DOCTOR WHO - FURY FROM THE DEEP

by Victor Pemberton

  Van Lutyens pursued his point firmly. 'All right, so maybe it is. But my point is that we must at least check! Just as we must check the impeller valve at the base of the shaft. But Robson will do nothing! Nothing!'

  Harris and the Chief Engineer looked at each other, clearly swayed by the Dutchman's argument.

  'I suppose Robson might listen if we all put it to him,' suggested Harris. 'What do you think, Chief?'

  'There's some sense in what Mr van Lutyens says, sir,' said the Chief, massaging the tense muscle in the back of his neck. 'We should check.'

  The Dutchman sighed with relief. At last there was a glimmer of hope.

  In the TARDIS, the Doctor, Victoria, and Jamie were looking at a sketched drawing of a Weed Creature which the Doctor had turned up on the page of a very large, old and dusty reference book. The drawing was identical to the Weed Creature Victoria had seen in the Oxygen Room at the Refinery: enormous bubbled tentacles emerging from a large mass of sea foam.

  'That's it, Doctor!' explained Victoria, pointing nervously at the drawing. 'That's the same creature I saw!'

  The Doctor looked subdued and concerned. 'Yes. I was afraid it might be.'

  'But how did the picture get in this book?'

  The Doctor was studying the drawing through a large magnifying glass. 'The book is a list of legends and superstitions. This particular drawing is based on legends supplied by ancient mariners in the North Sea, probably around the middle of the eighteenth century.'

  Jamie was dumbfounded. 'You mean this drawing is the same as the creature Victoria saw in the Compound?'

  The Doctor looked up at Jamie through the magnifying glass. It was a grotesque sight. 'I'm afraid so, Jamie.'

  'And what about the clumps of weed?'

  The Doctor put down the magnifying glass. 'I don't know. But there's obviously some connection between the weed and the creatures themselves...'

  While the Doctor was speaking, Jamie's face suddenly started to curl. He was building up to a sneeze. 'Aah... aah...'

  Victoria looked anxiously first at the Doctor, then at Jamie. 'Jamie... Jamie, you're going to... to...'

  'Choo!' Jamie's sneeze was deafening, and this was just the start. But before he could sneeze again, the Doctor suddenly yelled out frantically.

  'Victoria! Look out!'

  Victoria turned with a shocked start, to stare in horror at the seaweed specimen in the glass tank just behind her. It had grown to over double its size, its tentacles hanging menacingly over the edge of the tank, covered in white foam. And the thumping sound it made was like a human heart-beat.

  Victoria screamed out loud just as the Doctor pulled her out of the way.

  To everyone's amazement, the heartbeat sound stopped abruptly, the seaweed vibrated, and immediately retreated back into the tank.

  'Jamie!' shouted the Doctor. 'Put the top on!' He quickly helped Jamie to replace the cover which had been forced open on top of the glass tank. 'Turn off the gas - quick!'

  Jamie turned off the cylinder taps, and the sound of hissing gas stopped immediately. But the TARDIS was filled with an unpleasant smell, which caused everyone to cough and splutter.

  'I was right!' said the Doctor, covering his mouth and studying the seaweed specimen now lying dormant at the bottom of the glass tank. 'The seaweed formations are feeding off the natural gas beneath the North Sea. But the gas they're expelling is toxic.' He looked closer at the specimen. 'And why did this stuff suddenly retreat back into the tank? Hmm, I wonder... ' He straightened up, and made for the door. 'Come on! We have to move fast!'

  'Where are we going?' asked Victoria, edging her way cautiously past the tank.

  The Doctor had already opened the door and disappeared outside. But his voice could be heard calling, 'I want to take another look at Harris's place!'

  The seaweed specimen remained quite still in its glass cage. After the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria had gone, it began to throb with life again.

  7

  The Figure on the Beach

  The Dutchman was clearly right about one thing. Robson was beginning to crack up.

  'No, I will not listen!' yelled the Controller maniacally from the observation platform in the Control Hall. Everyone was watching him in astonishment: van Lutyens, Harris, Price, the Chief Engineer, the communications crew. 'It's you, van Lutyens, isn't it? Isn't it!' Robson leaned over the rail to the Dutchman, his face contorted with anger. 'You've been trying to undermine my authority ever since you came here! You and Harris. You've been stirring up trouble round here just to get at me, haven't you? Now you've got the Chief on your side... ' He suddenly turned his bitter outburst onto the Chief Engineer. 'One of my oldest and trusted... I thought at least I could trust you!'

  The Chief looked crushed. 'Mr Robson, all we want you to do is to...'

  'I know what you want me to do - all of you! Every part of Robson's body seemed to be trembling, and his eyes seemed twice their size. 'You want to see me give up, don't you?' He laughed scornfully. 'Well, you'll never get that pleasure because... because...' He stopped to look around at all the anxious faces watching him. 'All of you... all against me! Very well, if that's the way you want it, go right ahead! Go and join Mr van Lutyens and his gang of academic friends!' He scrambled down from the platform to look van Lutyens straight in the face. 'Go on, join him! But just remember - I'm still in charge of this... I'm still...' He stopped, squinted his eyes, and rubbed his forehead. But he quickly recovered and lashed out at the crew again. 'Get back to work! Get... What the hell are you all staring...' He stopped again, then turned suddenly, and practically ran to the Compound entrance door.

  For a brief moment after Robson's exit, everyone remained in stunned silence. Finally, van Lutyens spoke to Harris.

  'Well?' said the Dutchman solemnly, 'You still think he's capable of running this place?'

  Harris seemed in a state of shock. All he could do was to exchange a bewildered glance with the Chief, and shrug his shoulders indecisively. This irritated van Lutyens. There was nothing he despised more than someone who was unwilling to accept responsibility. 'All right!' he snapped. 'You can do what you like, but I'm getting in touch with my people in the Hague.'

  'But what can they do?' asked Harris.

  'I don't know. But at least they can push your people in London into some kind of action! That man, that fool - he is no longer sane!'

  The Dutchman left Harris and the Chief deep in thought, unsure what to do. Then he hurried across to Price at the Control Cone and barked, 'Get me a direct line to Mr van der Post at Hague Central!'

  Robson returned to his cabin and slammed the door behind him. He was thoroughly exhausted, drained of all energy. For a moment, he stood with his back leaning against the door, looking around his cabin. It was nothing more than a small, stark room, more like a ship's cabin than the living quarters of an Administrative Controller. But there was one human touch in the room. It was a small framed photograph on a cabinet beside Robson's bunk bed.

  Robson pulled open his collar, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and crossed the room to take a look at the photograph. It was of an attractive young woman, Angie, Robson's wife, who had been killed in a car crash twenty-two years ago. Robson picked up the photograph and stared at it painfully. It was a time of his life that he would never forget, for, at the time of the accident, he himself had been driving the car in which Angie was the passenger.

  Robson replaced the photograph, sighed deeply, then went and slumped down on his bunk, to stare aimlessly up at the ceiling.

  In the corridor outside, someone was cautiously approaching the door of Robson's cabin. He was a sinister figure, small and fat, dressed in white cap, tunic, and trousers. It was Mr Oak, one of the two maintenance controllers. He moved silently, delicately, like a prowling cat in slow motion.

  In his cabin, Robson's eyelids closed. He was finally succumbing to sleep.

  Mr Oak had his ear pressed up against Robson's door. He could hear nothing, but knew w
hat was going on. He smiled gently, and waited.

  Robson sat up with a start, thinking he had heard a movement at the door. 'Who's there?' he yelled irritably. 'I'm not to be disturbed! Go away!'

  With a broad grin on his face, Mr Oak reached down and turned the key in the door lock. Then he moved on to the EMERGENCY VENT Control Unit on the wall, and operated the switch to OPEN.

  Robson was lying on his back again, eyes closed. For a moment or so he seemed to be relaxed, and falling into a deep sleep. Suddenly, his eyes sprang open, and were staring at the ceiling. He could hear a slight hum coming from somewhere in the room. The sound stopped abruptly, to be replaced by other, more menacing sounds. The hissing of gas, the thumping, pulsating rhythms of a heartbeat. Robson's face was running with sweat, his eyes couldn't focus properly. He began to cough and splutter as the gas started to affect him. He tried to sit up, but was too weak, and slumped back onto the bunk again. All he could do now was lie there helplessly, struggling for breath, listening to the overpowering sound of the heartbeat. Gradually his eyes began to focus, then opened wide in horror, transfixed towards the ceiling.

  The ventilation grille above Robson was wide open, and the first few blobs of white foam were beginning to appear.

  Robson was struggling to move, but his entire body felt like marble, as though he were paralysed.

  Soon, the blobs of white foam became a deluge, bursting open the grille with a loud crash.

  Robson tried to shout out, but it was taking all his effort to even open his lips. Blobs of white foam were cascading down onto him.

  The sound in the room was now deafening. Thumping. Pulsating. Bubbling. The heartbeat! Gradually, through the mass of white foam there emerged the long, curling tendrils of the Weed Creature, stretching down closer and closer towards Robson's face...

  In the corridor outside, Harris was about to knock on the door of Robson's cabin. But he stopped dead as he heard Robson's piercing scream echoing out from inside the room.

  'Mr Robson!' shouted Harris, banging on the door. 'Mr Robson, what is it? What's going on?'

  'Help me!' Robson was calling frantically, banging on the other side of the door. 'Let me out of here!' He screamed again.

  Harris desperately tried to open the door. It was locked. But the key was still in the lock, so he quickly turned it. No sooner had he done so than Robson pulled open the door. There were small blobs of white foam clinging to his clothes, and he was trembling with fear as he clutched his face. 'My face!' he spluttered. 'It touched my face!'

  Harris was horrified. 'Mr Robson...' But Robson pushed him out of the way and rushed down the corridor in panic shouting, 'It touched my face!'

  Harris called after him. 'Mr Robson! Wait! I need your permission to send two men down the impeller shaft...' He was wasting his time. Robson had disappeared through the door leading to the outer Compound area.

  Harris, totally shocked and bewildered, brushed the lock of hair from his eye. Then he turned to look at the door of Robson's cabin, and cautiously went inside.

  The sight that was awaiting Harris in Robson's cabin, was one which he would remember for the rest of his life. The moment he entered the room, he was coughing and spluttering from the deadly gas fumes which had almost overpowered Robson. There were blobs of bubbling white foam everywhere, and dangling down from the remains of the ventilator grille were the long, curling tendrils of the Weed Creature, its massive heartbeat pounding with frenzied, deafening life...

  The short winter daylight was already giving way to the early evening darkness, as the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria peered through the window into the Harrises' sitting-room. There was hardly a murmur of sound, only the rumbling of waves crashing onto the distant sea shore. Luckily the window was not locked, so the Doctor was able to climb into the room quite easily. Jamie and Victoria followed him in.

  'Good!' whispered the Doctor, trying to see in the dark, 'Nobody around. Much better on our own.'

  'Speak for yourself,' said Jamie apprehensively. He wasn't at all happy with the Doctor for bringing them back to such a place. 'I don't see why we can't just go back to the TARDIS and get out of here. This place is full of... of... ah... ah...' It was happening again. Jamie was about to sneeze.

  'Jamie!' gasped Victoria. 'You're not going to...' Even as she spoke, Jamie exploded into a fit of sneezing.

  'Gas!' The Doctor covered his mouth immediately. 'Out of here - quick!'

  The Doctor led the way out into the hall.

  Victoria was covering her mouth with her sweater. 'Where's it coming from?'

  'I don't know,' said the Doctor, looking up and down the hall. 'Jamie! Look in the kitchen!'

  Jamie rushed off to the kitchen, leaving the Doctor and Victoria to find their way into the bedroom.

  The Doctor opened the bedroom door, and looked in. The room was in darkness. 'Mrs Harris?' he called. 'Are you all right?'

  No reply. There was an ominous silence in the room.

  The Doctor fumbled for the light switch, and turned it on.

  The air was immediately pierced by the thumping, heart-beat sound. Victoria screamed out hysterically for the floor was 'crawling with clumps of pulsating seaweed, their bubbled tendrils reaching out from the mass of white foam.

  Coughing and spluttering, the Doctor threw his arms around Victoria to protect her. On the other side of the room, they were horrified to see that Maggie Harris was missing from the bed, where they had last seen her lying in a coma.

  'Doctor!' Jamie was yelling at the top of his voice from the kitchen. 'Help me!'

  The Doctor quickly slammed the bedroom door and locked it. Then he grabbed Victoria by the arm, and practically dragged her off down the hall.

  'Jamie!' The Doctor burst into the kitchen to find his companion in real trouble. The patio door was wide open, and Jamie himself was balanced precariously on top of a table in the middle of the room. All around him, the floor was just like the bedroom, crawling with clumps of seaweed and foam, all pulsating with hideous life. And the same merciless, thumping heartbeat!

  Jamie let out the most enormous sneeze. His eyes were streaming with tears from the gas fumes, and he was fighting for breath. 'Doctor! Do something! Get... get me out of here!' But he seemed to be in an impossible situation, for he was completely isolated by the weed and foam which prevented his escape in any direction.

  'Stay where you are, Jamie!' yelled the Doctor frantically. 'Hold on!'

  As the Doctor was speaking, Victoria suddenly clasped here head, as if about to swoon. 'The pressure... Doctor... my head... ' She was struggling to breath. 'I can't stand... the pressure... '

  The Doctor caught hold of Victoria just as she was on the point of collapse. 'No, Victoria!' He pulled her back into the hall, and shook her violently by the shoulders. 'Come on now, Victoria! Deep breath!' Victoria's head rolled from side to side as she struggled to revive. Gradually, her strength returned, and she was able to stand on her own two feet again. 'Good girl!' said the Doctor, patting Victoria's cheeks reassuringly with his hands. 'Now - quick! Help me!'

  'Doctor!' Jamie's calls from the kitchen were becoming more desperate. 'Hurry... '

  The Doctor returned to the kitchen door and shouted back. 'Hold on, Jamie! Hold on!' He rushed out into the hall again to look for something that would aid Jamie's escape. He settled on a pair of long curtains that were hanging up at the hall window. 'Help me, Victoria - quick!' With Victoria's help, he ripped down the curtains, and tied them together in a huge knot lengthways. 'Stay here!'

  'Doctor... ' Jamie's voice was becoming weaker as he began to droop under the pressure of the toxic fumes and overpowering sound of the heartbeat.

  'Don't let it beat you now, Jamie!' yelled the Doctor from the doorway. 'Wake up!'

  Jamie did not reply. His body was gradually crumpling dangerously close to the edge of the table, where the weed tendrils were waiting for him.

  This time the Doctor shouted as loud and as firmly as he could. 'Wake up, Jami
e!' Jamie was sinking fast and could not respond. 'Do as I say!' yelled the Doctor. 'Wake up!' Jamie suddenly snapped back into life again, and rubbed his eyes. 'That's it, Jamie! That's it! Quick now! Take the other end!' The Doctor swung one end of the curtain round and round his head, and threw it across to Jamie who caught it at the first attempt. 'Tie it to the leg of the table, Jamie, Hurry!'

  It was no easy task for Jamie to tie the end of the curtain to the table leg, for the seaweed clumps seemed determined to drag him down into the sea. But he was finally able to give a weak signal to the Doctor that he had secured the end of the curtain to the table leg.

  'Right!' yelled the Doctor. 'Now hold on!'

  The Doctor spit on both his hands, took hold of the other end of the curtain, and with all the strength he could muster, pulled the table with Jamie on it, inch by inch towards the door. It was a slow, tense movement, which seemed to provoke the seaweed clumps into a squealing rage. The more the table moved, the more their tendrils tried to reach up and curl themselves around Jamie's legs.

  Finally, Jamie's ordeal came to an end. As soon as the table reached the open door the Doctor and Victoria dragged him from it, and supported him out into the hall.

  'Let's get out of here!' yelled the Doctor, as the foam and weed rapidly overflowed into the hall after them, bubbling, pulsating, and squirming with aggressive life...

  Harris looked around Robson's cabin in total disbelief. Only a few minutes earlier the place had been a mass of bubbling white foam, and the ventilator grille jammed with the enormous figure of the Weed Creature.

  'But it was here I tell you,' said the bewildered Harris, his eyes darting to every corner of the room. 'I saw it!'

  Van Lutyens was only partly sceptical. 'Did you?'

  'It was trying to get into the room from the grille up there. A huge, hideous creature with long tendrils... like a... like a gigantic octopus. It could move... it was alive... Van Lutyens ignored him. He was too busy looking around the room. 'You don't believe me, do you!' snapped Harris.