Doctor Who_ Cave Monsters - Malcolm Hulke [1]
Okdel had heard all this before, but he was old enough to know that even scientists could make mistakes. The planet was first seen two years ago. Once the scientists had made the Earth government understand the danger, the government ordered the building of these deep shelters. All over the planet Earth shelters had been built deep under the ground. The scientists could not say how long the population must stay in the shelters—it could be days, or even weeks. So, to save taking down huge amounts of food and water and oxygen, the scientists had invented a system that would put everyone into what they called 'total sleep'. It meant that the people would actually stop breathing. On the ground above each shelter was a device to detect the return of the Earth's atmosphere. Once everything was back to normal, these devices would automatically trigger huge amounts of electricity to wake up the sleeping reptile people.
K'to said, 'Are all the animals safe?' It had been decided to take a male and female of all the more useful reptile animals.
'What?' said Okdel, lost in thought.
'Our animals,' said K'to, 'are they in the shelter?'
'They went down first,' said Okdel, 'I made sure of that.' He paused. 'A pity we are taking none of the little furry animals.'
'You are a strange man,' said K'to. 'The little furry animals are dirty. Insects live in their fur. In any case, this event will rid our planet of the mammal vermin. When the planet draws away our atmosphere, even only for a few minutes, all creatures on the surface will suffocate and die.'
Morka came up beside them. 'Okdel keeps one of the furry animals as a pet,' he said. 'Is that not true, Okdel?'
'It amuses me,' said Okdel.
'Your pet will have to die with the others,' said Morka. 'We shall be better off without them.'
'They raid our crops,' said K'to. 'Our farmers will be glad to see the end of them. But I am sorry about your pets, Okdel.'
'You only say that because Okdel is the leader of this shelter group,' said Morka. 'The little furry animals revolt me! They grunt, they have families, and they are fond of each other.'
'It is that quality which makes them interesting,' said Okdel. 'In the zoo I have noticed how they touch each other, and put their limbs round each others' necks.'
'Yes,' said Morka, 'and press their lips to each other's faces! It is disgusting!'
Okdel turned to K'to. 'But as a man of science, do you not find it interesting that a species exists so different from ourselves?'
'Interesting,' said K'to, 'but I do not care to be near them. They also smell.'
'Very true!' said Morka. 'Shall we go into the shelter?'
'I shall follow shortly,' said Okdel.
Morka and K'to walked away towards the lift. Okdel turned and looked again across the valley. The sun was now deep in the western horizon. He wanted to take a last look at the metal domes of the city glinting in the fading sunlight. It was a pity that so many animals were to die. Nearby a huge lizard was quietly munching leaves from a fern. But there was only room in the shelters for a selected few.
Okdel turned to follow the others. Then he heard a familiar sound, and paused to look back into the valley. About twenty of the furry animals were racing across open ground, babies clinging to the backs of some of the females. As always they were calling out to each other, grunting and chattering. Sometimes Okdel imagined they were trying to form words. He was certain that his own pet furry animal understood many of the things said to it, even though it only chattered and grunted in reply. He had released the pet two days ago, so that for what remained of its life it would enjoy freedom to climb trees and race across open spaces.
'Okdel!' Morka was calling from the lift doors. 'We must go into the shelter!'
Okdel slowly walked towards where Morka and K'to were waiting. Just before stepping into the lift, he looked again across the valley to see the tip of the sun as it sank below the horizon. It was the last time he was to see the sun for a hundred million years.
Two days