Doctor Who_ Island of Death - Barry Letts [43]
Immersed in them, you might say. But I didn‟t expect to be immersed quite so literally.‟
He could always find a joke, even at the worst of times.
Down they went into the trough, and up again, twenty feet or more - and this time, the ship was nearer, much nearer!
„I told you. Don‟t worry, they‟ll find us. All we have to do is...‟
„I know, wait!‟
The water was fairly warm, in spite of the storm. It was lucky they were in the tropics, the Doctor said. If they‟d been off Murmansk, they‟d have been dead long ago.
He kept talking, taking her mind off the terrible situation they were in. He told her of his days at the Academy on Gallifrey, and the pet flubble he‟d kept hidden under the bed in his first year, just so he‟d have something to talk to – „A flubble? It‟s a bit like a koala, I suppose, only with a smaller nose - and six legs‟ - and how he was nearly caught when his pet came on heat and started singing her mating song.
He told her about his friends, and the time they put their teacher (who deserved it) into a time loop, so that he relived the same lesson over and over for a whole day, while they whooped it up in the city.
He explained how it was that he was able to stand in for an inflatable beach toy. „Two hearts wouldn‟t be much use without the respiratory system to go with them, now would they?
And there wouldn‟t be room for a second set of lungs. So we have an ancillary pulmonary system which can open up as necessary - channels parallel to the lymphatic circulation.
And that‟s what makes us buoyant. You might say that we‟re full of wind and... Well, perhaps not.‟
Her burst of laughter suddenly stopped at the top of a wave as she caught a glimpse of the ship. „Doctor! It‟s going away!
They‟re leaving us!‟
„Never!‟
But they were. On the next rise they saw it clearly. The Hallaton was half the size she had been when they‟d last looked.
That was when it started to get dark.
The Brigadier‟s mind was seething with anger - and with indecision. It had always seemed to him that as a defence
„But I was only obeying orders‟ was pretty dicey - not only when used by somebody guilty of horrendous war-crimes, but even when it was an excuse for not facing up to a difficult choice, like the one that faced Pete Andrews now. Equally well, it had to be admitted that he was in an impossible position.
On the one hand, the Skipper was as drunk as a skunk.
There was no question of that. He really wasn‟t fit to take such a decision, a decision that would mean two lives being lost.
On the other hand, he had the law on his side - not only Admiralty regulations but the immemorial law of the sea, which made the Captain of a ship an absolute monarch.
There was now no question, to turn back would endanger the ship.
Hogben had earlier been threatened with court martial; and he‟d crumbled. If Pete Andrews were to take command, he would inevitably face one himself, and that could mean the end of his career.
The Brigadier looked again at the CO, perched on the high stool that took the weight off the legs, but enabled the Officer of the Watch to see out. He was swaying with the ship, and his eyes were closing as his head nodded forward. If he passed out completely, then presumably the choice would be out of Andrews‟ hands. He‟d have to take command.
The First Lieutenant was standing alone at the far end of the bridge, lost in his own thoughts. What about the other officers? Bob and Chris were huddled over the chart, whispering together. It wouldn‟t be fair to involve them in this.
Right. There was only one thing to do. And the sooner the better. No way was he going to let his friends be drowned on the whim of an arrogant fool sodden with gin. He crossed behind the Cox‟n, near enough to the Captain to be heard without the rest of the bridge hearing.
„Excuse me...‟ he said.
Hogben half woke up, and looked at him as if he‟d never been introduced. „Wha‟?‟
A glance round. Nobody could hear him. He went really close. „Now, listen to me. I wouldn‟t want you to misunder-stand me. If you don‟t turn back... if you