Doctor Who_ Island of Death - Barry Letts [46]
They‟d been searching now for nearly five and a half hours.
They hadn‟t a chance of finding them, he thought grimly, as he gladly relinquished the thing.
But then, a shout. „There they are! Green four five!‟
It was the signalman, Rogers, who was at the starboard light. Immediately, the other two lights swung around to focus as best they could on the same area. The Brigadier and the two officers crowded round Rogers, straining to see as the ship yawed and rolled, and the waves appeared and disappeared in the uncertain beams.
„It‟s not them,‟ the Brigadier said heavily, as they caught a glimpse.
„Sorry, sir,‟ said the signalman. „You‟re right. It‟s them dolphins back again.‟
„Not dolphins, Rogers,‟ said Bob, who was doing his best to check on the sighting through his binoculars. „It‟s a school of whales... and... good God!‟
„What is it, man?‟
„Have a look for yourself!‟ He was laughing in sheer pleasure and relief.
„We were waving like mad and shouting as loud as we could, and it looked as if you were going to sail straight past us!‟
said Sarah, who was wrapped in a woolly blanket, and clutching a glass of hot rum toddy. Her voice was still somewhat shaky.
The three of them were sitting in the wardroom. It was well past midnight, but nobody felt like going to bed yet. The rolling of the ship was by now comparatively gentle, and it was good just to sit and luxuriate in a cocoon of comfort and relief.
The Doctor, looking far from his usual dapper self in Chris‟s heavy schoolboy-checked dressing gown, lifted his glass to the Brigadier, as if in a toast. „Thanks,‟ he said.
The Brigadier harrumphed and took a sip of his dram. He wouldn‟t have told them about his decisive intervention, but, thanks to the Cox‟n, the story of his knockout blow was now known throughout the Hallaton (to the glee of the entire ship‟s company), and Bob had, off the record, passed it onto the Doctor and Sarah.
He took another sip of whisky. No wonder she was still shaking, he thought. Bad enough to have nearly been drowned. But those great things - twenty feet long if they were an inch - were killers. The Doctor had said so. And the way they tossed their passengers onto the scrambling nets with their noses must have been the last straw.
He said as much.
„Natural to them,‟ said the Doctor. „It‟s the way they play with the small seals, tossing them in the air and catching them.‟
„Before they eat them?‟ said Sarah, wide-eyed with horror.
„Of course.‟
„But that‟s horrible!‟
„No different from the way your pussy cat plays with a mouse.‟
„I haven‟t got a cat,‟ said Sarah, still unhappy.
The Doctor put down his glass. He sat down next to her.
„You‟re bound to be upset,‟ he said. „But they‟re only being themselves. We must just thank the quirk of evolution that seems to make them friendly to humans. But, yes, they‟re carnivorous animals. They eat seals, and penguins - even porpoises - and fish of course.‟ He paused a moment and then went on, „I seem to remember someone who thoroughly enjoyed eating a lump of minced buffalo.‟
Sarah grinned ruefully. Take no notice of me. I‟m a silly ungrateful mare. I‟m just being childish.‟
„And what‟s wrong with that?‟ said the Doctor.
How much longer will it take us, do you reckon,‟ asked Sarah.
Like the Doctor and the Brigadier, Sarah had been officially invited to come onto the bridge whenever she cared to. But in practice this meant only about half the time - whenever the CO was off duty. He never told her to leave, but his manner to her was always so cold - and she found it so embarrassing when he shouted and swore at the crew - that she confined her visits to those times when either Pete Andrews or Bob Simkins was Officer of the Watch and in charge of the ship.
„How much longer? That‟s difficult to say exactly,‟ answered Bob, who‟d just put their noon position on the chart. „We lost about two hundred miles yesterday, what with one thing and another.