by Mike Tucker
The Doctor and Lizzie spun around to find him standing in the doorway. Behind him were half a dozen armed guards, their guns at the ready.
‘So, it would seem that this mysterious “dinosaur” exists after all.’ Pelham strode into the room, wagging a finger at the Silurians. ‘You’ve been keeping secrets from me, Oclar. Naughty boy. I thought that I was just going to be able to make money out of the fuel crisis, but it seems that these… Myrkas could have some possibilities in the arms trade too.’
‘Listen to me, Pelham,’ urged the Doctor. ‘You’re out of your depth. These creatures are unlike anything you will have seen. Savage, brutal.’
‘They sound perfect.’ Pelham laughed unpleasantly.
‘No.’ Lizzie’s voice shook with emotion. ‘It’s gone far enough.’
The Doctor and Pelham turned and looked at her in surprise. She was holding a small black device, like a pager. Her finger poised over a red button on its side.
‘Lizzie?’ the Doctor frowned at her. ‘What’s going on? What are you doing?’
‘I’m sorry, Doctor.’ Her voice was trembling. ‘This man, this… monster has to be stopped. There’s a bomb in the power room. This is the trigger. I’m going to blow this facility to pieces!’
* * *
Chapter Six
‘Oh well done, Doctor!’ snarled Pelham. ‘Just a photographer! Just a journalist after a story! I thought that you were meant to be the clever one. I knew that she was from Wholeweal!’
The Doctor did his best to ignore him. He kept his eyes on Lizzie’s, aware of her finger on the button of the trigger device. He was also aware that the armed guards now had their weapons aimed at her.
‘Lizzie.’ He kept his voice calm. ‘This isn’t you. This isn’t the solution.’
‘Yes it is,’ said Lizzie shakily. ‘If Pelham gets his way then the Antarctic will be covered in his factories. Another wilderness lost. Another bit of the planet torn apart just to make him rich.’
‘But a bomb? Is that really the way to stop him?’
‘This base has a new power-cell system. It’s not nuclear, there won’t be any fallout, but the bomb will start a chain reaction. There’ll be nothing left.’
‘And what about the people, Lizzie?’ asked the Doctor sadly. ‘There are innocent people here. Think of Bob in the sickbay, think about Phil watching the football results, the guards, the caterers. Look around the room. A new species that you’ve only just met. Scientists from another culture, another time. They can teach you so much. These are the people that you will destroy, not just Pelham.’
He took a step towards her, watching the doubt flicker across her face. ‘I know that you feel so helpless. I know that you watch the people around you destroying their world without any thought for the future. I know that you have convinced yourself that this is the only way that you can stand up to them, but you’re wrong. This won’t make you the winner. This makes you another piece of the problem.’
He held out his hand. ‘I’ve been in your shoes, Lizzie. I’ve destroyed whole worlds and have had to live with the burden. Believe me, you don’t want to press that button.’
There was total silence in the meeting room, every eye on the Doctor and Lizzie. Slowly she bowed her head, and placed the trigger device in the Doctor’s hand.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said quietly.
‘I know.’ The Doctor let out a long breath. Turning off the trigger device he slipped it into his jacket pocket.
Pelham’s guards rushed forward, grabbing Lizzie roughly by the arms.
‘Ow!’ She struggled in vain. The guards clearly weren’t going to take any more chances.
‘I’m impressed, Doctor,’ said Pelham, eyeing the Doctor with a new respect. ‘Perhaps there is more to you than meets the eye after all,’
‘There’s no need to treat her like that,’ snapped the Doctor. ‘She won’t give you any more trouble.’
‘I intend to make sure of that,’ said Pelham. ‘Take her away and lock her up, and this time do it properly!’
The guards bundled Lizzie roughly out of the room.
‘Now, Doctor, give me that trigger device. Then perhaps you can explain to me exactly what these Myrkas are like.’
As the words left Pelham’s lips, there was a shattering roar. One wall of the meeting room was ripped to shreds by powerful claws. A huge shape smashed in through the hole, its tough, leathery hide glistening with snowflakes.
‘They’re like that,’ said the Doctor.
Humans and Silurians scattered as the Myrka tore its way into the base. The guards opened fire in panic. The Doctor dived for cover as bullets whined around the room. Oclar was staring in disbelief at the creature. The Doctor dragged him against the wall as the Myrka lumbered past them. It roared in pain as bullets bounced off it, then it slashed out at the guards with its claws.
It was a far bigger specimen than the last one that the Doctor had seen. It was nearly two and a half metres tall at the shoulder, its four stocky legs rippling with muscle. Two powerful arms jutted from its torso. The claws were razor sharp. The Doctor flinched as the thick, spine-tipped tail thrashed wildly.
‘Don’t touch its skin!’ he shouted. ‘It carries a lethal electrical charge!’
The warning came too late for one of the guards. Having run out of bullets, he tried to use his rifle as a club. As the weapon connected with the Myrka’s scaly skin, there was a flare of blazing blue light, and the harsh smell of ozone. The man dropped to the floor, dead.
As the Myrka forced its way further into the base a small, fur-covered figure suddenly appeared through the ragged hole torn in the wall.
‘Father!’
Oclar stared in amazement. ‘Partock?’
The figure pulled back a heavy fur hood to reveal the delicately scaled face of a young Silurian girl. Oclar embraced her warmly. ‘I thought that you were dead!’
‘I’ve no time to explain now!’ said the girl, shaking herself free from him. ‘We must go whilst we have the chance.’
Oclar stared fearfully at the driving snowstorm outside. Already the temperature in the base had dropped alarmingly. ‘We won’t last long out there…’
‘Oh, I’m guessing Partock has thought of that already, hmm?’ asked the Doctor.
Partock shot him a wary glance.
‘Who is this? Another of Pelham’s thugs?’
‘No.’ Oclar shook his head. ‘He’s a friend.’
For a moment, the young Silurian looked as though she was going to argue, then she gave a brisk nod. ‘Good. I’ll need your help to get Father and the others to the lift building.’
‘What about your pet?’ The Doctor jerked a thumb at the rampaging Myrka. ‘You can call it off now.’
‘Let it finish what it’s started,’ snarled Partock. ‘The humans deserve no better.’
‘I can’t let you do that.’ The Doctor’s voice was stern. ‘It’s served its purpose as a diversion. Now call it off.’
‘No.’ Partock glared at him.
The Doctor held her gaze. ‘You won’t be able to get all your people out of here without my help, and the longer we stand here in the cold the weaker they are going to get.’
Time Lord and Silurian stared at each other for what seemed like an age, then Partock reached into her furs and pulled out a small flute-like device. She raised it to her lips and blew. An electronic warbling filled the air and the Myrka’s head twitched upright. It was almost like a dog responding to its master’s whistle
‘It will return to its lair,’ said Partock grumpily.
‘What a well-behaved little Myrka it is.’ The Doctor beamed at her.
Partock pulled the furs tightly around her head and grasped her father’s arm. The scientists were already shivering violently. She started to guide everyone out through the ragged hole in the base wall.
The Doctor hesitated for a moment, torn between getting the scientists to safety and going back in to rescue Lizzie. With a shake of his head he r
ealised that if he was to mount any kind of any rescue attempt then he needed Oclar and Partock’s help.
Reluctantly, he turned and followed the small party of Silurians through the gap in the wall.
* * *
Chapter Seven
As they stepped out into the wind, one of the Silurian scientists cried out in pain and stumbled. The Doctor dragged him back to his feet.
It was bitter, and the storm was whipping the snow into swirling, biting clouds. The tall spire of the drill-head building was a faint shape through the blizzard. It was probably no more than a few hundred metres away, but the cold-blooded Silurians were already starting to struggle in the severe conditions.
Partock half-dragged, half-carried her father forward. The Doctor urged the others on. From behind them, there was the grinding of metal and plastic as the Myrka tore itself free from the base. With a final shattering roar, it vanished into the storm. Soon there was only the sound of blaring alarms and terrified voices.
The Doctor just hoped that Lizzie had been taken somewhere well out of harm’s way. Her actions had made him angry and sad at the same time. Angry that he had been so sure she was who she claimed, and sad that she had felt that she had to go down such an extreme path. He had seen in her eyes how torn she had been. Would she really have blown them all sky high? In his hearts, he didn’t think so. He hoped that he would get a chance to ask her.
As they arrived at the drill-head building, the scientists were shaking with cold. One of them, the eldest, was almost in a coma. Even Partock in her heavy furs was starting to get slow and sluggish. She fumbled with the locked door, her fingers numb with cold.
‘Here, let me help.’ The Doctor drew her gently to one side, slipping the sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket.
He pressed the nozzle of the screwdriver to the door. A familiar whine and blaze of green light filled the air. The door opened and a blast of warmth wafted out. The Doctor and Partock dragged the Silurians inside the building.
The Doctor closed the door and hurried over to a heating control on the wall. He twisted it to full. There was the whine of distant motors, and warm air started to flood into the room.
Oclar gave a hiss of pleasure as his body temperature started to rise once more. ‘Thank you, Doctor. We would not have survived much longer.’
‘No, the Antarctic really isn’t a good place for Silurians to be.’ He glanced over at Partock. ‘You’ve been lucky to survive.’
‘Lucky?’ Partock scoffed. ‘There has been nothing lucky about it.’
‘What happened?’ asked the Doctor gently. ‘What happened after Pelham left you out on the ice?’
Partock was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath.
‘I lay in the snow, watching as Pelham took my father and the others back to the base. He assumed that the cold would kill me, and it nearly did. I almost died right there, but then I looked at what you apes have done to my world. A world made cold and damp and dark. In the end it was hatred that kept me alive. Hatred of humanity.’
The room had gone quiet, everyone listening to Partock’s story.
‘I forced myself to stand, to follow the tracks left by Pelham’s machines. At last I stumbled across a series of primitive wooden structures, nothing more than shacks.’
‘An abandoned whaling station,’ murmured the Doctor to himself. Partock ignored him.
‘Inside were clothes, stinking rotten furs that kept out the cold. I found crude bladed weapons and hunted the mammals that swim beneath the ice. I forced myself to eat their flesh. Slowly, I regained my strength.’
Oclar reached out to lay a hand on his daughters shoulder, but Partock brushed it aside.
‘Wrapping myself in the furs I made it back to the base. I needed somewhere warm to hide where I could plan my revenge.’
‘The power room,’ said the Doctor.
Partock nodded. ‘Pelham’s guards are even more stupid than the rest of the apes. Hiding from them was easy. I learned how to tamper with the controls. I could plunge the base into darkness whenever I wished. The humans do not deal well with the dark. Perhaps a part of them remembers how we used to hunt them in the forests of the old world. It was easy for me to use the shadows to find what I needed, to make my way back down to our base beneath the ice.’
Oclar shook his head. ‘But how did you find out about the Myrka herds, the military? Those files were secret, known only to me and a handful of others.’
‘You are too trusting, Father. It was easy to break into your secret files and learn the true nature of our facility. I revived the Myrkas to attack the humans!’
‘You have gone too far, daughter!’ Oclar voice was shaking with anger. ‘You will only make the situation with the humans worse!’
‘The Myrkas will provide the means to bring the humans to their knees! We can wipe out the rest of these primitives with ease!’
‘No! I will not allow it!’
The Doctor hurried over to the lift. ‘I think we should get down there, pronto. We don’t want a herd of grumpy Myrkas stamping about the place. If they’ve been unfrozen, it should be easy enough to refreeze them.’
The lift door slid open and the Doctor stepped back in shock.
Standing in the doorway was a giant figure, its sleek form clad in combat gear. Black eyes glinted wickedly from beneath a fierce-looking helmet as the figure raised a disk-like gun.
It was a Sea Devil.
* * *
Chapter Eight
‘Die, human.’ The creature’s hissing voice was filled with hatred.
‘No!’ Partock knocked the weapon aside. ‘This human is helping us.’
The Sea Devil hissed angrily, but lowered its weapon. From the shadows emerged other Sea Devils, all heavily armed. The Doctor chewed his lip nervously. Their body armour marked them out as a commando squad of highly trained killers. It didn’t bode well.
‘Is everything ready?’ asked Partock.
‘We await your command.’
‘What is the meaning of this?’ Oclar pushed forward, struggling to speak through chattering teeth. ‘You had no right to revive the military…’
‘I had no choice,’ snapped Partock. ‘Pelham and the rest of the apes cannot be trusted. They need force to control them. General Veldac’s troops will provide that force.’
‘Um, excuse me.’ The Doctor waved a nervous hand in the air. ‘I don’t mean to put a spanner in what I assume is a carefully worked out plan, but Pelham did mention that he had guards in the hibernation chambers.’
‘And you thought that I hadn’t already dealt with them?’ Partock shot a despairing look at him, and then turned to the Sea Devil commander. ‘Start your attack.’
Pelham slumped behind his desk, mopping at his forehead with a tissue.
‘Where is it?’ he asked one of the guards. ‘Is it following us?’
‘No, sir.’ The guard listened intently to the voice in his earpiece. ‘My men followed the creature for about half a mile. It appears to have gone into a fracture in the ice sheet.’
‘Then it came from the underground lake,’ mused Pelham.
‘PelCorp is committed to having a minimal impact on the environment.’ Lizzie was reading from a poster on his wall. ‘I’m not sure you’re going to be able to claim that you’ve met that particular target, are you?’
‘Shut up and sit down,’ Pelham snarled at her. ‘I have had just about enough of people like you. I should have spotted you from the very beginning. Eco-warriors.’ He spat the word.
‘But your little game is up, isn’t it, Pelham?’ taunted Lizzie. ‘You might have pulled the wool over people’s eyes with promises of wealth from your miraculous new fuel, but you’re not going to be able to hide an entire new species. Prehistoric creatures. It’s over for you!’
‘You think so?’ Pelham raised an eyebrow at her. ‘My company and my staff have been attacked by a hostile force. People have been killed, and property has been destroyed. I believe that means
I have a right to defend myself.’
Lizzie’s eyes widened. ‘You’re going to destroy the hibernation equipment, aren’t you? You’re going to wipe out an entire race!’
‘It’s a bit late for you to worry about destroying innocents.’ Pelham gave a short barking laugh and snapped on the intercom on his desk. ‘Get me the guard captain at the drill head.’
‘I was about to inform you, sir.’ The voice was tinny over the speaker. ‘We’ve lost all contact with the drill head. That creature has probably destroyed some cables. It could take some time to repair the damage.’
Pelham sat back in his chair, lips pursed. ‘The creature, or something else?’
‘Then there’s nothing you can do but wait,’ said Lizzie.
‘I think we can do better than that. The Navy have been very interested in this operation. After all, the fuel is of huge benefit to them as well. I’m sure that they will be only too keen to help me deal with “foreign agents”.’ He picked up a phone on his desk. ‘Get me Admiral Turner.’
In the control room far below the ice sheet, all was a picture of quiet calm. Silurian scientists hurried back and forth between banks of equipment. Pumps and filters hummed with power as the Fire Ice was collected and refined. The only things that spoilt the illusion of a happy, well-run facility were the guns in the hands of the human guards stationed around the walls.
One of the guards looked up idly as the glowing numbers above the lift door started to count steadily downwards. Frowning, he glanced down at his watch. There wasn’t a shift change due for another hour. The only other person authorised to come down to the lab was Pelham, and if he was going to visit then his fussy assistant normally phoned in advance.
Lifting his rifle, the guard started to make his way across to the lift. Someone was going to get in a lot of trouble if the correct procedure hadn’t been followed.
He took a deep breath ready to bawl out whichever poor unfortunate had been sent down. The lift doors slid apart.