• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 170 0

The Doctor, meanwhile, had caught sight of Jo’s face at the window, and was secretly signalling to her. While pretending to listen to the Master, the Doctor pointed to the Sea-Devil, then to the electronic equipment, and finally pulled a face of agony. Jo understood, and nodded. Then the Doctor put his hand behind his back, where. Jo could see it, and splayed out his four fingers and thumb. She tried to work out what he meant. Then she remembered the way she had signalled to the Doctor when he was manacled to a chair in the Master’s room at the chateau. So, in five minutes from now the Doctor was going to do something that would put the Sea-Devils in agony.

Jo worked her way back to the administration building, dodging Sea-Devils, taking cover whenever she could. Fortunately, no Sea-Devils had been left on guard at the main entrance. But when she got inside, and was making her way to the stationery cupboard, she saw that the Sea-Devil guarding the cupboard door was still on duty. It saw her at the same moment. The Sea-Devil raised its raygun and took aim. Then, suddenly, it re-coiled as though hit by high voltage electricity. It crashed to the floor, writhing in agony. Jo kicked the fallen raygun out of the Sea-Devil’s reach, and turned the lock in the door of the cupboard.

‘Well done, Miss Grant,’ said Captain Hart. ‘After you, Mr. Walker.’

Walker stayed where he was. He was quivering with fear. ‘This is only going to annoy them,’ he said. ‘Have you no thought for others? We should make peace, not war.’

‘But not peace at any price,’ said Captain Hart, and shoved Walker ahead of him out of the cupboard. ‘Now let’s release the ratings—and start winning!’

When the Doctor switched on the power connected to the re-activation unit, the Chief Sea-Devil watching the work also fell in agony to the floor. Fortunately for Jo, the Master was in another section of the stores at the time, looking for additional equipment. This allowed the Doctor to keep on the power for a full minute. Then the Master returned and saw what had happened.

‘You idiot!’ stormed the Master.

‘Why, what’s wrong?’ said the Doctor, turning round and pretending only now to notice that the Chief Sea-Devil was in acute pain on the floor. ‘Good grief,’ he said, ‘do you think he’s having a fit?’

The Master yanked the power lead from its wall socket. Instantly, the Chief Sea-Devil recovered, and started to get to its feet.

‘You overloaded the re-activater,’ said the Master. ‘We want this thing to revive the Sea-Devils who are in deep hibernation, not to knock out those who are already fully awake!’

The Doctor examined his arrangement of the electrical circuits. he pondered, ‘too much in-flow of the neutrons. We’ll have to fix that.’

‘It was fixed,’ said the Master. ‘Do you realise you must have temporarily knocked out every Sea-Devil in the base?’

‘How terribly thoughtless of me,’ said the Doctor. He turned and smiled at the Chief Sea-Devil. ‘You will, I hope, forgive me?’

‘We never forgive,’ said the Chief Sea-Devil, levelling his raygun at the Doctor. ‘We are the rulers of this planet. It was ours millions of years before you apes developed and took it over from us. We shall destroy all Mankind, and all mammals. Only the reptiles shall survive—’

The Chief Sea-Devil’s sentence ended there because a bullet from a .44 service rifle, travelling at three times the speed of sound, and fired by one Petty Officer Myers, had just entered and destroyed its brain. The Chief Sea-Devil fell backwards, dead before its huge body hit the floor.

Petty Officer Myers stood in the doorway and Iowered his rifle. ‘Is one of you gentlemen the Doctor?’

‘I am,’ said the Doctor. ‘What’s happened?’

‘All these creepy-crawly things had some sort of a fit,’ said the petty officer. ‘It lasted long enough for Captain Hart to release all us prisoners, and get our guns back to us. Now that we’ve fought off the monsters Captain Hart would now like to see you, sir.’

‘Yes, of course,’ said the Doctor. ‘I want you to keep an eye on this man,’ and he indicated the Master. ‘Under no circumstances