Doctor Who_ The Devil Goblins From Neptune - Keith Topping [97]
'Codeword.' Starlight.' he said as the doors were opened.
Inside was an enormous room the size of an aircraft hangar. A number of glass-fronted isolation chambers were positioned against the walls. In the centre of the room was, quite obviously, a flying saucer.
'It's comforting to know that all of the bozos who claimed to've seen stuff like this were actually telling the truth,' said Control, pointing towards the spacecraft. 'You want to see what's inside this baby? It'll freak you out.'
The Brigadier nodded, and followed Control about thirty feet up a ramp and into the craft.
It was dark inside, though there was some illumination from a flickering panel directly in front of the entrance. There didn't appear to be any windows.
'How do they navigate?' asked the Brigadier.
'Good question. It took us fifteen years to work that out.
Watch this.' Control placed his left palm on the flashing panel.
The light illuminated his face, first green, then red. 'They seem to perceive colour in much the same way that we do.'
explained Control. 'In many ways we're very similar. They even speak pretty good English.' He had his eyes tightly closed. After a moment light filled the interior of the craft, sharpening to blinding brilliance within seconds. The Brigadier covered his eyes with his hands, shutting out the sudden sunburst.
'Sorry about that. Should have warned you - it's a hell of a surprise the first time.'
Not quite as much a surprise as what had happened to the craft. The walls had completely disappeared. The Brigadier and Control were suspended thirty feet off the ground. White-coated technicians continued their work, oblivious to the miracle taking place above them. To the Brigadier it seemed as though they were in a glass bubble suspended above the floor of the hangar. He stood in silence for a moment, his jaw dropping by degrees.
'Bit of a trip, huh?' asked Control. 'They fly through space like this at thirty times the speed of sound. We still haven't quite worked out the mathematics of it, but it's a great party trick!'
'How's it done?' asked the Brigadier.
'Exterior images are fed directly to the brain of the occupants by sensors in the fuselage. The craft doesn't literally disappear.' it just seems to from our perspective.
Pretty clever, huh?'
Ingenious.' agreed the Brigadier.
'Well, it sure beats having a sunroof,' said Control, removing his hand from the panel. The solid walls and floors formed around them again.
'When may I see these creatures?' asked the Brigadier.
'Right away if you want to, but I warn you, they're a big disappointment.'
Rose and Trainor finally arrived in Las Vegas after three changes of aeroplane, several hours late. The professor had taken the misfortunes they had encountered with a stoic acceptance. Rose, on the other hand, was furious, his temper threatening to boil over as he strode through the terminal.
'Incompetent, bungling morons.' muttered the viscount.
'I'm sure they didn't deliberately set out to delay us.' said Trainor, reasonably.
Fortunately, I have no such doubts,' snarled Rose. 'This heap of junk is ours, I take it?' he continued as they came to a halt beside it gleaming black chauffeur-driven Cadillac.
'I've never been in a car with air-conditioning before.' said Trainor, grateful to be out of the early-afternoon sun. Rose snorted in contempt.
They sat in virtual silence as the car took them deep into the Nevada desert north-west of Las Vegas. Mile after mile of nothing but sand and red rock, broken only by an occasional clump of sorry-looking vegetation.
Finally, Trainor could stand the tension no longer. 'Just where are we going?' he asked.
'We have been given a final task to perform,' said Rose enigmatically. 'Your technical expertise is needed to - how can I put this?