Doctor Who_ The Ice Warriors - Brian Hayles [18]
‘I couldn’t stop him. He packs a punch like a charging bull!’
‘Victoria,’ demanded the Doctor, ‘where is she? Is she all right?’
Jamie looked at him, sober-faced, and shook his head miserably. ‘I don’t know,’ he muttered. ‘He took her with him!’
With Clent leading the way, it was only a matter of minutes before the group arrived at the laboratory. The scene spoke for itself: the trolley, empty but for a mass of crushed ice, the shattered power pack, and the overturned vibrochair.
The Ice Warrior’s past had erupted into the present. Jamie, still dazed, sat down. While the others talked, the Doctor examined the trolley and the electrodes that had once been attached to the great ice block.
‘There’s something very strange about this,’ he remarked.
Clent, utterly bewildered, was questioning Jamie. ‘But what did you do to make it happen?’
‘How do I know? We were just talking, and then I turned, and there he was—standing right over me!’
‘It’s impossible,’ insisted Arden.
‘For a human being, perhaps...’ said the Doctor, mysteriously.
Clent stared at him, uncomprehending.
‘Look at this table,’ the Doctor pointed to its surface. It was cracked and bubbled—as though scorched by fire.
‘But that would take immense heat!’ exclaimed Cletrc.
‘The electricity—’ offered Jamie.
Arden rejected this. ‘I used a low voltage, deliberately!’
‘But a high current, I believe,’ pointed out the Doctor.
‘Yes... but it was safe—there was no fire risk!’ retorted the geologist.
‘It isn’t necessarily a question of actual fire,’ explained the Doctor. ‘Suppose that current flowed through a high resistance. What would be the result?’
‘Extremely high temperatures,’ replied Jan. ‘You mean, that thing...’
‘I said it wasn’t human. didn’t I?’ the Doctor reminded her. ‘In my opinion, the sudden build-up of heat shocked him back into neural activity.’
‘And what about Victoria?’ demanded Jamie, clear-headed and alert once more. ‘What can we do to save her?’
A surge of guilt flowed over the Doctor’s mind. He faced Jamie tensely, the scientific problem forgotten.
‘You’re right, Jamie. We’ve got to find her! They couldn’t have got far!’
Clent, too, had reacted sharply to the reminder that an undesirable alien menace was loose within the Base complex; less important was its helpless hostage. He moved quickly to the video-communicator.
‘Danger. Red alert!’ he snapped to all channels within the Base. ‘Intruders within Base perimeter. Capture and control—priority one!’
But Jamie wasn’t impressed. ‘What good’s that? Suppose they’re already out of it? We’ve got to go after them—now!’
‘My dear chap, I’m very sorry, but we’re down to emergency personnel only. I cannot release men to go wandering off outside this Base. It’d be madness!’
‘But the girl’s life may be at stake!’ added the Doctor.
‘You have to make a search party available!’
Jan Garrett saw Clent’s mouth tighten stubbornly. No matter how much the Doctor argued, the Leader had made up his mind. But there was one possible way out.
‘Leader Clent,’ she suggested calmly, ‘we must inform the computer.’ She paused, knowing he had to agree, then went on, ‘It could soon tell us whether it is possible to reallocate the work schedule to release a rescue party.’
The others watched tensely as Clent considered Jan’s shrewd suggestion. He reluctantly nodded his head. ‘Very well, we will put it to the computer...’
Unknown to Clent and the Doctor, Victoria was being held prisoner only a hundred yards away. At the first sound of the security alarm, the Ice Warrior had entered the nearest convenient bolt hole—a medical store room.
Victoria had still been unconscious when they had taken cover. Coming round now, she had no idea where she was. All that she could see from the corner where she lay huddled, was the gigantic form of the lee Warrior. He was standing by the door, listening intently. The distant alarm call stopped abruptly. Seemingly satisfied, the creature now turned towards Victoria—and she saw his cruel face clearly for the first