Rhea and Nicola dragged Charles's limp body away from the approaching Cybermen as fast as they could. Unlike the Ark, these Cybermen were very much alive and dangerous. The women quickly decided that their only chance of escape was to get back up to the hangar and back into President Lohan's office. The Cybermen were not determined for them to die just yet, so they cautiously followed their movements with weapons lowered. They wanted to find out more from the man named Charles Valli.
When the group reached the door to the hangar, the women struggled to locate the switch that would open it. When the Cybermen were right on top of them they tugged at Charles with the hope of re-capturing him and extracting the valuable information contained in his head. Rhea and Nicola struggled to keep hold of Charles. Luckily for them the door opened just in time and the other five women were close enough to stun the Cybermen just long enough for the metal giants to relinquish their grip on Charles.
Once the door had closed they had achieved half of their objective. The Cybermen were now between them and a locked door. Whilst Nicola and one of the Policewomen looked after Charles, Rhea was busily finding a way to keep the door locked permanently. She didn't have long to do it either - The Cybermen were already banging furiously on the door. Just as she began to start her work there was a crackling noise coming from one of the pieces of radio equipment in the far corner of the hangar. Rhea turned around momentarily to watch a red light flash on the machine. She gestured urgently to Nicola to pick up the receiver.
Nicola felt a big sense of relief as she picked up the receiver and heard Jack's voice at the other end.
"Hi there" Jack said merrily "Glad to hear you're OK".
Nicola could here some loud fumbling in the background as the Doctor urged Jack to hand the radio receiver to him. The tone in the Doctor's voice wasn't so jolly.
"What's happening over there?" he asked Nicola urgently "Are the Cybermen still about?"
As if in reply, the Cybermen smashed through the door connecting the underground bunker to the hangar. The Doctor heard this over the radio.
"I can stop them, but I'm going to need some time. Can you stall them?" he asked impatiently.
"We can, but not for long" replied Nicola worriedly.
"Just do the best you can. I'll think of something. I'll save you".
And with that, Nicola hung up the receiver and turned to face the Cybermen.
On the bridge of the Ark; deep space radio equipment stacked on the desk in front of him, the Doctor worked furiously with the tools he had scattered over the floor to adjust the Cybermen's communication mechanism and disable those who remained on Golgafrincham. He asked Jack to check up on Martha and Lohan.
"I wish I had my sonic screwdriver" the Doctor said, disgruntled as Jack entered the lift.
Picking up a small flathead screwdriver, he tweaked the Radio Frequency tuning circuit. He looked around him for a suitable Cyberman candidate to provide him with the operating frequency the Cybermen used to communicate. With relative ease he located the Cyberman's transmit/receive circuit inside its helmet, wired it up to one of the power supplies and joined it to an Oscilloscope.
"Good old Frequency Modulation" he said, smiling "You can't beat a good old FM radio".
Whilst the Doctor was fiddling with the radio equipment, Jack opened the door to the Operating theatre in which Martha and Lohan were laid down in bed. Martha began to regain consciousness.
"Wha, what's happened?" she asked feebly.
"It's OK", Jack replied, "The Cybermen – they've been destroyed. It's safe now"
Lohan sat up, his face full of relief. He turned towards Jack and Martha and managed a small smile.
"What will happen to me?" he asked.
"None of my business I'm afraid" Jack replied. "Just stay here while I go and ask the Doctor."
Martha looked at Lohan enraged and ready to land a punch on his head. As she began to get out of bed Jack held her back.
"The Doctor says we've gotta leave him alone" he said.
Jack helped Martha out of bed and together they walked to the lift and ascended to the bridge.
Once there, they found the Doctor hard at work, nervously examining an electronic circuit that he was holding in his left hand. After a short while, he noticed the duo enter and smiled at them.
"Just in time" he said.
He thrust the circuit into Jack's hands and made a call to the colony on the radio.
There was no-one able to answer his call though. Two of the Policewomen were busy trying to open the door to the President's office whilst the others were busy trying to stop the menacing Cybermen entering the room with anything large they could lay their hands on. As she saw the light on the radio flash, Nicola tapped Rhea on the shoulder and pointed towards the radio. Rhea nodded and Nicola walked over to answer the call.
The loss of Nicola meant that Rhea and the three others helping her were soon overwhelmed by the determined Cybermen. The Cybermen burst into the room, held the women by their necks, and broke them. Nicola looked horrified at the sight of Rhea dropping to the floor.
Frantically, Nicola answered the radio. It was the Doctor again.
"I need you to press the button marked 'All channels'" he said with a great deal of urgency.
Nicola did as she was told.
"Now, get somewhere safe and hold your ears!" the Doctor added.
Nicola darted across the room under fire and hid by the door. Moments later, a very loud sharp shriek filled the room. Nicola looked at the Cybermen and saw them all writhing in pain on the floor. After a short while, the writhing stopped and, out of their chests came a gunge-like substance. They were finally defeated.
Sensing that it had done the trick, the Doctor stopped broadcasting the very unpleasant sound and shouted into the receiver.
"Nicola, you still there?" he asked.
Nicola told him that she was OK and that the Cybermen had all been killed.
Martha and Jack hugged each other excitedly as the news came though. The Doctor told Nicola that they were on their way and put down the radio with a delighted grin on his face.
With a lot of help from Jack and the Doctor, Nicola managed to open the hangar's roof entrance to let the huge spaceship enter the room. As it landed, she sought shelter from the rocket blast inside the corridor of the bunker.
When the Doctor emerged, she was thrilled to see him. Then she noticed Martha and Jack carrying a frail looking President Lohan down the ramp, who she looked at with distain. It wasn't long before Lohan collapsed, exhausted from the emotion and from the slow erosion of his strength caused by the Cybermen's incomplete operation. Frantically Martha performed CPR on him, but this time there was no way of saving him.
"He's dead. I'm sorry" she announced glumly to Nicola and the Doctor.
They looked around at the devastation around them. The hangar was littered with the bodies of dead women; Cybermen; and wrecked pieces of furniture. Nicola was the sole survivor of the battle. Charles had been hit by a ricochet from a Cyberman's rifle. The Doctor opened the door to what was the President's office and marched straight through to the Laboratory.
He was relieved when he saw a London Police Telephone Box sitting proudly in the corner. After saying goodbye to Nicola, the Doctor, Martha and Jack entered the TARDIS to begin yet another adventure.
End of Chapter Ten