Doctor Who_ The Sea-Devils - Malcolm Hulke [36]
‘Get Trenchard down here immediately,’ he curtly ordered the prison officer who had brought him back to his room.
Trenchard arrived in thirty seconds and went pale when he realised what had happened.
‘Pull yourself together,’ said the Master. ‘They’ve got to be caught quickly! You must arm all your officers and give them orders to shoot to kill!’
‘I can’t give such an order,’ said Trenchard. ‘How could I explain it to my men?’
‘The Doctor and Miss Grant are enemy agents,’ said the Master. ‘Criminals!’
‘We don’t know that that is true,’ said Trenchard. ‘They have been interfering and a darned nuisance. But they aren’t necessarily criminal.’
‘If they get their story to the outside world,’ said the Master, ‘our plans will be ruined—and so will your career!’
‘That’s still no reason to shoot to kill,’ said Trenchard obstinately.
The Master found Trenchard just too exasperating. ‘Then shoot to maim, shoot to cripple!’
‘One of them,’ said Trenchard solemnly, ‘is a girl. One does not shoot ladies.’
‘Try to understand this, Mr. Trenchard,’ said the Master, holding down his desire to hit him for being a sentimental fool. ‘If they get away, our work will be stopped. So the enemies of Great Britain, of your Queen, will be able to continue their work of destruction. That means the Doctor and Miss Grant will have helped the enemies of your country. Logically, therefore, they are on the side of the enemy. Do you understand?’
Trenchard did not understand. It was all too complicated. But one thing he grasped: if the Doctor and Miss Grant got back to the Naval Base, or to UNIT, George Trenchard might be punished and disgraced.
‘I shall tell my men,’ said Trenchard, ‘to shoot to kill, but only if it is necessary.’
‘Excellent,’ said the Master. ‘Now issue the order, there’s a good man. And for goodness’ sake, let’s get moving!’
On leaving the château by the little open door, the Doctor and Jo raced towards the shore.
Jo asked, ‘What do we do when we get to the sea?’
The Doctor kept running. ‘There can’t be electrified fences there. Perhaps we can make our way along the beach.’
As they approached the sea the ground was more open, and rose up before them. Already they could smell the sea and hear the waves on a beach that they couldn’t yet see. There was a shout from somewhere behind them, and Jo looked over her shoulder. The Minimoke, carrying four prison officers, was pursuing them. One of the officers had a loud-hailer and called out to them.
‘Stop or we fire! We have orders to shoot to kill!’
‘All the more reason,’ said the Doctor, running harder, ‘to keep going.’
They scrambled up to the top of the rising ground, then found themselves at a cliff edge. Below was a small horse-shoe cove of sand and rocks. From behind, a warning shot was fired.
‘Quickly,’ said the Doctor, ‘over the edge!’
Another loud-hailer boomed at them from behind. ‘This is the governor,’ called Trenchard. ‘I order you to surrender now and you will not be harmed.’
Again Jo looked back. There was another Minimoke, containing Trenchard, the Master and two more armed prison officers. She turned back to face the sea, and started to scramble down the cliff after the Doctor. In a few seconds they were at the foot of the cliff.
‘Which way?’ she asked.
This part of the beach was flat and sandy. The flat terrain continued to their right, but was closed off with barbed wire. A big notice read: WAR DEPARTMENT. DANGER. MINEFIELD. KEEP OUT. To their left the beach became rocky, but at least had no warning signs
‘This way,’ said the Doctor, propelling Jo towards the rocks. As they approached they saw the heads of some prison guards bobbing about amongst them. They had descended the cliff further along on the left side, and were now taking up firing positions among the rocks. The Doctor and Jo stopped.
‘It’s no good, Doctor.’ The voice of the Master boomed almost casually at them from a loud-hailer high above on top of the cliff. ‘You’ll have to give yourself up. You are now hemmed in on all sides.