Doctor Who_ Dinosaur Invasion - Malcolm Hulke [37]
Finch turned away. He couldn’t stand the sight of Whitaker. ‘I hope you realise that they’re trying to trace our learned Professor,’ he said to Grover.
‘Don’t forget, General, that they’ve also discovered this place—thanks to you people!’ said Whitaker. ‘Why could you not guarantee a little peace and security for my work? It’s frightful having this Doctor person prowling around.’
‘I told you not to underestimate the Doctor,’ said Yates.
‘We ought to dispose of him,’ snapped General Finch.
‘If we do that,’ replied the Captain, ‘we shall not be worthy of our cause.’
‘Quite right,’ agreed Grover placatingly. ‘We must maintain our high ideals. Under no circumstances shall we descend to murder.’
‘Then what do we do about the Doctor?’ asked General Finch.
Grover smiled. ‘We shall discredit him.’
While the instigators of Operation Golden Age conferred deep in the bowels of Central London, the Brigadier and the Doctor were talking in the Doctor’s workshop at UNIT Headquarters.
‘I always try to believe you, Doctor, but there isn’t a scrap of evidence that this underground place exists. Sir Charles Grover showed us the memo that confirmed it had never been built.’
‘He’s implicated. Don’t you realise that?’
The Brigadier laughed. ‘Why should the Minister be involved in the apparition of monsters?’
‘The reptiles are a side issue. They are a device to clear Central London, that’s all. Something much bigger is under way. You must go back to that underground station with explosives and blast your way in.’
The Brigadier was taken aback. ‘That’s public property! I’d need permission from General Finch before I could start blowing up underground stations!’
‘Then get it!’
‘All right,’ said the Brigadier with a shrug, ‘I’ll try.’
He hurried out. The Doctor began searching for paper on which to write a full report of the dinosaur apparitions for the government in Harrogate. Suddenly, Sergeant Benton burst in.
‘Doctor, there’s a phone call for you. It came through on the UNIT line, but you can take it in here.’
‘Thank you.’ The Doctor picked up the headmaster’s phone. ‘Hello?’
‘My name is Whitaker. I understand that you’ve been trying to trace me.’
‘I have indeed. Are you behind these dinosaur appearances?’
‘In a way, but I was tricked. I’ve escaped and now they’re after me.’
‘Who’s after you?’
There was a pause. ‘I don’t want to talk over the phone. Can we meet?’
‘Where are you?’
‘In the aircraft hangar where you were conducting your experiments. I hoped you might still be there.’
‘I’ll get over there as quickly as possible.’ The Doctor cradled the receiver, and bolted through the door.
The Doctor dismounted from his Army motorcycle, and ran into the vast building. All the soldiers had been dismissed after the disappearance of the tyrannosaurus. He walked through deserted corridors calling Professor Whitaker’s name. No response. He continued towards what remained of the little office inside the huge hangar. It was just as he and Sarah had left it—the window and its frame destroyed, the wall crumbling, part of the ceiling fallen in. What he didn’t notice among the wreckage was the miniature television eye that was watching him. A stray cat mewed. The Doctor turned. The cat was climbing up over the wreckage, sniffing about for food. All at once the cat started to walk backwards, exactly re-tracing its steps. The Doctor realised he was in the centre of a localised time eddy. He peered through the gaping hole that had been the window into the hangar. A fully-grown stegosaurus was beginning to appear and already he could hear its heavy breathing.
‘Professor Whitaker,’ he shouted, ‘did you just bring me here to show how clever you are? I already know you can materialise things from the past. So come out of hiding and let’s talk.’
The door behind him burst open. General Finch and a group of soldiers entered, the Brigadier following.
‘There’s your monster-maker,’ barked the General. ‘Caught in the act! ‘
The Brigadier stepped forward. ‘Doctor, you are under arrest.’
8 Escape!
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