Doctor Who_ Island of Death - Barry Letts [37]
some bird or other.
„It‟s an albatross! A big „un too. That wingspan must be twelve feet if it‟s an inch. What‟s he doing in these latitudes?‟
Not for the first time, the Brigadier was baffled by the Doctor. Having said that humanity was in the gravest danger, he seemed to have given up.
„Stop worrying, Lethbridge-Stewart!‟ The Doctor suddenly turned, almost as if he‟d read his mind. „We‟ll get there in the end - or we shan‟t. We‟ll save your extraordinary species - or they‟ll be wiped out. There‟s nothing we can do about it at the moment, is there?‟
He just didn‟t react like any normal human being - but then again that‟s just what he wasn‟t, was he?
Sarah had managed to get to her cabin, where she sat down heavily on the bunk. But that made her feel worse. With each roll of the ship, she could feel her bum rising in the air as if she was becoming as weightless as she would in a spaceship; and then, before she actually took off, she was thrust back down, with her guts following a few seconds later. The result was inevitable.
With frequent visits to the washbasin, which was nearer than the loo, she eventually came to the point where she was heaving and retching, with no result.
When this subsided, she delicately hoisted herself onto the bunk and lay back. If she‟d been on a normal Royal Navy ship, she‟d have been fine. But the luxury of a bunk very nearly as wide as her divan in Hampstead meant that she kept rolling from side to side with the motion of the ship. It was worse than trying to stay upright.
What was she doing there? Investigative journalist? That was a laugh. At this precise moment she‟d have swapped all her hopes of fame and fortune for the comfortable stability of a supermarket checkout, or a nice gentle job sweeping the roads.
There was a knock at the door.
Bob Simkins appeared. „Chris told me that you weren‟t feeling quite the thing. You okay?‟
She grabbed the edge of the bunk and lifted her head. „Just bring me a slug of arsenic and I‟ll be fine,‟ she said. „Oh, sugar!‟ she cried, as the Hallaton took a violent swing to starboard and she cracked her head on the wall as she went with it. She struggled to sit up. But now that felt even worse.
Hang on,‟ said Bob, „I‟ll soon sort you out.‟
He disappeared, and within a couple of minutes was back with a largish green suitcase.
„Here you are,‟ he said. „Move over in the bed.‟ And he jammed her into the pit of the bunk with the case, so that she couldn‟t roll even if she wanted to.
And at last she was able to relax.
In spite of the fact that all he‟d been offered was a large bowl of noodle soup, Alex Whitbread was beginning to feel better.
Of course, he couldn‟t expect complete recovery until the group had accepted him back. But he felt sure that, with a little bit of luck, he‟d be able to convince Mother Hilda of his repentance. She was clever enough to see through most of his ploys, yes, but she was stupidly trusting, seeing the best in everybody and everything. And if he could just con her, the rest of them would follow like a flock of sheep through a hole in the fence.
There was just one thing...
He put a tentative foot out of bed and hauled himself to his feet, swayed, and abruptly sat down. Not only was the floor itself all a-tilt, his legs were still pretty weak.
Not ready yet then.
That was his first job, then: to get enough strength back to be able to deal with the kid from the magazine. He‟d felt sure that she couldn‟t have seen anything she shouldn‟t have; as he‟d told Hilda, when he‟d got in through the window of her room in Hampstead, it had seemed that he‟d found absolute proof of that just waiting for him on the table.
But, if that was the case, what was she doing here? Why had she come all the way to Bombay, and brought these two snoops with her? Who were they? Were they police? What was this ship he was on?
And what if she were to realise the true meaning of what she had seen? If she did, and if Mother Hilda were to talk to her, it would be the end for him.
He must make sure that she never reached the island...