“There’s my ship,” Delta offered. “It’s cloaked at the Port of Maputo.”
“And there are those motorcycles parked up ahead,” Ace pointed out. “We can take them to get back to Delta’s ship.”
“Splendid,” the Doctor said pleased. “The motorcycle with the sidecar is the one Delta and I came in. Let’s get to those motorcycles before the Cybermen meet us”
At that moment, two Cybermen burst their way through the door behind the Doctor and party.
“Too late,” the Doctor cried. “They’ve already turned up! Run!”
With that, the Doctor, Ace, Delta and Michael made a run for it towards the motorcycles up ahead. The Cybermen opened fire upon them.
Soon, the Doctor and his friends were on motorcycles, driving through the streets of Maputo city. The Doctor drove the motorcycle with Delta in the sidecar whilst Ace sat behind Michael who drove the other. Driving at full speed, they dodged Cybermen wherever they went.
“Ace!” the Doctor called out to her.
“Yes Professor,” Ace answered.
“Don’t do any heroics,” he told her. “Being on a motorcycle and throwing Nitro-9 at our enemies at the same time isn’t the safest thing to do.”
“Aww give it a rest will you, Professor,” Ace groaned.
“Alright, have Delta throw the Nitro-9 for you,” the Doctor suggested. “She’s in the sidecar after all…”
“No chance,” Ace retorted.
“Do you prefer to be blown up to bits by Cybermen?” the Doctor said angrily.
Ace fumed for a bit. Eventually, she took out two cans of Nitro-9 tucked in her jacket and began to pass them over to Delta.
“Here, Delta!” Ace cried. “Catch these!”
Ace threw the Nitro-9 cans over to Delta whilst she was in the sidecar with the Doctor. Delta caught the cans in her hands once Ace threw them to her.
“Got them, Ace,” Delta said.
“Be careful how you handle my Nitro-9, Delta,” Ace told her. “It’s still lethal stuff usually handled by me.”
“I’ll be careful, Ace,” Delta reassured her.
“Eight-second delay, Ace?” the Doctor checked.
“Nine-second actually,” Ace said.
“We’ll take it as eight then,” the Doctor declared. “I can’t fully rely on your demolition tactics, you know.”
“Doctor!” Michael looked behind him whilst driving his motorcycle. “More Cybermen are coming! They’re about to gun us down!”
The Doctor looked briefly to see Cybermen flying behind them on the road they drove on. The Cybermen opened fire with their weapons and the Doctor and his friends ducked to avoid the shots.
“Wicked!” Ace exclaimed. “Cybermen flying on rocket boosters in their boots!”
“Whatever you hope do Doctor,” Michael said nervously, “you’d better do it now!”
“I agree!” Delta said. “We’re open targets.”
“Alright, alright,” the Doctor said agitated before he turned to Delta. “Delta, open the canisters and throw them at the Cybermen behind us after three seconds.”
Delta did this as she opened up the two canisters that were thrown to her by Ace.
“I got the cans open, Doctor,” Delta told him.
“Quickly!” the Doctor said urgently. “Throw the canisters at the Cybermen now!”
With that, Delta threw the canisters at the Cybermen chasing after them in mid-air. Eventually, the Cybermen got blown up as the Nitro-9 cans exploded in the street they were in. Having avoided the Cybermen getting at them, the Doctor and his friends continued their way down the street they drove on.
“Well done, Delta,” the Doctor applauded her.
“Thanks,” Delta replied. “I’m glad that was effective.”
“I must’ve added more nitro in those cans than I initially thought,” Ace remarked. “I must remember that next time I prepare new canisters.”
“We’ll commend your skills in explosives later, Ace,” the Doctor retorted. “Let’s turn left here.”
“Turn left where?” Ace asked.
“On this road…oh never mind,” the Doctor sighed. “Michael, turn left here with me on the road.”
“Right you are, Doctor,” Michael replied.
With that, the Doctor and Delta as well as Michael and Ace turned left on the street they were in whilst on their motorcycling transports.
Eventually, the Doctor and his friends found themselves in another avenue within the city. As they drove on, there wasn’t a Cyberman to be seen.
“Have they all ditched it?!” Ace wondered. “Where could they have gone?!”
“They can’t have given up so suddenly,” stated Delta.
“Don’t be put off by their lack of appearance,” the Doctor told them. “The Cybermen are around. They’ll give us the element of surprise.”
“That I can well believe,” Michael said.
At that moment, a Cyberman jumped upon Ace and Michael on their motorcycle from up above. Both cried as the Cyberman slurred and rasped through its mouthpiece, attempting to apprehend them.
“Doctor!” Ace cried. “Cyberman! It just jumped on us!”
“Help us, Doctor!” Michael cried. “We can’t shake it off!”
“Ace; Michael!” Delta cried. “Hold on! We’ll help you!”
“Keep calm, both of you!” the Doctor insisted. “Remain still! I have a trick up my sleeve!”
With that, the Doctor drove in closer to Michael and Ace’s motorcycle with the Cyberman on top of them.
“What are you going to do, Doctor?” Michael asked anxiously.
“Don’t you worry, Michael,” the Doctor consoled him. “Keep your eyes on the road.”
Michael kept his eyes on the road whilst Ace struggled to restrain herself fighting against the Cyberman on top of them.
“Doctor, hurry it up will you?” Ace cried. “This tin head’s getting to me!”
“Cyberman!” the Doctor called. “Over here!”
The Doctor dealt with the Cyberman on Delta and Ace’s motorcycle, attacking it with his question mark umbrella whilst riding his own motorcycle with Delta in the sidecar. The Cyberman turned to look at the Doctor, rasping away as it did so.
“That’s it!” the Doctor taunted. “That’s right! Look at me!”
With that, the Doctor used the question mark handle of his umbrella and opened the Cyberman’s chest unit with it. The Cyberman seemed astonished.
The Doctor became apologetic. “I’m really sorry about this.”
With that, the Doctor tugged at the Cyberman’s chest unit with the handle of his umbrella and pulled a chip out from it. The Cyberman groaned, holding onto his chest as he fell off Ace and Michael’s motorcycle. Rolling over and over to the ground, the Cyberman was left for dead with the sun glazing upon as it.
“Stop!” the Doctor shouted.
At that command, the two motorcycles stopped on the road. They all turned to look back at the fallen Cyberman.
“Hey Professor!” Ace said astonished. “That was really clever.”
“Thank you, Ace,” the Doctor said grimly.
“Mind explaining what you just did?” she prompted.
“I disabled the Cyberman by removing the emotional inhibitor inside its chest unit,” the Doctor explained. “It caused it confusion. The emotions overwhelmed the Cyberman and it died instantly. A merciful death, wouldn’t you say? To experience his or her final emotions.”
“That was fast thinking, Doctor,” Michael remarked.
“It’s easy when you’ve experienced these sorts of things in hundreds of years,” the Doctor said.
“We must take it with us,” Delta suggested. “We can learn more about how the Zorbius crystal happens to be inside these Cybermen.”
“Agreed,” the Doctor supported Delta. “We’ll take it back to your ship for an analysis.”
“Better shift it then, Professor,” Ace said. “Before any more Cybermen show up.”
“Delta,” the Doctor began, “you’ll have to sit behind me on the motorcycle for a bit. That Cyberman will have to go in the sidecar on the way back to your ship.”
Delta agreed as she began to help the Doctor, Ace and Michael with putting the crumpled Cyberman into the sidecar before heading off for her spaceship nearby.
Vladimir was annoyed. He entered Cyber Control to report to the Cyber Leader, who hadn’t been killed by Cyber Joaquim. He had survvied, which was most unfortunate for many people.
“I’m fed up!” Vladimir complained. “I’m just fed up with the lot of you! How can you be so incompetent?!”
“Your emotional reaction is unnecessary,” the Cyber Leader said. “We shall meet our objective. The Doctor will be recaptured and the Zorbius crystal will be ours.”
“So you keep saying over and over again,” Vladimir moaned. “So long as the Doctor has friends to help him out, you’re vulnerable.”
“Logic shall help us to achieve our objectives,” the Cyber Leader declared. “We shall terminate the Doctor and retrieve the crystal.”
“Well,” Vladimir snorted, “may I say that you’re going about this the wrong way? You’re becoming…inefficient in your methods.”
“Your function is not to criticise our methods,” the Cyber Leader reminded Vladimir. “Your function is to give a report about the current situation.”
“You already know my report,” Vladimir said. “The Doctor and his friends have escaped! Isn’t that enough? Or would you rather I did it in song for you? That probably won’t amuse you but it’ll amuse me.”
“Amusement is also unnecessary,” the Cyber Leader said.
At that moment, more Cybermen returned from duty. The Cyber Leader turns to meet them.
“Leader,” the first Cyberman said. “We have recovered all the Cyber units that have survived. The Doctor and his associates are making for coordinates: Y3-45. Location is known as Port of Maputo.”
“Understood,” the Cyber Leader answered. “Prepare to receive additional orders regarding the Doctor. Locate him and retrieve the Zorbius crystal from him. He must be found as soon as possible.”
“Instructions acknowledged,” the first Cyberman complied. “We shall prepare to receive new objectives at your disposal.”
“Go,” the Cyber Leader commanded. “See to it that you’re ready at your posts.”
Saluting before they went, the first Cyberman led his group off to continue hunting for the Doctor and Zorbius crystal.
“Is that it?” Vladimir said agitated. “You’re going to keep attempting to capture the Doctor and lose more of your Cyber units.”
“You do not understand the fundamentals of Cyber knowledge, logic and information,” the Cyber Leader told him. “Nothing and nobody can escape us.”
“In the meantime,” Vladimir argued, “what are you going to do with converting the rest of Earth’s population? There’s still a lot to be done here.”
“Your advice is not required,” the Cyber Leader said.
“That’s right, ignore me,” said Vladimir bitterly. “Ignore me whilst I could be giving you helpful advice about how to convert millions of human people into your likeness.”
A moment of tense silence ensued.
The Cyber Leader turned to Vladimir, “What course of action would you advise us to take?”
“That’s more like it,” Vladimir said pleased as he went on. “We return to our power station where some of your Cyber units are stored and waiting. We wake them up and inform them to alter the weather patterns in the sky. To generate more rainclouds and cause a thunderstorm. The warehouse should have a control device to achieve that.”
“Why would we pursue that course of action?” the Cyber Leader enquired.
“Think about it, tin-brain,” Vladimir scorned. “You send in more rainclouds filled with your sleep potion and you can convert millions of people into your lot once they’re under your spell.”
The Cyber Leader considered this carefully. It stared coldly at Vladimir as it considered.
“Most satisfactory,” the Cyber Leader said. He then turned away from Vladimir and spoke as if he was talking to all Cybermen in the vicinity via the intercom. “All Cyber units. Sending instructions to Cyber units at warehouse. Inform them of my arrival. And inform them to prepare new weather patterns with the generators.”
Vladimir smirked, pleased with himself as he won the Cyber Leader over.
Aboard Delta’s ship parked on the Port of Maputo, the Doctor and Ace dismantled the Cyberman they had just captured. Michael was outside, parking the motorcycles they had used. Delta watched as the Doctor and Ace began to examine the Cyberman.
“There aren’t any booby traps when it comes to dismantling a Cyberman are there, Professor?” Ace asked.
“Not after I’ve disabled it,” the Doctor said. “Theoretically, it should already be dead.”
“You said these aren’t ordinary Cyberman, Professor,” Ace reminded him.
“True Ace, true,” the Doctor acknowledged. “So let’s see what’s underneath its face, shall we?”
Michael had joined the group, overhearing the Doctor and Ace’s conversation. “Please pray it’s not a ghastly skull or anything like that. Or a bulging brain.”
“From my experience Mr. Michael,” the Doctor said, “that’s always to be the case.”
“The face is coming loose, Professor,” Ace told him.
“Good,” the Doctor became satisfied. “Now we can see.”
As they took the Cyberman’s face off its head, everyone saw what was inside. There were gasps of shock at what they saw.
“Oh God!” Ace exclaimed. “That’s just so freaky!”
“I was right,” Michael said. “It is a ghastly skull.”
“I thought as much,” the Doctor declared. “I knew it would come down to this.”
“You know something, Doctor,” Ace realised.
“Oh yes, Ace,” the Doctor confirmed. “As I said before, these aren’t ordinary Cybermen. This skull-face belongs to one of a race of servitors called the Skeletrons!”
“Skeletrons?”
“Or more accurately, they would prefer to be called the Hunters of Doom! The Hunters of the Zorbius entity!”
“So…these are like walking, talking skeletons,” Ace deduced. “They’re bone heads that can move by themselves without any flesh or blood.”
“They’re robots, Ace,” the Doctor elaborated. “Skeletal robots that have been converted into Cybermen. And each one has a fragment of the Zorbius entity inside of them.”
“That’s wicked hardware, Doctor,” Ace remarked.
“It’s abominable,” the Doctor said disapprovingly. “It should never have happened!”
“I thought the Cybermen converted humans to be like them,” Michael pondered. “Not skeletons. Even if they’re robots that look like skeletons.”
“They don’t usually no,” Ace answered. “But Michael has got a good point, Professor. It’s all rather far-fetched for the Cybermen to do, isn’t it?”
“The Cybermen knew about the Skeletrons’ ability to survive under rainclouds,” the Doctor said. “They knew about them sending people off to deep sleep via the deepening rain. So some of those Cybermen converted the Skeletrons and they adapted their biological and technological instincts to their advantage.”
“So that they would have the cool power to send people off to sleep in the rain, right,” Ace checked.
“Right,” the Doctor confirmed. “And unfortunately, they managed to adapt their own technology to become Skeletron-Cybermen without the need to travel by rain. They don’t have the problem to contend with whilst inside their cyber shells.”
“Must make those Cybermen suits dank and rather flooded if the Skeletron bodies are in them,” Ace joked. “What with being in the rain and all.”
“You’ve met these Skeletrons before then have you, Doctor?” Michael asked.
“Lots of times,” the Doctor said. “This was before I discovered the Cybermen had found them. The Skeletrons seek the Zorbius crystal and its energies to bring it back to the one who possesses the complete Zorbius entity. But since I smashed the crystal a long time ago, the entity and its energies were scattered across the entire cosmos. So there’s little fluidity.”
“And now the Cybermen have both the Skeletrons and the Zorbius person or persons inside of them,” Ace remarked. “They have one mind controlling them. They’re not single individuals.”
“Not quite Ace,” the Doctor contradicted her. “They’re still scattered. They need the Zorbius crystal in order to complete themselves. Hence why I gave the crystal to you, Ace. To have it for safekeeping just in case the Cybermen attempted to get their hands on it.” The Doctor thought for a moment. “You still have the crystal on you haven’t you, Ace?”
“Hold on, I’ll check,” Ace said as she began to check her jacket pockets. After checking, she held up the crystal in her hands and said, “Yep! Still got it!”
“Good,” the Doctor said pleased. “You’d better put it in your rucksack just in case you might lose it in your jacket.”
As Ace did as the Doctor suggested with putting the Zorbius crystal inside her rucksack, Michael asked, “How do you know these things, Doctor? How did you know the Cybermen were once the Skeletrons?”
“Because I was there when it happened,” the Doctor said grimly. “I saw it happen on a planet far, far away from your home where the Cybermen found the Skeletrons and they began the conversion process on them.”
“Oh yeah. What planet was that then?” Ace asked.
“My own planet, Ace,” Delta suddenly said. “On Chumeria.”
Everybody was startled by Delta as she hadn’t spoken since Ace and the Doctor dismantled and examined the Cyberman. Now she’d spoken, she stepped forward.
“Yes,” the Doctor said sadly. “Your home planet, Delta. Where you said it was your fault.”
“And I regret everything I did on that day,” Delta became downhearted.
“I don’t like the sound of this, Professor,” Ace said worried.
The Doctor explained, “Delta is the one who was responsible for the conversion of many Skeletrons into Cybermen. She discovered the Skeletrons and brought them back to her home planet on Chumeria. She was the one who sought help from the Cybermen.”
Ace was astonished and shocked. “No! It can’t be true! Delta can’t have done that! Not ever!”
Delta gave Ace a sad look before she spoke again. “I’m sorry Ace, but it’s true. I caused the deaths of so many Chimerons. All because I wanted to alter the way nature and the hives were organised. All because…I wanted to allow them to have the Skeletrons’ power which was what they wanted in the first place.”
At a power station within Maputo city, Vladimir stood beside the Cybermen. He watched them about to tamper with the weather controls. Some of them working at a generator.
“All is prepared, Leader,” one Cyberman said to its leader.
“Adjust the angle of inclination and launch the precipitation missile,” the Cyber Leader commanded. “Then we will send our weapon across the entire continent of Mozambique.”
“Understood,” the Cyberman replied. “Estimated time for launch – two minutes.”
“Continue,” commanded the Cyber Leader.
“Affirmative.”
The Cyberman walked off and carried out its Leader’s instructions.
Vladimir became smug and proud as he spoke to the Cyber Leader. “See! I told you I wouldn’t be so useless to you in the end.”
“And yet, you betrayed your friends,” the Cyber Leader observed. “You abandoned your will to live amongst them and serve us.”
“Serving Cybermen is better than sacrificing for the rabble,” Vladimir said. “The human race is weak. I despise sickness and pain. I want immortality. Pure immortality.”
“You think like us,” the Cyber Leader declared. “That is exemplary.”
“Should I take that as a compliment?” Vladimir asked.
A bleep then echoed as the first Cyberman addressed its Leader. “Ready to launch the missile, Leader.”
“Commence the launch now,” commanded the Cyber Leader.
“Commencing launch,” answered the Cyberman. “Launch activated.”
The Cyberman pressed a button and a missile launched up into the sky.
The missile was sent into the sky, hitting the clouds. Soon the clouds broke and cracked. Rain began to fall from the sky. The rain hit many people in Maputo, causing them to writhe and scream. The attacked humans fell to the ground and their skin reacted violently. It was like some chemical reaction of volatile metals. As the people slumbered into sleep, very soon the change and mutation began.
Reports came in about the progress of the missile’s attack on Maputo to the Cybermen in the power station.
“Population of Mozambique is being converted,” the first Cyberman said. “The conversion process of humans in Maputo state is at 50 per cent. The precipitation effect continues to increase.”
“Satisfactory,” the Cyber Leader. “Continue with your task. Send out all units to retrieve processed and converted humans to Cyber Control. They shall complete full processing and assimilation here.”
“Understood,” the first Cyberman said. “Processed humans will be collected.”
As the first Cyberman went off to carry out the Cyber Leader’s orders with more Cybermen to accompany him, Vladimir began to warm up to the Cyber Leader as he was itching for a demand.
“So err…I suppose this is where I get my reward. My share in the bargain right?”
The Cyber Leader turned to Vladimir. It stared, almost considering his request.
“You shall be paid in the same way former unit Joaquim was paid,” the Cyber Leader said. “In silver.” It turned to a few Cybermen nearby. “Take him.”
Those Cybermen grabbed and apprehended Vladimir. Vladimir struggled to break free and began to protest.
“Hey! Unhand me at once! What is the meaning of this?!”
“You are to receive your reward,” the Cyber Leader said. “You shall receive your immortality by becoming like us.”
“No,” Vladimir protested. “That wasn’t part of the agreement!”
“It is the Cyber way,” the Cyber Leader stated.
“I helped you lot!”
“Correct.”
“I gave you the suggestion to generate the rain clouds!”
“Correct.”
“And now you’re going to turn me into a Cyberman?!” Vladimir was horrified. “Even when I didn’t ask for it?!”
The Cyber Leader took a long moment before it answered, savouring the moment. “Correct.”
Vladimir continued to struggle to break free as he angrily cried out loud, “I refuse to be treated this way! Let go of me! I’ll never become like you! I WILL NEVER BE ONE OF YOU!!!”
Despite Vladimir’s protests and struggles with the Cybermen, he was escorted away to one of the conversion chambers. The Cyber Leader remained in Cyber Control, monitoring the progress of their achievements with the deepening rain.
© Tim Bradley, 2020
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