The process of eliminating animal defects had not been perfected. At times there was an almost ecstatic crippling agony in the areas where metal and circuitry had been meshed and coupled with tissue; where warm, viscous blood caught and conducted and electrically charged or passed through grooves of smooth metal cooled by space-flight. The Cyberman machine was being continually redesigned.
There was a soft agony in Commander Zeinod's brain. It would have to be seen to. He rose from seat and aimed his optical-fibres at a screen on one wall of the special-transference slightly as he moved the controls. The pain would go away. He must make an appointment to see a technician.
The Doctor has a way of making people who would otherwise refuse to believe that the margarine they were eating isn't butter accept his explanations whenever the TARDIS materialises in their backyard, pub or boat.
Ned believed every word the little man had told him, accepting it like the fact that it was less than a year to Christmas. He had also introduced to Zoe.
Oh my gosh! Ned went all silly, playing with his hat in his hands. He tried to make an impression. He stood upright, swept his hair to the side with his fingers, replaced his little green hat and introduced himself:
'Smith's the name,' he said deeply, 'Ned Smith!'
The Doctor loved to look around old boats and though Ned had given him complete freedom he did not wish to nosey around the young man's cabin until he noticed a calendar. Always useful to know when you were.
'August the fourth, 1967..' Nothing significant there. He thought about the two school teachers who hadn't seen him for two years. He wondered how they were doing and what were their names again?
'What are they doing?' asked Zoe, standing on deck and gazing at the folk on the beach
'Oh gosh, just playing.' He put his hands behind his back and played with his fingers. He couldn't think anything to say. He didn't dare look at her. All he wanted to do was monkey around, jumping up and down, a jolly jape.
Zoe took her jacket off. Her eyes were bright and cheerful and her skin shone in the sun. Obviously she and the Doctor had come from outer space to recover the thingamabob.
Was she human he wondered? He didn't care - he was in love. Not even Valerie could compare with this girl from the stars. He decided to impress her with humility.
'Ahhh, Miss Herriot...I'm really sorry I took that little thing of yours.'
'Oh it's alright,' she answered. 'It's been ages since we've been on a warm planet.'
Salt on her tongue, a warm breeze on her face, the sea and sky fused in a brilliant light, there was nothing as beautiful as this on the wheel in space.
Ned began to think of writing a song for Zoe, or maybe a poem like he had done for little Becky in High School. But the Muse had little chance to possess his flowery soul, as Zoe darted off down into the hold hearing the Doctor's cries for help. Ned gulped, replaced his hat and followed.
There was a screeching sound echoing around the murkiness. The hold was empty. Zoe stood alone, shivering.
'S-s-s-s-Cybermen!' she gulped and turned, staring at him. He expected her to hug him for comfort but she didn't. Strange people, aliens.
'What's the matter?' He wished he could have thought of something more original to say.
Zoe explained how she had seen the Doctor being led into the TARDIS by a 'Cyberman', one of the Mondosian semi-robots against whom she had begun her first 'Doctor Who' adventure. But why did the Doctor leave her?
It was all beyond Ned. He shrugged and flapped his arms in embarrassment and took his hat off.
'I'm going up on deck,' he said apologetically.
Zoe remained defiantly in the darkness, hoping that the TARDIS would come back. She began to cry. There was a sudden loud noise. The TARDIS..? It was Ned clattering down the stairs who was in a state of surprise.
'Zoe, we've moved!'
Spinning on his Cuban heels, all Ned could see was the sea, like a plate of blue/grey metal. It wasn't Ned's day. 'Oh I don't know!' he complained. 'Time machines, Cybermen. I wish I ain't never 'ave come across that thingamajig of yours!'
'The TARDIS?' asked Zoe.
'No. Not the TARDIS. That thingy!'
Zoe had no idea what he was on about so he took her to his cabin and showed it to her. Short, golden, cylindrical - some sort of satellite energy-cell was Zoe's verdict.
Obviously it was what the Cybermen were after and finding the Doctor on board they presumed it to be in his possession. Discovering their error, the Cybermen had drawn Ned's boat off-course, probably towards their base.
'For Pete's sake,' Ned whispered, 'I hope you're not taking the Mickey, for we could all end up in Davy Jones' locker!'
~~~
The Doctor sat on the floor of the Cybership cock-pit, rolled up his left trouser leg and pulled a bar of orange-flavoured chocolate from out of his sock. It had melted a bit. He licked his fingers and wondered why he had been captured and hoped Zoe and Ned would be safe on the boat ad that Jamie would not wake up and leave the TARDIS.
Cyber-observer Jenos reported that the sea ship was approaching their island-base. Jenos and Krot were dispatched to capture the youths. Zelnod was as pleased as a creature robbed of emotions can be. There was pain in his side.
Ned's boat had certainly moved very quickly. They had run aground onto a beach. Ned looked from the window of his cabin while Zoe studied a map. It seemed to be an island probably at one time volcanic as steep-sided mountain rose beyond the inevitable palm trees.
'Here we are!' said Zoe. 'Monkey Gland Island.'
As always, the Doctor greeted an interrogation as a chance to find something from his enemies. However, the little space-ship was not designed to accommodate prisoners and he was simply held at gunpoint by Zelnod.
The Cyberman's voice was slightly high-pitched; its musical abstraction which made it the inverse of many earth dialects was accompanied by an electric buzz. It was eerie, like the cry of a human soul abandoned in hell; trapped in a dimension of electronics.
Zelnod explained what the three Cybermen were looking for. A small golden cylinder - a component which would connect the ship's computer via a cable to the control network of an Earth satellite. Thus they planned to reprogram all the planet's satellites and beam death rays onto the Earth which the Cybermen would then inhabit. But there had been a malfunction last week with one satellite and the special coupling had dropped to Earth.
Now they had found it, but as it was, enough satellites had been reprogrammed to begin operating within the hour by which time the Cybermen would be back in space to witness the death of life on Earth.
'And there is nothing you can do to stop it, Doctor!' buzzed Zelnod eerily.
'Gulp!' said the Doctor, 'I am a Dalek!'
Zelnod felt a terrible pain somewhere. Something was wrong.
The Doctor was flummoxed. All of a sudden, there was a streak of flame, blue and yellow from Zelnod's mouth piece. It was strange how the expressionless face seemed to heighten the panic and fear of the suppressed human soul as the mating of nature and technology fell apart in confused failure.
'A fault! A fault!' he cried, bursting into flames and collapsing.
The Doctor felt sad for the chap but he knew that Zoe and Ned would be safe, it had been seen to and the important thing now, was to conceal the operation signal to the satellites. Where could it be? Even when he did find it he had no time to decipher and cancel the Cyber-code. He caught a glimpse of the TARDIS as it stood outside through one of the ship's portholes. The solution lay inside - asleep!
Zoe scanned the coast with an old fashioned telescope with a tag tied to it reading 'See Alcatraz - 10/c' . She found the Cybership glinting beyond some trees. Surel, the Cybermen would soon locate their boat and come for them. What would they do? They would have to go ashore and look for the Doctor.
Zoe put the cylinder in her pocket and Ned took along his guitar as it was the nearest thing he had to a weapon on board.
Making their way along the beach, Zoe was delighted to hear a familiar noise; a groaning, screeching sound like an electronic asthmatic. The TARDIS! But hurriedly turning a corner of rocks they found a small hidden bay. No Police Box - but a sailing ship had landed!