Doctor Who_ Island of Death - Barry Letts [89]
What would happen if they were too late to stop the Skang?
At last! The rattle of feet up the metal steps, and Bob Simkins‟ head popped up. „The landing parties are embarking now, sir.‟ He disappeared.
„About time,‟ muttered the Brig as he turned to go. „Come along Miss Smith. But remember, keep your head down, and don‟t get in the way.‟
Cheek! You‟d think he‟d know her better by now.
Her choking apprehension had vanished in a moment. She started to put down the borrowed binoculars. But she couldn‟t resist a last check.
A flash of white.
Oh no! A stream of long-robed figures nearing the top of the path! The teachers were going into the temple... and, yes, at the bottom there was a less orderly line of figures in the mixed bag of white clothing that showed them to be the queue of disciples, marshalled by the recognisable tall figures of the guards.
„Brig! I mean, Brigadier! Come back, it‟s too late!‟
„What?‟ He was back beside her in no time, almost snatching the binoculars from her hand.
After a quick look and a muffled exclamation (a Gaelic oath?), he turned and ran, literally ran, to the side of the bridge and leaned over.
„Andrews! Up here! At the double!‟
This was clearly not the way to address the Commanding Officer of one of Her Britannic Majesty‟s warships. Pete Andrews arrived as fast as the Brigadier wanted, but with the obvious intention of making this quite clear. „Who the devil do you think you‟re...?‟
„Yes, yes. Sorry and all that, but the landing‟s off!‟
„What?‟
„Take a look for yourself.‟
Andrews seized the glasses and raised them to his eyes.
There was a short pause, while he realised the implication of what he was seeing.
„Shit!‟ said the Commanding Officer of Her Majesty‟s Ship Hallaton.
„Exactly. There‟s only one thing for it. Bombardment.‟
Pete stared at him. „We‟re not a bloody battleship, man.
What sort of damage do you think we could do with a forty-millimetre Bofors?‟
The Brigadier was in full fighting mode, unstoppable. He had a job to do and he was going to do it no matter what, thought Sarah.
„With one of your missiles you could blast a hole in the Great Wall of China,‟ he said.
What? But they were just for show. Pete had said so himself.
„But we‟ve never even...‟
„I presume they‟ve been kept in good order? Do you know how to fire them?‟
„Are you suggesting that...?‟
„Good. These things might possibly be impervious to bullets, but half a hundredweight of high explosive... They‟ll wish they‟d stayed in outer space. We‟ll lob one into the crater and get rid of the lot of them in one go. Right?‟
„But... but that must be where the Doctor had gone. And she‟d told the Brigadier as much. Brig...!‟
„Not now, Miss Smith.‟
„But the Doctor!‟
He turned on her angrily, fiercely. „Whatever the cost! Isn‟t that what he said? What choice do we have?‟
He‟d already thought of it. And was still going ahead.
Dame Hilda‟s philosophical selfless equanimity seemed to have been severely dented by the current turn of events.
„Brother Alex has no idea what he‟s getting into, with this ridiculous coup,‟ she said to the Doctor, as agitated as any mother whose family was being led astray. „It was no accident that I became the “leader”. Horrid word. He might as well call himself “der Fuhrer”. It was to avoid anything of the sort that I set up the Skang cult - so that I could be the “Mother”.‟
„It‟s not just a job, a position to be handed over, or snatched. Once the web of interconnection has been established, it‟s sacrosanct.‟
This didn‟t make sense. Hadn‟t she said that the Skang had only one consciousness? Presumably they were all part of it...
„Surely he must be aware of that? If you share a consciousness...‟
„No. Unfortunately. Our connection with the Great Skang is limited. As I told you, our existence on Earth is mediated through our human neurological structure. His being highly intelligent doesn‟t mean that the original Alex Whitbread wasn‟t stupid. If he hadn