Doctor Who_ Battlefield - Marc Platt [32]
‘Ah, that’s a bit of a mystery,’ said Peter. ‘I’ve had experts from everywhere to look at it, but no one can decipher the carvings.’
The Doctor frowned at the runes and then looked away across the lake. ‘It says Dig Hole Here,’ he said.
Peter was astonished. ‘Extraordinary. What does it say that in?’
‘My handwriting.’
Never mind that the script was Ancient Gallifreyan, this was the final proof that he hadn’t particularly wanted to find. He had obviously been here in the past, somebody’s past, but it certainly wasn’t his.
So much for archaeology. ‘Ace! I need a hole here.’
‘Right,’ she said and pulled out a canister of nitro-nine that they both knew he did/didn’t know about. ‘How long?’
‘Sixty seconds should be enough.’
She turned the tiny dial on the lid and planted the canister beside the rune stone.
Peter looked alarmed as the Doctor started to lead him clear. ‘Long enough for what?’
‘This way please. There’s nothing to worry about, my young friend is something of an expert.’
‘In archaeology?’ said Peter as Ace hurriedly took his other arm.
‘No. Explosives.’ said the Doctor.
‘What!’
A blast of a brisence far greater than either the Doctor or Ace had expected hurled the three of them into the ditch for which they had been heading.
They lay face down in the mud while more hot earth showered down on them. The shouts of the soldiers could be heard. Peter Warmsly was speechless.
‘I think the timer needs more work,’ said Ace.
The Doctor shook earth out of his hat. ‘One day, Ace, we are going to have a long talk about acceptable safety standards.’
He climbed out of the ditch and walked at speed back to what was left of the dig. Ace ran after him. He jumped and vanished into the smoking crater. It was at least four metres across and three deep. Not bad.
Ace looked back and saw Peter yelling at the soldiers. In shock, he was ordering them off Trust land.
‘What’s down there?’ she called to the Doctor.
He was poking at the crater wall with his umbrella. She heard a tumble of stones through the smoke and heard him say, ‘Aha. It’s a tunnel.’
‘A dark mysterious one?’
‘Probably.’
‘Leading to unknown dangers?’
‘Oh, certainly.’
‘Wicked!’ She vaulted to the bottom in one go as Peter Warmsly came puffing up to the crater’s edge.
‘Vandals!’ he shouted. ‘I’ve been excavating this site for ten years!’
The smoke cleared and the Doctor saw his crimson face glaring down at him. ‘Peter,’ he said with extraordinary calmness and authority, ‘Ace and I are going to investigate the tunnel. I want you to guard this end. No one is to come down here. No one.’
‘Oh yes, I’ll give them a lecture on archaeology!’
‘Good idea. We’ll bring you something back.’
He quickly ushered Ace through the dark gap in the wall. They were inside a low tubular tunnel which smelt of fish. The only light trickled in from the gap behind them.
They had to stoop to walk.
‘It’s damp,’ said Ace and her voice echoed into the distance.
‘Yes. It leads under the lake.’
She touched the tunnel sides. ‘This wall’s made of concrete.’ The Doctor scraped the surface with a Victorian fruit knife that he always used as a spatula. ‘It’s gone soft with age. It must have been put up in the eighth century.’
‘They didn’t have concrete in those days.’
‘No, they didn’t.’
‘Thought so.’
He couldn’t see her knowing grin in the dim light, but he knew it was there. There was a heavy sliding crunch behind them. The way out vanished. The tunnel pitched into darkness.
‘Doctor!’ She stood up and her head hit the ceiling.
‘Don’t worry Ace, it’s just a trap,’ said his voice, right by her ear.
She could hear water dripping further on, but she could not move. The clinging darkness was choking her.
She felt his hand on her arm. Slowly he began to lead her towards heaven knows what.
Lavel circled the helicopter over Carbury.
Radio contact with the Czech group under Major Husak had been lost as soon as the squad entered the area.
Triangulation pinpointed the source of interference as Vortigern’s Lake