Doctor Who_ Daemons - Barry Letts [63]
'Where's the Doctor?' he said briskly, giving the impression that now he had arrived, their troubles were over.
'Gone into the Cavern. Through the vestry,' said Mike Yates.
'Then why are we hanging about as if we were a bunch of schoolgirls at a picnic?' the Brigadier said. 'We'd better get after him.' He turned to give an order to his waiting troops.
'Hang on, sir,' said Yates. 'I shouldn't be too hasty if I were you. Look,' and he pointed to the stone image of Bok immobile by the churchyard gate.
'What, that statue? Horrible looking thing. Never seen anything like that in a churchyard before. Usually get angels. What about it?'
'Watch.'
Mike Yates picked up a large stone and lobbed it into the air in the general direction of the gargoyle. At once it whirled and pointed. The flying stone vanished in a stab of flame.
'Mm. I take your point,' said Lethbridge Stewart, visibly impressed.
'There's been one fatality already. The landlord of the pub. Vaporised, I should think. There was nothing left of him but a puff of smoke.'
The Brigadier looked at the stone imp once more sitting on the wall, its head malevolently swinging from side to side.
'Never mind,' said the Brigadier. 'We'll soon fix him. Corporal!'
Corporal Nevin, the crack shot of UNIT, twice runner up at Bisley, came over to his Commanding Officer at the double. 'Sir?' he said.
'That fellow over there,' said the Brigadier. 'The chap with wings. Five rounds rapid.'
Nevin unslung his rifle and took careful aim. The rifle cracked five times in quick succession. Five times the bullets found their target and bounced off the hard stone with a ricochet whine. Bok was obviously quite unharmed. Snarling, he stared round as if he were trying to trace the source of these pin-prick irritations.
'I could have saved you the trouble, Mr. Yates.' It was Miss Hawthorne, who had joined them unnoticed. 'He has a magical defence. Only a magical attack could succeed.'
The Brigadier looked at her incredulously. 'Magic, madam?' he said. 'What the deuce are you talking about?'
'Oh, this is Miss Hawthorne,' intervened Mike Yates hurriedly, 'you remember, I mentioned her when I first reported on the situation. Miss Hawthorne has... er...' Mike's mind boggled at the thought of attempting to explain Miss Hawthorne's part in the whole affair... 'Miss Hawthorne has been a great help to the Doctor,' he finished lamely.
'I see,' grunted the Brigadier. 'Well, Miss Hawthorne, my name is Lethbridge Stewart. I'm in command here...'
Miss Hawthorne's eyebrows rose a little.
'... and I think I'm quite capable of coping with what seems to we to be a relatively simple military matter. Now then, Benton !'
The Sergeant sprang to attention, appearing rather incongruous in his sports jacket and flannel trousers. 'Yessir!' he said.
'Machine guns, that's the answer,' went on the Brigadier. 'Armour piercing shells. The thing appears to be made of stone. Very well then we'll break it up. Right?'
'Right, sir,' and Benton hurried away to get the guns set up.
'But don't you see...' began Miss Hawthorne.
'Please, madam,' said the Brigadier, impatiently.
'But you haven't a hope of breaking him up with ordinary bullets. Now, if you were to try silver ones, cast in a mould made by a seventh son, at midnight—during the full moon, of course...'
The Brigadier snorted and turned a rich shade of brick-red. 'Now, look here...' he began. Mike hastily cleared his throat and the Brigadier remembered the courtesy due to a lady.
'Forgive me, Miss Hawthorne. At any other time I should be glad to listen to your fantasies. At the moment I'm too busy. Captain Yates, you'd better fill me in on the situation,' and the two officers walked away, talking hard.
Miss Hawthorne, bridling, pursed her lips. The wretched man obviously had a totally closed mind. Fantasies indeed! She'd show him. Yes, but would she? It was all very well being angry with the Brigadier. He was a soldier after all, so naturally he looked at the situation with the eye of a soldier.