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The Major staggered, then lunged forward at the Doctor. The Doctor backed as far as he could, until his back was against the wall.

Suddenly the Major stopped in his advance. He closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly grabbed at his own wrist as though it was burning. 'My arm,' he said, his voice hardly audible, 'it's killing me.'

He staggered again, and sank to his knees, then pulled up his jacket and shirt sleeve. A huge bright red mark stood out on his arm where previously there had been the tiny wound. 'It's festering,' he gasped,

'I'll lose my arm. The pain—it's too much...' He suddenly colapsed in a faint.

The Doctor knelt down and examined the mark on Barker's arm. Meanwhile Dr. Lawrence had lifted his internal 'phone and was telling Dr. Meredith to hurry along here from the sick-bay. The Brigadier and Masters came and looked down at the bright red mark on Barker's arm.

'What's the matter with him?' said Masters.

'He's being used as a carrier,' said the Doctor. 'I believe the skin under that mark is filled with an infectious virus.'

'No wonder he kept scratching his arm,' said Masters, and pulled out a spotless white handkerchief and mopped his brow.

'Charles,' he said to Dr. Lawrence, 'can you turn up the air-conditioning in here a bit? It's terribly warm.'

Dr. Lawrence adjusted the air-conditioning. Cold air started to pump in through grilles near the ceiling. 'Dr. Meredith will be here in a moment,' he said. He turned to the Doctor. 'What's this about you making a deal with lizards?'

'There is a life-form in a special shelter in the caves,' the Doctor said. 'It is intelligent. But whatever Major Barker has told you, things have since changed. This canister contains enough poison to wipe out the entire human race. This place must be put into strict quarantine, and I need a fully equipped laboratory in order to find an antidote for what's in this canister.'

'You'll bring the Centre to a standstill,' said Dr. Lawrence.

'And those "lizards" will bring Mankind to a standstill,' said the Doctor.

Dr. Meredith hurried in. 'You wanted me, sir?'

Dr. Lawrence indicated Barker on the floor. 'Major Barker's collapsed, probably through exhaustion.'

Dr. Meredith looked down at Barker. 'Does anyone know how he got that mark on his arm?'

'A lizard bit him,' said Masters, and gave a silly laugh.

'Perhaps one of you gentlemen could help me get him to the sick-bay,' said Dr. Meredith.

'Allow me,' said the Brigadier, and knelt down to raise up Major Barker.

'No one should touch him,' said the Doctor. 'That's exactly what they want us to do.'

The Brigadier looked up from the floor. 'Doctor, we can't be sure of that, and in any case we can't leave the poor man lying here.

Ready, Dr. Meredith?'

Together, Dr. Meredith and the Brigadier lifted Major Barker between them and carried him out of the office.

'If you don't mind,' said Masters, 'we'll adjourn the meeting for a few minutes. I suppose your sick-bay has got aspirins and that sort of thing. I'm so busy, I hardly had any sleep last night. I'll be back shortly.' He followed Dr. Meredith and the Brigadier out of the office.

'Now,' said the Doctor to Dr. Lawrence, 'I'm going to need the full use of your laboratory, and in particular I'll need an electron microscope.'

'That's all very interesting,' said Dr. Lawrence scathingly, 'but I really don't understand why.'

'Then I had better try to explain,' said the Doctor. He carefully took Dr. Lawrence through the whole story of his encounter with the reptile men. It was clear from Dr. Lawrence's face that at first he thought the Doctor was out of his mind. But as the Doctor progressed with his story, some of the time supported by Liz's own account of what she had seen, Dr. Lawrence gradually became convinced.

Halfway through the story, Masters returned, so the Doctor had to repeat a lot of what he had already told Dr. Lawrence. Towards the tail-end the Brigadier reappeared.

When the Doctor had finished, Dr. Lawrence