‘Why, tired of your uniform?’ asked the Doctor.
‘To go down the mine,’ said the Brigadier. ‘To rescue Miss Grant and her companion.’
‘Mines are for miners,’ interrupted Dave Griffiths, ‘not for soldier boys. It’s me and my mates will be going down there.’
‘The man in charge of a situation,’ said the Brigadier, ‘should always be willing to do the most risky job.’
‘Then that settles it,’ said Dave, ‘because where pit rescue is concerned, I’m in charge.’
The Brigadier went red in the face. ‘Look here—‘
But Professor Jones cut in. He spoke calmly. ‘If I may suggest, Brigadier, as a soldier your place is at the top here, to see there is no more sabotage. Then Dave and his friends will feel safe to go down.’
‘That does sound a very good idea,’ said the Doctor before the Brigadier had a chance to answer. He turned to Dave. ‘I admit that I’m not a miner, Mr Griffiths, but since a very dear friend of mine is trapped down there, would you allow me to accompany you and your colleagues?’
Dave thought about it for a moment. ‘All right, Doctor. But understand it’s another world you’re going down into,
our
world. So you do what we tell you.’
From outside a miner called that the cable had been cut. The lift was ready to be used. The Doctor was hurried over to the locker room to get fitted out with overalls and a helmet.
Jo felt exhausted. ‘Can we rest a bit?’
It wasn’t so much the distance that tired her but the foul air and the fact that for the past twenty minutes they had been walking bent over because the roof was low at this point.
‘I’m sorry, miss,’ said Bert, ‘but we should keep going. If my reckoning is right, we’re near that old shaft now.’
‘Really, I must stop.’ She sagged down to her knees, her head reeling.
Bert looked at her sympathetically. ‘All right. Catch your breath for the next five minutes.’ He sat down on the floor. ‘Anyway, you’ll need plenty of strength to go up that shaft if we find it.’
‘Up?’
‘Of course. It climbs at about forty-five degrees and comes out on the hillside.’ He switched off his helmet light. ‘Better turn yours off too, miss,’ he said, ‘to save the battery.’
Jo settled herself on the floor, reached up to her helmet, found the switch and turned it. She expected they would now be in total darkness. Instead, from further up the mine, there was glow of light.
‘Look,’ she said excitedly, ‘the old shaft must be just up there. There’s some light.’
Bert was staring at the glimmer in the distance. It seemed to be pulsating—and it was faintly green.
‘The shaft wouldn’t let in any light at all,’ he said. ‘It’s too long. In any case, we must still be a distance from it.’
‘Then where’s that light coming from?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Bert. ‘Let’s go and see.’ He got to his feet and went on down the mine.
Jo scrambled up, feeling better after only a short rest, and hurried after Bert. As they approached it the greenish light got brighter. Jo detected a nauseating smell like rotten cabbages. She caught up with Bert as he was about to turn a corner. But there he stopped, staring.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,’ he said, not moving now.
A rivulet of brightly glowing green slime was pouring along the mine floor. It came from some way further up the tunnel and was disappearing down a crack in the foot of the wall, near to where Bert and Jo stood looking on in astonishment.
‘Where could it be coming from?’ Jo realised the question was stupid, that Bert couldn’t possibly know.
‘And
what
is it?’ Bert said. ‘I mean, why should it glow like that?’ He went forward, put out a tentative finger and touched the slime. Instantly he recoiled, staring at his finger. ‘It burns! Like acid!’
Jo was also staring at Bert’s finger. The green slime had sunk into the flesh, and now the flesh itself was glowing green.
Dave Griffiths and two other miners, both experienced in rescue work, stood round the Doctor as he inspected the body of Dai Evans. The face and hands of the dead man were glowing bright green.
‘That’s a horrible way to look when you’re dead,’ said one of the miners.
‘Dead is dead,’ said the other.
‘The question is,’ said Dave, ‘why is he dead? Have you any idea what causes this, Doctor?’
The Doctor straightened up and shook his head. ‘Whatever it is, it must be down there.’
‘Hey, look!’ One of the miners had noticed a piece of paper under a stone near to the body. He picked it up and read it, then passed it to Dave. ‘A message from Bert and the girl. They’re trying to find that old shaft.’
The Doctor glanced at the note over Dave’s shoulder.
‘That was a stupid thing to do,’ he said. ‘They should have stayed here.’
‘I agree,’ said Dave, ‘but they didn’t so we’d better go and find them.’ He turned to his colleagues. ‘You two take Dai’s body up to the surface, then send the cage back down for us.’
‘Don’t touch his flesh,’ the Doctor cautioned. ‘This thing may be contagious.’
Jo and Bert were now well beyond the green glowing rivulet of slime, nearer to what they hoped was the way to the old shaft. They had passed the immediate source of the rotten-smelling liquid—a crack in the roof where it was pouring in from somewhere above. Now it was Bert who seemed suddenly exhausted. He sank to the floor.
‘I’m sorry, miss, but I can’t go on. Must be getting old.’
‘We may be nearly there,’ she said, encouragingly.
‘It’s no good, miss. Can’t go on. Too weak. Feel bad.’
He was sweating badly, and put his hand to his face.
The whole hand was now a brilliant glowing green. He looked at his hand. ‘That means I’ve had it. Like poor Dai.’
‘Come on,’ Jo urged, ‘I’ll help you.’
‘You must go ahead on your own,’ he said, his body sagging. ‘Then you’ll escape, and you might get help for me. But you’ve got to leave me here. Otherwise I’ll be a drag on you.’
Jo knew what he said was logical, but she hated the thought of leaving him alone. ‘I’ll get out of here as quickly as I can,’ she promised, ‘and come back with rescuers.’
‘There’s a good girl,’ Bert said. ‘Tell the others never to touch that stuff. You must warn the others... ‘ His head fell forward.
Jo didn’t know if he was already dead, but she realised there was nothing she could do to help him. She hurried on ahead as fast as possible.
Bert was not dead, but he couldn’t move his limbs or even his head, and he could hardly speak. He knew death was near, and his mind drifted back to childhood days.
His memory became increasingly muddled. After what seemed a long time he heard distant voices calling to him, and thought they might be his Uncle Dafydd and his father, both long dead. Then the voices grew stronger, closer.
‘Bert, what happened?’
It was the familiar voice of his old friend Dave Griffiths. Bert tried to look up but could not move his head. ‘The young woman,’ he mumbled. ‘The young woman.’
The Doctor knelt close to Bert. ‘Where is she?’
‘Gone on,’ Bert said, as audibly as he could manage. ‘Looking for escape.’
The Doctor stood up. ‘Get him back to the surface if you possibly can,’ he told Dave. ‘Ask Professor Jones to have a look at him. There may still be hope.’
‘Right,’ said Dave. ‘What about you?’
‘I’m going to look for Miss Grant. Tell the Brigadier that when I find her I’ll bring her to the surface. But no one is to come looking for us. It’s too dangerous.’
The Doctor hurried off down the mine.
Jo turned a corner of the mine, stopped and stared in horror. Before her lay a deep pool of the glowing green slime, and it was teeming with giant maggots, some two feet long, writhing and twisting across the surface.
Nauseated by the sight and terrified, she let out a scream. She was quivering with fear and revulsion.
‘Jo? Jo? Are you there?’ It was the Doctor’s voice, coming closer.
Jo turned round. Coming towards her was a helmet torch bobbing up and down as the wearer ran along the tunnel.
‘Doctor?’ she called. The oncoming light blinded her and she could not see who was approaching.
‘It’s me, Jo,’ the Doctor called.
He came up beside her, and she fell into his arms. ‘Those things,’ she sobbed. ‘Maggots! They look awful!’
‘Good grief!’ the Doctor exclaimed. ‘We must get out of here.’
‘We can never get to the old shaft,’ said Jo, ‘not through that pool of filth.’
‘We’re not going to try,’ said the Doctor. ‘I think I can remember how I got here. We must go back.’
The Doctor swung Jo round to re-trace their route. As they turned to leave, rocks in the wall of the tunnel ahead started to dislodge. Instinctively they both stood still. Now a large piece of rock fell from the wall, pushed from behind by a thick river of the green slimy liquid. In a moment the liquid had spilt across the floor of the mine, cutting off their escape route. Then, from the gap left by the dislodged rock, three maggots oozed out and fell squirming on the floor. Jo recoiled from the sight of the creatures.
‘What is it about those things?’ she screamed. ‘I can’t even stand looking at them!’
‘Try to keep calm, Jo,’ said the Doctor. ‘A maggot is a perfectly ordinary creature, even if these are two feet long. They revolt you because they make you think of things that are rotten and decaying.’
‘Do you think we could discuss my psychological reactions some other time?’ she begged. ‘Let’s start talking about getting out of here.’ Her knees were still trembling with fear.
‘Well,’ said the Doctor, ‘there’s that thing over there.’ The Doctor pointed towards an upturned coal tub, its wheels pointing towards the mine roof. ‘If we can get it back on to its rails, we might stand a chance.’
The Doctor crossed to the coal tub, looked about and saw a wooden stave lying on the floor. ‘Now give me a hand,’ he called to Jo. ‘This is going to take a lot of effort.’
Using the stave as a lever, they pushed together to turn the coal tub back on to its wheels. The Doctor got his hands under one end of the coal tub and heaved, moving that end of the tub a few inches nearer to the track.
‘Doctor,’ said Jo, who had just looked over her shoulder, ‘that stuff’s coming closer.’
It was true. Where they saw the rock dislodged the green slime was now pouring in. As Jo looked, two more maggots oozed out of the hole in the mine wall and fell squirming and writhing on the floor.
‘Try to think about something pleasant,’ said the Doctor as he went to the other end of the heavy coal tub. ‘It’ll take your mind off things.’ He got his hands under the end of the tub, heaved, and brought that end within an inch of the track. ‘A couple more goes and I—should have done it,’ he said, adding ‘without much help from you.’
Jo suddenly realised she was panicking and not helping. ‘I’m sorry, Doctor. I’ll give you a hand.’
‘Two would be better,’ he said, ‘under here where I’ve got mine.’
Together they lifted an end of the tub, and this time settled two of the four wheels on to the railway track. They ran round to the other end of the tub, repeated the process and now had all four wheels on the track.
‘Now,’ said the Doctor, ‘climb on board.’
Jo saw that the railway track ran straight into the main pool of green writhing slime. ‘We’re going to go through that?’
‘The track doesn’t go any other way,’ said the Doctor. He got into the coal tub. ‘Are you going to join me?’ He held out his hand to help her in. ‘Ever done any punting?’
She climbed into the tub. ‘Punting?’
‘Watch me.’ The Doctor held the wooden stave over the side of the tub and pushed it hard against the floor. The tub started to move freely along its little track, straight into the pool of slime.
‘I feel sick,’ said Jo.
‘Then pretend you’re at sea and lean over the side,’ said the Doctor. ‘Now, here we go!’
He drove the punt into the floor again and pushed with all his weight. The truck went along through the pool of slime. The maggots, sensing danger, turned towards the coal tub. Wide toothless mouths opened, and they snapped at the wheels. The Doctor pushed the stave into the slime, finding the floor again, and gave another mighty heave. The coal tub was gathering speed now, and soon was travelling fast through and out of the pool of slime.
‘We’re in the clear,’ the Doctor grinned. ‘Next stop Euston Station.’
The tunnel was now running very slightly downhill, and with only an occasional prod with the stave the Doctor was able to keep up quite a speed. After a quarter of a mile the tunnel started to go uphill, slowing the coal tub. Then the little track ended, and the tub ground to a stop. By now so far from the green glow of the slime, they had both switched on their helmet lights. Jo looked about herself, then pointed ahead.
‘Look, Doctor. That could be the old shaft.’
An aperture in the mine wall some yards ahead opened onto a smaller tunnel that went up at a steep angle.
‘Let’s hope you’re right,’ said the Doctor. ‘Here’s where we start climbing.’
A little crowd of villagers watched as Bert Pritchard was carried on a stretcher into the waiting ambulance. Once the doors of the ambulance were closed, the Brigadier turned and went back into the pit head office. Dave Griffiths was sitting there, head in hands. With him was Professor Clifford Jones.
‘At least he’s still alive,’ said the Brigadier.
‘But if Bert dies,’ said Dave, ‘I don’t know how I’ll face myself.’
‘It was their decision to go down the mine,’ said Professor Jones. ‘You can’t count it as your fault. You did a marvellous job to carry him out.’
‘You did indeed,’ agreed the Brigadier. He turned to the professor. ‘Have you
any
idea why his flesh turned green?’
‘Not specifically,’ said the professor. ‘If I did we might know how to treat it. But there’s one thing that’s obvious to me. It’s got something to do with Panorama Chemicals.’
‘Come now,’ said the Brigadier, ‘you have no proof!’
‘Did you know,’ said the professor, ‘there is no
proof
that smoking cigarettes can cause lung cancer?’
‘Whatever are you talking about? There’s a direct relationship between cigarette smoking and the incidence of lung cancer. I encourage all my men not to smoke.’