Doctor Who_ Island of Death - Barry Letts [53]
And the human race would become nothing more than their cattle.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Alex Whitbread lay on his bunk in a state of utter despair.
Even on an everyday level he was in deep trouble. Although he hadn‟t been seen that morning, he had been placed under arrest, pending further investigation.
Nobody, it seemed, thought that the searchlight had fallen by accident. The target was obviously Sarah Jane Smith -
and it would be ludicrous to believe that any member of the ship‟s crew had suddenly turned into a homicidal maniac. So that left only the Brigadier, the Doctor and himself; and the other two had a perfect alibi, as they were being served their bacon and eggs at the very moment when Sarah screamed.
Every so often his whole bunk was shaken by his violent shivering as he recalled yet again that his last chance of getting rid of the journalist kid had gone.
How was it that she hadn‟t worked it out already? Or had she? The very fact that the Brigadier and the Doctor were going to all this trouble seemed to indicate that they knew that they were dealing with something far more serious than just a cult. If they confronted Mother Hilda with their suspicions, or perhaps their certain knowledge...
The rigor of desperation shook him once more.
...if Mother Hilda knew for sure that it was through him that their secret had been betrayed, he would be condemned forever to this state of half-existence, terminally cut off from his brothers and sisters of the Skang community, never again to be absorbed into the collective bliss.
He turned his face to the wall, to shut out the sight of the armed guard outside, and gave himself up to his misery.
„But why are you heading to the west instead of the south, Bob? Have you missed it?‟ Sarah stared down at the chart with its pencil line that showed their course making a right-angle, some way off to the east of the supposed position of Stella Island.
Chris, who was perched on the stool near the man at the wheel, apparently practising being the Officer of the Watch, laughed. „That‟s right. He‟s missed it. Can‟t get the staff these days.‟
„Take no notice of the lower orders,‟ said Bob. „I‟ve missed it on purpose.‟
„Eh?‟
„The island‟s position we‟ve been given may be way out. As far as we know, it‟s only been visited twice. If we aimed straight there and there was no sign of it, we‟d have no idea whether to turn to port or to starboard, to the east or to the west. Doing it like this, we‟ll know which area is the most likely for a box search.‟
It all sounded a bit hit or miss. „What about the radar?‟ she asked.
„Steam-driven. They wouldn‟t waste state-of-the-art on the likes of us. The poor old Hallaton can‟t see over the horizon any more than you can!‟
„Don‟t worry,‟ he went on. „According to the pilot book, we can get in on a high spring tide. Well, my love, you can‟t have anything higher than the equinoctial spring tides. Tomorrow is September the twentieth, the day before the equinox, when the day is as long as the night. With any luck, we‟ll be anchoring in the lagoon well before lunch.‟
„Are you suggesting that some sort of UFO full of these creatures has landed without anybody noticing? Don‟t you think we might have heard about it?‟
That had been Pete Andrews‟ first question, the evening before, once they got down to the nitty-gritty of planning their next step, and the atmosphere had become markedly more friendly.
„If the Skang make a habit of finding inhabited planets to colonise,‟ answered the Doctor, „they‟ll have long ago perfected a way of arriving without getting a headline in the Daily Mail.’
„Such as?‟ said the Brigadier.
„I have my own ideas on the subject, but I‟d hesitate to put them forward without more evidence. Just ask yourself this question: Why were the bodies that have been found those of young humans, rather than your local farmer‟s prize beef cattle?‟
This was greeted by a baffled silence.
„Well, why?‟ asked the Brigadier at last.
„Maybe we‟ll find that out tomorrow,‟ said the Doctor.