Doctor Who_ Cave Monsters - Malcolm Hulke [17]
Barker could no longer contain himself. 'May I make a point, Brigadier?'
'Well?'
'I'm sure the Doctor thought he saw a monster,' said Barker.
'But perhaps it was some optical trick created by the spies to make an intruder think he was seeing a monster.'
The Brigadier turned to the Doctor. 'Is that possible, Doctor?'
'Anything is possible,' said the Doctor. But his attention was now focussed on the sand by a rock that came up from the cave floor.
'Those marks in the sand there—that's where my torch was rolled along by the monster.'
The Brigadier inspected the identations in the sand. 'You could have dropped your torch,' he said.
Barker was glad to note that Sergeant Hawkins and the private were grinning. You can't fool a British soldier, he told himself. No one believed the Doctor's idiotic story.
'I suggest,' said the Doctor, 'that we continue in the direction that the monster ran away...'
The Doctor stopped short as they all heard the sound. It had a strange fluting quality, and seemed to come from a long way deep in the heart of the caves.
The Doctor whispered, 'That's the sound I heard. It's some kind of signal. That's one of the other creatures, calling to the monsters.'
But Barker didn't stay to hear any more of the Doctor's stupid talk about monsters and 'other creatures'. Pulling the bolt of his rifle, he started to run up the cave. The Brigadier called to him, but Barker paid no heed. He could hear that strange sound growing louder as he got closer to it, and he was determined to track down its source.
Within a moment he came to another fork, paused for a moment to listen, then hurried on up the passageway where he could hear the sound the loudest. This narrow, winding passage, perhaps once the bed of an ancient river, opened up into a huge cave, bigger than the inside of a cathedral. Barker stopped to catch his breath, and to listen.
The sound was repeated, this time from within the cave where he was standing. Then he realised that he could see the far end of the cave, not from the light of his torch but from daylight filtering in from a distant opening to the outside world. Something down there was moving.
'Whoever you are,' he called, 'stop, or I shall shoot to kill!'
The movement, whatever it was, continued. Barker raised his rifle to his shoulder, released the safety catch. He looked sideways at the faint area of light at the end of the cave, a trick he'd learnt from night-fighting. Little by little the unmistakable form of a man appeared at the far end of the cave. Barker held the form in his sights, but decided to give the fellow one final chance.
'If you raise your hands in surrender,' he called, 'I shall take you prisoner, and you will get a just and fair trial in a British Court.'
The man-like form appeared to take no notice, and even seemed about to turn away back into the gloom.
'All right then,' Barker called, 'you've asked for it.'
He squeezed the trigger. The explosion of the cartridge in the confined area of the cave was like a bomb going off. To his pleasure, Barker saw the man-like form reel and stagger. Then, suddenly, something huge reared up from the darkness by Barker. He felt a great claw strike his face. After that, he didn't remember anything.
7
Quinn Visits His Friends
Dr. Quinn heard about the armed party in the caves from Miss Dawson. He was in his cottage at the time, having taken home some of his research centre work. The moment he heard her voice on the telephone he knew it was bad news.
'Matthew? This is Phyllis. I need to see you immediately.'
'Where are you speaking from?' he asked.
'The research centre of course,' she said. 'Can you come back here straight away?'
He hadn't thought to warn her that telephone calls in and out of the research centre were probably being tapped by Major Barker. He tried to indicate this now in a way that anyone listening-in would not understand. 'My dear Phyllis,' he said, 'you know how I'd love to be with you at this moment. But the personal things you and I have to say to each other cannot be said in the research