The Master sounded calm, almost amused. Clearly he was enjoying the situation. "The choice is yours-but remember... unless we deal with this crisis, the whole complex will explode. And that"s just part of it. Unless we destroy Axos, Brigadier-Axos will destroy the world!"
The Brigadier stood very still. Once again, there was no choice. How could he set the lives of two people against the life of the world? He stepped away from the console.
The Master reached out and pulled the lever.
10.
Brainstorm Axos convulsed.
The ma.s.sive, unexpected surge of energy almost crippled it, almost killed it. But not quite. Summoning all its resources Axos began to fight back..
In the middle of the energy storm that lashed through Axos, Jo and the Doctor found themselves free again. The Doctor grabbed Jo"s hand and dragged her through the chaos. All around them Axos seethed and pulsed. Even the surface beneath them rolled rolled in waves of movement. A kaleidoscope of flashing lights spun before them, and a mad, high-pitched screaming filled their ears. Jo sobbed, "Doctor, I can"t take any more." in waves of movement. A kaleidoscope of flashing lights spun before them, and a mad, high-pitched screaming filled their ears. Jo sobbed, "Doctor, I can"t take any more."
Ruthlessly, the Doctor urged her on. "Keep going, Jo, we"ll die if we stop."
Jo collapsed, her hands over her face. She began sobbing hysterically. The Doctor heaved her to her feet and shook her roughly. "Stop it, Jo. We must must keep going." keep going."
She shook her head to clear it. "What"s that screaming noise?"
"Axos," said the Doctor simply. "The whole creature"s electro-convulsing. The power"s creating an electric storm in the brain. We"re going straight through the centre of the trauma. Look here! "
Their flight had taken them back into the Brain area, the heart of the power-storm. The agonising pain of Axos showed itself as patterns of liquid light, flowing across the walls. The Eye lashed to and fro on its stalk, totally uncontrolled. Jo felt the pain and the near-madness of Axos reaching into her mind, overwhelming her... She staggered, clutching her head.
"Fight it, Jo," shouted the Doctor. "Don"t let it get a grip on your mind. Listen to me... Three sevens... What"s three sevens? Tell me Tell me!"
All the time he was pulling her onwards.
Jo found that concentration on the absurdly simple sum did did help to withstand the barrage of sound and light stimuli all around her. "Twenty-one..." she muttered. "Three sevens are help to withstand the barrage of sound and light stimuli all around her. "Twenty-one..." she muttered. "Three sevens are twenty-one twenty-one..."
They fought their way across the Brain area and into an outer chamber. Here too everything was a chaotic turmoil of light and sound. Jo reeled back...
"Times four four," called the Doctor. "Now multiply by four four."
Jo grappled with the problem, her eyes tight shut against those terrible anguished patterns of light. It was harder this time "...
Eighty... eighty-four eighty-four" she gasped triumphantly.
"Well done-now-divide by six! "
So they struggled on, the Doctor firing off sums, Jo forcing herself to answer them. At last they reached an opening on the far side of the chamber. The Doctor helped Jo through it, and they started down the long tunnel beyond.
He paused as they came to a fork. "I think there"s a way out down here..."
They ran along the tunnel, which seemed to sway to and fro as they moved along. A shapeless figure appeared, lurching towards them. Jo cowered back against the wall. It was an Axon, part golden humanoid, part tentacled monster. It reeled almost blindly ahead, lashing feebly at them. The Doctor ducked, and gave it a hearty shove. The already decomposing Axon slammed into the wall, then slid to the floor, dissolving into a shapeless puddle of Axonite. Jo covered her eyes...
The Doctor took her hand and led her past. "Come on, Jo.
We"re nearly there now."
They reached a wider pa.s.sage. At the end of it they recognised the arched door that led to freedom. The door was steadily shrinking as though it was trying to close itself, but couldn"t quite summon up the energy.
"Quick," shouted the Doctor. "It"s closing up!"
Desperate to escape, Jo ran for the door and shot through the fast-shrinking opening in a flying leap. The Doctor was close behind her. As they hurtled through the gap, it closed convulsively behind them, in a last-minute attempt to prevent their escape. But too late.
They were free! Picking themselves up they ran towards the Nuton Complex.
Meanwhile, Axos was fighting back. The sudden unexpected surge of power was slowly being absorbed, controlled controlled. The panic began to subside, the Brain began functioning once more.
Weakly the Voice of Axos whispered. "Source of attack identified. Power-surge is being channelled through Particle Accelerator. Concentrate power-reversal on this sector. Total destruction essentialrepeat- essential essential!"
The Master stepped out of the TARDIS and looked round the silent laboratory. "Well, gentlemen? Your congratulations would be in order, I think?"
The Brigadier, Captain Yates and Bill Filer looked grimly back at him. No one spoke.
"I see. How very ungracious. Well, if you"ll forgive me I have a few minor repairs to complete." The Master turned to re-enter the TARDIS.
The Brigadier stepped forward. "Wait!"
"Why? You agreed to my freedom, and now I"ve earned it."
"We don"t know that yet. Until we"re sure what"s happened..
"Really, Brigadier, I promised to help you solve this crisis. I can"t solve all all your problems for you." your problems for you."
The Brigadier was unmoved. "Captain Yates!"
Yates"s revolver was already covering the Master.
Hardiman appeared at the top of the steps. "Something"s going wrong, Brigadier. They"ve absorbed the power, and now they"re feeding it back to us!" He ran to the control room and flicked the switch of a public-address system. "This is Sir George Hardiman. All personnel, your attention, please. Evacuate Accelerator sector. Shut off all power and proceed to blast-wall shelters. That is all."
He ran back to the laboratory. The Particle Accelerator started throbbing with power once more, and the cable-connections were beginning to smoke. The power-throb rose higher and higher...
Hardiman took command. "Into the main control room, everybody!"
The Brigadier watched him go to a locker and put on protective goggles and heavy gloves. "What are you going to do?
"Disconnect those cables. Now, the control room, please, Brigadier."
The Brigadier looked at the rapidly-vibrating Particle Accelerator. The cables were pouring out smoke now and it was clearly dangerous even to touch them. "Let me help you."
"No, Brigadier, this is my responsibility. I"m a scientist or I used to be. I"ll join you as soon as I"ve finished."
"Very well." The Brigadier waved to Yates and Filer, who herded the Master up the stairs at gun-point. The Brigadier followed, turning at the top of the stairs. "Good luck, Sir George." Hardiman didn"t hear him. Gloves and goggles looking incongruous with his immaculate suit, he was bending over the shuddering console, a pair of insulated pliers in his hands. The Brigadier ran to the control room and joined the others.
They watched through the picture window as Hardiman worked steadily at his task, seemingly unaffected by the din all round him. The power-hum had risen to a roar that was shaking the whole building. Tensely the Brigadier asked, "How"s he doing?"
"Surprisingly well," answered the Master. "He"ll have to take the trigger section out before he can disconnect the main cable. It"s a tricky job..."
"How much time has he got?"
"Who knows, Brigadier? Who knows?"
Hardiman pushed up the goggles to wipe the sweat from his eyes, replaced them and went on with his task. It was a very long time since he"d last had tools in his hands, but he worked calmly and steadily. with a curious feeling of contentment. Despite all the years in meetings and conferences, he could still do a real job when he had to... Like a man defusing a bomb, he unscrewed the last bolt and lifted the trigger-section free. Gently he lowered it to the floor.
The Brigadier shouted, "He"s done it!"
"Almost," said the Master softly. "Almost-but not quite.
There"s still the main power cable..."
The cable was very hot now, and Hardiman"s gloves were starting to smoulder. Carefully he unbolted the shackles and tugged.
The cable refused to come free-the shackles had been warped by the heat. He tugged again... and again. He gave a final heave. There was a sudden explosion that hurled him clear across the room-but the main power cable was free, the end clutched in his gloved hand.
The roaring stopped, leaving a silence that hurt the ears.
The spectators in the control room rushed down into the laboratory. Yates ran across to Hardiman and knelt beside the body.
"He"s dead, sir. The shock must have killed him instantly."
The Brigadier nodded silently. Filer yelled, "Look out!" The Master, who had been last to leave the control room, was running for the TARDIS.
Filer ran to tackle him, but the Master smashed him to one side. But by now Yates and the Brigadier were blocking the way to the TARDIS. The Master changed direction, and ran for the door. He almost made it-then an out-thrust foot brought him crashing down.
He looked up. In the doorway stood a tall figure, grimy and rumpled, but still with a certain elegance. "Dear me!" said the Doctor. "Leaving so soon?"
The Brigadier commandeered Hardiman"s office for a combined meal and conference. The Doctor, Yates, Filer, Jo Grant and, of course, Chinn, sat round a big conference table tucking into much needed coffee and sandwiches. The Master, handcuffed, was an un-willing spectator. Also present was Ericson, a balding un.o.btrusive man who"d been Hardiman"s a.s.sistant, and was now considerably alarmed to find himself in full charge.
The Doctor, happily munching a chicken sandwich, offered one to the Master, who snarlingly refused. "Temper!" said the Doctor reprovingly, and took a swig of coffee. "Now then, Brigadier, you"ve sent out those warnings about Axonite?"
"I"ve sent them out-whether any one will believe them is another matter. There"s a tendency to regard them as a trick to regain control of Axonite."
The Doctor nodded. "Very understandable, considering the earlier behaviour of friend Chinn."
Chinn glowered into his coffee cup, but said nothing. So much had gone so drastically wrong, that he was laying very low till the situation cleared. If there was any credit going, he could always grab it later.
The Doctor put down his cup. "Well, that aside, we"ve enough to worry about with the main body of Axos-here." He gestured through the window in the direction of the mound. "Axos is like a vulture, gentlemen," said the Doctor dramatically. "Its claws are already sunk deep into your planet and it has no intention of letting go. Soon it will activate the Nutrition Cycle-and the feast will begin!"
Whatever that meant, Filer didn"t like the sound of it. "How"s that again, Doc?"
"The Axonite will cease to be dormant. It will begin to feed, and continue till every sc.r.a.p of energy, every living thing has been consumed."
Ever-practical, the Brigadier asked, "Well? How do we stop it?"
He seemed quite confident that the Doctor would have an answer.
"I"m not sure that we can."
Jo was horrified. "There must be something something you can do, Doctor?" you can do, Doctor?"
"I can try." He turned to Ericson. "Can you commandeer the computer banks for me? I"ll need to make some very complex calculations."
Ericson nodded. "Yes, of course, Doctor. I"ll clear them right away."
"Good, that"s a start. Now then, Brigadier, I want you to keep constant watch on Axos. We must know its every move."
The Brigadier looked across the table. "Captain Yates, will you see to that?"
"Right away, sir. There"s remote-control camera equipment in the Mobile H.Q. We could use that."
"Off you go then. I"ll be setting up my H.Q. in the lab. I want you in R/T contact all the time."
The Doctor stood up. "Then that"s it for the moment. Oh, just one more thing-I"m afraid I"ll need him him." He pointed to the Master.
Immediately Filer protested, "Now just a minute, Doc..."