Doctor Who_ The Doomsday Weapon - Malcolm Hulke [28]
' Your buggy monitored on radar going away from, I repeat away from, colonist,' dome, ' Dent's voice said. ' What are you doing, First Officer Morgan? '
Morgan looked at the Doctor, smiled and shrugged. ' Just trying to help our guest, Captain, ' he said. ' He wanted a ride. '
Dent's voice replied, ' We are not in the joyride business, Morgan. Rectify immediately. '
' Yes, sir, ' said Morgan into the radio. ' Message understood. ' He returned the radio to his pocket. 'I'm sorry about that, sir, but we've got to go back.'
'I understand,' said the Doctor.
Morgan steered the buggy into a wide U-turn, then slowly headed back the way they had come. They passed the starting point of the drag marks, then mounted the first hill which the Doctor and Jo had climbed on their arrival on the planet, and slowly went down the other side. Morgan said, 'Doesn't this take us near where those poor people were killed?'
'It's in a straight line from here,' said the Donor, 'just over another couple of hills.'
Morgan said nothing as they rode over the next two hills. Then the Leeson' dome was in the little valley before them. 'That the place?' asked Morgan. The Doctor nodded. 'I wouldn't mind taking a look at the damage those creatures caused,' said Morgan. 'Mind if we stop off for a minute?'
Morgan halted the buggy outside the little dome, dismounted and stood and stared at the front of the dome. The Doctor remained seated on the buggy. Morgan turned and asked, 'Where did they find them?'
'You can see blood stains over there,' said the Doctor, pointing. 'The woman was found inside.'
'Is it safe to go in?' asked Morgan.
'I imagine so,' said the Doctor who, filled with suspicion, was secretly very much on the alert, and was intrigued to see how Morgan was going to get him to get off the buggy and go into the dome. 'Why not take a look?'
'Won't you come with me?' asked Morgan. 'I'd like to know exactly what happened.'
The Doctor felt Morgan was just too pathetic to play with any more. He got down from the buggy. 'Certainly I'll come with you.' He strode into the dome, and Morgan followed. 'What is it you want to know?'
Morgan stood surveying the damage, in apparent awe. 'Where was the woman found?'
The Doctor pointed. 'There.'
Morgan inspected the wrecked kitchen table. 'These claw mark look fearsome.'
'Yes, indeed,' said the Doctor. 'It was all very efficiently done.'
'What do you mean?' said Morgan.
'I think the whole thing was faked,' said the Doctor, 'by someone who want to frighten the colonists away.'
'You mean someone made these claw marks in the furniture?' asked Morgan, still pretending not to understand.
'Yes,' said the Doctor. 'With some mechanical device.'
Morgan took from another pocket a little control unit, a replica of the one with which Caldwell had controlled the robot. 'You mean something like this?' he asked, and pressed one of the controls.
The robot entered through the hole in the wall, its arms extended forward towards the Doctor. But now the metal hands had been replaced by big metal claws. Morgan pressed another control, and the robot stopped. With his free hand, Morgan pulled a small handgun from his trouser pocket, then backed to the main entrance, cutting off the Doctor's escape.
'I wondered why we had all that charade about looking for my last equipment,' said the Doctor. 'Of course your accomplices needed time to get the robot in position behind this dome.'
'That's tight,' said Morgan. 'When Captain Dent radio'd me to say he'd picked on up on radar, that really meant Charlie was in position far the kill.' He paused, and licked his dry lips. 'I'm sorry about this, sir, really sorry. I hope you realise there's nothing personal.' He pressed a button on the remote-control,