Doctor Who: Space War Read Online Free PDF Page B

otherwise unharmed.’
    ‘We shall lock on five seconds from now,’ said the voice. ‘Stand by.’
    The Doctor went back to Jo, who was giving a drink from a water pack to the semi-recovered Stewart. Even as the Doctor approached they heard the clang of the Earth battle cruiser locking on. The sound and the vibration startled Jo.
    ‘It’s all right,’ said the Doctor. ‘We’re being rescued.’
    Stewart looked up at Jo and the Doctor. ‘Who are you people? What happened?’
    The Doctor smiled. ‘Don’t worry, old chap. You’re all right now, in safe hands.’
    The air-lock door started to creak open. Stewart looked at it in sudden fear.
    ‘The Dragons! They’re boarding! ‘
    ‘That’s all in the past,’ said the Doctor. ‘The people coming on board now are friends.’
    The air-lock door was now fully opened. The Captain of the Earth battle cruiser stepped forward warily, blaster gun at the ready. He was a short, stocky man, with a tough square chin. He wore trousers and tunic of metallic yellow with insignia to denote his rank. On seeing the Doctor—the velvet jacket and the frilly shirt—he registered restrained surprise. ‘Who are you?’ The Captain held his blaster gun aimed at the Doctor.
    ‘We’re passengers,’ explained the Doctor.
    ‘I see,’ said the Captain, not seeing at all. ‘Having a fancy dress party?’ It wasn’t a question that needed answering. He looked down at Stewart and Hardy on the deck. ‘Is this all the crew?’
    Stewart nodded. ‘Me and my co-pilot. Dragons attacked us.’
    ‘I’m Captain Gardiner,’ said the newcomer, gun still at the ready. ‘Did they get the cargo?’
    ‘Everything,’ said Jo.
    ‘Including some rather valuable property of mine,’ added the Doctor.
    Captain Gardiner holstered his gun at last. ‘Tough luck.’ He moved to where Hardy was lying still unconscious and shook hint roughly. ‘Are you dead or just stunned?’
    Hardy started to revive. ‘Dragons... They attacked us.’
    ‘All right, we know.’ Captain Gardiner straightened up. ‘Passengers, you say? On a cargo ship? That’s very unusual.’ He looked back to Stewart, the more conscious of the two pilots. ‘Where did you pick these two up?’
    ‘Don’t know,’ said a dazed Stewart. ‘Can’t remember.’
    Gardiner’s voice became gruff. ‘Pull yourself together, man! How did these two people get on board your ship?’
    Stewart made a visible effort to concentrate. The one thing he couldn’t sort out was the presence of this tall man and the young woman dressed in strange clothes. Carrying passengers on cargo ships was strictly forbidden. For his own sake he had to produce some explanation. ‘Stowaways,’ he said suddenly. ‘That’s right, they were stowaways!’
    Hardy had regained his senses enough to realise the position he and Stewart were in. Even if stowaways had got themselves on board unnoticed by the crew, it could still result in a bad report on the pilots for lack of security. ‘Not ordinary stowaways,’ he said. ‘They were helping the Dragons!’
    Gardiner, who during his career as a military officer had heard every excuse, asked simply, ‘How?’
    Hardy flashed a glance to Stewart, hoping the younger man could think of a reason. Stewart said, ‘They were... they were sending signals, leading the Dragons to us.’
    ‘That’s right,’ supported Hardy, pleased with Stewart’s quick thinking. ‘They were signalling to the Dragons to attack us.’
    Jo exploded, ‘That’s absolute nonsense! We didn’t want to be on this ship at all. It was an accident.’
    Gardiner turned to her. ‘Your companion said you were passengers. Passengers don’t get on ships by accident.’
    The Doctor produced his most winning smile. ‘I merely wanted to avoid a lot of tiresome explanations, old chap. In any event, these two poor fellows are very confused. The people who attacked this ship weren’t Draconians at all.’
    To this Hardy retorted with all the force of