Doctor Who_ Island of Death - Barry Letts [55]
„Stop both engines.‟
The trring-trring of the engine-room telegraphs answered Pete Andrews‟ order.
„Five and a half fathoms. Shelving rapidly, sir.‟
As the Hallaton ghosted forward, the new CO picked up the microphone of the Tannoy. „Stand by!‟
Bob Simkins, in charge of the party on the foredeck, raised a hand in acknowledgement of the order.
„Four fathoms.‟
Another engine order. „Slow astern together.‟
The twin screws took hold, the ship came to a stop, and as she gathered way astern, the order came.
„Drop anchor!‟
They had arrived at Stella Island. But where was the Skang?
„Maybe they‟ve anchored on the western side,‟ said Pete Andrews.
„Why on earth should they? No, this Whitbread creature has deliberately misled us. Let‟s get him up here and get the truth out of him! One way or another!‟
„No, no, Lethbridge-Stewart,‟ said the Doctor. „He wasn‟t lying. You could see that he was desperate. If that was acting it was the finest I‟ve seen since Garrick‟s Lear.‟
Pete Andrews, ignoring what must have been a joke, thought it time to bring a little sense into the discussion, which was becoming a touch heated. „I‟d say we have a choice.‟ He nodded towards the island, still shrouded in fog.
„We can either wait for it to clear, so that we can get a good look, or we can do a recce.‟
The Doctor nodded. „Absolutely. If you‟ll give me a boat, I‟ll go and have a look. If I can get a chance to talk to Dame Hilda again, we‟ll be in a position to assess the situation more accurately.‟
The Brigadier was listening with a frown. „I‟m sorry, Doctor.
I couldn‟t allow it. The situation is very different from the one in Bombay. Now they are out of the public eye, there‟s nothing to stop the aliens showing their hand. The last thing we want to do is to give them a hostage.‟
„And to wait would be to sacrifice the advantage of surprise,‟ he went on. „There‟s no reason to suppose that they could have been expecting us.‟
At least he was facing the facts, thought Andrews. „In that case, sir, I‟d suggest that there‟s only one thing we can do.
We go and have a look, but we make sure that we‟re ready for anything. Don‟t forget that my people have spent the last few years coping with some very dodgy characters. They won‟t run away from a bunch of lizards from outer space.‟
The Brigadier glanced at the Doctor, who gave a little shrug. He nodded to Pete. „Good man,‟ he said. „Thank you.‟
After much discussion, it was decided that the landing party would consist of two motor launches, each with a group of well-tried veterans, fully armed and ready for anything.
Pete Andrews suggested that, as non-combatants who might get in the way, the Doctor and Sarah should be left out of the first foray.
„For your own safety, you understand,‟ the Brigadier said.
„You‟re not leaving me behind,‟ said Sarah. „Not after what I‟ve been through to get here.‟
The Doctor soon put them right. He spoke quite gently, but even the First Lieutenant, well-used throughout his career in the Royal Navy to being blasted by his seniors, was taken aback.
Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart DSO MC always looked forward to a scrap.
As he stood on the upper bridge with his two companions, waiting for the word from the Commanding Officer to embark in the launch, his mind went back to his most memorable experiences in the last year of the war - in particular the engagements that had earned him his gongs.
From the frustrations of his job with UNIT - especially since he‟d teamed up with the Doctor, and encountered an extraordinary variety of unpleasant alien creatures, most of whom seemed to be impervious to bullets - he‟d learnt not to expect clean-cut military operations like those he‟d experienced in World War Two. No matter how horrible