The Rimor hanger was consumed with a flurry of activity, as the ship was prepared for its unscheduled launch and the various project members of the team began boarding to join the 1500 colonists already in suspended animation. Luckily, there were enough spare cryogenic life-support units to hold most of the scientists and engineers, and the supplies would be enough to support the hastily assembled flight crew who would be in charge of the vessel. As chief pilot, Zera had now been designated Captain, while Rae, with her technical knowledge, would be chief engineer, and they would be supported by a crew selected by Roozell from those present.
Not one person there wanted to leave Phryne and desert the rest of their people, including loved ones still trapped in the city. But the various members of the project were all as practical in mind as they were dedicated to their duty, and they knew that the final instructions from their Controller were right. So there was very little protest when they were ordered to board the Rimor, though none of them liked it one bit.
A few would be left behind, including Roozell and some security guards. Someone had to remain to man the base's mission control section and oversee the launch of the Rimor, and as Project Director, it was Roozell's duty to make sure that the colony ship launched safely. From behind the instrument panel in the control room, he watched the monitor screens before him carefully. On screen, he had a full scale view of the Rimor, while the other showed the interior of the ship's main bridge. On the latter image, he saw Zera and Rae buckled in their piloting seats, the two of them dressed in shiny blue-and-silver flight-suits, with Rae wearing a maternity version to take into account her large pregnancy bump. The expectant mother-to-be was a bit worried what the effect of the launch might have on her unborn baby, but Zera assured her that the various systems, such as the inertia dampers, should reduce the g-force effect greatly, so there should be no problems.
"Rimor to Mission Control, all systems are powered up," reported Zera over the monitors and speakers. "Engines powering up now."
"Acknowledged, Rimor," replied Roozell. "Am opening hanger doors now."
Roozell pressed some buttons in a particular sequence, and there came a loud rumbling noise. As he watched on the first screen, he saw the huge roof section above the Rimor began to slid aside, revealing the dazzling blue sky above. At the same time, the tall gantry next to the Rimor disconnected itself and glided on a trolley system away from the launch pad.
"All checks read green," stated Roozell after he read the instruments on his desk. "Launch commencing in 22 minutes."
Just then, his communicator buzzed urgently and the voice of Security Officer Nya came desperately through.
"Director, there seems to be some activity along the turbo-tube tunnel. As best as we can tell from the damaged scanner systems, the aliens seem to be removing the crashed hyper-car. They may be about to head down towards this base!"
"You must hold them off, Nya!" stated Roozell. "We need twenty minutes before the Rimor can take-off."
"We're already setting up a barricade," replied Nya, "but we have nothing to seal off the tunnel more permanently. Explosives are useless as the tunnel was designed to be resistant towards anything that might cause a cave-in, even a powerful earthquake."
"Do what you can, Nya," said Roozell gravely. "You must hold the invaders back as long as possible!"
With a grim look on her face, Nya switched off her communicator and looked down the dark mouth of the tunnel, her eyes already adapted to the blackness, enabling her to make out several of her team blocking off the tunnel with anything they could find, such as crates, chairs, tables, and steel meshes, almost completely blocking off the passageway.
"That's the best we can do, Commander," one trooper reported at last. "This load should make it fairly hard for the invaders to get through in a hurry."
"Don't be too certain, Gren," said Nya, biting her lip. "These aliens have proven fairly unstoppable so far. I want everyone under cover now and ready for action."
Urged on by Nya, the security troops moved away from the makeshift wall and took cover behind some strategically-placed crates a little further down. Then they trained their laser rifles in the direction of the barricade, waiting for what ever came through first.
The seconds went agonisingly by, turning into minutes, and sweat beaded down the foreheads of some of the troops, their hands trembling as they tried to keep their guns level. The wait and the ominous silence was proving unbearable, the whole tension of the place nearing breaking point.
"Why don't they get on with it?" spat one trooper agitatedly. "What are they waiting for?"
"Keep it together, man," said Nya mollifyingly. "Don't lose your cool before the battle has even begun."
So they continued to wait in the dark, the apprehension so thick that it could be felt in the air. The silence was so great that some of them jumped slightly when there came a slight scratching noise from the opposite side of the barricade.
"Hey, did you hear that?" someone whispered nervously.
Before anyone could reply, there came a tremendous crash, accompanied by a deafening explosion, as a huge hole was blasted right through the jumble of objects making up the barrier. The troopers had to duck their heads to avoid getting hit by flying debris, and when they looked back up, they saw several Daleks gliding through the smoke, the light from their eyestalk lenses almost dazzling in the pitch black of the tunnel.
"Open fire!" bellowed Nya.
In unison, the troopers fired away at the enemy, the light from their guns' energy beams illuminating the corridor in an intense red glow. The Daleks immediately began to return fire, their death rays adding a fierce blue to the deadly light show. For the next few minutes, there was total chaos, as the exchange of fire killed several security troops and caused some of the Daleks to explode.
Despite the heavy casualties they were suffering, Nya and her team were able to hold their ground, with the Daleks holding their position against the onslaught of laser fire. As the battle raged on, Nya dared to believe that they might achieve victory against the invaders. But then, she spotted another Dalek gliding through the hole in the blockade wall, one different from the others, as instead of the standard gun-stick and manipulator arm, it had mounted on the front of its mid-section a large cannon-like weapon, which was being aimed towards the troopers.
"SPECIAL WEAPONS DALEK IN POSITION," grated the strange Dalek in a rasping metallic voice. "TARGETING ALIEN AGGRESSORS. EXTERMINATE!"
A huge ball of energy erupted from the nozzle of the Dalek's cannon and shot across the chamber, striking one group of soldiers dead-on. There came another enormous explosion as the soldiers were instantly vaporised, the force of the blast knocking several of their comrades off their feet.
"Fall back!" yelled Nya. "Regroup at the main entrance!"
Trying to keep cover as best they could, the soldiers began to retreat back down the tunnel. The Daleks began to surge forward, pushing their way through the crates as their guns continued to blaze away, remorselessly striking the nearest troops down before they had a chance to get under cover.
As she glanced over her shoulder towards the advancing Daleks behind her, Nya cried into her communicator:
"Director, they've breaking into the base! We can't hold them!"
Thanks to the powerful thrusters in his jetpack, Saf had been able to get clear of the section of the city overrun by the invaders, and he soon spotted more of the Phrynian ground forces making their way across the streets towards the danger zone. Quickly gliding down, he landed beside the Commander in charge of the troops and relayed what had happened.
"The Controller is being held prisoner by the invaders," finished Saf. "His final order was for us to evacuate the city. We must get as many of our people as we can to the mountains and hide there."
"I shall organise that immediately," replied the Commander. "We've emergency passages running right underneath the city. We can use those to evacuate the people. We'll then seal off the passages with explosives so that the invaders can't follow us."
"Good," said Saf, as he turned towards one soldier who was using electronic binoculars to survey the main capital where the aliens had landed. "Can you see the Controller?"
"Yes, he's still being held on the balcony," replied the trooper, the binoculars enabling him to see the situation as clearly as if it were only happening a few yards away. "Another of the invaders has appeared there. I think it could be their leader."
The trooper was entirely correct in his assumption, as the Dalek that had come onto the balcony was the Black Dalek. He glided menacingly up to the Controller, who continued to stand tall and defiant before these aggressors, not even flinching as the other Dalek continued to cover him with its weapon.
"THE DALEKS WANT KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR TECHNOLOGY AND WEAPONS," stated the Black Dalek, his eyestalk almost right in the Controller's face. "THE SECRET OF YOUR INVISIBLE SHIELD AND ALL YOUR OTHER INVENTIONS. YOU WILL GIVE US YOUR SECRETS OR DIE!"
"If we die, you'll never learn our secrets," said the Controller matter-of-factly.
"WE SHALL SEE," said the Black Dalek coldly, gesturing with his manipulator arm towards one of the tall tower blocks nearby. "LOOK AT THAT BUILDING. IT IS FULL OF YOUR PEOPLE."
The Controller glanced at the impressive structure and noted that several Daleks had surrounded the floor level of the building on all sides. Through the various windows dotted about the tower, he could see the outlines of several frightened figures trapped inside.
"What are you going to do with them?" he demanded.
"WATCH!" ordered the Black Dalek.
As the Controller looked on, he watched aghast as the Daleks below fired their weapon right into the building, the energy blasts tearing into the support structures like they were tissue. As the base of the tower cracked and crumbled into fragments, the Daleks quickly got clear, as the tower tipped sideways and came crashing downwards!
"You can't do this!" howled the horrified Controller, shaking his head in disbelief at the mountain of rumble and debris below, beneath which were buried the dead bodies of so many innocent people.
The Black Dalek was utterly unrepentant in his attitude. "WE ARE THE DALEKS! YOU WILL GIVE US YOUR SECRETS OR ALL YOUR PEOPLE WILL MEET THE SAME FATE. YOU WILL OBEY US!"
"You fools! We guard the secrets and histories of a hundred planets!" shouted the Controller, as all his anger and frustration boiled to the surface in one single go.
"WHERE ARE THEY HIDDEN? SPEAK!"
"In our brains! Nothing is written. Nothing recorded. We learn and remember everything. You will find no archives, because we are the archives! Kill us, and you destroy the yesterday of a whole galaxy!"
The Black Dalek considered this for a moment. Then he stated:
"THEN WE WILL TORTURE YOU UNTIL YOU SPEAK. YOU AND ALL YOUR PEOPLE WILL BE ENSLAVED. YOU WILL SUFFER UNTIL YOU ARE LEFT BEGGING TO IMPART YOUR SECRETS TO US. THEN, ARMED WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE, THE DALEKS WILL MOVE ONTO GREATER CONQUESTS!"