Doctor Who_ The Ice Warriors - Brian Hayles [49]
‘Do not attempt to trick me,’ rasped the Martian. ‘I know that you are afraid its heat will explode my ship. If you make one false move...’ he placed his sonic destructor at Jan’s head ‘... you will be the first to die!’
Clent stepped forward to defend Jan. Varga’s gun swung in his direction. He strove to hide his fear. ‘Miss Garrett is the only person who is qualified to disconnect the Ioniser safely! If you kill her—’
Varga moved closer to the Leader. ‘And what exactly do you do here?’ he asked softly. A little of Clent’s old dignity returned. ‘I am in charge of this establishment, with the official rank of Leader.’
The Martian coughed out his menacing laugh, and placed the sonic weapon at Clent’s ear. ‘Then you have less value to me than your colleague, who has more valuable skills.’ The warlord looked at Jan, her eyes showed her fear.
‘To kill this man, your Leader,’ he hissed, ‘would be no loss to me. Do you wish to see him die?’
‘No!’ cried Jan. ‘Please!’
‘Then do as I say! Close down the machine as quickly as is safely possible!’ Varga brutally thrust the sonic weapon against Clent’s cheek, making him howl with pain. ‘Or your Leader will be destroyed!’
Zondal had been so effected by the toxic gas that he was likely, to remain in a deep coma for hours. Victoria kept glancing at the sprawled, massive body nervously—but the Doctor was wholly concentrating on adapting the intricate mechanism of the sonic cannon’s control panel to a purpose all his own.
‘But what is it you’re trying to do?’ asked Victoria.
‘It’s a bit difficult to explain, Victoria,’ replied the Doctor, without pausing. ‘You see, this weapon works on the basis that sound waves cause the objects in their path to reverberate.’
‘The objects vibrate in sympathy,’ nodded Victoria. ‘I know. Father told me about it once.’
The Doctor frowned at a particularly involved piece of circuitry, then carried on. ‘Well, if you can produce an un sympathetic vibration, severe damage results...’
‘Damage?’ asked Victoria, then added brightly, ‘Like when a singer hits a note that breaks glass?’
‘That’s it—only the Ice Warriors make it happen to the neural and cell systems of the human body. My plan is to change the frequency of this gun’s pulse rate so that it affects the Martians, and not us—to frequency seven, I think.’
‘Frequency seven? What will that do?’
‘Primarily, it affects liquids. And I’ve got a theory that the Martians’ cells contain a much larger fluid content than ours.’ He stood back, apparently satisfied, then rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
‘But you’re not sure.’ Her eyes widened in alarm.
The Doctor nodded soberly. ‘There are bound to be side-effects,’ he agreed, ‘but the warriors should get the worst of it. You see, their helmets will trap and intensify the sound waves—in fact I’m banking on that!’
‘You mean it’ll knock the Martians out,’ asked Victoria tentatively, ‘but just leave the scientists a bit dizzy?’
The Doctor carefully replaced the casing of the control panel. Victoria could tell from his face and the hesitation in his reply that he wasn’t at all happy. ‘Or can something go wrong?’ she demanded.
He looked her straight in the eyes, and gave her an honest answer. ‘Human brain cells also contain a high percentage of liquid. Unless I’m very careful, the effect on our friends could be fatal.’
Jan stepped back from the Ioniser controls, her face bitter with defeat. ‘It’s done—operating at minimal status.’
She looked at Clent—but found no response there. It was as though he was in a world of his own. ‘The ice is already advancing.’ She pointed to the chart. Varga wasn’t interested in the glacier.
‘Disconnect the machine totally!’ he barked.
With no alternative but to do as he commanded. Jan opened the power connector and the machine died. Its pitch sank to a feeble drone.
‘Now the reactor!’ ordered the warlord.
‘Not until all residual power has drained off!’ replied Jan sternly. ‘You know