Doctor Who_ Island of Death - Barry Letts [52]
„Ah. See what you mean,‟ he went on after a moment, with a glance at Sarah.
Sarah suddenly got the point as well. „If it wasn‟t an accident at all, then...‟
„Oh God!‟ she said, and sat down. There was only one person on board who could want her dead.
„I can‟t conceive of any motive that would make any member of my crew wish to harm Sarah,‟ went on Andrews.
„So one of you must be responsible. The question is, which one? And why?‟
The Doctor started to speak, but the First Lieutenant held up a hand to stop him and went straight on, in a grim, official way that made his anger very apparent. „I have of course made a signal to London, and they‟ve confirmed my position as acting Commanding Officer. I reported my view of the matter, and I fully expected to be ordered to return forthwith for a full investigation. Instead, I was informed that the original orders would stand, and that we were to place the ship, and the ship‟s company, entirely at your disposal, Brigadier.‟
„This is a warship. We have been on active service in the South China Seas. We have a full complement of gunnery, and four surface-to-surface missiles, which, thank God, we have never had to use. We‟re ready for anything you can ask of us.‟
„But I have to tell you that I have no intention of putting my people at risk without knowing exactly what‟s going on -‟
The Brigadier started to speak, but Andrews held up his hand to stop him. He hadn‟t finished.
„And I wish to make it perfectly clear that I consider it not only discourteous but dangerous in the extreme that I have been kept in the dark up to this point.‟
Sarah could hardly blame him for feeling cross. In spite of the fact that he‟d been second-in-command, he‟d had the responsibility of running the ship. From what she‟d gathered, nobody else had been told because the Captain had insisted.
Typical of the sort of man he‟d been. Basically incompetent, and frightened of giving away his authority in case he was found out.
Even after Pete had had a look at the photograph that started the whole thing, he took a lot of convincing. And why not? Even though Sarah knew the whole story already, she found it difficult to believe that it was not only the two hundred cult members who were in danger but the entire population of the world.
Even the Brigadier, it seemed, shared their doubts. „The bodies on Hampstead Heath are evidence that we‟re dealing with something quite alien, certainly,‟ he said to the Doctor,
„and the photograph bears out your hypothesis that this Skang creature is probably responsible, and I suppose there must be a number of them, but...‟
The Doctor, obviously irritated, interrupted him. „If this were a simple incursion onto this planet of a bunch of predatory aliens, using humans as food, the pattern of events would be quite different. To start with, there would be reports of many many more similar deaths.‟
„Even if they had managed to get control of a group of humans to protect them, as it seems this lot has, they would use them merely as a cover. Ask yourselves this question?
Given what we know, why should they go to all the trouble of transporting so many of their potential victims thousands of miles away from the prying eyes of the world?‟
„It would seem that there is going to be a mass slaughter of the cult members. And what then? The creatures will have no further food. Isn‟t that right?‟
What on earth was he getting at? thought Sarah.
„I am convinced that what we are seeing is merely an advance guard - a scouting party. If we are concerned for the lives of a hundred and eighty-eight poor deluded fools...‟
Trust the Doctor to know the exact number!
„...because of a mere twenty or so Skangs, what would we be looking at if there were thousands or even millions of them on the planet?‟
It made sense, what he was saying. There was no logical reason for the trip to Stella Island. He must be right. Unless they could stop it happening, the Earth would be