Doctor Who_ The Green Death - Malcolm Hulke [19]
Jo and Bert paused in their trudge along the mine.
‘Do you really think you’re going to find this old shaft?’ she asked.
Bert wiped the sweat from his brow. ‘I don’t know. Let’s take a breather.’
They both sank down, sitting on the floor with their backs to the wall.
‘Did you ever think of becoming anything else?’ Jo asked.
‘Than a miner?’ Bert gave a short laugh. ‘Oh yes, I thought about becoming a film star, or winning the football pools. Every man thinks about it, but not many actually do it.’
‘But it seems so dangerous,’ Jo said. ‘And such a terrible place to work.’
‘Think we’re simple-minded, do you?’ There was a gentle smile in his voice as he put the question.
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ she answered. ‘But... well, why do people become miners?’
‘You don’t get much choice,’ he said simply. ‘There’s some people get born in Buckingham Palace, and they becomes kings and queens, because that’s the family occupation. Us, we get born in a place like Llanfairfach, where our fathers and uncles all go down the pit. When you’re old enough you go down too, to show the world you’re a man. Daft, isn’t it?’
‘Not really,’ she said. ‘Someone has to get the coal.’
‘That’s true.’ He was quiet for a moment. ‘There’s more to it than that, miss. When you’re a miner you are part of one big family, and that’s a wonderful feeling. Every man in the pits knows his life depends on the other men. We live together, we die together, and’—he grinned broadly—‘by goodness if the people up top don’t treat us right, we go on strike together!’
‘It’s really like being a member of another nation,’ she said.
Bert got to his feet. ‘That’s exactly how it is, miss. There’s us down here, and there’s them up there.’ He stopped, and looked back the way they had come. ‘And there’s poor Dai where we left him, probably dead by now.’ He turned back to Jo. ‘Well, let’s see if we can find our way out of here, is it?’
Jo got up, and they continued to trudge down the long black gallery of the mine.
‘Who are you?’
Dr Stevens, flanked by Hinks and security guards, stared at the Doctor through the metal grille. Some little distance away Mark Elgin stood watching.
‘Most people call me the Doctor. And may I ask who you are, sir?’
‘My name is Stevens—Dr Stevens. I am the Director of this project.’
‘Delighted to meet you.’ The Doctor was about to put his hand through the grille to shake hands with his captor, when he realised it might be electrified. He withdrew quickly.
‘Now that you know who I am,’ continued Dr Stevens, ‘perhaps you would care to elaborate about yourself?’
‘I am attached to UNIT as a scientific adviser,’ said the Doctor. ‘Does that clarify the situation?’
Dr Stevens smiled. ‘Of course, the errant Doctor. We’ve been hoping you’d arrive, although not quite like this. Do you normally break into private property, especially when you’d be more than welcome arriving at the front door?’
‘I do very little normally ,’ said the Doctor, ‘unless that is the quickest way to go about things. In this instance, an abnormal approach seemed more fitting. We urgently need cable-cutting equipment at the mine. You refused to give it. Yet my information is that it is stored in that shed over there.’
‘May I ask where you got this information?’ said Dr Stevens.
‘From someone to whom you loaned the equipment only recently,’ replied the Doctor.
‘Well,’ said Dr Stevens, ‘we certainly did have that kind of equipment here. But not now. It’s all been returned to our main stores in another part of the country. But to put your mind at rest, let us investigate.’
He pressed a button on the wall and the metal grille slid out of the way. Without a word Dr Stevens, accompanied by Hinks, crossed a concrete area to the equipment shed. Dr Stevens nodded and Hinks produced a key and unlocked the doors. The shed was completely empty.
‘You see?’ said Dr Stevens.
‘It seems I’ve been misinformed,’ said the