Doctor Who_ Island of Death - Barry Letts [73]
„The small launch has gone, and both their cabins are empty. I checked. Shall I send someone across to chase them up?‟
Bob groaned. „The good Lord protect me from the clever clogs of this world. You‟d think he‟d know better... No. We‟ll leave it as late as possible. He‟s aware that we‟re sailing on the tide.‟
„Aye, aye, sir.‟
„Better tell the Brigadier, though.‟
„Wake him up, sir?‟
„If necessary.‟
Rather you than me, thought Chris, mopping up his egg yolk with a bit of toast.
It made a sort of sense, thought Sarah, as she hastily wound her uncomfortable way back through the jungle. That would be why Alex Whitbread was so keen to get back. He was cut off from his own kind. He must have been left in Bombay by mistake.
And the way he‟d reacted when she‟d tried to take his photograph in London - presumably it would have shown him as he really was.
But of course! That‟s exactly what had happened! The Polaroid she‟d managed to snatch through the curtain was a shot of Brother Alex without his disguise - if that‟s what you‟d call it.
„You mean the Skang are shape-shifters?‟ she‟d said, after she‟d recovered from the initial shock of the Doctor‟s revelation.
In some of the tales with which the Doctor had whiled away their previous tedious trips through the Time Vortex, he had told her of his various encounters with those strange beings who could change their shape as readily as the chameleon its colour. For that matter, he‟d told her, the TARDIS herself should have been an automated equivalent, if only one of her circuits hadn‟t given up the ghost - just as the relativity circuit had.
„Shape-shifters? Well... Like so many questions, the answer has to be yes and no.‟ He‟d spoken impatiently, urgently.
„This is something different. But we haven‟t got time to go into it now. You must get back to the ship as fast as you can and tell the Brigadier that things are about to come to a head. It‟s time for action. He must remount his raiding party
- but double it in size - treble it. Every available man! It may be hopeless. After all, we have no idea what powers these aliens have. But we can‟t wait to find out.‟
„Show him your photos and tell him what we‟ve discovered.
Everything. Tell him that I was right. The future of the human race does lie in our hands... and not at some time in the future. Now!‟
„But... but I don‟t know everything. I mean, what do you think is going to happen?‟
It couldn‟t be more clear. There‟s going to be a mass ingurgitation.‟
„A what?‟
„The disciples are going to get their reward all right. By the end of today there‟ll be nothing left inside their skins but their bones.‟
Jeremy! And all of those poor kids!
„But that‟s not the worst of it. I‟m convinced that this is only an advance party. If the Skang manage this successfully, there won‟t be just twenty of them, there‟ll be thousands; and by then it‟ll be too late. They mustn‟t even start this “reward ceremony”. You must make Lethbridge-Stewart understand that. He must do whatever is necessary to prevent it - whatever the cost. Now, go!‟
„But what are you going to do?‟
„Me? I‟m going up to try to stop them myself.‟
Of course he was.
Alex hadn‟t expected to find Brother Dafydd exulting in their success to the same extent that he was. But he was a little surprised to find Dafydd lying curled up on his bed, hugging himself to still the shaking in his body. If he turned up at the council hearing in that state, it wouldn‟t take long before the whole story came out.
„Dafydd,‟ he said quietly, so as not to startle him.
Nevertheless, he gave a convulsive jump, and a twist to see who‟d come up on him so silently. „Oh, it‟s you,‟ he said with a gulp.
Alex sat down on the end of the bed. „I‟ve come to say thank you. I felt in my bones that I could trust you, and you‟ve proved me right.‟
Brother Dafydd shuddered. „I was okay until I heard that scream.‟
Alex nodded. „I was afraid it might catch somebody‟s attention too. Evidently not.‟
Dafydd sat up. „No, no, I mean that I...‟
Alex‟s voice hardened. „If you feel that you‟ve soiled your