11.
Counterattack Turlough and Preston emerged from the ventilation system into one of the Sea Base"s innumerable corridors. It was empty except for the sprawled bodies of a couple of Sea Base guards.
Preston looked around, getting her bearings. "This way."
She picked up one of the dead guards" blasters.
s.n.a.t.c.hing up the other guards" blaster, Turlough followed her.
Sauvix strode angrily onto the Bridge. "The prison room is empty, Icthar. The primitives have escaped."
"How is this possible, Sauvix? Explain."
Sauvix was looking around the Bridge. "Where is the Doctor?"
The Doctor was nowhere to be seen.
Icthar turned threateningly on Vorshak. "Commander?
Where is he?"
"I"ve no idea."
Icthar moved over to the computer bay and opened the door. Sauvix followed him. They looked around the room, and registered the gaping entrance to the ventilation shaft.
"Find them, Sauvix," hissed Icthar furiously. "Find the Doctor, find the escaped primitives and kill them!"
As they hurried along the corridor, Turlough and Lieutenant Preston heard the crackle of blaster-fire.
"They must be mopping up survivors," muttered Turlough.
"Those survivors could be your friends. Shouldn"t we try to help them?"
They moved towards the sound of fire.
Not far away, the Doctor, Tegan and Bulic were also emerging from the ventilation system into a corridor.
The Doctor was the last to climb down and Tegan reached up to help him. "Hurry, Doctor!"
Suddenly there was a whining sound. A nearby lift door slid open and two Sea Devils emerged. Raising their weapons they stalked towards the helpless Doctor and his companion.
Then Turlough and Lieutenant Preston appeared around the far corner, behind behind the Sea Devils. They raised their weapons and took aim. "Remember," whispered Turlough, "Aim for the head. We won"t get a second chance." the Sea Devils. They raised their weapons and took aim. "Remember," whispered Turlough, "Aim for the head. We won"t get a second chance."
Taking careful aim both fired almost simultaneously and both Sea Devils fell.
Once again there was a hurried exchange of greetings.
Tegan looked suspiciously at Turlough. "What are you doing here?"
"You didn"t really think I"d leave you to go it alone, did you?"
Tegan was far from convinced. But Turlough"s presence pointed to some kind of change of heart. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. "It never crossed my mind!"
"Where are you making for, Doctor?" asked Lieutenant Preston.
"The chemical store.
"This way," said Bulic, and the combined party set off.
Vorshak watched his Silurian captors intently, still hoping to find some way to frustrate their plans.
At the very least, he could make a last desperate attempt to wreck the command console. It probably wouldn"t succeed, but he"d be doing something...
The complex piece of Silurian equipment was linked to the computer now, gently throbbing with energy.
"Is the computer fully operational?" asked Icthar.
The Silurian called Tarpok said. "It is restored and tested."
"Excellent. Then align the Manipulator to the computer."
Tarpok began working busily at the console. Vorshak poised himself to attack. There was very little time left.
Moving swiftly down the corridors, hiding from occasional Sea Devil patrols, the Doctor and his companions reached the chemical stores at last.
The Doctor looked round the room. "Watch the door, Turlough." He began examining the labels on the stacked chemical cylinders piled high all around them.
"What are you looking for?" asked Tegan.
The Doctor tapped one of the cylinders. "This stuff here is Hexachromite it"s a deadly poison to reptiles."
"Then isn"t that what you want?"
"I want an alternative, if I can find one. Something less lethal that will do the job just as well."
As the Doctor continued his search, Bulic asked. "Do you know what the Silurians are planning, Doctor?"
"Oh yes, they were very forthcoming, all in all. They intend to launch your proton missiles and trigger off the war to end all wars. A war between you humans, that is.
When it"s all over, the Silurians will emerge to rule the Earth."
"Look out, Doctor!" called Turlough. "Sea Devils!"
"Take cover, everyone," called the Doctor softly. "Get behind those drums."
Seconds later a Sea Devil strode into what appeared to be an empty store room.
It stood for a moment gazing suspiciously around. The Doctor pressed himself lower into his hiding place.
Unfortunately he was hiding behind an empty drum and it shifted, very slightly.
The Sea Devil sprang forward, sweeping the drum away, to reveal the Doctor. Raising its weapon the Sea Devil fired. The Doctor flung himself aside and the blast burnt a hole in a nearby cylinder. A cloud of chemical vapour shot out enveloping the Sea Devil.
The effect was extraordinary. Dropping its weapon, the Sea Devil staggered back, clutching at the gills in its neck.
Seconds later it lay dead on the floor.
The Doctor stood looking down at the body.
Tegan emerged from hiding. "What happened?"
"Hexachromite. It does that to all forms of reptile life."
"Then surely it"s just what you want," said Lieutenant Preston. "Use it on the invaders."
"And kill them all off?"
"Why not? They"re about to start a war that will destroy everyone on Earth."
"With the weapons you humans invented to destroy each other," pointed out the Doctor. "Sometimes I wonder why I like the people of this miserable planet so much. Don"t you realise the Silurians and the Sea Devils are ancient and n.o.ble races, with skills you pathetic humans can only dream about?"
Lieutenant Preston stared at him, astonished by the sudden outburst.
Tegan understood. The Doctor hated violence and killing. And now he was probably going to have to resort to both to save his friends.
Turlough had no doubts at all. "What you say about the Silurians may be true, Doctor. But that doesn"t make what they"re going to do any more justified."
"I know," said the Doctor quietly. "And I know I"ve got to stop them. But not with ma.s.s murder. Not if there"s some other way."
Tegan said helplessly. "What"s the alternative?"
"Something that will disable rather than kill if only I can find it in time."
The Doctor resumed his search.
Tarpok and Scibus were busy at the computer and command consoles.
"The Manipulator is now aligned with the computer,"
said Tarpok.
"Alignment confirmed," reported Scibus.
"Excellent," said Icthar. "Let us proceed."
There was the wail of an alarm. On the main monitor screen the read-out was flashing: "MISSILE ALERT.
MISSILE ALERT."
Icthar turned to Vorshak. "What is happening?"
"Impossible to say. The computer has ordered a missile run. Could be a practice, could be the real thing."
"Check the Manipulator," ordered Icthar.
Tarpok studied the readings on the Silurian device.
"Our readings confirm that this is a computer-controlled practice missile run."
"The time for such games is over," said Icthar scornfully.
"Activate the Manipulator and launch the missiles."
The Doctor was still searching amongst the drums and cylinders of chemicals when the sinister sound of the alarm rang through the chemical store. "What"s that? What does it mean?"
Bulic said, "It"s a missile alert, Doctor. It means countdown is imminent."
Turlough said, "Well, Doctor? What are you going to do?"
The Doctor didn"t reply.
"You must decide quickly, Doctor," said Tegan. "Billions of people could die..
The Doctor sighed, accepting the inevitable. "Yes all right. Turlough, get the grille open. Preston get one of those pumps fitted up. We"ll have to feed the gas into the ventilation system."
With frantic speed they set to work.
"The missiles are armed and targeted," reported Scibus.
Vorshak stared at the three Silurians, unable to believe that they were really going to carry out their terrible plan.
"You"re mad, all of you."