Doctor Who_ Daemons - Barry Letts [56]
'He uses violent emotions—greed; hatred; fear; the emotions of a group of ordinary human beings, whipped up to an extraordinarily high level. They generate a tremendous charge of psycho-kinetic energy, which the Master channels for his own purposes.'
Miss Hawthorne pushed a straying lock of hair from her eyes.'But that is magic,' she said, 'that's precisely what black magic is!'
'No, Miss Hawthorne. It's science. The secret science of the Dæmons!'
'Are you trying to tell me that the rituals, the invocations—indeed the Sabbat itself—are just so much windowdresshig?' She was trembling all over with frustration and indignation.
The Doctor put a calming hand on her arm. 'No, no. They're essential—to generate and control the psionic forces—and thereby control the Dæmon himself.'
Miss Hawthorne digested this. For the life of her, she couldn't see where the difference lay...
As far as Sergeant Benton was concerned all this chat was just a waste of time. Surely there was something they could do instead of just standing around nattering...
'Doctor,' he said, 'Captain Yates said to tell you. He went off to find Miss Grant. Thought she'd gone to the Cavern.'
'Jo? But I thought she was in the pub.'
'She climbed out of the window.'
'I see.' The Doctor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'Well,' he said, 'the Captain is pretty efficient. He should be capable of looking after the pair of them.'
Benton was shocked. 'But shouldn't we get over there, Doctor?' he said. 'Get into the Cavern, I mean, and sort out this Dæmon thing?'
'And how do you propose to do that, Sergeant Benton?'
'Well.. er...'
'Exactly. We must wait'
'What for?'
'The energy-exchanger—this machine the Brigadier's building for me. With that, I shall be able to drain off our visitor's energy. Then perhaps we can “sort him out”!'
'That's it, sir! We're ready to have a go...' Sergeant Osgood shakily took off his spectacles and wiped them with a grimy handkerchief.
And about time, Sergeant,' said the Brigadier. 'Right, into your vehicles everybody.'
As the UNIT troops piled into their Land Rovers, the Brigadier strode over to Osgood. 'Well,' he said, 'what are you waiting for?'
'I suppose I'm a bit nervous. I mean... what if it doesn't work?'
'Only one way to find out'
'Yes, sir.'
Osgood closed the power switch. The odd-looking machine started to hum. In sequence, Osgood closed three more smaller switches, carefully monitoring the results on a bank of dials and adjusting the output.
'Can't see anything,' grumbled the Brigadier.
'It's got to build up power, yon see, sir. Keep watching. You should see something any minute.'
And sure enough, he did. A small circle of flame--or so it seemed—appeared in the middle of the heat barrier, about six feet off the ground.
'Good grief, it's working,' said the Brigadier, who had very little faith in the wonders of modern technology.
As the note of the machine's hum steadily rose both in pitch and volume, the flame began to spread; to become a circle; to grow until it touched the ground. At last it settled into a tunnel of flame about twelve foot high extending right through the barrier.
The Brigadier stepped forward and held out his cane. This time it did not burst into flames. He withdrew it and held it close to his face; then cautiously applied a finger. 'Hot,' he said, 'but passable, if we go through at speed' Running to his own vehicle he jumped in. 'Right,' he called out, 'if I get through safely, the rest of you follow.' Giving a nod to his driver, the Brigadier pulled his cap down low and hunched down into his seat. The Land Rover turned away from the heat barrier in a wide are, to gain speed.
Osgood anxiously watched the wavering needles on his dials. Didn't look too stable. They'd better get a shift on.
The Brigadier's vehicle turned and started its run for the tunnel.
'Stop! Stop!' shouted Osgood, as the tell-tale needles sank towards zero. The tunnel of flame collapsed; disappeared; vanished. The Brigadier's driver, foot hard on the brake, struggled for control as the vehicle skidded and slithered through