Doctor Who_ Dinosaur Invasion - Malcolm Hulke [43]
The Doctor turned a corner. He had to find another vehicle. He must reach the control centre and somehow destroy it. An army jeep was now approaching. Hoping to win over the soldiers, the Doctor raised his arms, motioning the jeep to stop. He put his best smile on.
The jeep stopped some yards away. A soldier jumped up from the back seat and carefully aimed a rifle at the Doctor’s head.
‘Don’t shoot,’ called the Doctor. ‘I’m the one person who can help you! ‘
General Finch rose up from the seat beside the soldier. He pushed the soldier’s rifle away. ‘Leave him to me!’ he barked. He drew his revolver from its holster, released the safety catch, and took careful aim.
A voice from behind the Doctor shouted, ‘My prisoner, if you don’t mind, General.’
The Doctor swung round. The Brigadier had pulled up behind him in his UNIT jeep.
‘Get out of the way, Brigadier,’ roared the General.
The Brigadier’s voice remained calm. ‘I’m sorry, sir, but this man is a UNIT prisoner. I’m taking him into custody.’
‘I told you to get out of my way, Brigadier!’ shouted the General.
The Brigadier turned to Sergeant Benton who sat in the jeep beside him. ‘Sergeant!’ he ordered. Benton knew exactly what to do. Benton stood up and trained a sub-machine gun on the General.
The General’s face turned scarlet. ‘You realise this is mutiny?’
‘There’s no question of mutiny,’ shouted the Brigadier. ‘I’m only doing my job.’
For seconds they remained stock still, the General aiming his revolver at the Doctor, and Sergeant Benton training his sub-machine gun on the General and his soldiers. Then the General slipped back the safety catch, and returned his revolver to its holster. With as much dignity as he could muster he barked, ‘Brigadier, you will place this man under close arrest. I am holding you personally responsible for him.’ He sat down and nodded to his driver. With a look of relief on his face, the driver slipped the jeep into gear and drove away as fast as possible.
‘Well, Doctor,’ said the Brigadier, ‘are you coming with us?’
‘To be held in custody again, while these people destroy everything?’
‘First let’s go back to my Headquarters,’ said the Brigadier, ‘then we’ll talk about it.’
Professor Whitaker stepped back from the Timescoop. ‘That’s all I can do now until the power builds up again,’ he informed Sir Charles Grover and Captain Yates. ‘I’ve produced as many monsters as I can, certainly enough to finally clear Central London.’
Yates turned to Grover. ‘What do we intend to do about Miss Smith, sir?’
‘She won’t be harmed in any way,’ smiled Grover. ‘I have great admiration for her spirit. That’s why I tried to establish her on the space ship. Sheer bad luck that she recovered consciousness too soon.’
The military phone rang and Whitaker answered. ‘It’s for you,’ he told Grover. ‘The General.’
Grover took the phone. ‘Hello?’
‘Finch here. The Brigadier’s recaptured the Doctor. They held a gun on me, defied my orders. There was nothing I could do.’
Grover didn’t like that development, but was not a man for recriminations. ‘It doesn’t matter now. We’re into the final stage of Operation Golden Age.’
‘It jolly well does matter,’ replied the General urgently. ‘The Doctor has too great an influence on the Brigadier. What do you suggest we do?’
‘I think it’s best if you leave this to me now. You order the final evacuation of London—we want all these soldiers out of the way. I shall deal with the Doctor from my end.’
He put down the phone before Finch could reply, and turned to Captain Yates. ‘Captain, there