Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster Read online

  'You see that? It controls the vacuum mechanism that opens the door. Just break it off, will you?'

  The gnarled lever was astonishingly tough, but the Caber was astonishingly strong. Muscles bulging, he ripped it clear from its socket. When the Zygon crew realised they'd been tricked and tried to re-enter their control-room, the door remained obstinately closed against them. They began to scrabble at it with their claw-like hands, hissing in rage and terror.

  The Doctor looked round the control-room thoughtfully, and pointed to a complex mechanism set a little apart from the other controls. 'Anyone know what this is?'

  The baffled group shook their heads. 'You tell us,' said Sister Lamont in her soft Highland voice.

  'It's a Self-Destructor Unit,' said the Doctor rather sadly. 'And it works like—this!' He tugged on the control-nodule, and the Destructor Unit began to hum with power.

  "I'he group of released prisoners looked at it in silent wonder. The Doctor touched another nodule and a hatch opened in the side of the ship. In a conversational tone the Doctor added, 'We've got about sixty seconds before the whole ship blows up!'

  This was something the captives could understand, and if the Doctor hadn't stood aside he would have been trampled in the rush.

  In the quarry, the Brigadier checked that the hastily set-up cordon of soldiers round the space-ship was properly in place. Beside him stood Harry Sullivan, loaded down with the latest thing in thermic lances, ready to cut his way into the Zygon ship. Sarah, who'd been allowed to come only on the strict understanding that she stayed in the land-rover, looked on anxiously, waiting for the attack to start.

  Taking a deep breath, the Brigadier prepared to give the order to attack. Before he could get the words out, a hatch in the ship's side opened and a motley assortment of people rushed out, the Doctor close behind them. At the sight of the Brigadier and his men the Doctor yelled, 'Get back, all of you. Back and down!'

  The Brigadier relayed the order. 'All right, every-body. Pull back and take cover!'

  The circle of men around the space-ship suddenly expanded as everyone started to run away from it. Sarah ran up a slight rise and turned to call the Doctor.

  'Doctor, over here!'

  The Doctor came sprinting up to her. 'Get down,' he yelled, and Sarah threw herself to the ground. There came a rumbling explosion, a blinding white flash, and then silence.

  Cautiously Sarah raised her head and looked back at the space-ship. She saw—nothing! The Self-Destructor Unit, as efficient as all Zygon technology, had left nothing of the space-ship and its crew but fine white ash, which drifted away on the wind.

  The Doctor stood up, helped Sarah to her feet, and gave her a quick hug of greeting. Before she could say anything Harry and the Brigadier came running up. Harry pounded the Doctor on the back. 'Well done, Doctor, well done!'

  The Doctor winced, dodged the next exuberant thump, and turned to the Brigadier. 'Well, Brigadier, was that a big enough noise for you?' His face was sad. He'd hated destroying the ship and its crew, but it had been the only way to prevent the loss of still more human lives.

  The Brigadier gave a contented nod. 'Congratulations, Doctor. Our troubles are over.'

  'Don't be too sure, old chap.'

  'Why?' broke in Harry. 'The Zygons are finished now, aren't they?'

  'Well, not exactly. I'm afraid Broton got away.'

  The Brigadier wasn't worried. 'Soon round him up. Broton by himself isn't much of a threat.' He glanced at the Doctor's face. 'Or is he?'

  'Don't forget, there's still the monster, Brigadier. Broton controls it.'

  'It's been spotted swimming along the coast,' said Harry. 'Seems to be heading this way—and we still don't know what he intends to do with it.'

  The Doctor frowned. 'It's almost certain to be some piece of spectacular destruction somewhere in London. And there's an obvious way for the monster to approach...'

  'The river,' snapped the Brigadier. 'It was last seen near the estuary.'

  'Exactly. With one of the highest tides of the year running, it could come right into London.'

  Harry tried to think of likely targets. 'The docks? The bridges?'

  'I don't think so, Harry. Broton's looking for something really spectacular.'

  'just before I picked up your signal,' said the Brigadier slowly. 'I had a panic call from the P.M. He was speaking from Stanbridge House. That's on the river...'

  'What's happening there?'

  'The Fourth International Energy Conference. It opens today. The place will be full of VIP's from all over the world.'

  'A good place for Broton to make his power felt internationally. That could be it, Brigadier.'

  'Very tight security, though. He'd need a top-level pass to get in.'

  'But he'll have a pass,' Sarah burst out. 'He'll be looking like the Duke of Forgill, remember—and the Duke is President of the Scottish Energy Commission. That must be why Broton took the Duke's document case—he's going to attend the Conference!'

  12 Monster in the Thames

  Deep beneath the swollen flood-tide of the River Thames, a giant shape was moving steadily up river. It couldn't hope to evade detection any longer. But that wasn't important. Soon the Skarasen would be at its target. And there was no power on Earth strong enough to stop it carrying out its mission.

  In UNIT's Communications Room, Benton and his team had monitored the monster's. progress. All they could do was watch. The Doctor had warned that nothing less than an atomic bomb would have the slightest effect on the Skarasen. It was impossible to use a weapon of sufficient power without destroying all London as well. Any lesser weapon might well have the effect of angering the monster, perhaps sending it on a killing rampage through the city.

  In Stanbridge House, an imposing new conference hall on the edge of the 'Thames, a packed mob of VIPs milled and jostled, enjoying their free champagne at the reception which was following the formal opening of the conference. Security guards were everywhere, discreetly checking passes and surveying the crowd for intruders, and there were policemen at all the doors.

  His Grace the Duke of Forgill moved quietly through the guests, a well-known and respected figure. He seemed rather weary and abstracted, nodding in reply to the greetings of old friends, but never stopping to talk.

  He crossed the main hall and left by one of the side entrances, showing his pass to the policeman on guard, who touched his helmet respectfully. 'Need a breath of air,' explained the Duke. 'Terrible crush in there.'

  Once out of the policeman's sight the Duke moved not upwards towards the open terrace that overlooked the river, but downstairs to the basement. He slipped through an unmarked service door and followed a concrete staircase leading to the cellars. At the end of a bare stone corridor he came to a metal door marked 'No Admittance', pushed it open and went inside. Another flight of steps led down into darkness.

  In the conference hall, scandal and confusion was breaking out among the delegates. There seemed to be some kind of a flap on. As if it wasn't enough to have policemen and plain-clothes security guards everywhere, there were soldiers turning up, armed men with UNIT flashes on their shoulders. They were led by a full-blown Brigadier, an odd-looking chap wearing a floppy hat and a long scarf, a young man and a very pretty girl. The delegates muttered and grumbled over their Government champagne, wondering what was going on.

  The Doctor, the Brigadier, Harry and Sarah squeezed their way out of the main hall and assembled in a quiet corridor. 'No sign of him in there,' said the Brigadier. 'Still, we know he's here somewhere—Security checked him into the building.'

  'What's in this building—besides the hall itself?' asked the Doctor.

  The Brigadier produced a plan. 'Catering section, river terrace. Usual service area in the basement.'

  'Right, Brigadier, you take a party and search around here. I'll take a look in the basement.'

  (Road and river traffic along the Thames embankment were thrown into utter confusion when a monstro
us head on the end of a long sinuous neck broke the surface of the water. Ignoring the panic-stricken screams of passers-by the monster weaved its head to and fro for a moment, as if taking a bearing, then plunged once again into the river, swimming steadily towards Stanbridge House...)

  Sarah kept close to the Doctor as they moved through the gloomy basement corridors. She'd followed him automatically, but now she was wondering why she hadn't chosen to stay upstairs with the Brigadier and Harry.

  At the end of a bare stone corridor, they came to a plain metal door bearing a 'No Admittance' sign. 'Probably the cellars,' said the Doctor. 'Let's take a look.'

  He opened the door and saw stairs leading down into darkness. The Doctor found a light-switch by the door and flicked it, but nothing happened. 'That's funny,' he said. 'The light's not working.'

  Sarah giggled nervously. 'Someone should tell the Energy Congress.'

  The Doctor flung the door open wide, so that light from the corridor streamed on to the steps. 'Stay here,' he ordered, and went down into the darkness. Sarah peered after him.

  A familiar hissing voice spoke from the darkness below. 'I thought you were dead, Doctor.'

  'Loose thinking, Broton,' the Doctor said lightly, peering into the gloom to detect his enemy.

  'This time I shall make certain,' said the voice coldly.

  The Doctor spoke over his shoulder. 'Sarah, get the Brigadier.'

  Turning back to face the darkness, he said, 'Broton, your space-ship has been destroyed, and this building is surrounded by troops. You arc alone on this planet. You must surrender.'

  Broton appeared from the darkness, climbing the stairs until he was visible in the light. He had reverted to his own Zygon form, and he held a Zygon device in his hand about the size and shape of an old-fashioned pocket watch.

  'This is the Activator! With it I control the Skarasen. I can destroy your planet, or be its master. That is the choice I offer your world.'

  Sarah, frozen in terror, was still at the Doctor's shoulder. Suddenly Broton ran up the steps, dodged past the Doctor and lunged for her at amazing speed, stinging claw outstretched. The Doctor grappled with him and yelled, 'Run, Sarah.'

  She tore back down the corridor calling 'Brigadier! Where are you, Brigadier? This way ! '

  Luckily the Brigadier had finished his search of the catering area and was on his way to find the Doctor. Sarah turned a corner and ran straight into him. 'This way—the Doctor's found him.' Sarah led them back to the cellar at a run.

  The Doctor and Broton rolled down the steps and wrestled desperately in the cellar darkness. The Doctor was gripping Broton by the wrists, concentrating on keeping the stinging claws away from him. With a sudden convulsive heave Broton broke free and sent the Doctor hurtling across a pile of crates. The Doctor lay there winded for a moment, and Broton crouched over him.

  The Brigadier and his men appeared in the door-way, shining torches into the darkness. The first soldier through the door ran down to grapple with Broton, who jabbed with his stinging claws, and killed the man with a savage blast of power. As the soldier dropped, the Brigadier shouted, 'Doctor, keep down!' and emptied his service revolver into Broton's body.

  As the crash of shots died away, Broton stood swaying a moment, green eyes ablaze with hatred. 'The Skarasen will destroy you all,' he hissed, and crumpled to the floor.

  The Doctor got to his feet and examined Broton's hands. Both were empty. He stared wildly round the cellar. 'The signal device. We must find it, quickly. Either it got dropped in the fight, or Broton's hidden it. Brigadier, you'll have to evacuate the building. The Skarasen will tear down this building to get at that device.'

  With the aid of the torches, it took only minutes to search the small bare room. The device was nowhere to be seen. The Doctor stood in the middle of the room, his mind racing, 'Broton had the device just before we struggled. Now where would he have wanted...' A delighted grin broke over the Doctor's face. He slipped his hand into his own coat pocket, and when he brought it out, there lay the device. 'A trier to the last, our friend Brown. He obviously hoped the monster would crunch me up to get this.'

  A sudden shattering roar came from the direction of the river. It was clearly audible, even in the cellar. 'The Skarasen,' said the Doctor. 'Come on, we've got to get to the terrace.' He ran up the stairs, the others close behind him.

  The river terrace high above the Thames was one of the special features of Stanbridge House. But none of the architects had envisaged the view which met the eyes of the Doctor and his friends as they ran up to the terrace parapet. They found themselves literally face to face with the monster, since the creature's long neck brought its head well up to the level of the terrace. They stared for a moment at the great rolling eyes, and the rows of savage teeth.

  'It's huge,' gasped Sarah.

  'Oh, I've seen bigger,' said the Doctor disparagingly. He held up the Zygon device between finger and thumb. 'Here, boy, here!'

  There was another roar as the great head lunged towards them.

  Quite undismayed the Doctor shouted, 'Here boy! Fetch it!'

  As if throwing a ball for a dog. the Doctor aimed the device in an arc, just above the creature's head. The monster's neck swung round and the teeth clashed down on the signalling device, snapping it up like a biscuit. With a tremendous splash, the monster sank back beneath the water. For a moment they could see the great dark shape swimming down river, then it disappeared into the depths. 'On its way home, no doubt,' said the Doctor.

  Harry looked at him. 'Home? Where?'

  'Loch Ness, Harry—after all, that's the only home it knows.'

  As they turned to leave the terrace, Sarah couldn't help wishing the Skarasen a safe journey. It wasn't evil in itself—it had only obeyed the commands of its Zygon masters. Soon the old stories would be true at last. There really would be a monster in Loch Ness.

  The Brigadier climbed slowly up the Scottish hillside, deep in conversation with the Duke of Forgill. Ahead, he could see the Doctor, Harry, and Sarah climbing the steep track towards the TARDIS.

  'The Cabinet have accepted my report, your Grace,' he was saying, 'but the whole affair is now an official secret.'

  'You mean it never happened?'

  'Exactly, your Grace.'

  The Duke grunted. He was far from certain what had been happening since he and his retainers were kidnapped by the Zygons, but it was clear that the Brigadier's odd-looking friend had got him out of a very nasty spot, and he was grateful for that. He'd insisted on meeting them at the station, and driving them up the hill to recover the TARDIS.

  As they approached the others, the Duke said, 'Funny thing, y'know, but as I was driving to the station to meet you people I could swear I caught a glimpse of something big submerging in the loch.'

  'But you're not sure?' asked Sarah.

  The Duke shook his head. 'Sun was in my eyes. This what you've come to collect?' He pointed to the blue police box, still perched on the hillside.

  'That's right, your Grace,' said the Doctor proudly. 'This is the TARDIS.'

  'How you going to get it down the hill? Get some of my people to help if you like. The Caber could do it single-handed.'

  'Very kind, your Grace, but that won't be necessary. I think I'll drive it back to London. I can be there five minutes ago.'

  Sarah gave him a sceptical look. 'Are you sure about that, Doctor?'

  The Doctor was always indignant at any reflection upon his ability to control the TARDIS. 'Of course I am. I shall simply slip into the Time Vortex, then re-set the co-ordinates.' He produced the TARDIS key and opened the door. 'Who's coming with me?' He looked hopefully round the group.

  'No thank you, Doctor. Never again!' said the Brigadier firmly. He had very disturbing memories of his one trip in the TARDIS.**

  'How about you, Harry?'

  Harry took an instinctive step back. Getting into the TARDIS had involved him in a series of adventures he preferred not to think about. Now he was on Earth aga
in, he intended to stay there. 'I'll stick to Inter-City this time, thanks all the same, Doctor.'

  'Sarah?'

  Sarah thought longingly of the comfort and safety of a first class compartment on the London train. Then she saw the disappointment on the Doctor's face. 'All right, Doctor,' she said reluctantly. 'But only if we go straight back to London.'

  The Doctor looked hurt. 'I promise you, Sarah. Straight back.'

  Sarah took a deep breath, said goodbye to the others, and stepped into the "TARDIS. The Doctor waved a cheerful farewell and followed her in, closing the door behind them. Harry and the Brigadier exchanged looks of resignation. The Duke glanced from one to the other, wondering what the blazes was going on.

  A curious groaning, wheezing noise filled the air, and the blue police box faded away. The Duke was far too well-bred to show any surprise. Besides, when a chap's been held prisoner in a space-ship and impersonated by an alien monster, it's not so easy to surprise him. He looked at the Brigadier and said impassively, 'Did they have return tickets?'

  'Yes—I think so, your Grace—why?'

  'You should have taken them and got a refund, man. Thought you were supposed to he a Scotsman!'

  The Brigadier chuckled politely at the aristocratic joke. and all three started walking down to the Duke's shooting brake. The Brigadier wondered where the Doctor and Sarah would end up. He was pretty convinced of one thing. For all the Doctor's protestations —it wasn't likely to be anywhere as ordinary as London!

  *See Doctor Who - The Three Doctors.