Doctor Who_ The Doomsday Weapon - Malcolm Hulke [52]
'No!' shouted Ashe. 'That's plain murder!'
But Dent had had no real intention of shooting the man. Slowly he lowered his gun. 'Why should I waste a single bullet, when you'll all soon be in that rickety old spaceship of yours, and die together?'
20 The Doomsday Weapon
Caldwell and Morgan walked well away from the scarlet spaceship, then both lay down flat on the ground to avoid the blast. They had tried battering on the hatch of the spaceship, but there had been no response from inside. Then they had tried to break it open with long-handled hatchets, but the hatchets had broken. Now Caldwell had smeared plastic explosive all round the hatch.
'If this doesn't do it,' said Caldwell , 'nothing will. Here goes.' He pressed the button of the remote-control detonator. There was a violent flash of flame, followed by the roar of the explosion. Both men got up and walked back to where the smoke was clearing.
'I hear you checked over the colonists' spaceship for them,' said Morgan.
Caldwell nodded. 'The least I could do.'
'Do they stand a chance?' asked Morgan.
'If they can ever get into free flight,' said Caldwell . 'But the whole thing's more likely to blow itself to pieces during take-off.'
'Then I'll stand well clear,' said Morgan, and laughed.
'You really hate colonists, don't you?' said Caldwell .
'I hate misfits,' said Morgan. Tlrcy were now at the spaceship's hatch. The explosives hadn't even made a mark on the surface. 'I can't believe it,' said Morgan. 'Your sure you used real explosives?'
But Caldwell was staring at the key on the ground by his foot, and now picked it up. 'Why should anyone leave this lying around?' he said, and tried it in the lock. It turned easily, and Caldwell opened the door. Morgan went in first, then stopped dead.
'The size of this place,' said Morgan in wonder. He shook his head, as though uncertain whether he was imagining things. 'It's bigger inside than out!'
Caldwell had already seen Jo standing up in the glass box, waving frantically. He hurried across to her, walking straight through the beam of the burglar alarm.
The Doctor and the Master had reached the end of the trail that led to the Primitives' underground city. The Master stared at the face of rock. 'Well,' he said, 'how do we get in?'
'I haven't the remotest idea,' said the Doctor truthfully.
'Come now, Doctor,' said the Master, effecting his most charming smile, 'we haven't come all this way just to look at a face of rock? Show me how this rock opens.'
'I think it's keyed by thought waves,' said the Doctor. 'But I've no idea how to do it. Perhaps you should have considered this possibility before you insisted on my coming with you
The Master's smile was fast fading. 'Is there some other way in?'
'Very likely,' said the Doctor, 'but I don't know that either.'
'You're hardly being helpful, Doctor.' The Master tapped the pocket containing the little black box. 'I only have to touch the red button and Miss Grant will be dead within a few seconds...'
And at that moment the bleep-bleep sound came from the black box. Puzzled, the Master reached into his pocket, brought out the little box and opened its flap.
On the miniature television screen he saw Caldwell breaking open the glass cubicle containing Jo. In sudden anger the Master put his finger on the red button. But at that moment the Doctor took advantage of the Master's distraction. With a high kick, he sent the little black box flying out of the Master's hand. With one hand stinging from the kick, the Master leapt backwards and at the same time whipped out his handgun. But the Doctor had anticipated this, and flung himself at the Master's legs. The two of them fell to the ground, the Doctor struggling to gain possession of the gun. All at once the gun was lifted from the Master's hand by the hand of a Primitive. The