 and.
That was all that Delta Omicron had to offer. Nothing else, just sand.
That was it. Sand. Grey particles of dust from horizon to horizon. It
was a world that even the colonists, desperate people who would do
anything to get away from the overcrowded cities, had turned down flat.
It was a world that no-one had wanted, a barren desolate wasteland that
had no attractions. But now there was nowhere else to go. A growing
human population, desperate for space, with options fast running out,
had no other choice. A party of colonists had, reluctantly, gone to
Delta Omicron.
For a while, things hadn't been that bad. Then, they found they weren't alone.
~~~
 t
had been a routine tour of duty. Nothing much had happened. But then
they were deep in Earth controlled space. If anything was going to
happen, it wouldn't happen here. The other spiral arm perhaps, the gamma
quadrant probably, but here...
Nothing ever
happened here. Even the disastrous quirks of nature happened elsewhere.
So when Earthforce central sent a priority blank message, it tend to get
the attention.
'Admiral,' said Captain Gardener leaning forward, anxious to find out what this message was. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.
'Captain Gardener, your ship is to change course and make best possible speed for Delta Omicron.'
'Delta Omicron?
That's a bit out of our way isn't it? That's the normal patrol route
for...' he paused, trying to remember the name of the ship that had been
assigned to that area, and finally giving up and looking down at the
computer terminal on his desk, '...the Sun Runner, isn't it?'
'Indeed,
Captain. But something has come up. We have a situation on our hands.
You will rendezvous with the Sun Runner, the griffin and the Dark
Phoenix. The Draconians will also be sending some ships.'
'What? Why? What is going on?'
'The colony on Delta Omicron is under attack.'
'Under attack?
Delta Omicron?' If it hadn't been the Admiral, he would have suspected
that this was a joke. 'Why would anyone want to attack Delta Omicron?
There isn't anything there.' A nasty suspicion began to form in his
mind. For such a large force to be sent, something big must be going on.
For the Draconians to get involved, it must be something very, very
big. What could it possibly be? |
The Cybermen had
been pegged back to the Gamma Quadrant, and had almost disappeared. The
Ice Warriors, despite the problems, weren't likely to precipitate a war
by attacking somewhere like Delta Omicron. It couldn't be the
Draconians. Who could it be? He dragged himself back to what the
Admiral was saying.
'We have no idea why Captain. We just know that it was attacked.'
'By who?'
Gardener asked. The Admiral paused, almost as if he didn't believe what
was going to say next. Finally, he took a breath, steadied himself and
said:
'Daleks.'
~~~
 he
camp was deserted. The only sound was the wind, the only movement that
of the flotsam and jetsam in the turbulent air. The people had left here
in a hurry, leaving behind everything that couldn't immediately be
carried. Boxes and crates of belongings, food concentrates, children's
dolls, all had been left behind ni a blind headlong rush to escape.
The wind picked
up, blowing over a few more crates and sending a bit more litter
tumbling to the ground. The camp fell that little bit further into ruin.
~~~
 nteresting,'
said the Doctor. looking at the picture on the scanner screen. 'The
whole place is deserted.' He turned back towards the console and started
fiddling, turning the dials and staring intently at the readouts. 'This
whole place has been evacuated. I wonder why? Atmosphere's normal, no
unusual seismic activity...' The Doctor turned back to the screen, an
expression of concern on his face. 'This is a mystery. I wonder what
happened?'
'Maybe they did not like the place.' said Leela, looking up from cleaning her knife. The Doctor turned back to look at her.
'No. It's definitely something else. Humans can't afford to just abandon a colony.'
'Why not?'
'The Galaxy is
rapidly running out of space. If they set up a colony they will stay
with it. They don't just abandon it.' The Doctor reached across and
opened the door. 'I'm going to have a look.' He jammed his hat on his
head and set off. Leela put the knife away. Then with a glance at the
scanner, she followed.
~~~ |
