‘Sarah Jane Smith. I’m a journalist.’
The General swung back to face the Brigadier. ‘No journalists are allowed in this zone. Have her evacuated immediately.’
‘Miss Smith is acting as my assistant, General.’ The Doctor turned to her. ‘You were saying, my dear?’
Sarah quickly told of their encounter with the peasant from the time of King John. ‘Don’t you see, General,’ she concluded, ‘it’s not only reptiles, it’s people. Maybe anything will pop up from the past now.’
The General rocked on his heels, his favourite stance. He tapped his leg with his swagger cane. ‘Have you never heard of mentally deranged people believing they were Napoleon? I suggest your so-called peasant was mad.’
‘He vanished before Miss Smith’s very eyes,’ said the Doctor. ‘Madmen can’t do that.’
From his radio console, the operator turned excitedly to Sergeant Benton. ‘Another sighting, sarge. Just come through.’
In a flash Benton went to take the note the radio operator had scribbled down while listening to reports of the new sighting.
‘Where is it?’ asked the Brigadier.
Benton helped himself to a green flag from a little cardboard box on the desk top, and stuck it carefully on the map. ‘There, sir,’ he said. ‘It’s a stegosaurus this time.’
‘Get on to the artillery right away,’ the General ordered the Brigadier. ‘We need field guns to blast it into eternity.’
The Doctor stepped forward. He was a good six inches taller than the General. ‘You’ll do no such thing! We must study that creature, not shoot at it. How much do you think we’ll learn from a dead dinosaur?’ He took the Brigadier’s arm. ‘Come on, Brigadier, I want you to get me there as quickly as possible.’
The Brigadier looked startled. ‘What do you intend to do? Make friends with it?’
‘Possibly,’ said the Doctor. ‘But first we’ve got to catch it.’
The stegosaurus, thirty feet long and weighing two tons, stood bewildered in a narrow Hampstead side street. In the distance it could see the green of Hampstead Heath, and the prospect of so much lush foliage made its salivic juices run. But immediately ahead was a little group of mammalian midgets coloured brown, and they were frightening because they carried sticks that made big bangs. Each time one of the sticks banged, the stegosaurus’s nerve centre set in its hip reacted to pin-pricks of pain. No doubt a tyrannosaurus or a pterodactyl would have enjoyed the little mammals, as a between-meals snack, but the stegosaurus longed only to munch peacefully on big green leaves. It wished the little mammals would all go away. In anguish at being trapped in this uninviting valley, it swished its tail. The fronts of three houses shattered and crumbled with a roar of falling bricks and masonry. As the dust cleared, the three houses looked like dolls’ houses with the front taken away—each floor left intact with the furniture now exposed to view.
The jeep which was carrying the Doctor and the Brigadier screeched to a halt. A UNIT corporal ran forward and saluted.
‘Corporal Norton, sir!’
The Brigadier jumped down from the jeep. ‘What’s the situation, corporal?’
‘As you can see, sir, we’re containing the steggi in this street.’
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. ‘The steggi?’
‘We had to shorten their names,’ explained the Brigadier. ‘This Latin scientific stuff got a bit beyond some of my men.’
‘Whatever you call it,’ said the Doctor, ‘it’s a remarkable specimen. I must get a better look.’ He strode towards the great mound of armour-plated flesh that blocked the little street.
‘Do be careful!’ called the Brigadier.
‘It’s all right. These things were vegetarians.’
The stegosaurus was backing further and further into the street. It swished its tail in fear, totally destroying two more houses.
‘It’s causing terrible damage to private property,’ the Brigadier shouted. ‘We’ll have to lay charges under it and try to kill it.’
‘Don’t be so bloodthirsty. What we need are ropes and a strong net.’ The Doctor returned to the jeep.
‘If you insist,’ said the Brigadier reluctantly. ‘Corporal, what ropes have we got?’
‘There are towing ropes in all the vehicles, sir,’ replied the incredulous corporal. ‘If we catch it, how are we going to move it, sir?’
‘Good point!’ The Brigadier turned to the Doctor. ‘How indeed, eh?’
‘One thing at a time,’ said the Doctor. ‘If we can rope its legs together, that will stop it moving. Then we could get one of those giant trucks they use for transporting heavy equipment. I want to get it somewhere quiet so that I can observe it under laboratory conditions.’
‘And what if it struggles?’
‘That’s one of the many risks we shall have to take. But it may be quite docile. Its brain is only the size of a walnut.’
‘We’ll give it a try then,’ said the Brigadier. ‘Corporal, get all the towing ropes we have to hand—and tell your men to be careful. One swish of that tail and they’ll be squashed like jelly.’
‘Sir!’ said the corporal, saluting smartly. He hurried away to the Army vehicles standing close by.
‘I don’t mind telling you,’ said the Brigadier, ‘that in my opinion this is a lunatic scheme…’
The Brigadier suddenly froze, as though Time was standing still. The Doctor turned quickly to look at the stegosaurus. The huge reptile was already transparent, and in a moment had vanished. From the corner of his eye, the Doctor saw the corporal running backwards towards them. He looked now at the Brigadier. The Brigadier blinked, and cleared his throat as the corporal returned to stand in front of him.
‘Tell your men to be careful,’ said the Brigadier. ‘One swish of that tail and they’ll be squashed like jelly—’ The Brigadier stopped mid-sentence. ‘It’s gone! It’s disappeared!’
The corporal turned to look. ‘Blimey, sir. How did that happen?’
Sergeant Benton placed two mugs of tea on a desk top next to Captain Yates and Sarah. ‘Thought I’d do a brew up, sir, while the others are chasing after that steggi.’
‘Very kind of you,’ said Yates.
Benton smiled and left discreetly.
‘You were telling me about Wales,’ Sarah said.
‘After all that business with the giant maggots, I had to have a spot of leave.’
‘Had to?’
‘The people who created the maggots put me under some hypnotic spell.’ He smiled, very charmingly Sarah thought. ‘Lot of nonsense, really. Anyway, I’m all right now.’
‘I hope so.’ Sarah took her steaming mug of tea over to one of the classroom windows and looked out. ‘It’s weird seeing London like this—all these deserted streets.’
‘I rather like it,’ he said. ‘Have you noticed how clean the air’s become? No cars, no people. Only yesterday I saw a fox in Piccadilly.’
She turned and laughed. ‘And nightingales singing in Berkeley Square?’ She was referring to an old and very sentimental song from the years of the Second World War.
Captain Yates did not laugh in return. He spoke quite seriously. ‘It’s not impossible. Nature is always ready and waiting to take back the places that humans have despoiled.’
‘I like London the way it was,’ said Sarah. ‘Traffic jams, pollution and all.’
‘I suppose you do.’ Yates picked up his own mug of tea and stared into its steamy surface. ‘Perhaps I’m a bit old-fashioned.’
Sarah looked hard at him. What could be going on in his mind?
General Finch, red-faced and angry, was facing the Doctor across the classroom.
‘Disappeared?’ scoffed the General. ‘You must mean you disappeared when it got too close!’
‘What reason had I to be frightened? It was a herbivore.’
‘A what?’
‘A vegetarian, sir,’ explained the Brigadier. Sarah, Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton were watching the clash between the General and the Doctor with
mounting interest.
The General swung round to face the Brigadier. ‘I should like to know what role you played in this fiasco. How did you lose it?’
‘I’ve no idea, sir. One moment we were getting towing ropes to capture it, and the next it was gone. Vanished into thin air.’
The General’s eyes narrowed. ‘You saw it vanish?’
The Brigadier, who couldn’t remember exactly what he had seen, hesitated. The Doctor stepped forward. ‘The Brigadier and his men didn’t see what happened. They were temporarily affected by a time eddy. You see, General, these creatures are being moved back and forth through Time.’
The General’s face grew redder. ‘Ridiculous!’
The Doctor continued calmly. ‘Whenever a creature appears or disappears, the temporal displacement produces a localised distortion in Time. As far as people immediately in the areas are concerned, Time literally flows backwards. In fact, one of the UNIT corporals started to run backwards. Naturally, they have no memory of what has occurred.’
The Brigadier smiled and tried to soothe the bad-tempered General. ‘Suppose, sir, that we accept the Doctor’s theory for the sake of discussion.’ He turned to the Doctor. ‘What’s the next step?’
‘We must capture one of these creatures.’
‘What good will that do?’ asked the General.
‘I shall explain.’ The Doctor crossed to the map of London on the blackboard. ‘Someone must be causing these apparitions, General. I intend to track them down.’ He pointed to the map. ‘Why are reptiles only appearing in this one small area?’
‘I would hardly call the whole of Central London a small area!’ retorted the General.
‘But the giant reptiles flourished everywhere on this planet. So why aren’t they popping up everywhere?’
‘I say,’ said the Brigadier, ‘that’s a jolly good point!’
‘Could I ask something, Doctor?’ chipped in Sarah.
‘Yes, my dear. What is it?’
‘What about the man we saw in the garage?’
‘I think he was an accident—or an early experiment.’ The Doctor pointed to the ringed area on the map. He spoke with mounting conviction. ‘Somebody is deliberately causing these phenomena—and they’re operating from the middle of London!’
For a moment no one spoke. Captain Yates broke the silence. ‘You’re overlooking one important point, Doctor. The whole of Central London has been evacuated. The military, and a few stray looters, are the only people living in the entire area.’
‘The only ones we know about,’ replied the Doctor. ‘I can assure you that somebody is causing this to happen, and if my theories are correct, they must be using massive amounts of electricity.’
The General smirked. ‘By that idiotic remark alone, you defeat your own argument. All electricity supplies have been cut off in Central London.’
‘Thank you, General. In that case, they must be making their own!’
fn1 See Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters in the same series.
fn2 See Doctor Who and the Green Death in the same series.
4
The Timescoop
Professor Whitaker peered at the massive control console of the Timescoop, and smiled inwardly at his achievement.
In the entire history of Humankind, he was the only person ever to have changed Time. Others had climbed Everest and launched people into space—but only Professor Whitaker had moved things, people, and prehistoric monsters through Time!
Many problems, however, remained to be solved. The Timescoop had twice gone out of control—once removing a startled Roman soldier from the midst of a battle into Trafalgar Square, and once scooping up a medieval peasant… But these were small errors compared with the technological magnificence of being able to focus the ’scoop on to a particular dinosaur at a precise moment in pre-history and to bring it safely into the present.
It crossed his mind that if he had the time (he smiled at his own pun) he could hob-nob with any number of famous people from the past. He could, if he wished, summon up Henry VIII although the King’s Old English would be difficult to understand. Perhaps Oscar Wilde would be more fun to meet, or perhaps the late Noël Coward. Some of the great mysteries of the past, such as the disappearance of the two princes in the Tower, could be solved by the Timescoop.
Yet although he could manipulate Time, it was the one thing he was short of. The people he worked with were always pressing him to complete the Timescoop. If only they weren’t in such a hurry.
A technician called across the control room. ‘Power output holding steady at one million volts, Professor.’
‘Thank you,’ he called back.
Butler, a man he disliked, came over to him. ‘The next time-transference is due in one hour, Professor.’
Whitaker turned away and busied himself adjusting some controls. He’d never liked the look of the jagged scar that ran down Butler’s left cheek. ‘It may have to wait.’
‘We must maintain the time-transference schedule,’ said Butler. ‘The sequence has been carefully calculated.’
Whitaker swung round. ‘How can I work on the main project when I have these constant distractions?’
Butler put on his awful smile. ‘These distractions, Professor, have emptied London for us. We must keep the authorities off balance.’
Whitaker tried to avoid looking at the jagged scar. ‘What’s the weather like up above?’
Butler was surprised by the question. ‘Does it affect the programme in any way?’
‘You know very well it doesn’t. I just wondered if it was raining. I haven’t seen daylight for a month.’
‘If it really interests you, Professor, I shall try to find out. But may I first ask if we shall have the next transference on time?’
Whitaker turned back to his console. ‘I suppose so. But don’t blame me if the final count-down is delayed.’ He began making rapid calculations on a miniaturised computer, and paused when he realised that Butler was still standing behind him. Without turning, he said, ‘Well, what is it now?’
‘The final count-down mustn’t be delayed, Professor,’ said Butler’s voice. ‘You are aware of that. Everything depends on you.’
At last Butler was showing some sense. Of course everything depended on the brilliance and genius of Professor Whitaker. He liked it when other people acknowledged this fact.
‘I shall do my best,’ he said. ‘Now will you please stop standing behind me? It puts me off.’
‘Certainly,’ said Butler.
Whitaker’s well-manicured finger jabbed two more digits on the miniaturised computer, then he stole a glance over his shoulder. Butler had moved away and was reading power input dials. Whitaker thought it was such a pity about that awful scar.
At UNIT’s temporary Headquarters the Doctor had rigged up the headmaster’s office as a private workshop. Captain Yates watched as the Doctor wired the main circuit of the stun-gun he’d just completed—a long barrelled weapon with shoulder pad, sights, and a trigger.
‘You really think you can knock out a dinosaur with that thing?’ asked Yates.
‘Naturally,’ said the Doctor, continuing with his work, and wishing Yates would go away.
‘How?’
‘Relative velocity of molecular reaction,’ replied the Doctor, knowing that Captain Yates would not understand a word.
‘I see.’
‘No you don’t.’ The Doctor paused, looked up, and grinned. ‘The principle hasn’t been developed on Earth yet.’
Captain Yates examined the weapon closely. ‘What exactly will it do?’
‘It’ll temporarily neutralise the creature’s brain cells,’ answered the Doctor patiently.
Yates frowned. ‘I thought these creatures hadn’t any brains.’
‘All animals have a brain of some sort. Dinosaurs’ brains are particularly small compared with their overall size. In fact, the modern kitten has more brains than the largest dinosaurs ever had.’
‘
So what’ll happen to the dinosaur when you switch that thing on?’
‘Its brain will be affected by a directional beam carrying a small power charge.’
‘Then what?’
‘It’ll faint.’
‘What will you do with your monster once it’s fainted?’
The Doctor put down the gun. He realised he wouldn’t be able to get on with any more work while Captain Yates was there. ‘I’ll surround it with an electrical field, and wait for it to disappear into the past.’
‘Is that going to tell us anything?’
‘With any luck I shall discover the source of the power which is moving these creatures through Time.’
‘Will it be accurate enough?’
‘I hope so. It’ll be like the way in which triangulation’s used to detect radio transmitters. I think it’ll be accurate enough for the Brigadier to send a squad of men to round up the guilty parties.’
‘Jolly good,’ said Captain Yates, putting on his cap. ‘Well, if you can spare me, I’ll let you get on with it, Doctor.’
‘That would be most helpful,’ said the Doctor, eager to continue his work.
Yates opened the door to leave and Sarah rushed through it.
‘Doctor,’ she gasped, ‘that General Finch is being impossible—’ She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the Doctor’s weapon. ‘What are you making?’
The Doctor again tried to get on with his work. ‘Ask Captain Yates, my dear. Now will you please leave me in peace!’
Feeling rejected, Sarah turned to the handsome young Captain. ‘That wretched General of yours is trying to have me evacuated out of London.’
‘You’re a civilian, Sarah. You have no official status.’
‘That’s stupid,’ she replied in annoyance. ‘Doctor, I’m your assistant, aren’t I?’
The Doctor was attaching the terminals of the main electrical circuit of the stun-gun, a delicate operation. ‘Yes, yes, my dear,’ he called, without looking Sarah’s way. ‘Anything you like.’
‘There you are,’ Sarah said to Captain Yates. ‘So I have a right to be here.’
Yates gave her a quizzical look. ‘Tell you what, I’ll fix you up with a temporary pass. Just stay out of sight of General Finch.’ He smiled, and hurried away.
Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion Page 5