Doctor Who_ Cave Monsters - Malcolm Hulke [61]
'Jolly good work, Doctor,' he said. 'Now for goodness' sake turn this thing off.'
'What I said was true,' the Doctor answered. 'I can't turn it off.'
The Brigadier looked stunned. 'Are you aware that the lift isn't working? We're all trapped down here!'
The Doctor turned to the technicians. 'If any of you has any idea how to stop the generator from becoming an atomic bomb, now would be a good time to speak up.'
'I think I know how,' said Miss Travis. 'The control console has a fail-safe mechanism. May I show you?' She crossed to the console, looked under the panel where the Doctor had dislocated the control circuit. 'It's here,' she said. 'All we have to do is to pull out a fuse.'
Miss Travis calmly put her hand in among the now tangled wires of the control circuits, reached as far as possible and pulled out a single fuse. Instantly all the uranium rods started to rise up into their neutral positions. The fingers of the dials slowly sank from
'DANGER' back to 'ZERO'.
'Miss Travis,' said the Brigadier, 'you are a very level-headed young woman. I'm sure you will become a great scientist one day.'
'I don't know about that,' she said. 'After all this, I think I'd rather work in a bank.'
19
The Lie
The Doctor and Liz got into Bessie in the research centre car park. The Brigadier had come to say goodbye.
'Going straight back to London?' asked the Brigadier.
'Yes,' said the Doctor.
'No,' said Liz.
'Well, make your minds up,' the Brigadier said.
'Since we're in Derbyshire,' Liz said, 'I want to see over some of the potteries. You know, Denby and Crown Derby.'
'What a good idea,' the Brigadier said. 'I wish I could join you.'
'How long are you staying on here?' asked the Doctor.
The Brigadier shrugged. 'Just one or two things to clear up,' he said. 'Routine matters.'
'You do understand the caves must not be touched,' the Doctor said. 'I want to return here next week with a team of scientists to try to make peaceful contact with the reptile men. There's a living museum down there, and if we can get on friendly terms with them there's a great deal we can learn about the origin of life on this planet.'
'On my honour,' the Brigadier said. 'If I so much as see a reptile man, I shall go out of my way to be nice to him.'
'You don't really take this seriously,' the Doctor said. 'These creatures have as much right to this planet as you have. I'm going to ask the Prime Minister to have it put to the United Nations that the reptile people be formally invited to share the world.'
'Don't worry,' the Brigadier said. He looked at his watch, and seemed now to want to get rid of the Doctor and Liz. 'No harm will come to your reptiles. Now you'd better be off. Enjoy your trip to the potteries!'
'Possibly,' said the Doctor. He started the engine. 'Where are all your soldiers?'
'My soldiers?' said the Brigadier, as though he might be trying to hide something. 'Oh, they're out and about, cleaning up the mess and all that.' He again glanced at his watch.
'I see,' said the Doctor, realising that there was something the Brigadier didn't want him to know. 'Well, no more violence or killing. I'll see you in London.'
The Doctor slowly drove Bessie out of the car park and down the gravel road to the main road. As they turned into the main road he said, 'The Brigadier's got something up his sleeve, you know.'
Liz didn't answer. She just looked straight ahead down the road.
The Doctor slowed down the car and stopped. 'Something's going on that I don't know about,' he said. 'And you know what it is!'
Liz turned to him. 'Doctor, not everyone thinks like you...'
Her words were interrupted by a series of violent explosions.
The Doctor turned and looked towards the main opening to the caves. A huge cloud of smoke and dust was belching out of the cave.
Then there was another explosion, and the entrance to the cave collapsed in a huge deluge of huge rocks.
'He's