"Sergeant, stay here on guard, I must see the Commander.
The rest of you, follow me."
The Myrka advanced.
Instinctively the Doctor stepped back, half stumbling over something on the ground. He looked down. It was a blaster-rifle dropped by one of the dead guards. The Doctor picked it up, and examined it thoughtfully.
"That won"t do you much good," said Tegan.
The Doctor"s hands were busy with the rifle, extracting a gleaming black cylinder from the b.u.t.t."Get ready, Tegan!" he said.
The Myrka was very close now. It was poised, coiled as if to spring.
"Cover your eyes!" shouted the Doctor.
Obediently Tegan threw her arm over her face.
The Doctor bowled the cylinder like a cricket ball, striking the monster right between the eyes. He closed his own eyes tightly, and sensed rather than saw the blinding flash that followed.
The Myrka reeled back, roaring and crashing against the steel wall of the corridor.
Tegan opened her eyes. "What did you do to it?"
"Simple enough," said the Doctor opening his eyes. "The Myrka"s body carries a charge of electricity. It exploded the blaster"s power-pack."
"So it"s blinded?"
The Myrka was swinging its great head to and fro, as if trying to locate them. Once the effect of the flash faded...
"Temporarily," said the Doctor.
Turlough hared along corridors, up staircases and through the now-open door to the Bridge. Guards and technicians alike were distracted by the drama of the attack, and before anyone realised what was happening, Turlough was at Nilson"s side.
"The master control to bulkhead one where is it?"
Nilson stared at him in astonishment. "Right here. But the Commander"s orders are to keep that bulkhead closed."
Turlough covered him with his blaster-rifle. "I know what the Commander"s orders are. Now I"m giving you mine: open that bulkhead, or I"ll kill you."
Nilson stared at him for a moment.
Wild-eyed and panting, Turlough looked quite capable of carrying out his threat.
Nilson had no wish to die in defence of the Base he was working to destroy. "Very well."
He operated the controls, The Myrka, recovered by now, had resumed its advance on Tegan and the Doctor. They retreated till there was nowhere else to go, until their backs were pressed against the bulkhead door. There was a sudden hiss of hydraulic power and the door began to open...
The moment the gap was wide enough, the Doctor shoved Tegan through, squeezing himself through after her. They pushed past Bulic"s astonished sergeant, still waiting on guard. At the sight of the Myrka looming in the widening gap, the sergeant sprang forwards, raising his blaster.
."Look out!" shouted the Doctor, but it was too late. The Myrka lashed out, the sergeant"s body glowed and he fell dead to the ground.
The thick bulkhead door stopped moving. It reversed its direction, starting to close again. With an angry roar, the Myrka flung itself forwards, trying to widen the narrowing gap. There was a screech of protest and the door juddered to a halt, the mechanism jammed. There was still a gap, though fortunately it was too small for the Myrka to pa.s.s through. Again the Myrka roared, hurling its weight against the edge of the door in an attempt to force it open.
It was an interesting contest, thought the Doctor monster against machinery but he didn"t think he"d wait for the result. Grabbing Tegan"s hand, he dragged her along the corridor.
On the Bridge, Nilson was stabbing frantically at the door controls. "The hydraulic valves have blown!"
Turlough gave him a suspicious look. "The bulkhead opened though?"
"It opened all right. But I"m not so sure it closed."
Turlough was thinking hard. There was some hope that the Doctor and Tegan had escaped from the airlock. But if the door hadn"t closed behind them, the monster would still be on their heels.
Surprising himself by his own bravery, Turlough turned and ran from the Bridge.
A quick examination had shown the Doctor that Tegan"s ankle wasn"t seriously hurt. But it was badly bruised, and her limp slowed their progress along the corridor.
"What will you do if the Myrka manages to break through?" she asked.
"Try to stop it before it does too much damage."
Tegan stopped to rest for a moment, rubbing her ankle.
"That thing"s practically indestructible, you said so yourself."
"True enough, Tegan. But we all have our Achilles" heel and that includes the Myrka. Can you go on now? I"ve got to talk to Commander Vorshak."
Doctor Solow came onto the Bridge, and caught Nilson"s eye. After a moment, he moved un.o.btrusively towards her.
"Well?"
"I"ve hidden Karina"s body in an empty locker in the computer bay," she whispered. "It shouldn"t be found for quite a while." Her voice was dull, almost lifeless. By now Doctor Solow was becoming used to murder and treachery.
Nilson gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder.
"Well done. The escape pod is ready for us. We can leave as soon as Maddox finishes his work." He moved back towards the command console.
With a final t.i.tanic heave, the Myrka forced the door back, just far enough for its giant body to pa.s.s through. It set off down the corridor. Panic spread through the Base at the news of its coming.
Turning the corner, the Myrka overtook a fleeing crowd of Base technicians. Some ran desperately on. Others flattened themselves against the wall hoping the Myrka would pa.s.s them by. It pa.s.sed, but as it did so its tail lashed to and fro, sending out great surges of electrical power. Bodies glowed and twisted and fell dead behind it.
The Myrka moved on, impervious to the terror it inspired all around.
On the Silurian ship, its progress was monitored with quiet satisfaction. The Myrka had been, so to speak, part of the equipment of the Silurian battle-cruiser. A product of Silurian genetic engineering, it had been designed as a weapon of terror and destruction. Almost as much machine as animal, it was completely under the control of its Silurian masters. Its enormous strength enabled it to smash through steel walls and the hulls of ships. The electric charge carried by the ma.s.sive body repelled the effect of energy-weapons, and killed most living beings at a touch.
Like the Sea Devils, the Myrka had lain in hibernation for millions of years. Reviving it and restoring it to its deadly function had been a long and difficult task. It was gratifying to see how successfully this had been achieved.
"The Myrka has broken through the bulkhead door, Icthar," reported Scibus. "It is advancing through the Base.
The ape-primitives are powerless."
"Very well. Command the Myrka to make directly for its objective. Inform Sauvix that it is imperative that he gains entry without delay." He swung round to Tarpok. "Is the Manipulator ready?"
Tarpok was checking over a complex piece of Silurian equipment. "Yes, Icthar. It is now fully charged."
"Good. Now we must prepare to join our forces in the Sea Base. Scibus, you will inform Icthar that we are coming."
Commander Vorshak, Lieutenant Bulic and Preston and a tense group of guards were waiting by the door to airlock five.
Vorshak was listening to Nilson"s report over the intercom. "I"m afraid the creature has broken through into the Base, Commander. The boy Turlough forced us to open the bulkhead door. Somehow the creature was able to stop it from closing again."
"Sound the alarm. I want all non-essential personnel into the bunkers right away." Switching off the communicator, Vorshak turned to Bulic. "Get some of your best combat-guards to airlock one immediately. We"ve got to stop that thing."
"How?" protested Bulic. "Our weapons don"t seem to affect it."
"We"ve got to try!"
"He"s right, you know, Commander," said the Doctor"s voice. "Your weapons are useless against the Myrka."
Vorshak swung round. The Doctor and Tegan were hurrying towards him.
Vorshak"s hand went to his blaster. "Our weapons may not work on that creature, but they"ll work on you. Do you know what your friend Turlough has done? He made Nilson open the bulkhead door, and let the monster loose in this Base."
"He saved our lives," said Tegan angrily.
"I ordered that bulkhead door to be kept closed, to protect the Base."
"Leaving us in there to die!"
"It was only a matter of time, you know," said the Doctor gently. "Even that bulkhead door wouldn"t have kept the Myrka out for very much longer."
Lieutenant Preston had been keeping an eye on the airlock door. The line of charred metal ran most of the way around the door by now. "I think the door-seals are about to blow, Commander," she called.
Caught between two dangers, Vorshak stood frowning, locked in indecision.
"You"ll have to handle things here," said the Doctor. "But if it"s any consolation, I just may know how to stop the Myrka for you."
"If I want your help I"ll ask for it," snarled Vorshak. He gave an anguished glance at the smoke-wreathed door.
"Listen," said the Doctor quietly. "You"ll have a battle on your hands in just a moment. Do you want the Myrka coming up behind you? Let me try. What have you got to lose?"
Vorshak glared mistrustfully at him. "I ought to have you shot."
"Yes, yes," said the Doctor impatiently. "Hung, drawn and quartered as well if you like after I"ve stopped the Myrka."
"All right," said Vorshak reluctantly. "But I can"t spare you any men, I need them all here."
"I don"t want any men. All I need is someone with some authority, someone who can get things done."
"Lieutenant Preston, you go with him," ordered Vorshak.
"Yes, sir. Any special orders?"
"Yes. If he gives you any more trouble, kill him. That"s an order."
"How very encouraging," murmured the Doctor. "Come on!"
The Doctor, Tegan and Preston moved away, and Vorshak turned back to his men. "Get ready, all of you they"ll be through any moment now."
Vorshak was right. Seconds later the airlock door collapsed inwards.
Vorshak and his men stared in unbelieving horror at the terrifying figure in the doorway. Man-shaped, immensely tall, with tough corrugated skin, a reptilian-snouted head and great staring eyes, the creature wore some kind of armoured jerkin. One clawed hand help up a circular torch-like device. Behind this first apparition there were still more of the creatures, crowding into the airlock.
Vorshak recovered from his shock. "Fire!" he shouted.
The guards opened fire. A sizzling of blaster-bolts filled the corridor.
A ray of light sprang from the device in the creature"s hand. Beside Vorshak a guard screamed, twisted and died.
Remorselessly, Sauvix and his Sea Devil Warriors advanced out of the airlock.
It very soon became apparent that the invaders had the upper hand. The strange circular weapons they carried killed instantly, while their armoured jerkins absorbed the blaster-fire of the guards.
"Aim for the head!" shouted Bulic. "The head or the legs."
The more cool-headed of his men followed his advice, and here and there a Sea Devil fell dead or wounded. But for the most part it was the humans who died. Gradually, inevitably, the guards were driven back.
In a distant corridor, Turlough heard the sizzle of blaster-fire and began running, for once, towards the sound of battle.
Finally, covered by the concentrated fire of the survivors, Bulic operated the door-controls and then sprang back behind the bulkhead with the others. Immediately the ma.s.sive metal door began sliding across the corridor. The defenders concentrated their blaster-fire into the narrowing gap, forcing the Sea Devils back long enough for the door to close.
Bulic leaned wearily against the wall. "It"s no good, Commander, they"ve got us outgunned."