Doctor Who_ The Sea-Devils - Malcolm Hulke [34]
Captain Hart nodded, and said he’d send someone along to collect the Jeep. Then he got into his car and drove away.
Trenchard hurried back into his office and issued orders for the Master to be brought back to him. He could have had the Master returned to his own room, and then gone to see him there. But it gave Trenchard confidence to talk to people in his own office. Recent events had undermined his self-confidence quite enough, and he intended to build it up again. When the Master entered he was still carrying the black box.
‘I convinced him,’ said Trenchard, jubilantly. He had no intention of mentioning the Jeep to the Master, in case the Master was angry with him for not hiding it somewhere.
‘Congratulations,’ said the Master. ‘I hope that I played my part satisfactorily?’
‘What? Oh, yes, first-class performance, except that you didn’t have to do anything but sit still reading.’ Trenchard went on. ‘I had to do all the talking.’
‘Which I’m sure you did very well,’ said the Master. ‘Now I’d better get back to completing this device.’ He tapped the black box with his Iong slender fingers.
‘How long before you can have that thing working?’ asked Trenchard.
The Master shrugged. ‘A matter of hours. Only a few more problems to solve.’
‘And you’re sure it’ll do the trick?’
‘This,’ said the Master proudly, ‘will emit a signal exactly on the enemy’s wavelength. It will lure them into a trap, which you will set. Think of it, Trenchard, the agents who are sinking these ships will be caught! A grateful country will give you anything you ask for.’
Trenchard blushed. ‘I don’t want any reward, old man. Just doing my duty. Tell me, have you finished with the Doctor?’
‘Not yet;’ said the Master. ‘He’s going to help me complete my work.’
‘Good,’ said Trenchard, feeling that everything was beginning to turn out all right now. ‘Well, I’d better get one of my prison office chappies to escort you back to your room—just for appearances!’ He lifted the internal ’phone to call for an officer.
The guard came to take the Master away—and to a surprise that was lying in store for him.
Jo was not far away when Prison Officer Snellgrove turned and saw the naval jeep empty. She had calculated that the nearest place to hide—the bushes and foliage running along the main outside wall—was too far for her to sprint in the time that Snellgrove was facing Prison Officer Crawley. So she had got out of the Jeep, crawled beneath it and lain flat. From there she heard the two prison officers shouting angrily at each other. She could see Crawley’s feet as he hurried back inside the gatehouse to raise the alarm, and Snellgrove’s feet as he wandered about aimlessly in circles presumably looking for her in all directions. Then she saw the wheels of the Minimoke come from the direction of the gatehouse.
Crawley’s voice called, ‘Come on, we’ll drive around and find her.’
Snellgrove’s voice, close to the Jeep, called back, ‘What about this thing?’ He must have meant the Jeep, which was standing across the main driveway.
‘Leave it,’ called Crawley.
Snellgrove’s feet ran towards the Minimoke. He got in and the two prison officers drove away. Jo waited a full minute, then crawled out from under the Jeep and raced towards the foliage. Her first thought was to get back to the Naval Base, and she ran along the inside of the electrified fence that ran parallel with the wall. It soon became clear there was no escape this way. She stopped to catch her breath. If there was no way out of the grounds, was there some way into the château? Once in there she might find a telephone without a lock on it, or she might be able to break a lock. By a series of quick sprints from one tree or bush to another, she covered the distance from the perimeter to the walls of the château. Suddenly she heard voices of approaching men. She found a little outhouse to hide in and from her hiding place she saw Crawley and Snellgrove and six other prison officers, all carrying shotguns.
‘She’ll try for the wall,’ Crawley was shouting.
One of the other officers asked, ‘What if she