'Fault clear,' confirmed the voice from the loudspeaker.

Cutler looked round, then slowly relaxed, replacing the gun on the bench. Barclay took out a handkerchief, mopped his brow and looked over at Ben. Then he turned back to the mike.

'Proceed with countdown, counting T minus one point three five from-now ! '

'Oh, Ben ! ' cried Polly. 'Don't say it will fire-after all you've done.'

But Ben could only shake his head in confusion. Had he or hadn't he? If only he could remember!

11 Cybermen in Control

'T minus thirty seconds.'

Polly grabbed Ben's arm and whispered to him. 'We'll know if you succeeded in just a few seconds.'

The whole tracking room was electric with tension. The Z-Bomb, which was capable of splitting the Earth in half, had long been held as the so-called ultimate deterrent.

n.o.body, least of all the men manning the base, had thought that this terrible weapon, the most destructive invented by mankind, would ever be used.

Now the unthinkable was happening. In a few seconds the hatches at the top of the silo would open outwards in the snow to reveal the cannon-like mouth and long deadly rocket-destination Mondas!

'T minus twenty seconds.' The voice of the technician reading the seconds off the countdown clock shook slightly as the long hand moved relentlessly towards the moment of blast off.

'T minus ten seconds.'

'T minus five seconds.'

The entire base personnel had now taken their cue from Dyson, who had put his hands over his ears, and was bracing himself for the shock as the giant rocket motors ignited deep beneath them. Only Cutler held himself aloof from the excited apprehension of the others, standing erect and soldierly as ever, watching the countdown clock.

The shock never came.

After a long moment's pause, the technicians uncovered their ears and stared incredulously at the clock-now silent. The countdown had finished; the automatic ignition should have taken place; twenty tons of deadly payload should have been roaring-visible on their large monitor screen-up from the base. Instead, nothing had happened. Why?

In the sudden silence, Polly, unable to contain herself any longer, leaped to her feet and clutched Ben round the neck. 'Ben-you made it! It hasn't worked. Now we've all got a chance to live-even the Cybermen!'

Beside her, the tall figure of Cutler froze, as he realised the implication of her words. He turned towards Ben, and spoke slowly, gratingly: 'Your new friends, the Cybermen, may have a chance of life-but not you, sailor.'

He turned to the Doctor who was sitting beside Ben. 'Nor you, old man.'

The Doctor had been lost in thought throughout the entire countdown. Now he rose to his feet and Ben and Polly watched in amazement as the mask of age and extreme fatigue fell away. The failure of the Z-Bomb had galvanized him. He seemed to have recovered his former strength and resilience.

'It seems, sir,' he said to Cutler in his mannered, slightly old-fashioned English, 'that your plan has been foiled. The rocket has not gone off.'

But Cutler only gave him one contemptuous glance and turned away to consult with Dyson.

'Are you all right, Doctor?' asked Ben. His head, although it still ached from the fall, had now cleared.

'Yes,' added Polly. 'What's been happening to you, Doctor?'

'I'm not sure, child. An outside force of some kind, perhaps? This old body of mine is wearing a bit thin.'

'A bit thin?' asked Polly anxiously.

'Yes,' replied the Doctor. 'It's nearly time for a change...'

Then, seeing her worried look, he continued, 'Oh, don't worry, I'm all right for the time being, I expect...'

He was interrupted by the strident voice of General Cutler, who had turned away from Dyson, and was now speaking, automatic levelled, to the unfortunate Dr Barclay.

'The rocket was sabotaged with your help, Dr Barclay. I'm going to give you one more chance to get it off the ground.' He raised his pistol and aimed at the physicist's head.

'Or I'll shoot you right here and now.'

There was a nervous flurry in the room as the technicians moved hurriedly back out of range.

Barclay, although highly nervous, looked up, his face set with a desperate courage.

'I can't fire this rocket now-and neither can you.'

'How long will it take to re-fuel?' asked Cutler.

'Quite long enough.'

After a long silence, Cutler spoke again. 'I see!' He nodded as if to himself. 'If that's the way you want to play it.' His brow furrowed and the time travellers could see the veins on his neck tighten. His finger began to apply pressure to the trigger. Barclay closed his eyes.

'No! No! ' screamed Polly, running forward.

Her voice shattered the horrible suspense within the tracking room. Cutler, as if returning to reality, shook his head. He steadied himself, relaxed his hold on the trigger, and lowered the gun.

'Get up!' he ordered.

Barclay quickly rose to his feet.

'Now get over there with the rest of them.' He pointed to the time travellers. Barclay moved over and stood beside Ben, who had risen nervously when Cutler picked up the pistol.

Cutler, without taking his eyes off Barclay, Ben and the Doctor, spoke out of the corner of his mouth to Dyson. 'Try to get Lt Cutler once again.'

Dyson sat down in the chair of the R/T operator, and picked up the earphones. The R/T operator looked towards Cutler. 'We've been getting a signal, sir.'

Cutler nodded. 'Put it through.'

Dyson pushed a switch forward and a voice, broken, distorted, but still unmistakably that of Cutler's son, began to speak.

'h.e.l.lo, Snowcap Snowcap. Do you read me? h.e.l.lo, Snowcap Snowcap.'

Cutler strode over and picked up the address mike. 'h.e.l.lo, son, reading you, but very weak. Speak up.'

'I'm bawling my head off-now. I'm tumbling badly. Little control left of capsule.

Must speak fast.'

'Go ahead, son.'

'This new planet... something strange is happening. It seems to brighten up like a sun-then darken again.'

The Doctor started forward. 'There, you see-I told you it couldn't absorb much more energy.'

Cutler did not appear to have heard the Doctor's interjection. He was listening too intently for his son's next words.

The radar technician's voice broke in over the curtain of static from the loudspeakers. 'Sir, sir.' His voice was high-pitched, urgent. 'Cybermen s.p.a.ceship on approach path-heading right here.'

'SHUT UP-ALL OF YOU! ' Cutler shouted at the top of his voice. 'Terry,' he called into the mike, 'are you still there?'

Lt Cutler's voice was coming over more and more faintly. 'Hey... control going again... energy loss severe... like being on a switchback... can't seem to...'

The set cut out with a sudden click. The silence, as the static faded, was disconcerting.

'Son!' shouted Cutler, shaking the mike and looking round desperately, 'h.e.l.lo-do you read me?' He turned to Dyson: 'Get that signal back ! '

Dyson shook his head. 'It's gone, General. It could be a power failure.'

For the first time, Cutler seemed to lose control. His sweating face was distorted with anxiety; his shoulders slumped forward. He looked older than a man in his middle fifties. 'Keep trying. For heaven's sake, keep trying.'

The radar technician's voice broke in again. 'Sir, Cyberman ship on descent now.'

The technicians rose to their feet in alarm. The room became a babble of speculation. Only Cutler seemed oblivious to the news. He was bent over the seated Dyson, watching him as he manipulated the wave bands, trying to catch a signal from the capsule. Cutler's voice was almost pleading. 'Come on, fella, give it everything you've got.

There must be some signal.'

Dyson shook his head reluctantly. 'No good, I'm afraid. It's quite hopeless.'

Barclay shouted across to the General. 'Sir, the Cybermen will be landing at any moment. Don't you realise...'

'General!' The Doctor added his voice to try and gain Cutler's attention-but he simply ignored them all.

'The enemy, General-they're landing,' shouted Barclay.

The word 'enemy' suddenly seemed to get through to Cutler. He straightened up from the R/T control console and turned towards Barclay. 'The enemy,' he was speaking slowly, eyes staring, mouth slightly open, 'I'll tell you who the enemy is-you, Dr Barclay, are the enemy.'

The R/T technician stood up and pointed towards the screen. 'The Cybermen, sir.

They must have landed!' He indicated the screen, empty of blips-but Cutler ignored him.

Brushing all the technicians aside, he started walking towards Barclay and the time travellers, holding his automatic pistol loosely at his side.

The technicians scattered before him. Cutler's face was twisted, frightening, almost demented.

Barclay turned desperately to the soldiers. 'He's gone off his head. Can't you see?

Disarm him!'

But Cutler's authority at the base was absolute. The men clutched their carbines nervously and watched as if paralysed.

Cutler raised his gun and indicated the three men one by one. 'You,' (he pointed at Barclay) 'you,' (he pointed at the Doctor) 'and you,' (he pointed at Ben) 'are the culprits.

Because of your actions my son is dead. I'm going to deal with you personally.'

The General levelled his pistol, his face impa.s.sive. His gun moved from side to side for a moment, as if uncertain which one to shoot first-then it stopped at the Doctor. His finger tightened, his eyes narrowed as he aimed... Polly began to scream hysterically.

A shattering noise came from outside the tracking room-the crack of rifle shots followed by the grating rattle of Cyberweapons. The doors burst open inwards, and a guard staggered through, his tunic smoking, dead before he collapsed on the floor of the tracking room.

The guards inside levelled their weapons-but before they could take aim across the crowded room, the tall figure of a Cyberman appeared.

General Cutler wheeled round, and aimed his automatic at the Cyberman. The technicians ducked beneath their consoles as Cutler fired.

The bullet hit the Cyberman's front armour and ricocheted off with a slight clang.

Then the Cyberman fired back.

The rattle of the Cyberweapon was followed by a moment's silence. Had the General been hit? His gun was still levelled: he seemed to be trying to focus... Then, as the others watched horrified, the tell-tale wisp of smoke crept from the collar of his tunic, his eyes clouded, and the gun dropped from his fingers.

Almost in slow motion, the General's long body fell forward to the floor in death.

'Silence!' The harsh voice of the Cyberman filled the room. 'Anyone who moves will be killed instantly.' He walked slowly and ponderously towards the centre of the tracking room. Behind him two more Cybermen entered, weapons levelled.

The men in the room seemed this time frozen to the spot-like statues. The new Cyberleader, wearing a black helmet, loomed over them all with terrifying authority.

The Doctor stepped forward. Immediately the Cyberleader swung round to face him, weapon levelled. The Doctor held up his hand.

'Do not shoot. I wish to speak to you.' He turned and pointed to Barclay and his two companions, who were still flanked by the two armed guards. 'We owe our lives to you.' He pointed down at the dead General Cutler. 'This man was about to kill us.'

Krang, the new Cyberleader, gestured at the guards with his Cyberweapon. 'Drop your guns. They are useless against us.'

Without hesitation, the two guards flung down their carbines and raised their hands.