Doctor Who: Fury From the Deep (15 page)

'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

'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!'

Jamie looked up sharply at the Doctor. The thought that Victoria might be in danger filled him with horror. His response was immediate and determined: 'We've got to find her!'

The Communications Hall was now on full alert. Not only was the impeller at a standstill, but the gas flow to the South of England was completely cut off. Even more serious was the fact that both audio and visual contact between the Refinery and its rigs had broken down. And now came the news that Megan Jones found absolutely shattering to even contemplate. 'Foam and weed on all the rigs?' said the Chairperson incredulously. 'Mr Harris, are you sure you've heard right?'

Harris was ashen-faced. 'According to the helicopter pilot, there is no sign of life at all on any one of the rigs.'

There was a deathly silence throughout the Hall. All that could be heard was the intermittent flickering of lights at the Control Cone.

'I don't believe it. I just - don't believe it!' The Chairperson could hardly bring herself to speak. She raised herself' out of her chair, and turned to look up at the illuminated panel on top of the Cone. 'All this - it's so fantastic!' Then, turning back to Harris she asked helplessly, 'What can we do?'

For once in his life, Harris was decisive in his reply. 'Our main priority is to save the lives of any of the crew who may still be alive...'

'What do you suggest?'

'Give me permission to evacuate them. Then blow every one of the rigs to pieces - right out of the sea!'

'
What!
' The Chairperson's secretary looked as though he was about to have a fit. 'You're out of your mind, Harris! Have you any idea how much those rigs cost to install?' He then pleaded directly with the Chairperson. 'Miss, Jones, you can't agree to such a thing.

Euro-Gas is of vital economic importance to the Government, to the country. The Minister would never forgive us if we...'

'To hell with the Minister!' bawled Harris. 'The lives of our crews are more important than any one of those rigs!'

Perkins was practically purple in the face with indignation.

'Our duty,' he spluttered pompously, 'is to the British electorate!'

'Shut up, Perkins!' snapped the Chairperson. Perkins stared at her in disbelief. He felt like a balloon that had been pricked with a pin. The Chairperson quickly turned to Harris. In an extraordinary way, being put on the defensive made her look more attractive. 'Mr Harris,' she said calmly, 'You ask me to destroy years of hard work, skill, and Government money...'

Harris felt no guilt at interrupting her. 'Miss Jones, I am asking you to destroy this evil that's in the sea. Destroy it - before it's too late. I implore you - bomb the rigs - now!'

'No! Never!' A voice was booming out from the other side of the Hall. Everyone turned to look. The shadow of a man was standing in the doorway of the Compound exit. It was Robson.

'Mr Robson!' The Chairperson was visibly shaken as she caught her first glimpse of Robson. He came rushing across the Hall towards her, his appearance a shock to everyone. Heavy-eyed, tired, drawn, and unshaven, the Controller seemed to be on the very brink of a nervous breakdown.

'Leave the rigs alone!' Robson's demand was directed as much to Harris and everyone in the Hall as to the Chairperson herself.

'They're mine I tell you - mine!'

The Chairperson took a nervous step backwards. She was staring at Robson in wide-eyed amazement. Was this the man to whom she had entrusted so much power? The man whose career she herself had promoted? 'Robson...' she asked falteringly, 'what is it?

What's wrong?'

Robson turned his back on her, and launched into a wild discourse to everyone in the Hall who was staring at him. As he spoke, there was a look of madness in his eyes. 'Can't you see it?' he yelled, his voice now back to its old harsh, loud tone. 'Can't you see they're all against me? Those rigs - they're mine! Mine! I built them with my own sweat and blood. They're my life! They want to destroy everything because they know it'll destroy me! But I won't let... we won't allow... we... ' His voice gradually faltered. He seemed puzzled and uncertain.

'
We
, Robson?' asked the Chairperson. 'Who are you referring to?'

Robson turned suddenly to look at her. It was as though he was only just aware that there was someone else in the Hall. 'What?' he murmured. 'My... I... I don't know...' He began to stagger, then clutched his hand to his forehead as if in pain.

'Mr Robson!' The Chief Engineer rushed forward to help Robson. Harris and two other engineers did likewise.

'Is he all right?' asked the Chairperson.

Robson suddenly sprang to life again, and shrugged off the help he was being given. 'Of course I'm all right...' Everyone became aware of the change in his voice. It had resumed its soft, almost inaudible tone. For a brief moment he stood quite still, looking around him from face to face in disorientated bewilderment. 'I'm sorry,' he mumbled breathlessly, 'I don't know what I...' Without another word, he broke free from the group around him, and rushed out of the Hall. Everyone watched him go in shocked disbelief.

'Mr Robson!' called the Chairperson.

Harris said, 'Let him go. The strain must have affected his mind.'

'It's not the strain, I can assure you.' This time it was the Doctor's voice. He was approaching from the Impeller Area.

The Chairperson glared at the stranger. 'And who the devil are you?'

Harris turned with a start. 'Doctor! I'd almost forgotten. What about van Lutyens? Did you find him?'

Even before Harris had finished asking the question, the Doctor was shaking his head sadly. This was yet another shock which Harris found hard to accept. He swallowed hard and asked,