The Scruffy Piper (short story)

The Scruffy Piper was the tenth short story in Time Lord Fairy Tales, featuring the Second Doctor.
== Publisher's summary ==
Space Station Hamlyn is under siege. Thousands of small metal creatures are flying through space, sent by silver warriors to burrow inside the station. The crew's only hope is a slightly scruffy-looking stranger, with a recorder and a mysterious blue box . . .
== Plot ==
In the Consodine Rift, Space Station Hamlyn stands against the invading Cyber Fleet with its X-Ray lasers that can penetrate even the most advanced battleship. The Cybermen plan to use their Cybermats to infiltrate the space station so that they can deactivate its X-Ray lasers. With their small size concealing them from the space station's scanners, the Cybermats latch onto the hull and burn their way into the station.
The station's Security Chief orders a search of the sections where pressure drops have occurred as a result of the Cybermats secretly breaking into the space station. The Cybermats hide before they can be detected by the crew. Meanwhile, the Security Chief's guards locate a blue box in one of the loading bays.
A scruffy man emerges from the blue box and tells his two companions to stay inside before he is brought to the Security Chief who asks the man who he is and why he is on board Space Station Hamlyn, but the scruffy man is more interested in the pressure drops than answering the Chief's questions.
The scruffy man then uses the control panel to bring up a number of screens showing information before asking the Chief more about the pressure drops that have been occurring. The Chief tells the scruffy man that his guards tested the hull and they weren't looking for any scratches on the hull. The scruffy man suggests that they look for scratches now if they don't want the space station to be left defenseless when the Cybermen attack.
The Chief orders the guards to go through the area to look for scratches, with the scruffy man accompanying them. In the area that the pressure drops occurred, the scruffy man uses a magnifying glass to find some scratches on the metal floor. He tells the Chief and the guards to follow the scratches until they come across a maintenance duct in front of them.
The Chief gestures for two of his guards to approach the duct. Two red eyes emit from the darkness before a Cybermat emerges and injures one of the guards before it is shot by the other one. The scruffy man prevents the Cybermat from being destroyed so that they can examine it whilst the injured guard is taken away for medical assistance.
The scruffy man tells the Security Chief that the Cybermats are the cause of the pressure drops by cutting its way through the hull and sealing up the hole behind it and they are programmed to sabotage the space station's defense systems so that the Cybermen can attack without problems.
The scruffy man brings the damaged Cybermat into the station's laboratory for examination. As he studies it, he explains to the Chief that the Cybermats home in on one set of human brainwaves at a time. The Chief orders the guards to follow the scratch marks so that they can hunt down and destroy the remaining Cybermats, but the scruffy man tells the Chief that he has a better idea which involves finding the right frequency.
With help from the station's scientists, the scruffy man connects a series of devices that emit sounds on different frequencies to the Cybermat's head. Once they find the frequency that the scruffy man needs, he explains that the frequency will draw the Cybermats to them but not destroy them. He figures out that the frequency in question is 440 hertz before pulling out a recorder and producing the same note as the frequency that will draw the Cybermats to them.
The scruffy man walks down the hallways of the space station playing the frequency on his recorder, drawing the Cybermats out and leading them to the secondary aft hold. When all the Cybermats are inside the hold, the scruffy man changes the notes on his recorder, disorienting the Cybermats as he escapes before the Chief and the guards shut the hold's door, sealing the Cybermats inside. The Chief then orders his men to disengage the hold, causing it to fly off into space with the Cybermats still inside it.
The Chief and the scruffy man watch as the Cybermats chew their way out of the detached hold before the Chief orders the X-Ray laser to destroy them. He then resumes his interrogation of the scruffy man, who tells him that the answers he seeks are in the blue box that he emerged from.
On the way back to the blue box, the TARDIS, the scruffy man says that it has no ordinary lock before saying that the answer he provides the Chief will likely raise a few more questions in his mind. He then steps into the TARDIS which dematerializes, much to the surprise of the Chief and his guards.
== Characters ==
* Second Doctor
* Cybermen
* Cybermats
* Security Chief
== Worldbuilding ==
* Although they do not directly appear, it is indicated that the Second Doctor is travelling with Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot at this time.
== Notes ==
* This story was based on The Pied Piper.
* The audiobook of this story was read by Nicholas Briggs.
Category:Second Doctor short stories
Category:Cybermat short stories
Category:Time Lord Fairy Tales short stories
Category:Time Lord Fairy Tales: Slipcase Edition short stories
Category:Cyberman short stories