HEROES
Part 7
They were like floating diamonds, glistening silver skinned jewels floating in a cloud. Beautiful thought Hikaru Sulu unless you met them up close then they became the ugliest things in the universe.
Next to him Chekov growled, "We should destroy them."
Behind him Spock stepped onto the bridge, his uncanny hearing picked up on this.
"So we shall ensign," he said, "Prepare photon torpedoes a full spread."
Happy to do it Chekov gave a big Moscow grin; this was more like it. Beaming those evil dalek things off the ship had never been enough for him, they were a hazard to space traffic and who knew they might not be totally dead.
He had no sooner thought this when one of the floating figures righted itself, spun around and gave of aglow from the base of its skirt, it was soon joined by a second then a third then more.
"Mr Spock," Sulu cried but the keen eyes of the Vulcan missed nothing. Unlike the humans around him he displayed no shock but that didn't mean he didn't feel a nag of unease.
"Shields up," he ordered, "target the enemy and fire."
But the daleks were already moving, swarming like metal hornets bearing down on the enterprise their gun sticks twitching; it was clear they were going to attack.
Stood on two thick green trunks that ended in root-like feet the emperor was awash with fronds and tentacles, his single blazing eye took in the two men before him. Then he raised a claw-like hand and slapped his own chest before saying two hearts that beat as one.
Frowning, face draining of blood the Doctor approached the monstrous figure his brow deeply furrowed, "Two hearts," he repeated, "but how," then his quick brain worked it out, "Time lord DNA, you've harvested time lord DNA."
Even Jim Kirk could tell this was bad news, "Giving him certain powers," he guessed.
"Regeneration," the Doctor sounded stricken like this was the worst possible thing that could happen, "The ability to renew the body over and over again," there was real fury in his voice, "It's something he could pass on to other daleks."
I already have the boast was proud and the big claw waved at the exposed embryo-like daleks in the room poised on their metal bases.
Utterly appalled Kirk said, "We have to stop this now."
Hardly needing to be told the Doctor faced his greatest enemy, "I cannot and will not allow this to happen."
You cannot prevent it Doctor the genes of your race are already within me and through me will be passed on to the next generation of daleks.
Looking around Kirk wanted to smash something, to destroy everything in here he didn't understand how the Doctor could be so calm. But the Doctor was calm, he was actually smiling his anger of before seemed to evaporate.
"Switch on your external scanners," he told the daleks and wheeling around one of them did so, a vast wall screen illuminating what was outside the saucer. Kirk saw, not the walls of the cargo bay, but the tardis console room.
My god the dalek saucer was inside the tardis, "You've absorbed them," he said with a grin.
"I materialised around them," the tall man grinned, "You're trapped inside my ship emperor and that means I can take you anywhere I like. Jim what's the nearest star to here?"
Kirk knew the answer, "Kappa Epsilon 2, but it's over three thousand million light years away."
Oddly this news didn't bother the time lord but it did unsettle the daleks, even their humanoid emperor, who seemed to be reeling with shock, his cyclopean eye bulging and crested throat pulsing, "Destroy them," he screamed, "Kill the Doctor."
Dodging in between the daleks and sprinting through a doorway the Doctor waved Kirk to follow him but needing no prompting Jim caught him up, "Where are we going," he gasped?
"The exit," answered a ragged voice.
"Of the saucer?"
"Of the tardis," he was told as the two men dashed into the humming console room, passed the central stack and down the ramp, the police box exterior doors already yawning open.
Out there thought Kirk into the vacuum of space, we'll die. Not stopping the Doctor reached the doors, "Come on Captain," he grinned but Kirk held back.
"It's suicide," he cried.
Trust me said the thin face, trust the tardis, I know what I'm doing. The Doctor jumped and one second later so did Kirk.
Brilliant Christmas stars of multi coloured light shot from the enterprise, daleks exploded blown apart from photonic energy. Other daleks scattered, coming at the star ship from two sides firing their deadly light beams.
Enterprise shook, she rocked, on the bridge sparks jumped into the air as terminals burst apart. Burned one man fell to the deck screaming.
"Shields down to 40%," Sulu declared alarm evident in his shrill tone, the power of these dalek guns was unbelievable not even a Klingon war bird could inflict that kind of energy drain.
"Hold steady," Spock was unflappable in the command chair, "Bring phasers to bear and fire full power," beams split the heavens and more daleks perished dissolved like ice in hot water.
Still the survivors attacked, dodging the phasers to swoop down, their combined guns tore at the shields eating into them remorselessly.
"Port shield gone," said Chekov, "Aft shield failing," his eyes wide with terror he looked at Sulu, was this a fight they were going to lose, had they met their match at last?
Kirk fell spinning head over heels and it was exhilarating, he felt like a kid again. Oddly he could breathe, air was entering his lungs and his body (exposed to space) did not explode. Beside him also spinning and laughing the Doctor sounded delirious with joy like this was a game he played all the time.
Below the two men a brilliant nugget of burning gases raged a blazing lethal star but Kirk felt no heat, he should have been cremated this close to a star, "What's protecting us." He cried?
Pointing the Doctor said, "the tardis of course it's projecting a life support corridor."
"What about," Kirk began to ask but as he watched the tardis doorway bulged out of shape, doubling and tripling in size as it stretched and warped to allow something to slip out of it. The dalek saucer spun downwards gripped by the gravity well of the star. Plunging past the two men it gathered speed, the grey hull turning orange then red then white.
"It's falling into the star," Kirk said to himself thinking how beautiful the sight was.
"Cleansed by fire," oddly the Doctor wasn't triumphant there was no boast in his voice, "Taking the DNA of my people with it," he said glumly.
"Not all of it," said Kirk looking right at him and the lopsided grin made a comeback.
Jim said, "How do we get back into the tardis?" But he could already feel himself being drawn upwards, as the daleks fell he rose ascending, pulled into the now normal doorway of the police box. Also rising beside him the Doctor didn't take his eyes off the saucer until it burst apart, exploding into a thousand molten globules of liquid metal.
Mighty glad to feel his feet once more on solid ground Kirk helped the Doctor inside his amazing craft, "Good riddance," he said nodding back at the fiery magma below but the time lord glanced away with a frown unable to trust himself to speak.
As quickly as it began the attack ceased, the daleks breaking off their kamikaze raid on the enterprise. Phasers smashed all but 5 of them and those 5 shot away at high speed. Sulu gazed at his instruments, "Wormhole opening Mr Spock."
Able to see the spinning maelstrom of rainbow colours Spock watched the last 5 daleks shoot into this, he had no wish to follow them and in any case the wormhole was soon closing.
5 daleks had survived; just 5 logically there wouldn't be much they could do. Then a familiar voice made him wheel around, something close to a smile on his face.
"Having fun Spock," Jim Kirk bounced onto the bridge looking quite pleased with himself.
"The daleks are gone," said Spock face deadpan.
"So is the mysterious Doctor," Kirk told him, "He just dropped me off in that box of his," glad to be back where he belonged yet oddly missing the tardis Kirk gazed at the main viewer, on it a small blue shape had appeared spinning away at high speed.
"There he goes," said Sulu, "I wonder who he was?"
Kirk and Spock swapped a look; neither responded.