Doctor Who_ Cave Monsters - Malcolm Hulke [34]
'Is there any way we can get you out of there?' said the Doctor
'I quite agree,' said the Doctor.
'So you and your young lady had better chop-chop back to that Brigadier, and tell him to come down here with everything he's got.
Bazookas, rockets, rifles, the lot. Got the idea?'
'If the Brigadier does that,' said Liz, 'you may get killed.'
'I'm a soldier, ma'am,' said the Major. 'Soldiers have to accept getting killed.'
'But you can only do it once,' said Liz.
'Under the circumstances,' said Major Barker, 'I don't think that's particularly funny.' He turned back to the Doctor. 'Everything understood?'
'Have they talked to you at all?' asked the Doctor.
'They keep asking me questions. Population of the Earth. What weapons we use. What foods we eat. Naturally I refused to answer. I tried to explain to them about the Geneva Convention concerning prisoners-of-war, but I don't think they understood.'
'No, I don't suppose they would,' said the Doctor. 'If they speak to you again, seem to co-operate with them a little, and see what you can find out about them.'
'I do not co-operate with the enemy,' said Major Barker. 'Still, if I do get a chance to find out anything, I shall bear your remarks in mind.' The Major looked down at himself. His clothes were torn and filthy, his hands grimy with cave dust. 'Sorry to have you see me in this condition, ma'am,' he said to Liz. 'I shall try to brush up a bit before we meet again.' He turned back to the Doctor. 'I really think you ought to get along now. No point in pushing one's luck.'
'But we can't leave you like this,' said Liz.
'No alternative, I'm afraid,' said the Major, and again turned to the Doctor. 'Remember now. Bring in the big guns, and let's get this sorted out once and for all.'
Two reptile men started to approach the cages. The Doctor quickly drew Liz away, and they sank back into the darkness of a corner. The reptile men went up to Major Barker.
'You have not eaten your food,' one of them said. 'We shall not offer food again, not until you answer our questions:
'Then I shall starve to death,' shouted the Major.
The Doctor whispered close to Liz's ear. 'That's a very brave man, Liz. A fool. But a really brave man.'
The Doctor and Liz crept back to the opening of the air ventilation tunnel. Some minutes later they were back in the great cave and making their way back to the research centre.
14
Man from the Ministry
Dr. Lawrence stood looking at the power dials in the cyclotron room. They all registered zero. At one time he would have been issuing orders to all the technicians and physicists around him, telling them to boost the nuclear reactor to get more power. But now he knew it was hopeless. Whatever force drained off the centre's vast electrical power output, it did it when it wanted to do it, and there was nothing Dr. Lawrence could do to stop it.
'Reactors closed down safely,' said one of the technicians.
Dr. Lawrence nodded. 'Just let me know when things get back to normal,' he said.
He left the cyclotron room and walked along the metal passageway to his office. He tried to remember how long he had been down in the research centre, five hundred feet below fresh air and sunshine. One week? Two? A month? Being a responsible man, he hadn't even taken an afternoon off-duty since the emergency started.
Once in his office, he closed the door, slumped into his chair behind the desk and put his head in his hands. He remembered how excited he was when he received the letter from the Ministry telling him that he had been appointed as Director of the Wenley Moor Research Centre. It was a job that many other scientists would envy.
The pay was very good; but money wasn't the only attraction. He wanted to do something with his life, to be remembered by future generations, like Faraday or Edison. Here, in this research centre, was the golden opportunity to do something that would be remembered,