Shining Darkness Read online

  ‘Donna!’

  ‘Doctor!’ laughed Donna.

  ‘Good to see you,’ the Doctor said, grinning broadly, ‘although your timing could have been better. As the Ginger Goddess, I’d have thought you’d have known better.’

  ‘Never mention that again,’ she said with a raised eyebrow. ‘And anyway, my timing’s always perfect,’ she insisted, as Boonie pulled a gun from the holster at his waist and aimed it fair and square at Garaman.

  ‘But Garaman was just about to tell me his plan for universal domination, weren’t you?’ He turned to Garaman who glowered at him coldly, clearly not sure what to do now.

  ‘Mechanical!’ Garaman commanded suddenly. ‘Protect me!’

  Moving so quickly it was almost a blur, the supermodel robot positioned itself between Boonie and Garaman, raised its arms, and began to advance on Boonie. But it had gone scarcely a step, knocking the gun from Boonie’s hand and sending it flying into the darkness around them, when Mother made her move. Almost as swiftly as the supermodel had acted, Mother took a couple of huge steps forward and slapped the robot across the side of the head. With an almighty crash of metal, the robot’s blonde head left its shoulders in a shower of sparks and went tumbling away into the darkness; the rest of its body, taking up some of the momentum of the mighty swing, flew across the platform and toppled onto one side, arms flapping about pathetically.

  The little boxy robot raised its hands to its face and covered its eyes.

  ‘Oh dear,’ it muttered. ‘I hate real violence. It’s not like on TV at all, is it? At least there’s no oil – that’d just be gross!’

  Garaman took a step back, realising that he was outnumbered and overpowered. He glanced up into the darkness, clearly trying to see where Mesanth was.

  ‘You know,’ said the Doctor, ‘I almost feel sorry for you both. I mean, all these years of planning, all this effort. And for what? The irony of being beaten by a mechanical? Just Mesanth to sort out and we can all be home in time for tea. Now, Ms Noble, what about that hug?’

  ‘Don’t I get one too?’ came another voice – and from out of the darkness stepped Li’ian, her face and the blue dress she wore smeared with dirt and oil. There was a tear in one sleeve: she looked like she’d been through the wars.

  ‘Li’ian!’ cried Donna. ‘We thought you were dead!’

  ‘How did you get off the ship?’ asked Boonie incredulously.

  ‘Oh, I imagine she used the transmat,’ said the Doctor blithely. ‘Once she knew that The Sword of Justice was about to get its edge blunted. Why don’t you tell them, Li’ian?’ He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. ‘Tell them how you’re actually one of the Cult of Shining Darkness.’

  ‘What?’ frowned Donna, looking between the two of them.

  ‘Oh, there’s a lot of secrets round here, aren’t there?’ He flicked a glance at Boonie, but Li’ian gave a wry smile – before whipping a gun out of her pocket, grabbing Donna by the arm and pulling her close. She pressed the tip of the gun barrel to Donna’s temple and dragged her back to the edge of the platform, making sure she could see everyone clearly, and that no one could sneak up on her.

  ‘Ha!’ exclaimed Garaman, clapping his hands together triumphantly. ‘Well done, Li’ian!’

  Li’ian threw him a scornful look.

  ‘Oh shut up,’ she said – and shot him, right between the eyes.

  Just when she thought she had the whole thing sussed, it went and got all complicated again.

  The journey from The Sword of Justice to the space station had been a rackety, terrifying one, even with Kellique at the thruster controls. They had no idea whether Mother had damaged the pod as she’d freed it, though. Every second of the trip, Donna had been expecting the pod to suddenly spin out of control, or begin leaking air or explode or something. And they had no idea whether Mother had managed to cling on, or whether, even now, her atomised remains were mingling with the wreckage of The Sword.

  A tiny videoscreen had showed them their approach to the station as, with deft hands, Kellique had spun the pod about and backed it up to the station’s own airlock. Fortunately, thought Donna, whoever had designed all these ships and escape pods had thought to fit them with adaptable ‘universal’ docks, something she wished were the case with her mobile, her camera, her mp3 player and her computer at home. When she got back, she’d be writing a few choice emails to the manufacturers…

  But she needn’t have worried: by the time the pod had locked on and the airlock opened, Mother was already aboard the station, waiting to greet them like an oversized, metallic bouncer. She’d almost expected the robot to raise a hand and say, ‘If your name’s not down, you’re not coming in.’

  It hadn’t taken them long to find the control centre – Weiou had interfaced with the station’s main computer to get directions – and here they were, waist-deep in intrigue and mystery.

  Again.

  Admittedly, thought Donna, she could perhaps have waited a few seconds for that little creep Garaman to explain his master plan; but strike while the iron’s hot, she thought. If the gun against her head went off, it wouldn’t just be the iron that was hot. Way to go, Noble, she thought. Way to go.

  Only it was Li’ian holding the gun to her head, and Garaman lying dead at their feet. Could this galaxy get any more upside down?

  ‘You harm a hair on her head,’ said the Doctor, pocketing his specs and glaring at Li’ian, ‘and even the Andromeda galaxy won’t be big enough to hide in, believe me.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ wailed Weiou. ‘Oh dear, this isn’t good, is it?’

  ‘Not for you it isn’t,’ said Li’ian. ‘No.’

  ‘Donna’s on our side,’ Boonie protested, clearly not believing that Li’ian could be one of the Cultists.

  ‘She’s on your side,’ Li’ian corrected him. ‘Now shut up or I’ll drill a hole in her head like I did with Garaman.’

  Stunned, Boonie could only comply. Donna noticed Mother shifting her weight from foot to foot. She wasn’t the only one that noticed.

  ‘If Mother makes a move,’ Li’ian warned, ‘Donna dies. Keep that in mind.’

  ‘What the Hell is going on, Li’ian?’ Boonie demanded. ‘We’re on your side.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t think you were ever on the same side, were you Li’ian?’ asked the Doctor, folding his arms.

  ‘So whose side’s she on?’ asked Kellique, her eyes on Garaman’s body.

  ‘I think Li’ian has her own agenda, don’t you? You were working with Garaman before, weren’t you? Planted with the anti-Cultists to keep an eye on them, find out what they knew – and make sure they didn’t get too close and at the same time thought they were right on it.’

  Li’ian just smiled.

  ‘You were the one that took control of our little friend over there.’ He nodded in the direction of Weiou who pulled another astonished face. ‘Quite a robotics expert yourself. When you showed me those records, the ones of Khnu’s history, you did a good job of removing your name from them all. I might not have suspected anything.’

  ‘So what gave her away?’ asked Boonie, still clearly confused.

  ‘You might have edited out all the textual references to yourself, but you missed one of the pictures. There’s a very nice one of you and Khnu smiling together at a cybernetics conference on Cita. Lovely picture, too. And for someone so opposed to them, you were a little bit too admiring when you spoke of her achievements, as well as having rather too much knowledge about the segments of the can-opener.’ He caught sight of Donna’s puzzled face. ‘The thing that opened up the black hole and let this little beauty out.’

  ‘Very good, Doctor,’ said Li’ian. ‘Very clever. Still…too little, too late, really.’

  ‘So why kill Garaman?’ Kellique asked.

  ‘Because he was an idiot,’ Li’ian said simply. ‘And because he didn’t fully appreciate the potential of what we have here. Not like Khnu did.’

  ‘Oh yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘T
hat. What exactly do we have here? Garaman was about to explain it all when you put the final full stop to his sentence, as it were.’

  Li’ian manoeuvred Donna around to make sure no one could sneak up on her.

  ‘How much do you know about the mechanet?’ Li’ian asked.

  ‘Ooh!’ said Weiou, sticking one hand in the air. ‘I know! I know!’

  ‘Go on,’ said the Doctor, trying not to laugh at the little robot’s enthusiasm. ‘Tell us about it. What’s your name?’

  ‘I’m Weiou,’ said the robot, ‘and the mechanet is—’

  ‘It’s like the internet, but for robots,’ cut in Donna grimly, feeling Li’ian’s grip on her arm and the gun still against her head.

  ‘Oi!’ called Weiou. ‘I was going to say that!’ A pouty face appeared on his screen for a moment. ‘It’s like the internet, but for robots. Well,’ Weiou added. ‘For some robots. Us sensible ones keep away from it, apart from when we need to sync our internal clocks or download software upgrades.’ He pulled another face. ‘Generally, it’s just full of nerds and losers complaining about how machinekind’s not as good as it used to be, or circulating rumours about “organic agendas” and nonsense like that.’

  ‘And what’s your interest in it, then?’ the Doctor addressed Li’ian.

  ‘Our little appliance there’s selling the mechanet short,’ she said, ‘although it does have a point. Its main feature is that almost every mechanical in the galaxy – apart from the most basic servitors and appliances – hook up to it at least once a week. They claim that they’re all above it, like Weiou does, but they can’t help firing up their transspatial links and having a quick poke about.’

  Weiou’s cartoon mouth had dropped open, as if in shock.

  ‘And don’t make out that you don’t, Weiou,’ Li’ian said. ‘Robotic communications is my field, after all. When I was pretending to run diagnostics on you before, I had a good old root around in your memories. If people knew some of the things you’d been, ahem, “researching” on the mechanet they’d be very surprised.’

  To Donna’s surprise, two little patches of red swelled up on Weiou’s onscreen cheeks.

  ‘Oh stop embarrassing him,’ said the Doctor defensively. ‘So, this mechanet…’ He paused as the realisation of Li’ian’s plan hit him. ‘Ahhhh… I’m ahead of you now.’

  ‘Only just,’ said Li’ian dryly. She was manoeuvring Donna around the platform, towards the staircase up which Mesanth had disappeared.

  ‘This activator thingy,’ the Doctor continued, hands in pockets, ‘it’s going to give you the power to reach into the heads of almost every robot in the galaxy and turn it off, isn’t it?’ He pulled a face. ‘The Bishop convertors – that’s why you need them. To broadcast across the entire galaxy simultaneously takes more than a five-volt battery. Genocide at the flick of a switch.’

  ‘That would be just too easy,’ Li’ian said, cruel laughter in her voice. ‘That was his plan.’ She gestured, quickly, with the tip of her gun at Garaman’s body. ‘They had the right ideals, they just couldn’t take them the extra step that they should have done.’

  The Doctor fixed Li’ian with a steely gaze.

  ‘That extra step… Aaaah… you don’t want to just turn off all the mechanicals, do you?’ He paused, narrowing his eyes. ‘You want to control them.’ He sounded almost admiring.

  ‘Finally!’ laughed Li’ian. ‘Yes – why waste such a resource. Robots, mechanicals, machine intelligences – everywhere, throughout the galaxy. If I just turn them off, someone will come along and develop new ones, ones resistant to the activator. Or they’ll find a way to reprogram themselves or cut off the mechanet’s signals. No, I can’t let that happen. Once I have control, Doctor, I have to keep control. I have to make sure that the machines can never again have the upper hand. And there are robot races out there that have no contact with the mechanet at all – I’ll need troops to overcome them.’

  ‘You take control of the galaxy, using non-organics as your army, your police force, just to make sure that your own little warped view of what’s right and what’s wrong prevails?’

  He scratched the back of his neck thoughtfully.

  ‘As audacious schemes go, I have to give it to you – this one’s up there with the best of them.’

  ‘From you, Doctor, that’s quite a compliment.’

  ‘It isn’t meant as one.’ His voice hardened. ‘Have you any idea of the suffering and death you’ll cause when you turn on the activator, never mind the suffering and death you’ll inflict when you actually start to build your little empire of steel? All over the galaxy, maintenance robots, healthcare machines, aircraft, spacecraft – cars – the moment you take control of them, they’ll all stop working, like that.’ He snapped his fingers. ‘People will die in their millions, Li’ian. And that’ll only be a taste of what’s to come once you start.’

  All Li’ian could do was shrug. Donna clenched her jaw and started to move, but Li’ian pressed the tip of her gun back against her temple. Slowly and carefully, Li’ian was backing up the staircase, taking her with her.

  ‘Don’t try anything,’ she whispered. And then, more loudly so that everyone could hear: ‘You’re probably weighing up whether it’s worth risking Donna’s life for the sake of however many it is you think will die. I’d dispute your figures, of course, but I rather suspect that my position’s getting weaker by the second. Mesanth should be well advanced with the installation by now, and – of course – I’d rather like to be the one that pushes the button.’

  ‘He’s a decent sort, Mesanth,’ said the Doctor. ‘A bit doolally when it comes to all this organic-versus-inorganic nonsense, but I reckon that when he finds out what your plan is, how much death you’ll be causing – to organics as well as non-organics – he might have a change of heart.’

  ‘No need for him to hear any of this. By the time I decide to tell him – if I do – it’ll be all done and dusted.’

  Li’ian pulled Donna up a few more steps, twisting the pair of them around so that they were still facing the Doctor and the others, staring up at them from the platform.

  ‘You do realise,’ called the Doctor, ‘that I can’t let you do this. Donna or no Donna, I can’t let you use that activator.’

  ‘Yes, I do,’ replied Li’ian as they moved up another step. ‘And I know that the moment my attention’s diverted, you’ll be up these stairs after me. So I think that right now might be a good time for a little diversion – and a taste of what’s to come.’

  Donna felt Li’ian shift behind her.

  ‘Lights!’ she shouted into the darkness, and suddenly, the entire area was flooded with painfully bright light. Donna raised an arm to shelter her eyes. As she blinked, she could see her friends, down on the platform, doing the same, looking around them, wondering what was happening.

  But Donna had the best view: standing in silent concentric rows around the platform were robots. Dozens and dozens and dozens of the blonde supermodel robots. They stretched away to the far walls of the chamber, all dressed identically, each with its geometrically perfect blonde bob and its cold, emotionless eyes.

  ‘Mine,’ Li’ian said softly so that only Donna could hear her. ‘All mine. Say goodbye to your friends, Donna.’

  They’d reached the gantry at the top of the staircase and Li’ian pressed the gun into the back of Donna’s neck as she turned her towards an open door.

  ‘Mechanicals!’ Donna heard Li’ian shout down into the chamber. ‘Deactivate audio and wireless links. Locate the five newcomers on the platform. And kill them.’

  The last thing Donna saw before the door slid shut was the Doctor, looking up at her, as the robots began their advance.

  ‘Oh my,’ said Weiou, scuttling between Mother’s legs, as if that might provide protection from the hundreds and hundreds of robots surrounding them.

  ‘Oh my, indeed,’ echoed the Doctor. ‘And Donna still has the sonic screwdriver…’

  With a sinisterl
y synchronised stamping of their feet, the robots drew closer, the first ones already on the steps leading up to the platform. Their cold, blue eyes stared ahead of them, utterly free of any malice or compassion. They were simply doing as they’d been ordered. It reminded him of the Jaftee on Karris – only this time it was him that was at the heart of it all, and he had no Ginger Goddess to protect him.

  ‘Back!’ called the Doctor, gesturing towards the spiral staircase up which Li’ian had just taken Donna. ‘It’s the only way out. Move!’

  The Doctor noticed how Mother was turning her head this way and that, clearly trying to work out whether she could protect the rest of them at the same time as fighting off as many of the robots as she could. But the Doctor knew it was an impossible task. And he knew that Mother knew it was an impossible task. They were approaching from all directions, and they had the sheer weight of numbers on their side, despite Mother’s bulk.

  ‘Weiou!’ the Doctor said turning to the little robot that was already clambering up the stairs. ‘You’re good at interfacing with stuff, aren’t you? Technology, machines.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Robots?’

  ‘Um,’ replied Weiou cautiously, rotating the upper half of his body so that it faced him. ‘Maybe.’

  The sound of crashing came from behind him, and the Doctor turned briefly to see one of the robots flying through the air, a mass of tangled arms and legs. As he watched, Mother reached out and whacked another one, sending it careering into its fellows.

  ‘What can you tell us about these?’

  Weiou’s cartoon face scrunched up in exaggerated effort.

  ‘I can access their ID tags, but that dreadful woman’s turned off all inputs, like she said.’

  ‘And…?’

  More robots crashed behind him.

  ‘They’re Meeta-Corrin humaniform servitors, model DF181B. Lipanov rating 23. That’s about it. And then loads of dull stuff about the software they’re running.’