The Bureau of Multiverse Affairs

Chapter 6 The Monsters in the Machine

"Doctor!" cried Sarah.
"Nobody move! Put your hands up!" snapped a female voice.
Staying still, the Doctor felt the weapon's barrel dig into his skin. He could tell it was a shotgun by its width, not that it did him much good at that moment.
"Let him go," he heard Xena order in a deadly calm voice.
"Stand down at once!" ordered Benton, swinging around, Sterling submachine gun at his shoulder, aimed at the person threatening the Doctor.
"One move and your friend is history!" the woman threatened, jabbing the shotgun more forcefully against the Doctor's neck.

Still in the transit car with Sarah and Gabrielle, Xena unhooked the chakram from her belt. It was a circular blade designed for throwing, perfect for this sort of kill. Slowly she edged around the transit car's doorway, getting a better view of the assailant. Standing in the doorway of a side room was a skinny woman with dark hair and wearing a set of green overalls, a long-barrelled gun in her hands. Behind her back was another weapon, a red metal tank strapped to the underside.
"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves more formally," said the Doctor, sounding remarkably calm. "Benton, if you would be so kind and lower your gun."
"Doctor?" the sergeant replied, feeling deeply uncertain.
"Just do it. This young woman is scared, and with good reason. We do not need to add to that."

For a few moments Benton was still, then carefully he lowered the Sterling.
"Xena, you'd best do the same," said the Doctor.
Slightly surprised and impressed by the man's perceptiveness, the warrior princess placed the chakram back on her belt.
"Now may I turn around?" the Doctor asked the woman with the shotgun, "It feels a little strange being threatened by someone you can't see."
"Alright.... Alright," she replied, her voice still shaking, "You can turn around, but do it slowly."
The Doctor felt the barrel of the shotgun withdraw and he carefully turned around. The woman was about a foot shorter than him, with a pale face and dark eyes, staring at him with fear and curiosity.

"What are you doing here?" the woman snapped, still keeping the shotgun levelled at him
"You know, normally a first meeting warrants an introduction," he said, "I'm the Doctor."
"Doctor what?"
"Just Doctor."
"Don't play games with me! I haven't had a moment's peace since I got on this goddamn station!"
"His name's just 'Doctor', always has been," Sarah called from the transit car, desperately hoping that the woman didn't have a twitchy trigger finger.

"Fine then," said the woman, sounding anything but. "I'm Amanda, Amanda Ripley."
"Delightful to meet you Amanda," said the Doctor, grinning broadly.
Seeming to decide they were safe, she looked around at the rest of the team.
"Who are you people? You aren't station crew, that's for sure, and you didn't come on the Torrens."
"Well, that's a long story. We're here because we were sent to investigate an alert from this station."
Amanda looked very surprised.
"An alert? But how? Sevastopol's on lockdown. No one's been able to send any transmissions."

"Lockdown?" said Benton, "What are you talking about?"
"How can you not know about the lockdown? Surely you've....
Amanda's face became very pale.
"You don't know, do you?"
"Know what?" asked the Doctor.
"About the alien..."
"Alien?"
"There's a creature on this station. It's been killing members of the crew for weeks."
"What does it look like?" asked Xena.

"It's... it's hard to describe," replied Amanda. "It's tall and very thin, like a skeleton, or maybe an insect."
"Does it have a name?" asked the Doctor.
"I don't know, it's not like the damn thing leaves calling cards, other than dead bodies."
"Doctor..." Benton said slowly, "That thing we saw, back in the transit station, could that have been the alien?"
"You saw it?" said Amanda, her voice filled with terror.
"We might have done, I can't be sure."
"Then it can't be far away. Did you come here on a ship?"
"Yes, it's docked in the next tower," the Doctor replied.

"Then we have to leave, now. Sooner or later that creature will find you, and kill you."
"But we can't leave," said Benton, "We've been sent here to stop a raid."
"Raid? What are you talking about?" Amanda replied, looking baffled.
"There's a criminal gang on this station," the Doctor explained, "From what we can tell, they're here for the computer systems and power plant."
Amanda's brow furrowed.
"That might explain the guards at the computer core."
"Guards?" said Xena, stepping forward.

"I came here to try and force APOLLO to end the lockdown, so we could send a distress call," Amanda explained. "But the security checkpoint up ahead had two androids guarding it, at least that's what I guessed they were."
"These... guards, what do they look like?" asked the Doctor.
"Tall, silver with a big head, and armed with some sort of laser gun."
"Cybermen," gulped Benton.
"You know them?" said Amanda.
"All too well," the Doctor said, "Benton, how many grenades do you have?"
"Three," he replied.

"You'll have to make them count then."
You're not seriously thinking of going in there?" said Amanda.
"It's why we're here Miss Ripley. The gang who are here have committed countless crimes. If we don't stop them here, they'll only commit more."
"Doctor, we're wasting time," said Xena, "Amanda, are you willing to help us?"
"If I do, will you give me a place on your ship?"
"You have my word."
She nodded.

"Alright, I'll help. We'll have to be careful; the checkpoint is right through those doors. I only just missed being seen."
"How many Cybermen are on guard?" asked the Doctor.
"No more than two."
"Thank you Miss Ripley," he said before turning to Benton, "Sergeant, you go first and hit them with a grenade. Xena, you and Gabrielle will finish them off."
Xena nodded and drew her sword.
"Let's go," said Benton.
He advanced on the doors, which slid open. Peeking around the doorway, he saw a room with a pair of metal detectors on the far side, with two Cybermen stationed before them, weapons ready.

"Who is there?" one of the Cybermen demanded, "You cannot hide."
"Take cover!" Benton ordered.
He took one of the grenades from his belt and pulled out the pin.
"Reveal yourselves now and you will not be harmed," stated the Cyberman.
"Yeah right!" Benton shouted.
He threw the grenade through the open door and hunched against the wall. Seconds later an explosion ripped through the confined space, followed by electric screams as the bomb's fragmented casing ripped through the Cybermen's bodies.
"Xena! Gabrielle! Move in!"

Following the sergeant's orders, the two warriors leapt up and ran into the security checkpoint. The blast had been brutally effective. One of the Cybermen had been killed outright, while the other was crawling across the floor, trying to grab its gun. Xena reached it in a single stride and brought down her sword, cutting off the robotic creature's head.
"Alright, it's clear!" she shouted to the others.
Slowly Benton stepped through the doorway, his Sterling submachine gun still at the ready.
"Are you sure?" he said, his face betraying his worry.
"See for yourself," replied the warrior princess, stepping aside so he could see the two broken bodies.

"Thank goodness," he said, lowering his weapon, "I hoped I'd seen the last of those things in London. Guess I shouldn't have been so naïve."
"We can only live in hope," the Doctor replied as he entered the security room and surveyed the damage, "Otherwise life becomes rather depressing."
"Okay, you've dealt with these... Cybermen," Amanda cut in as she and Sarah joined the others, "Now how do we get into the computer core?"
"Well through the door I assume," he replied.
"Yeah, but there's a problem."

Amanda pointed to the metal detectors.
"We'll never get our weapons passed that. The entrance will just lock up."
"I dunno about you guys," said Xena, "But I'm not about to face any more of these monsters without something deadly in hand."
"For once I wouldn't blame you," said the Doctor, "Fortunately, I have a way around it."
He rummaged through his pockets and drew out a metal rod, capped with a red circle.
"Sonic screwdriver," he said, grinning broadly, "Never leave the TARDIS without it."
"TARDIS?" said Gabrielle, looking bemused, "What's that?"
"I'll explain later," said Sarah.
Heading over to the metal detectors, the Doctor ran the sonic screwdriver over them, the device making a slight whirring sound. A few sparks crackled from the machines, and he stopped.

"There we are," he said, "Benton, would you care to demonstrate?"
"Certainly Doctor,"
Almost cheerful, the sergeant walked forward and passed through the metal archways. Amanda braced herself for the screech of an alarm, but none came.
"Well, that solves one problem," she said, "Just a few hundred more to go."
The team moved through the gates and the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to open the next door. Stepping through, they came to a short hallway, and a grisly sight. Several bodies were lying about, all dressed in identical orange protective suits. As they got closer, the team realised they were not humans, but robots.

"What are these?" asked Xena, kneeling beside one of the bodies.
"Working Joes," Amanda replied, "They're androids that help run the station. I'd keep your distance. Those things might look dead, but they can trick you."
"What do you mean?" asked Xena.
"Information I have acquired shows that the station's androids have been reprogrammed to attack those deemed a threat," EDI stated through the team's radios. "I recommend following Miss Ripley's advice."
"Point taken."

The warrior princess backed away from the lifeless form.
"Who was that?" Amanda asked.
"EDI, she's our ships AI," replied the Doctor.
"Sounds very advanced."
"It is, but that's a topic for another time. We should press on to the computer core."
"You're right. APOLLO is straight ahead."
With Benton in the lead, the team advanced deeper into the computer core. They passed a few more of the dead androids, most having been struck by some sort of laser blast.
"They must have tried to stop the Cybermen when they came through," the Doctor said.
"They didn't do a very good job," Benton remarked, "I see plenty of dead androids, but no Cybermen."

Another door was unlocked by the screwdriver and they reached a lobby area before the core itself. It had two narrow corridors leading to the left and right, and a set of glass doors at the front. Through the doors, they saw the main body of the APOLLO computer, a white spherical casing, with enormous cables running into it. Unfortunately for the team, at least four Cybermen were inside with it. Slowly they paced around the core, attaching small metal boxes to the walls at regular intervals.
"More of those silver robots," said Amanda, huddling against the wall to stay out of sight, "What are they doing?"
"My guess," replied the Doctor, crouching nearby, "They're preparing to steal the computer."
Amanda looked at him, confused.

"What on earth would they want this computer for? The APOLLO system has been outdated for years. It's half the reason Seegson couldn't sell this place."
"That may well be the case Miss Ripley, but that does not mean it isn't useful to someone."
A Cyberman walked past the door, and the team backed against the wall to stay out of sight.
"How many of them are there?" asked Gabrielle.
"Four, maybe five," replied Benton. "They're too spread out for the grenades to be effective."
"Well, what about-" Xena began, before a loud noise from within the computer core cut her off.

A large section of the curved ceiling was smashed open and a creature crawled out. It had a wiry frame, formed from a shiny black exoskeleton, and had two arms and legs like a human, but crawled along the ceiling like a four-legged animal. Its head was long and bulbous, with a mouth of dripping teeth at the front. Behind the creature trailed a long bony tail, ending in a sharp point.
"That's it!" Amanda stated, barely stifling a scream, "That's the creature."
As the team watched, they saw that it was not alone, as two more of the creatures dropped through the hole. Alerted, the Cybermen wheeled around, firing their laser guns. The blasts struck one of the creatures full in the chest, but it hardly slowed down as it jumped on the closest Cyberman, ripping off its head with its clawed hands.
"What the hell do we do?" whispered Xena, looking fearful for the first time.

"We stay here," said the Doctor.
"Stay here?" Do you see what's going on in there?"
"If we move, we'll be discovered. Those creatures are only attacking the Cybermen for now, let's keep it that way."
"And if they don't?"
"We use this," said Amanda, moving the bulky weapon from behind her back.
"Is that a flame thrower?" said Benton, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, and it's the only thing that actually scares those creatures."

There was screaming from the core and the group saw another Cyberman go down. Two more were left, and it looked as if one of the creatures had been overwhelmed by laser fire. The final two however, were closing in on the remaining robotic forms.
One of the Cybermen tried to say something into a radio, when it was stabbed through the chest by the Alien's tail. The last one was grabbed by the throat and smashed against the wall until it became still.

"They didn't even stand a chance!" Sarah whispered in a thick voice.
She had heard the Doctor talk about the Cybermen before. They were one of the most effective fighting forces in the universe. To see them defeated so easily was unnerving.
The last Cyberman slumped to the floor, and the two remaining aliens prowled around the core, heads turning back and forth, as if scanning the room.
"What do we do?" asked Sarah.
"We stay here," answered Amanda. Hopefully those creatures will move on soon."
"And if they don't?"
"I don't know."

For a few tense minutes, the team watched the computer core in silence. The aliens circled the room a few times, but eventually headed for the hole in the ceiling and crawled into the darkness.
"Are they gone?" asked Benton.
"Wait!" hushed Amanda.
There was a scraping sound from somewhere above them.
"They're in the ceiling," said Xena.
The sounds faded away, but the sense of nervousness did not.
"Keep that flame thrower ready," said the Doctor, "I'm going to try and access the computer core.

"You can't be serious?" said Sarah, shocked, "Those things could be back any minute!"
"We don't have a choice, we need to get those portal devices from the Cybermen. Besides, those creatures have no reason to come back here."
"They might not have a reason," said Amanda, but that doesn't mean they won't."
Undeterred, the Doctor headed to the glass doors and ran the sonic screwdriver along its locking mechanism.
Without warning, there was a loud thud from the left-hand corridor that led off the lobby. Benton turned to inspect the source of the sound, and let out a startled yell.

One of the aliens had just jumped down from a ventilation shaft in the corridor's ceiling. Its head swung toward him, bearing a mouth of dripping silver teeth.
Benton opened fire. The Sterling spat out a stream of bullets that struck the creature. It screamed and charged at him, yellowish blood leaking from wounds.
"GET BACK!"

Amanda shoved Benton to one side and unleashed her flame thrower at the creature. A jet of fire caught it full in the chest. It screamed and scrambled back into the air vent, leaving the corridor a burning mess.
"By the gods!" exclaimed Gabrielle, looking as pale as a milk bottle.
"That won't scare it for long," said Amanda, visibly shaking.
Benton took a deep shuddering breath.
"Fascinating," remarked the Doctor, "I don't think I've seen anything like that before."
"Yeah, well, you can study it later," Amanda replied, checking her flame thrower, "We have to go. I've only got half a tank of fuel left, and that won't last long."

"We still need to find those portal devices."
The Doctor turned back to the door and began adjusting the sonic screwdriver. It was at that moment that Sarah noticed that one of the Cybermen was moving. It was badly damaged, with both legs trailing uselessly behind it. Nonetheless, the robotic man was crawling across the floor with single-minded determination.
"Doctor," she said, "One of them is not dead."
"I see it," he answered, "And what it's going for."
Sarah soon realised what he meant. On the floor, just a foot from the wounded Cyberman, was a device covered in buttons.

"That must be the portal controller," said Benton, still glancing down the corridor.
"Can't you get this door open faster?" said Xena, also looking around nervously in case the creature returned.
"I'm trying," the Doctor replied, sounding uncertain for the first time, "But this door keeps resetting its lock."
The sonic screwdriver buzzed and buzzed, to little effect. All the while the Cyberman got closer to the control unit.
"Got it!" the Doctor declared.
He ran the screwdriver from the top to the bottom of the door and it opened with a hiss, just as the Cyberman's hand closed around the controller.

Suddenly all the metal boxes that had been placed around the room lit up, and a tremendous flash of bright blue flooded the room.
"Back! Get back! Benton yelled, dragging the Doctor away from the computer.
The light faded, and for a second the team could only stare in astonishment.
"The core..." said Sarah.
"It's... it's..." Amanda tried to say.
"Gone..." finished Xena.

Where the vast round core of APOLLO had once sat was now an empty void, with only a few sparking wires acting as evidence that anything had ever been there before.
Benton's amazement at the sight was overwhelmed by anger. They had failed. He turned to the Doctor, hoping for some advice, when EDI's voice sounded through the radio.

"Sergeant, I have just detected massive systems failures across Sevastopol Station. What has happened to the computer core?"
"It's gone," he replied, still shocked, "The Cybermen managed to teleport it out."
A hand grabbed him. Benton turned to see the terrified face of Amanda Ripley.
"We have to get back to your ship, now! Without that computer, this whole station is going to fall into the gas giant!"
"How long have we got?"
"Not long enough."