DOCTOR WHO AND THE CLAWS OF AXOS Page 4

  Filer looked round wildly. Fully awake at last, he realised that this place of imprisonment had changed. He was in a small enclosed space, a glowing-walled cell. Tentacles growing from walls and floor held him firmly in place. On the other side of the cell, more tentacles were securing another prisoner. Filer looked curiously at him. The man wore a dark suit, with a high-collared jacket. Although he wasn't particularly big, his compact body gave an impression of immense power. He had a small, neatly-pointed black beard and dark burning eyes. His voice was deep and resonant. 'Who are you? What is your name?'

  So compelling was the voice that Filer answered without question. 'Bill Filer. American Intelligence.' He gazed bemusedly at the other man. Surely his appearance was familiar. No, not his appearance. His description. Filer struggled to regain his concentration. 'And who the hell are you?'

  The bearded man smiled ironically. 'At the moment I am simply your fellow captive, Filer. In more fortunate circumstances, I am known as the Master!'

  Although Jo didn't realise it, she was now very close to the chamber where she'd left the others. The sound of her terrified screams broke up their heated discussion.

  The Doctor dashed out of the chamber and along the corridor, the Brigadier close behind. Hardiman and Winser were about to follow when Chinn gestured them to remain. He turned to the Axon. 'Now perhaps we can talk without perpetual interference from UNIT. About this agreement...'

  The Axon was not listening. He had pressed his hand to a section of wall which seemed to grow brighter at his touch. He stood for a moment as if communing with the very fabric of the ship, then said politely. 'I'm afraid there is some crisis. I must investigate.'

  'Then perhaps you would escort me from your ship? Discreetly as possible. I must get in touch with my Minister.'

  'Of course.' The Axon gestured towards the Axon woman. She indicated that Chinn should follow her, and led him towards the small door. The Axon hurried out after the Doctor. Hardiman and Winser were left gazing helplessly at each other.

  After a moment Hardiman said doubtfully, 'Winser, are you sure...'

  'I'm sure that Axonite offers the greatest potential for scientific advancement we've ever known.' There was a fanatical light in Winser's eyes. 'It ties in with my own research with the Particle Accelerator—immeasurably more advanced, of course. We must have Axonite, here in the Nuton laboratories. Whatever the cost...'

  The Doctor found Jo crumpled on the floor in a dead faint. Standing over her was the golden figure of an Axon. For a moment the Doctor thought that the Axon he'd left in the chamber had somehow arrived ahead of him, since the appearance was identical. Same inhumanly handsome features, same pale golden skin.

  The Axon backed slowly away as the Doctor ran up. He didn't speak as the Doctor knelt by Jo and examined her. She was already recovering. After a moment she opened her eyes and said dazedly, 'Doctor?'

  'It's all right, Jo, you're safe now. What happened?'

  'I saw this thing... this monster. It was all slimy and tentacled...' Jo's voice began rising in panic.

  'Jo—it's all right. There's nothing to be afraid of.' The Doctor helped Jo to get to her feet.

  Masking his concern with abruptness, the Brigadier said, 'May I ask what you're doing here, Miss Grant? I gave you explicit orders.'

  'I know. I'm afraid I followed you in. Then I heard Bill Filer's voice...'

  'Filer—in here?'

  'I tried to find him... then this awful thing appeared. It came right out of the wall at me...'

  The Axon they had first encountered, presumably their leader, thought the Brigadier, came quietly up to them. He looked at his fellow Axon for a moment. Without a word the Axon turned and walked away. Calmly the Axon leader said, 'I think I can explain. We are close to the organic power-sources here. Emission from the energy cells, weak as it is, might still have affected your sense perceptions, causing you to hallucinate.'

  'What about the voice I heard?'

  The Doctor patted her shoulder. 'All part of the hallucination, Jo.' he said reassuringly. 'Even I was affected when I first carne in. Let's go back to the others.'

  In a small communications booth inside the Mobile H.Q., Chinn stood impatiently waiting as the UNIT R/T Operator linked him up with Whitehall. When at last the call was through Chinn said abruptly. 'Just wait outside, will you?'

  'Sir?'

  'Wait outside! '

  The R/T Operator looked doubtful, but he knew Chinn was some kind of VIP. He said woodenly. 'Very good, sir,' and left Chinn alone in the little booth. The Minister's face appeared on the monitor screen. He looked rather like a cunning old blood-hound. Chinn poured out his story, careful to emphasise the immense potential value of Axonite and the obstructive attitude taken by the Brigadier and his eccentric Scientific Adviser. He explained his plan for dealing with them, and secured the Minister's permission to assume special powers. But the Minister's final words were far from encouraging.

  'You're sure you can handle this, Chinn?'

  'With the special powers I've requested, yes, sir.'

  'Because if you're not, remember this. It's your head on the block, Chinn, not mine.' With a certain relish in his voice the Minister went on, 'If anything should go awry, Chinn, your reputation, indeed your whole career will be ruined. You will bear that in mind, won't you?'

  Chinn gulped. 'Yes, sir.'

  'Remember Chinn, no one is indispensable—except me, of course.'

  'Quite sir. About the special powers...'

  'I'll get in touch with the Regulars right away.' The Minister was unable to resist a final jibe. 'Just keep me informed, won't you? Remember, you're the man on the spot—in more ways than one!' The Minister smiled appreciatively at his own joke, then the screen went dark.

  Chinn looked at his watch. 'Right, Brigadier,' he thought. 'Now we'll see where the real power lies...'

  The Axon was concluding a polished speech of apology. 'Naturally I regret that your young female was frightened. But to wander about our ship was a rash thing to do. Of course, if Miss Grant would like to see over the ship, we shall be happy for her to do so. Under the proper supervision, that is...'

  It was all very smooth and convincing, thought Jo. Too convincing. She tugged at the Doctor's sleeve and whispered, 'Doctor, I did see that creature. And I did hear Filer's voice. It wasn't an hallucination: It was real.'

  The Doctor said loudly, 'The whole point about hallucinations is that people do think they're real. Otherwise they wouldn't be hallucinations, would they?'

  Jo subsided, with a distinct feeling that the Doctor was letting her down.

  The Doctor strolled across to Hardiman and Winser, who were studying the specimen of Axonite in its golden casket. Winser nodded towards Jo. 'No ill effects?'

  The Doctor shook his head. 'She'll be all right.'

  The Axon moved towards the door in the recess. 'I will leave you, gentlemen. Until the question is settled.'

  The Doctor watched the Axon go and then asked breezily, 'What question?'

  Winser tapped the casket. 'Axonite. Chinn's gone to talk to his Minister.'

  The Doctor thought hard. It was easy to deduce Chinn's next move—which meant he must make some readjustments of his own. He smiled at Winser. 'Beware of the Greeks bearing gifts.'

  'What?'

  'You're referring to the story of the Trojan Horse, Doctor?' said Hardiman. The Doctor nodded.

  Jo was listening to the conversation in some puzzlement. She remembered the story of the Trojan horse from her schooldays. The Greeks had been besieging Troy, and couldn't get inside. So they'd built an enormous wooden horse, left it outside the city gates and gone away. Overcome with curiosity, the Trojans had dragged the horse inside their city walls. But the horse had been hollow—and filled with Greek soldiers... She couldn't quite see how this applied to Axonite.

  Neither could Winser. 'These classical allusions are lost on me, Doctor. I'm a scientist.'

  'So were the Greeks in their way. Unfortu
nately for Troy. Pretty little place it was. I used to have a villa there, right on the sea's edge. You could lie in bed and fish for your breakfast—before the Greeks destroyed the place of course...' The Doctor became aware that Hardiman and Winser were staring at him in utter bafflement, and realised that his free and easy attitude to Time was causing some confusion. Hurriedly he said, 'Still, no use dwelling in the past, eh? We must look to the future.'

  Hardiman seized his opportunity. 'And the future of humanity can benefit enormously from Axonite.'

  'The advantages will be enormous...' agreed Winser.

  'The material advantages, perhaps.' The Doctor took the casket from Winser's hands and looked at the pulsating substance within. 'I doubt if even Axonite can increase the growth-rate of human common sense.' He shut the lid of the casket with a bang. 'However, since everyone is clearly hell-bent on getting hold of it, may I suggest that we confine it initially to your own labs? At least until we can make a proper analysis of all its properties?'

  Hardiman seized on the key word. 'We? Are you offering to co-operate with us, Doctor?'

  'Scientifically, yes.'

  Hardiman looked at his colleague. 'Winser?'

  'That depends.'

  'On what?'

  'On who is to lead the investigation.'

  Hurriedly the Doctor said, 'Why you do, of course. My contribution would remain completely anonymous. Security reasons, you see.'

  Winser smiled, thinking of the articles in scientific publications, the conferences, the books, even the Nobel Prize...

  'That fellow Chinn's the problem,' muttered Winser.

  'What's he up to, Doctor?' asked Hardiman.

  'I'm not sure. But believe me, Sir George, the longer we scientists can keep Axonite away from people like Chinn, the better for all of us.' The Doctor smiled cheerfully at his new allies.

  Jo sidled up to him. 'Doctor, what are you up to? What about the Brigadier? What about the United Nations? You're supposed to be working for UNIT.'

  'I wish you wouldn't keep interrupting, Jo. These matters are rather above your head.' Ignoring her stricken face, the Doctor turned to Winser. 'Do tell me more about your Particle Accelerator. I gather you've reached a g-factor of point eight? A remarkable achievement! '

  Winser smiled, pleased that this odd-looking fellow appreciated the value of his work. His smile vanished when the Doctor added, 'And I imagine that with a factor of say, one point one, you hope to be able to travel in Time?'

  Winser was astonished. The eventual aims of his research had been carefully concealed, yet the Doctor had deduced them with casual ease. Hurriedly revising his estimate of the Doctor's intelligence Winser said quietly, 'Well, in theory...'

  'But only if the reaction is controllable. With Axonite perhaps?'

  Winser looked hard at him. 'Why not? Clearly Axonite must have an existence in the fourth dimension... That being the case...'

  The rest of the conversation was over Jo's head, but she scarcely bothered to listen. Her mind was full of a shocking discovery. Now she knew why the Doctor had suddenly changed his attitude. He didn't care whether Axonite would be good or bad for Humanity. He wanted it for himself!

  With wriggling and twisting that would have done credit to a professional acrobat, Bill Filer had man-aged to manoeuvre his Colt Cobra from his shoulder holster into his hand. Taking careful aim he fired at one of the tentacles holding him captive. His second bullet severed one tentacle, but the others tightened their grip.

  'That won't help you, Filer.'

  Filer said nothing. He knew the Master was right. Even if he scored a hit every time—which he wouldn't —there were still too many tentacles and too few bullets. Persuasively the Master continued, 'If you'll only listen to me, we can both escape.'

  'Oh, sure.' Filer gave a scowl of frustration. Here he was just a few feet from the man he'd been hunting—and he couldn't do a thing about it.

  The Master went on talking. Despite himself Filer found his attention caught and held by the deep, persuasive voice. 'Listen, Filer! We are both prisoners of Axos. Whatever our differences we must join forces.'

  'What is Axos? Where do they come from?'

  'Nowhere.'

  Filer said stubbornly. 'Everything's gotta come from somewhere.'

  'No, Filer. The Axons have no home planet. If you like, this ship is their planet. They float in space, searching for food, for energy. They are scavengers of the universe...'

  'So how come they chose Earth? Did you bring them here?'

  'I had no choice. They captured me, absorbed me. They forced me to bring them to a living planet. It was the price of my freedom. And then they tricked me. If you don't help me, Filer, this whole world, your world, will be doomed.'

  Filer considered. 'O.K. I can't get in any worse mess. What do I do?'

  'You see that small nodule, high up in the wall? It is the nerve centre of this cell. If you can hit it, the shock will disorientate it, at least temporarily.'

  'And that'll give us our chance?'

  'Our only chance! '

  Filer looked doubtfully at the tiny projection. He was a fine pistol shot, and under normal conditions he would have felt pretty confident. But conditions were anything but normal. Trussed hand and foot, in poor light. he would have to shoot at a half-seen target with his hand stretched awkwardly across his body. Taking the best aim he could, he fired. A tiny hole appeared at the edge of the nodule. Filer looked at the Master. 'So? Nothing happened.'

  'You must hit the centre, Filer. The exact centre.'

  Filer fired again—and again. The shots were close —but not close enough. He looked at the Master. 'Last chance!' Taking careful aim, he squeezed the trigger with agonising slowness. The revolver cracked —and a hole appeared in the very centre of the nodule.

  Immediately there was chaos. The tentacles loosened their grip and lashed aimlessly about. Lights flickered madly and even the walls and floor seemed to ripple with shock. The Master gripped the inter-twined tendrils that formed one wall and ripped them apart. When the gap was big enough, they forced their way through it and tore off down the corridor.

  Jo was still trying to convince the Brigadier of the Doctor's treachery. 'You know how obsessed he is with getting the TARDIS going again? Well, he's talking Time Travel with Winser. He's got the idea that Axonite will help him to get away from Earth.'

  The Brigadier looked doubtful. It was true enough that escape from Earth in the TARDIS was the Doctor's prime concern. He'd only taken the job with UNIT in return for laboratory facilities to work on his TARDIS. Even so, he'd given valuable help in the past and the Brigadier found it hard to accept that his old friend was planning to betray him. Worriedly he said, 'Keep an eye on the Doctor by all means, Miss Grant. It's Chinn I'm worried about. He's been away for ages now. What's he up to?'

  As if on cue Chinn bustled back into the chamber, the Axon leader beside him. Chinn was in high spirits. 'It's all over, Brigadier. I've reached full agreement with our friend here.'

  The Brigadier realised that he'd been outflanked. Chinn had been back in the Axon ship for some time—engaged in a private conference with the Axon leader. Importantly Chinn went on, 'Britain now has the world rights to Axonite.' He took the casket from Winser and tucked it possessively under his aim.

  The Brigadier's voice was cold. 'You leave me no alternative, Mr Chinn.' He drew his revolver and levelled it at the astonished civil servant. 'I'll take charge of that.' Taking the casket from Chinn the Brigadier gestured with the revolver. 'Now then everyone—shall we go?'

  Herding Chinn ahead of him, the Brigadier led them from the chamber. The Axon stood silently watching, making no attempt to stop them. When he stood alone in the chamber a sibilant voice filled the air.

  'Energy crisis in cell area. Investigate.'

  The Axon turned to leave. Before he did so he spoke to the Axon woman. 'Further personalisation unnecessary. Commence reabsorption.' He hurried away.

  The beautiful golden-sk
inned woman stepped back against the wall. Her beauty dissolved into a mass of writhing tentacles which in turn merged into the wall of the ship. Now she was once more part of Axos.

  The journey back to the Mobile H.Q. was made in an awkward silence, everyone preoccupied by their own thoughts. Chinn appeared suspiciously cheerful for someone who'd just suffered a major defeat.

  The Brigadier waved his party into the Mobile H.Q. At the top of the steps, he stopped in astonishment. The control room was full of armed soldiers. Yates and Benton stood stiffly to attention covered by a corporal's sten-gun. A Regular Army Captain was standing by Chinn's side.

  The Brigadier exploded. 'Yates, Benton, what the blazes is going on here?'

  It was Yates who replied. 'Regulars just moved in and took over, sir.'

  'Took over?'

  Benton nodded sheepishly. 'Took us all by surprise, sir. I mean—we couldn't very well open fire.'

  'What about the rest of the men?'

  This time it was Chinn who answered the question. 'They have all been arrested.'

  With a sudden movement he snatched the golden casket from under the Brigadier's arm. 'And so, Brigadier, have you.'

  5

  The Doctor Makes a Plan

  For a moment the Brigadier was literally speechless with rage. There was a tense silence in the crowded control room. Then, in a voice choked with anger, he began, 'You have no right...' He moved to recover the casket, only to find one of the soldiers barring his way with a levelled sten-gun.

  Chinn smiled triumphantly. 'On the contrary, I have every right, Brigadier. You and your people are all under arrest. I have been granted special powers by the Minister.'

  Ignoring Chinn, the Brigadier snapped, 'I must warn you, Captain...?'

  'Harker, sir.'

  '... Captain Harker, that this is an illegal act.'

  'I'm sorry, sir. I must follow my orders.'

  The Brigadier nodded, understanding his fellow-soldier's discomfort. 'Very well. Mr Chinn, I submit under protest. I shall make every attempt to inform the U.N.'