DOCTOR WHO AND THE HORROR OF FANG ROCK

by Terrance Dicks

  Leela frowned. 'Doctor, what exactly is a—whatever-you-said?'

  'Something like a laser-beam, but far more destructive.'

  Leela struggled to remember the science lectures which the Doctor occasionally delivered during their journeys in the TARDIS.

  'A laser... that's some kind of very powerful light, isn't it?'

  'Well, yes, putting it in the very simplest terms—'

  Leela pointed to the lighthouse reflector lamp. 'Then why don't we use this?'

  The Doctor stared hard at the lamp and then looked back at Leela. 'You mean convert the carbon-arc beam? Leela, that's a beautiful notion...'

  'It is?'

  The Doctor's face fell. 'Unfortunately I'd need a focusing device. A fairly large chunk of crystalline carbon.'

  Skinsale seized eagerly on the first words he'd understood. 'Crystalline carbon? A diamond you mean?' He held up his wrist and light glinted on his diamond cuff-links.

  'Yes, that's right, but I'm afraid those are far too small. I'd need a fairly large one for the primary beam oscillator.'

  'Palmerdale was carrying diamonds. He called them his insurance.'

  'Then they'd still be on his body—in the crew room?'

  'Yes.'

  'Yes,' said the Doctor thoughtfully. 'Well, let's get this rocket-launcher ready first.'

  Recovered now from the shock of the searing explosion, the Rutan flowed out of the generator room and up the stairs. It was cautious now, fearing more Earthling attacks, and it moved very slowly.

  The Doctor packed the last few nails down the muzzle of the rocket-launcher. 'Right, that should do it. Sure you know how to work it?' Leela nodded and the Doctor rose, 'Then I'll be off.'

  Skinsale got up too. 'I'm coming with you.'

  'It isn't necessary, you know.'

  'I want to. You'll need some help. Two will stand a better chance than one.'

  'All right. Remember, Leela, don't fire until you see the green of its tentacles.'

  They moved towards the door.

  'How will you get past the Rutan?' asked Leela.

  'With great discretion,' said the Doctor solemnly. 'With any luck it'll have retreated to the lower levels. Come on, Colonel.'

  They crept cautiously down the stairs, past the smoke-blackened area of the explosion. They rounded the turn and came on to the crew-room landing. There was no sign of the Rutan.

  The Doctor waved Skinsale forward and they slipped into the deserted crew room—empty except for Adelaide huddled where she had fallen, and the body of Palmerdale on the bunk.

  The Doctor stood waiting by the door, waving Skinsale over to the body. Skinsale pulled back the blanket and began searching Palmerdale's pockets. He looked up at the Doctor and shook his head. 'Body-belt?' suggested the Doctor.

  Skinsale felt inside Palmerdale's shirt and felt the stiff canvas belt with its pouch. He fumbled with the fastenings, his fingers stiff and clumsy.

  The Rutan moved slowly up the staircase, all its senses alert. At the faint sounds of movement from the crew room it paused, and the pulsing glow be-came brighter as it gathered its energies. Moving faster now, it flowed on up the steps towards the crew-room landing.

  Skinsale wrenched open the pouch, clawed out the handful of diamonds and went to join the Doctor. He tipped the pile of diamonds into the Doctor's cupped hands. The Doctor selected one diamond, the largest and finest, and tossed the rest carelessly on the floor. 'Come on,' he said and hurried off.

  Skinsale stared down at the gleaming stones at his feet. There was a fortune there, enough to keep him in comfort for the rest of his life. He couldn't leave them... Quickly he bent down—and began scrabbling for the gleaming stones.

  There was a glow from the stairs as the Rutan flowed on to the landing and sprang forward into the crew room. A tentacle lashed out, curling round Skinsale's body and there was a crackle of blue sparks. Skinsale screamed...

  Just up the stairs the Doctor heard the sound and turned back. He ran down to the landing, looked into the crew room and saw the Rutan clasping its victim. Realising he could do nothing he turned and ran.

  The Rutan dropped Skinsale's dead body and flowed after the Doctor with appalling speed. This time it was risking no Earthling traps. It would catch the Doctor and kill him now. Then there would only be the female.

  The Doctor shot up the stairs three at a time, the angry crackling of the Rutan close behind him. If it. got near enough to reach him with a tentacle he was finished—and so was Earth...

  As the Doctor ran up the last few steps the Rutan was close on his heels. It was almost upon him as he rounded the bend and saw Leela crouched behind the rocket-launcher.

  As the Doctor dashed for the lamp-room doorway, the Rutan gathered all its energies for a final effort. With a shrill cry of triumph it sprang...

  12

  The Last Battle

  Leela crouched behind the rocket-launcher, frozen with horror. With the Doctor directly in front of her, how could she fire? Yet if she didn't shoot, the Rutan would surely catch him...

  One tremendous flying leap took the Doctor over the rocket-launcher, and clear over Leela's head.

  With the Doctor in mid-air the Rutan surged forward—and Leela fired.

  There was an ear-splitting crash as several pounds of assorted ironmongery ripped into the Rutan's body, blasting it back down the staircase.

  Leela shook her head, half dazed by the noise. She turned and saw the Doctor sprawled in a heap on the other side of the room. 'Are you all right?'

  The Doctor picked himself up, patted himself carefully here and there. 'I think so—you singed the end of my scarf!'

  'Where is the Colonel?'

  'Dead, I'm afraid.'

  'With honour?'

  The Doctor hesitated, thinking of Skinsale scrabbling for the diamonds. It was no way for a man to be remembered. 'Yes,' he said firmly. 'With honour.' 'Then we have avenged him. Did you get the diamond?'

  The Doctor held out his hand. The pride of Palmerdale's collection was gleaming in his palm.

  'I'd better get to work.' The Doctor climbed up to the level of the arc-lamp, feeling for his sonic screw-driver. Soon he was absorbed in dismantling and re-assembling the complex machinery. Leela watched him for a moment then went down the stairs. She wanted to be quite sure that their enemy was dead.

  She found the Rutan on the landing below, a feebly glowing, jelly-like mass. It crackled faintly at the sight of her, and glowed a little brighter, but it was too weak to do her any harm. Leela called up the stairs. 'It is here, Doctor. I did it. The beast is finished!'

  She looked down at the shattered body of her foe.

  'Your triumph will be short-lived, Earthling,' whispered the Rutan. 'Soon our Mother Ship will blast this island to molten rock..

  'Empty threats, Rutan. Enjoy your death, as I enjoyed killing you!'

  The Rutan quivered and pulsed weakly. 'We die for the glory of our race. Long live the Rutan Empire...'

  The glow faded and died, and the Rutan died with it.

  With a savage grin of triumph, Leela turned and went back to the lamp room.

  The Doctor had rigged together one of his amazing contraptions, taking apart the reflector lamp and the giant telescope and re-assembling them in an entirely different order. As far as Leela could make out, the power of the carbon-arc lamp would be reflected through the telescope and finally focused through Palmerdale's diamond, which the Doctor was now fitting somewhere inside the telescope. He made a careful, final adjustment and looked up.

  'They are hard to kill, these Rutans,' said Leela.

  'Been celebrating, have you?'

  'Of course. It is fitting to celebrate the death of an enemy.'

  'Not in my opinion, but we haven't time to discuss morality. Look over there.'

  A streak of light, like a giant fireball, had appeared in the night sky. It was moving steadily towards them...

  Leela shaded her eyes with her hand. 'Is that the Rutan ship?'r />
  'It is,' said the Doctor grimly. 'Now, I've set this contraption to operate automatically. Once the ship is in range the beam will lock on to its resonator and fire, and we will then have exactly one hundred and seventeen seconds to get clear. Understand?'

  'Perfectly!'

  'So as soon as I switch on we run for it. All right?'

  Leela stared up at the sky. The fireball was approaching with terrifying speed now. It was a moving sun hurtling straight towards them. Its fiery radiance lit up the lamp room like broad daylight, and the throbbing of its power-source grew louder and louder. 'I think you should switch on soon, Doctor. It's getting very near.'

  'Nearly ready,' said the Doctor. He snapped a last connection into place and climbed down. The fireball was almost on them now. The noise of its approach was deafening, and its radiance hurt the eyes. The Doctor pulled the switch. The rickety-looking set-up began to throb with power...

  'Come on, Leela. And whatever you do, don't look back!'

  The humming of the Doctor's machine blended with the shattering roar of the approaching Rutan spaceship. Leela couldn't resist turning back for a final look. The fireball was so close it seemed about to smash through the lamp-room window. Its brightness almost blinded her... The Doctor pulled her towards the stairs. 'I said don't look hack. Now run!'

  They hurtled down the winding stairs, the Doctor in the lead. Outside the crew room, Leela paused again. She'd lost a good knife in there, when she'd thrown it at the Rutan. It was not good to lose such a fine weapon. She ran into the crew room and looked round.

  The Doctor sped on, not realising that Leela was no longer with him. By now the whole lighthouse was shaking with the roar of the Rutan ship's power-source.

  Luckily the knife had fallen fairly close to the door. Leela snatched it up and hurried on.

  The Doctor ran down the long flights of stairs, finally reaching the generator room, where the generator was throbbing wildly. The door was still closed, and it took him precious seconds to knock out the wedges with the shovel. He flung the door open—ran outside and suddenly realised he was on his own. 'Leela!' he yelled and ran back into the generator room.

  Leela paused to tuck her knife away in her boot, ran down the stairs into the generator room and humped straight into the Doctor who was just coming in to look for her. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her outside. 'Leela, come on!'

  They ran across the little island, slipping and sliding on the wet rocks, and finally flung themselves down behind a jagged rock, not far from where they'd left the TARDIS. By now the whole island was throbbing and shaking with the noise of the Rutan ship's approach.

  Leela peeped over the rock. The fireball seemed to be hovering over the lighthouse tower... A thin beam of light speared out from the tower at the Rutan ship. The fireball glowed brighter and brighter, the noise rose to a screaming crescendo—there was a blinding flash, a colossal explosion, and Leela fell back, her hands over her eyes. The ground convulsed beneath them, and shattered rocks came down from the sky like rain. At last the rumbling echoes of the explosion died away, and all was silent.

  The Doctor stood up. The lighthouse was still standing, but the Rutan spaceship had disappeared, blasted to atoms by the force of its own exploding power-drive.

  Leela was still crouching down, her hands over her face. Gently he helped her up.

  She took her hands from her face and moved her head to and fro. 'Slay me, Doctor!'

  'I beg your pardon?' said the Doctor in some astonishment.

  'I am blind,' said Leela stoically. 'Slay me now. It is the fate of the old and crippled.'

  The Doctor took Leela's face in his hands and stared hard into her eyes. For a moment he looked worried, but then he smiled. 'You're neither old nor crippled, Leela. You were just dazzled by the flash. The effect will pass.'

  'You're sure?'

  'Yes. Just blink!'

  Leela blinked rapidly several times. A hazy shape appeared before her eyes. It cleared, became the Doctor looking down at her. She noticed that he was staring into her eyes.

  'That's strange!' he said.

  'What is?'

  'Pigmentation dispersal caused by the flash.' Leela looked at him in alarm and the Doctor said, 'It's all right. It just means your eyes have changed colour. You can stop blinking now, Leela. It's time to go.'

  As they walked towards the TARDIS, Leela asked curiously, 'What colour are my eyes now?'

  'Blue,' said the Doctor. 'Don't worry, it looks very nice.'

  She turned for a last look at the lighthouse. 'Doctor, what will the people of this time say about all this? What will they think happened here?'

  The Doctor shrugged. 'Who knows? Someone will probably write a poem about it. "Aye though we hunted high and low, and hunted everywhere"...'

  'What litany is that?'

  The Doctor smiled. 'The Ballad of Flannen Isle. Wilfred Gibson.' He opened the TARDIS door.

  '"Aye, though we hunted high and low,

  And hunted everywhere,

  Of the three men's fate we found no trace

  Of any kind, in any place,

  But a door ajar, and an untouched meal

  And an overtoppled chair..."'

  The Doctor ushered Leela into the TARDIS, followed her and closed the door behind them.

  There was a wheezing groaning noise, and the TARDIS vanished. The only sound was the thundering of the waves as they crashed on the jagged coast-line of Fang Rock...

  No one was left alive to hear them.