Doctor Who_ Island of Death - Barry Letts [42]
„Sir?‟
„I‟m going up top. Get a better view from there.‟
„Aye aye sir.‟
Pete made his way towards the door in the corner. The Brigadier knew that this led to the deck above, which was a de facto additional bridge, open to the sky.
„Who give... who was‟t give th‟ order to change course?‟
Lieutenant-Commander Eugene Hogben, whose eyes seemed to be as out-of-focus as his words, stood in the doorway, clinging onto the handle for a precarious swaying support.
Pete Andrews turned at the bottom of the ladder. „I did sir.
You see...‟
„And why have you dis... dis‟beyed a direct order, may I ask? Only asking.‟
„Man overboard, sir. Or rather, two of them...‟
„Who?‟
„The Doctor and Miss Smith.‟
„And you think you can pick „em up? In a sea like this? You must be bloody joking, mate.‟
„I thought...‟
„Yes, well, stop thinking and start... start doing what you‟re told. Start „beying bloody orders, right? Try this one for size.
Resume...‟
Before he could finish speaking another particularly severe lurch brought the Commanding Officer to his knees. Pete hurried over and helped him to his feet.
„Sir, don‟t you think it would be a good idea if...‟
This brought out the CO‟s latent rage, which had been sim-mering below the surface, the blind anger of the alcoholic, disappointed and frustrated by the unjustness of life.
„Take your hands off me! „ he said harshly. „Or I‟ll have you for „ssaulting a superi... sup... your commanding officer!‟
Pete Andrews released his arm, and stood back, his face white with fury.
Hogben gave him a vicious look. „I‟ll „tend to you later,‟ he said. „Cox‟n!‟
„Yessir?‟
„Port ten!‟
„Port ten, sir... Ten of port wheel on.‟
„Very good. Bring her round and steer 020.‟ He turned back to his First Lieutenant. „Is‟t my fault if they‟re fool enough to fall in?‟ he said.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Much later, Sarah would look back and wonder why she didn‟t actually say, „Where am I?‟ when she came round.
Perhaps it was the journalist in her - the years of trying to avoid clichés - that stopped her voicing what would have been an absolutely accurate expression of her feelings.
To wake up, lying back luxuriating in a moving bath, with a hand behind her head supporting her (with one finger pressing hard on the top of her spine), became doubly mysterious when she realised that the hand belonged to the Doctor.
Then to be held firmly as the dreamy contentment gave way to a spluttering, choking, vomiting that sent salt water up her nose and, it seemed, into her very brain was no way to discover that she‟d fallen into something like two hundred fathoms of Indian Ocean.
For a moment, she panicked, and clung to her rescuer with a grip the Doctor could hardly free himself from.
„Gently, gently,‟ said the Doctor, as he loosened her fingers.
„I‟m sorry,‟ she gasped, „but I can‟t swim. I mean, only a bit.‟
„You‟re quite safe. I have positive buoyancy, you see. Think of me as one of those big blow-up spotted horses you see at the seaside.‟
The image was so ludicrous that, even though she couldn‟t summon up a giggle, she was able to relax a little, and hang onto his shirt. It was then, as the sea carried them up towards the sky, that she saw the ship way off in the distance, and nearly freaked out again.
„They‟re miles away!‟ she said. „How will they ever find us?
What are we going to do?‟
There‟s nothing we can do, but wait,‟ said the Doctor, with a little smile; and this time she did giggle.
„What happened? Did you slip? I heard you scream and saw you falling.‟
Yes, what had happened? She remembered waving to the Doctor... and then... „I don‟t know. It‟s just a blank.‟
„I thought as much. Concussion. You must have hit your head as you fell.‟
What did she remember? Oh yes. She remembered clinging onto the falls of the lifeboat, and - yes, leaning right out over the sea! She must have been bonkers!
„Oh, Doctor, I‟m so sorry,‟ she said. „It‟s my fault we‟re in this mess. I was all hyped up with... with the look of the waves, and...‟ Her voice trailed away.
„I know. I‟d spent several hours just watching