Jamie was first to speak. It was no more than a whisper. 'Why do I let you talk me into these things? We canna see a hand in front of us.'
The Doctor tried hard to sound confident. 'Nothing to worry about, Jamie. Just follow me.' He opened the safety rail and stepped out. Jamie followed close behind.
Like the Dutchman before them, their feet echoed on a metallic surface. The air was thick and clammy.
'Watch your step now,' warned the Doctor. 'We're on the inspection ledge. The pipeline chamber should be somewhere directly beneath us.'
Within a few moments, they had succeeded in climbing down from the ledge. Step by precarious step, they edged their way towards the airlock in the middle of the floor.
'Aaaaah...!' Jamie suddenly leapt back with a gasp.
'Jamie! What is it?'
Jamie was shivering. 'I - I don't know. I've just kicked something... on the floor... ' Cautiously, he stooped clown and searched the floor blindly with his hand. Eventually, he found the object. 'It's a torch,' he said. 'Must be van Lutyens's.'
'Yes,' said the Doctor, his eyes desperately trying to pierce the darkness. 'But where is he?' He moved away a few steps, then called back. 'Over here, Jamie! Shine the torch!'
Jamie tried to switch on the torch. 'Och! It's no good. The stupid thing's broken.'
The Doctor was crawling about on his hands and knees in the dark. 'I think I've found the door to the pipeline chamber. It's wide open!'
Jamie didn't like this at all. The dark made him feel far too vulnerable. 'Doctor, let's get out of here,' he called nervously. 'I've got a feeling there's something evil down here.'
'It all seems quiet enough to me, Miss Jones.' This earth-shattering observation came from Ronald Perkins, secretary to Megan Jones, Chairperson of the Refinery Board. He was an effete young man, a devoted, ambitious civil servant, who would sooner die than contradict his superiors.
'Of course it's quiet, Perkins,' said the Chairperson, who, together with Perkins, was being accompanied by an armed Security Guard along a corridor, on the way to the Communications Hall. 'Robson's an efficient man. That's why I gave him control of this Refinery. He knows the job backwards.'
'Then why the sudden panic?'
'I don't know. Young Harris was rather vague about what's going on here.'
'Vague? He said he was taking over from Robson. I wouldn't call that vague!' The moment he finished speaking, Perkins wished he could have bitten his tongue. He had made a fatuous remark.
The Chairperson came to a halt immediately. Perkins did likewise. Also the Security Guard. Megan Jones was an attractive middle-aged woman. She was born in the Rhondda Valley, the daughter of a coal-miner, but for reasons best known to herself, had decided to disguise her appealing Welsh accent in favour of a more affected London boardroom brogue. 'Perkins,' she said quietly, gently arranging her vivid red hair, 'you haven't met Robson, have you?'
'No.'
The Chairperson smiled. 'No. Well, I think when you do you will realise that he isn't the sort of man one pushes around.'
Perkins did his best to look intelligent. It was a difficult task. 'Then what's all this about?'
'Probably nothing more than just an internal squabble. Harris is a bright boy. I sent him down here to Robson because I thought he might benefit from Robson's practical experience. Obviously they just haven't hit it off.'
Perkins straightened his carefully knotted tie. 'But what was all that panic about the Refinery being in danger?'
The Chairperson's smile became more fixed. She never liked being cross-examined by anyone, let alone Perkins. 'Don't get carried away by Harris's hysterics, Perkins.'
Perkins was beginning to blush. 'All I meant was, if there's no panic, why did we - I mean - why did you have to come rushing down here like this?'
The Chairperson took a deep, bored sigh. 'We came down here, Perkins, to referee a battle between two clever men, neither of whom the Company can afford to lose.'
'In other words, we're pouring oil? Politics?'
The Chairperson smiled condescendingly at her secretary. 'That's my guess, Perkins. Anyway, let's go and see shall we?'
Perkins smiled back weakly at his superior, then quickly followed her along the corridor.
In the impeller area, there was an atmosphere of quiet desperation. Victoria, Harris, the Chief Engineer and all his crewmen were staring down into the darkness of the lift shaft, anxiously awaiting a sign from the Doctor and Jamie that they were safe.
'Isn't there any way we can get them up?' asked Harris. His voice was echoing clown the shaft as he spoke.
The Chief shook his head. 'We daren't bring the lift up in case they want to get back in a hurry. Mind you, there's always the emergency ladder down the inside of the shaft.'
Victoria was becoming more and more despondent. 'I do wish they'd hurry,' she sighed.
'Mr Harris!' Price was calling from the doorway. 'Megan Jones and her secretary have just arrived.'
Harris turned. 'Blast!' he groaned, then sighed. 'Tell her I'll be right there.'
'Yes, sir!' Price left.
Harris brushed his usual troublesome lock of hair from his eye. 'Chief, you'd better come with me. I'm going to need some support when I talk to Megan Jones.'
'Of course, sir,' said the Chief as he followed Harris to the door.
Victoria immediately started to panic. 'But what about the Doctor and Jamie? You can't just leave them down there.'
Harris stopped at the door. 'I'm sorry,' he said, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. 'There doesn't seem to be a great deal we can do at the moment.' Then he called to Mr Oak. 'As soon as they signal, bring them up. If there's any sign of trouble, come and get me.'
'Yes, sir!' replied Mr Oak firmly, and turning to his partner said, 'You can rely on us. Isn't that so, Mr Quill?' Mr Quill nodded back confidently.
As soon as Harris and the Chief had gone, Victoria swung an uneasy glance at Mr Oak and Mr Quill. They did not exactly fill her with confidence. 'Will they be all right down there?' she asked apprehensively. 'I mean, is it safe?'
'Oh yes, Miss,' assured Mr Oak. 'Now, don't you go worrying about a thing. We'll look after them.' And again he turned to his partner. 'Won't we, Mr Quill?'
Mr Oak and Mr Quill smiled benevolently.
'Creatures? Seaweed creatures?' The Chairperson of the Board was sitting regally in a chair near the Control Cone. She turned to her secretary, who was standing just behind her. 'What do you say to that, Perkins?'
Perkins didn't know what to say. In fact, he rarely did know what to say. He much preferred to agree with other people's comments, especially if those people happened to be his superiors. On this occasion he merely shook his head with a wry smirk.
'It's true, Miss Jones,' insisted Harris, doing his best to avoid the Chairperson's penetrating look. He hated dealing with Megan Jones. She had the reputation in the business of always getting her own way.
'You can't be serious, Mr Harris?' The Chairperson's response was cool and mocking.
'These creatures have been seen in the Refinery itself.'
Now Perkins joined in. 'By some half-witted Doctor and a couple of teenagers?'
'And by me!' snapped Harris.
'You've seen them?' asked the Chairperson.
'Yes, Miss Jones,' Harris replied firmly. 'I've seen them.'
'Mr Harris. I understand your wife... has had some sort of accident. This has obviously been a considerable shock to you, and...'
Harris resented this. 'You think I'm lying. That I was seeing things? Believe me, there are things you don't know.'
The Chairperson sat up in her seat. 'Mr Harris, I know that throughout the Southern Region, receiving stations are working on emergency supplies. What are we going to do about it?'
'At present there is nothing we can do.' Harris pointed up to the illuminated panel at the top of the Cone. 'One by one we are losing contact with the rigs out at sea.'
The Chairperson rose quickly from her sea
t. 'Then I suggest you send someone out there to see what's going on.'
Harris stared her out, determined not to be riled again. 'Have I your permission to call out Air Defence?'
'No, you have not. This is not a National Emergency. Use the Company helicopters.'
Harris was dumbfounded by such intransigence. 'Miss Jones, you don't understand the situation...'
'Do as I say, Mr Harris!'
Harris glared at the Chairperson, doing everything he could to control his mounting temper. But Megan Jones was in charge, and that was definitely not open to discussion. After a moment of desperate frustration, Harris turned to Price at the Control monitor. 'Get me the Chopper Hangar,' he ordered. Price duly obeyed.
Now satisfied that she was getting her own way, the Chairperson built on her authority. 'Now then, Mr Harris, I think it's time I talked with Chief Robson.'
Harris's reply was guarded. 'I'm sorry. The Chief is... not very well.'
'Not well? In what way?'
Harris quickly looked around his crewmen for assurance. 'Something's... happened to him. That's all I can tell you.'
'What?' The Chairperson was losing her patience. 'What's happened to him.'
Harris did not reply. He tried to avoid the question by looking up at the illuminated panel on top of the Cone.
The Chairperson took two infuriated steps towards Harris and stared him straight in the face. 'Mr Harris, I'll ask you again. What has happened to Chief Robson?'
Harris exchanged a quick, desperate look with Price. This was one question that he just could not answer.
At the bottom of the impeller shaft, the Doctor and Jamie were straining their eyes to see in the dark. The only light available was coming from the surface of the shaft, and to Jamie that seemed like a million miles away. 'Can you see anything, Doctor?' he whispered, determined not to move an inch unless he had to.
'No, it's too dark.' The Doctor was on his hands and knees trying to look down into the Pipeline Chamber beneath the floor. 'Not a sign of van Lutyens.'
That was good enough for Jamie. 'Aye. Well no point in hanging about down here, eh?'
'Just a minute!' There was a sudden alarm in the Doctor's voice.
'What is it?'
'Listen!'
Gradually they could hear it. A faint bubbling sound beneath them.
The Doctor yelled. 'Out of here, Jamie! Quick!'
Almost as the Doctor spoke, they were completely overwhelmed by the deafening sound of the alien heartbeat. That was immediately followed by a surge of white bubbling foam, oozing into the shaft area from the pipeline chamber below. The sounds were horrifying, totally out of control. Thumping, pulsating, squealing, like a symphony of menace.
'Back to the lift, Jamie! Fast as you can.' The Doctor had to yell at the top of his voice to be heard.
There followed a mad scramble in the dark. This time, Jamie led the way, climbing back up onto the inspection ledge, hoisting the Doctor up after him. Behind them, the bubbling foam was spreading itself across the shaft area, eagerly searching out its prey.
With their backs pressed up against the metallic cylindrical wall, the Doctor and Jamie finally felt their way back to the lift. Quickly smalling clown the safety rail, the Doctor yelled, 'The emergency alarm, Jamie! Press the alarm!'
'I'm pressing it!' Jamie was yelling frantically. 'It's not working.'
At surface level, the lift emergency light was flashing frenziedly. But there was no one there to answer it. No Mr Oak. No Mr Quill. No Victoria. No engineers. The place was deserted.
9
The Battle of the Giants
'Feed Headquarters calling Rig D. Feed Headquarters calling Rig D. Are you receiving me? Come in, please. Over!'
Watched by an anxious group including Harris, Megan Jones, Perkins, and the Chief Engineer, Price was at the Control Cone trying to re-establish visual contact with yet another rig out in the North Sea which had failed to respond to urgent messages. But the TV monitor screen serving Rig D remained defiantly blank, streaked only with distorted electrical interference.
Price tried again, his calls becoming more and more tense. 'Come in please, Rig D. Come in please! Over!'
Harris turned away from the Cone in despair. 'It's no use. There won't be a reply.'
'Don't be a fool, man!' snapped the Chairperson. We must keep trying. If there are men out on those rigs, there must be a reply.'
Harris swung back angrily to Megan Jones. 'If! If! If!' he growled. 'But we don't know!' He had now reached the stage where he couldn't care less if he upset authority. After all, if the North Sea Gas Network were destroyed by alien forces, there wouldn't be any jobs for anyone. 'Miss Jones,' he said, staring the Chairperson straight in the eye, 'do you understand that we have already lost contact with three of our drilling rigs?'
Now Perkins joined in. 'You say there's definitely something down in the impeller shaft blocking the flow?'
'I mean, you're absolutely sure it's not a mechanical fault?' 'That was the Chairperson's obvious assessment. 'You've checked the impeller?'
This time it was the Chief Engineer's turn to speak out. 'Every last nut and bolt has been checked!' His voice was firm and confident. 'Whatever it is that's blocking the flow has nothing to do with mechanical failure. The problem is out of our control, right there, down in that shaft!'
The Chairperson swung a look of disbelief at the Chief Engineer. Then she slowly turned, to see the groups of anxious faces all around the Communications Hall. watching and waiting for her response.
For the first time the Chairperson was beginning to take the situation seriously.
The impeller shaft was under siege. Not only was the thumping heartbeat sound swelling to an unbearable pitch, but the smell of toxic gas fumes was beginning to seep into the thin air.
The Doctor and Jamie were clutching their ears in agony. They were trapped inside the lift which stubbornly refused to ascend, leaving the bubbling white foam easy access to them as it surged over the top of. the inspection ledge just a short distance from the lift itself.
Jamie had to shout to be heard. 'Why don't they operate the lift!'
'I don't know!' yelled the Doctor. 'But we can't wait much longer!'
Jamie tried calling out as loud as he could. 'Victoria! Hey! All of you up there - help!' His voice only seemed to provoke the alien sounds into an even greater frenzy.
'It's no good, Jamie!' yelled the Doctor. 'They can't hear us!'
Jamie was suddenly chilled with terror. 'Doctor - look!'
His eyes were rivetted towards something just beneath them in the shaft area. Through the dim pool of light that was beaming down from the surface, they could just see the silhouette of a huge shapeless form rising up from the foam. It was the Weed Creature, writhing, wriggling, squealing, its throbbing tendrils stretching out in every direction.
'Let's get out of here, Jamie - quick!' The Doctor raised the safety rail, and stepped out of the lift. But Jamie didn't follow him. His eyes were transfixed on the towering, ghostly apparition in the foam. He was too numb to move. 'Jamie!' The Doctor yelled at the top of' his voice, and shook Jamie hard by the shoulders.
Jamie shivered, as though waking from a nightmare. 'Doctor! W-what is it?'
The Doctor grabbed hold of him, and dragged him out of the lift. 'It's all right, Jamie! Just follow me - and stay awake!'
The Doctor made straight for the steel emergency ladder that ran up the side of the wall to the surface. 'Keep right behind me!' he yelled to Jamie. 'And whatever you do, don't lose your concentration!'
Jamie did as he was told, and followed the Doctor up the ladder. As soon as they moved, the Weed Creature squealed and hissed aloud in anger. Then its colony of small seaweed clumps began popping to the surface of' the foam.
'Doctor!' The toxic gas fumes were beginning to affect Jamie, and he was coughing and spluttering, on the verge of a sneezing fit.
'Up the ladder, Jamie! Keep climbing!'
'Doctor!'
The first of the weed tendrils was beginning to wind itself around the base of the ladder.
Jamie let out a loud sneeze. 'Doctor! I can't... I can't... ' The weed tendril was just two steps beneath his feet.
The Doctor shouted back with all the strength at his command. 'Keep climbing, Jamie! Don't look down!'
Along the Compound corridor leading from the Impeller Area, one of the blue-painted doors was marked PIPELINE ROOM. AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY. The door opened. Mr Oak came out first, then Mr Quill. Mr Oak locked the door behind him, put the key into his pocket, then exchanged a sly smile with Mr Quill.
Like a silent movie comedy double-act, the two men moved offside by side, and disappeared down the corridor...
In the Impeller Area, the lift emergency light was still flashing wildly. But there was no one around to answer it.
After a moment, a loud sneeze from Jamie was heard echoing down the shaft.
'Hold on, Jamie! We're nearly there!' The Doctor's head popped up over the edge of the shaft. Gasping for breath, he quickly climbed off the emergency ladder, then turned back to help Jamie. Are you all right?'
'Aye, I think so. What a climb!' Jamie's eyes were sore from the gas fumes, and he could hardly breathe. But he managed to jump down from the shaft ledge without falling.
The Doctor peered back down the shaft. 'We're lucky to get out alive. The weed must be filling the entire shaft!'
'Aye, and it was moving fast too!' The sooner we get out of this place, the better!' Jamie started to move towards the door, then stopped to look around. 'Hey, wait a minute. Where's Victoria!'
The Doctor was feeling decidedly apprehensive and uneasy. 'No wonder our signal was ignored,' he said suspiciously. 'There's nobody here.' He turned to the lift controls, and turned off the flashing emergency light.
Jamie was more puzzled than ever. 'But Victoria would never have left us.'
'You're right, Jamie,' said the Doctor grimly. 'Not unless somebody persuaded her to!'
DOCTOR WHO - FURY FROM THE DEEP Page 11
