Doctor Who_ The Sea-Devils - Malcolm Hulke [52]
‘Admin. block,’ said the petty officer. He looked at the Master distastefully. ‘Don’t worry, sir. I’ll look after him.’ The Doctor hurried away.
The Master looked down at the Chief Sea-Devil’s body. ‘You have just killed one of the most intelligent creatures that ever walked on this earth,’ he told Petty Officer Myers.
‘Really, sir?’ said the petty officer. ‘They look like big frogs to me.’
The Master turned to the petty officer. ‘You’ve misunderstood the whole situation. Are you aware of that?’
The petty officer found that the Master was staring straight into his eyes. He did not feel very sure of himself. ‘I’ve misunderstood, sir?’ he said.
‘I am the Master, and you will obey me. Do you understand that?’
Petty Officer Myers felt a strange swimming sensation in his mind. ‘You are the Master,’ he repeated slowly, ‘and I shall obey.’
‘Unload your rifle,’ said the Master, still fixing the petty officer’s eyes with his steady stare.
Like a sleep-walker, the petty officer unloaded his service rifle.
‘Put your rifle to one side,’ said the Master.
The petty officer obeyed the command.
‘I am sorry to leave you,’ said the Master. ‘But I have urgent business elsewhere. Remain exactly where you are.’
‘I shall remain exactly where I am,’ said the petty officer.
The Master, however, did not hear the petty officer’s words because he was already running as fast as he could towards the quay, taking the re-activating device with him.
On the way to the administration building, the Doctor had to take cover as fighting broke out between naval ratings and a small pocket of Sea-Devils who were now trying to escape. There were three Sea-Devils hiding behind a naval bus, using rayguns on the sailors. The sailors, numbering twenty, kept up a volley of fire. Very soon another group of sailors, all armed, worked their way in behind the Sea-Devils. The battle was quickly over.
The Doctor continued on his way, then from the corner of his eye saw the Master racing towards the quay. The Master jumped into a motor-boat, started the engine and roared out towards the sea. The Doctor realised there was no time to call for help. He ran to the quay, found another motor-boat, jumped into it, and fired the motor.
The Master drove his boat in a dead straight line towards the oil-rig. Once in the open sea both boats had to contend with choppy waves; the Doctor, being in the wake of the Master’s boat, also had to contend with the wash of the boat he was pursuing. Frequently, the Master slewed his boat from side to side, to put up more wash against the oncoming Doctor, and possibly to overturn the latter’s boat. As his small craft bucked about like a wild horse, the Doctor steered straight ahead. Because the Master zig-zagged to put up more wash, and because the Doctor kept straight ahead, by the time that they neared the oil-rig the Doctor’s boat had caught up with the Master. The Doctor overhauled his boat, then came across his bows. In the moment that the two boats touched, the Doctor leapt into the Master’s boat, pushed the Master aside and stopped the motor.
‘You’re coming back with me,’ he told the Master. ‘On the contrary,’ said the Master. ‘I think you are coming with me. They’re waiting for us.’
The Master indicated the sea around them. It was swarming with Sea-Devils. Now, coming up from below, were two of the pod-like capsules into which the Sea-Devils had drawn the Doctor from the diving-bell.
‘This time,’ the Master smiled, ‘I don’t think they will listen to you at all, Doctor. You will work on the task that I set you. After that, neither I nor my friends will have any further use for you.’
13 Escape
Captain Hart’s office was a mess. In the fighting that took place after Hart had released the sailor prisoners, parties of naval ratings with guns had searched every part of the Naval Base seeking Sea-Devils. A group of Sea-Devils had been found in Captain Hart’s office, and a battle had raged in there. The burning effect of the Sea-Devils’ rayguns was to be found on the door and walls,