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Johnson gritted his teeth but eventually gave in to his feelings. He grabbed the Doctor by the collar and forced him back. The Doctor struggled but that only made Johnson even more determined. He shoved hard and the Doctor was sent reeling against the side of the ship. He fell to the floor but before he could rise up once more, Johnson pressed the muzzle of the gun into the Doctor's face. 'I don't believe you,' he hissed.
'Look! I mean you no harm,' jabbered the Doctor, 'I'm merely an observer and I carry no weapons either. I think I should be protectorate for this planet, and there was never a colony here either.'
Johnson began to speak but the Doctor cut him short. 'Put plainly, I'm an innocent victim of circumstance who wants to join the party, provided I know the ends and the means.'
There was a long pause, at which point Johnson lowered his gun and stepped back. 'Okay, you've convinced me,' He spoke softly, 'But I'll be watching you, and I'm not going to have anything explained to you either, you'll have to pick it up as we go along. If you should think of anything, anything at all, you'll tell us. Understood?'
'Without question.' The Doctor agreed, nodding.
Johnson turned his back on him and began to walk off, leading the way for the crew to follow. He turned momentarily to face the Doctor. 'As for our end, it's this way,' he pointed. Then raised his voice to the rest of the crew. 'I want all blasters set on stun and no smoking, it's disgusting!'
Reluctantly, everybody followed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 he crew, which numbered about forty, arrived at a rise, overlooking the next valley. Below stood a technologically advance base, pyramidal in structure and built in stages. It had four sides and was capped by a flat roof. The Doctor guessed that it was about two miles high. But now, however, despite what former glory it may have had, it stood in ruins. It didn't look as though it had crumbled, but had more likely collapsed in upon itself. All of the materials were new, they had not aged in the slightest. Looking again, the Doctor decided that it must have crumbled after all and in a very short space of time too. Renshaw was aghast.
'My word!' she exclaimed.
'Impressive, isn't it?' smarted Johnson.
'You could say that.' The Doctor sniffed.
'I do.'
The Doctor held still for a moment, squinting. 'I seem to recognise the design,' he said looking puzzled, 'but I can't quite place it at the moment. Somewhere in the third Galaxy, possibly. I can't quite remember.'
Johnson brandished his gun. 'You will. I promise.' He looked over the wreckage once more, and took delight in the fact that Renshaw hadn't come up with a staggering explanation for it all. All of the scientific group had their devices trained on the building, but they too were at a loss.
Johnson puffed his chest out. 'We'llgo down for a recce. It'll be worth the trip, even if it's just for the exercise,' he said looking at the more over weight members of his crew.
'Captain!' Renshaw exclaimed once more.
Johnson shrunk imperceptibly. Here comes the explanation, he thought. 'What?' he asked.
'This building is the source of the energy fluctuations. They're building up again. They're almost at critical level now. I would advise caution.'
Johnson laughed, 'Come off it, Renshaw, I know my job. I want everyone here to consider this to be a yellow alert,' he said to his crew. 'We're going down there.'
Once more the group trailed away in the wake of Captain Johnson.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
he Doctor spent that part of the trip trying to talk to other members of the crew, but they callously ignored him and said nothing. The chatter they produced between themselves bored him, so he walked alone and in silence.
Renshaw sidled up to the Captain who was doing his best to ignore her. 'You don't really believe this "Doctor", do you?' she asked.
'Of course not!' he snorted, waving his arm dismissively, 'I'm just waiting for him to show his hand. It's all in the regulations if you take the trouble to look." No untried may be fired out of hand, unless he tries to fry you first" '
'I'm sure,' Renshaw replied, unimpressed, 'But what if he fries you first? When you're not looking? Surely, he's got you there.'
 
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graveyard of the daleks page3
