Doctor Who_ The Sea-Devils - Malcolm Hulke [29]
Trenchard came back into his office. He found the Doctor alone, reading the office copy of HM Prison Regulations. ‘Where’s Miss Grant?’
The Doctor, closed the book. ‘Gone back to the Naval Base. Got bored here. Did you find your prisoner?’
‘Of course I did,’ rejoined Trenchard. ‘And now you’re going to see him for yourself.’ He called to the prison officer out in the hallway. ‘Take this gentleman down to see the prisoner, then report back here immediately.’
‘You’re not coming along, too?’ asked the Doctor.
‘I have something rather urgent to do first,’ said Trenchard. ‘I’ll see you later.’
The Doctor left with the prison officer. The moment the door was closed behind them, Trenchard Iifted the internal ’phone to speak to the gatehouse. Under no circumstances was Miss Grant to be allowed to leave the grounds—at least not until the Master had convinced the Doctor that what he and Trenchard were doing was in the best interests of national security.
The Doctor and the prison officer arrived at the door to the Master’s room.
‘Why is there no officer outside the prisoner’s door?’ asked the Doctor.
‘We do not discuss prison routines with visitors,’ replied his escort, as though repeating something he had learnt from an instruction book.
The Doctor didn’t press the matter. He waited while the officer put his key into the door’s lock, turned it, and then pushed the door open. The officer stood back to let the Doctor enter. He closed the door.
The Master, who was sitting back, reading, exclaimed, ‘My clear Doctor, two visits in two days. This is most touching.’
The Doctor got straight to the point. ‘Why did you steal those electronic spares from the Naval Base?’
The Master closed his book slowly. ‘At my trial, I made a clean breast of everything. I admitted to all the crimes I had ever committed—at least on this planet.’
‘I’m not talking about what you did before you were caught,’ snapped the Doctor. ‘I’m talking about what you were doing an hour ago.’
‘An hour ago?’ queried the Master switching on a convincing expression of genuine astonishment. ‘I’m a prisoner, locked in day and night, for the rest of my life.’
The Doctor got angry. ‘Stop play-acting! You’ve got that fool Trenchard under some sort of influence. What’s your game?’
Now the Master smiled. ‘My game, Doctor, is to solve the mystery of these vanishing ships. Do you realise how many good and honest sailors have been drowned off this coast in the last two months?’
‘I’ve got that matter in hand, thank you,’ said the Doctor. ‘I now know the cause, and I hope to find a solution.’
‘Except,’ said the Master, putting his hand under his book, ‘that you are not now going to be available.’ From beneath the volume he pulled out the prison officer’s gun. ‘Goodbye, Doctor.’ He levelled the gun at the Doctor’s head.
The Doctor allowed himself to fall to one side. As he fell he grabbed the leg of a little coffee table, and hurled it overarm at the Master. It hit him across the side of the face, sending him reeling backwards, the gun dropping from his hand. The Doctor jumped to his feet, looked down at the Master writhing in seeming agony, clutching the side of his head.
‘You’ve probably broken my cheek-bone,’ accused the Master.
‘You were only going to kill me.’
The Master stopped writhing, and seemed to be sliding into a faint. The Doctor moved in closer, to see what he could do to help. Suddenly, the Master sprang into life, picked up the gun again and aimed it at the Doctor’s chest. His finger was pressing back the trigger as Trenchard walked in.
‘What the hell’s going on?’ demanded Trenchard, staring at the extraordinary scene.
The Doctor could see that the Master was in two minds. He had only to pull the trigger and his only real enemy, the Doctor, would be dead. But how would he ever explain cold-blooded murder to his new friend, Trenchard?
The Master lowered the gun. ‘This man came in here to kill me,’ he told Trenchard. ‘He knocked out the officer guarding me and took his gun.’
‘Really?’ said the Doctor. ‘Did I do that?’ He looked round