... In the
Disintegrator Room the Second Elder's hands were tightly bound with
plastic wire. Standing gloatingly by the Disintegrator control panel
was the City Administrator, still wearing the Second Elder's sash of
office.
Suddenly the Second
Elder stiffened in his chair as the First Elder's thought waves
reached his mind. The Administrator came instantly to his side.
'Some mind is
contacting yours,' he said. 'Is it the First Elder?'
'Give me my mind
transmitter,' asked his prisoner.
'Do you think I am
a fool?' scoffed the Administrator. 'You can hear but without the
mind transmitter your mind cannot speak. What is he saying to you?'
The Second Elder
answered his question with defiant silence.
'Remember your
Family Group,' cautioned the Administrator. 'Its safety depends on
you.'
The Second Elder
hung his head in defeat. 'It is the First Elder,' he confirmed. 'He
says we have misjudged the people from Earth. The Doctor has gone
down into the aqueduct and his companions, Susan and Ian, have gone
to rescue him. . . . He is asking why I do not reply.'
The Administrator
clapped his hands with joy. 'Excellent! No one can come out of there
alive. The Doctor and his fellow Earth-creatures are near death.
Victory for all my plans!'
The Doctor had
progressed about a mile into the tunnel, following the route of the
largest water pipe. Apart from the gentle grumbling of the pumping
system there was no other sound; and as his torchlight played upon
the tunnel walls he could see nothing out of the ordinary.
Suddenly he
glimpsed a small patch of something on the ground before him.
Excitedly he took a magnifying glass out of his equipment case and
bent down to examine his discovery.
A look of triumph
flashed across his face. He had found a small clump of plants with
dull grey leaves and tiny black berries. He uprooted one and noted
its long tapering roots.
'Just as I
thought!' he congratulated himself. 'Atropa belladonna - Deadly
Nightshade!'
He was about to
take a specimen box out of his case when he heard a terrifyingly loud
growl from somewhere nearby. He stood up, ready to run, and looked
this way and that in panic, unsure of where the noise was coming
from.
Something else was
in the tunnels with him, hiding in the shadows, waiting to spring.
The Monsters of the
Caves had found him.
Surrounded by
Enemies
The blood-curdling
sound reverberated down the length of the pipe to the central chamber
at the aqueduct entrance. To Ian and Susan who had just arrived there
the noise sounded like a voice from deepest Hell.
'What is it, Ian?'
Susan asked fearfully.
Her companion
shrugged his shoulders. 'I don't know -but we must find the Doctor
before it's too late!'
As if in answer a
second noise came to them from down the tunnel. But this noise was
shriller, more human. It was a cry of terror and pain.
'Grandfather!'
screamed Susan. Helping Ian along she hurried down the tunnel in the
direction of her grandfather's cry.
It was the longest
journey of Susan's life. Even with the light of a radio-electric
torch, progress down the dark winding tunnel was unbearably slow; and
Ian who was still very weak from poisoning slowed her down even more.
The invisible Monsters of the Caves continued their deafening roars,
threatening any moment to leap out from the shadows and attack them.
And all the while her grandfather might be lying injured and
bleeding, perhaps even dying. It was a thought she could hardly bring
herself to contemplate.
Finally after what
seemed like hours but was in fact only a few minutes, they found the
battered body of the Doctor. He was lying by the pipeline, his face
macabrely illuminated by the light of his fallen torch. Leaving Ian
to stagger on as best he could, Susan was at her grandfather's side
in an instant.
She heaved a sigh
of relief: the Doctor was still alive and semiconscious. Ian came
over to her and together they helped the old man to his feet. As they
started to move on, anxious to escape from this dark place of unknown
terror, the Doctor seemed to regain his bearings, helping
considerably their progress back along the tunnel to the aqueduct
entrance.
Even so, they had
to pause periodically on the way to enable the injured Doctor to
catch his breath. During one of these rests Susan remarked that the
growls of the Monsters seemed to be more distant. Ian guessed that
the animals, frightened by their presence, had retreated to their
secret lair somewhere deep within the cave system. By the time they
reached the bright safety of the aqueduct entrance they could no
longer hear the creatures' threatening roars.
Exhausted, they
collapsed near the entrance. Susan helped the Doctor off with his
frock coat: it was in a very sorry state: apart from being muddied
and dirty, the back of it had been slashed to ribbons.
'They don't look
like claw marks,' Ian said slowly, and then examined the Doctor's
back. 'Strange that whatever did that to you didn't reach your skin .
. .' he remarked.
Now almost fully
recovered from his shock, the Doctor added his suspicions to Ian's.
'Strange indeed when you realise I was at the mercy of that creature;
it was so dark in there that it was practically invisible and it
knocked me to the ground.'
'You didn't see it
then?' asked Ian.
'Nonono. Something
hit me under the heart: it was most unpleasant. It's a good thing
that I sent you that antidote, my boy. Otherwise I might have been
done for . . .'
'But we didn't get
the antidote, Grandfather,' Susan interjected. 'We had to send for
some more.'
The Doctor's
interest was immediately aroused. 'So . . . we are surrounded by
enemies: the poisoned water, those monsters in there and now, from
what you say, it seems that someone among the Sensorites bears us ill
will: two separate enemies. . .'
'Two?' queried Ian.
'Surely you mean three?'
'No - two,' the
Doctor stated quite categorically. 'The monsters and the water are
connected: I've more or less solved that little problem.' The Doctor
noted with mischievous pleasure the mystified faces of his two
companions and continued: 'But this Sensorite who is against us is a
much greater danger. I suggest we go back and find out which one it is!'
The Doctor
staggered to his feet and with Ian and Susan's help left the
central chamber.
As they did so the
Sensorite Engineer moved from his hiding place behind one of the
pipes. He had much to tell the City Administrator.
Unaware of Ian and
Susan's success in finding and rescuing the Doctor Carol was waging a
futile battle to persuade the First Elder to organise a search party
of Sensorites to go to her friends' aid. Ironically, she was fighting
exactly the same kind of frightened complacency which Ian had found
in her and Maitland on board the spaceship.
'We just can't get
up!' she said. 'You know the aqueduct: surely you can help in some
way . . .'
The First Elder
shook his head regretfully. 'It is impossible,' he said. 'You have no
conception of what extreme sound does to us. It stuns the brain and
paralyses the nerves.'
The Senior
Scientist supported his leader's argument. 'In the dark we would be
more of a hindrance than a help.'
Carol hung her head
in defeat. The First Elder approached her in an effort to comfort
her. 'You are sad for the friends you have lost,' he said softly.
'Rejoice instead for the friend who has been returned to you.' Carol
looked up, expectation shining in her eyes as he continued: 'I hear
that the man called John is making excellent progress - the final
treatment is to begin today.'
'Thank you . . .'
'If you would like
I can take you to see him,' offered the Senior Scientist.
'Yes,' said Carol
gratefully. 'Yes, I would like that very much.'
To imagine John
completely cured was enough to break Carol's heart: at last the
nightmare of the past thirteen months would be at an end, and they
could resume their normal life.
John was still
attached to the mind restorer, and was only partly conscious when
Carol walked into the treatment room with the Senior Scientist. The
Sensorite had assured her that there was nothing to worry about: the
final treatment would rebalance John's mind and return to her the man
she had loved and missed
for such a long time. She sat by her fiance, stroking his hand, and
listened to the words he was muttering: 'Treachery... a plot. . .'
Carol looked over
to the Senior Scientist who was watching their display of affection
with interest.
'He keeps on saying
the same thing,' she said. 'Something about treachery. The Doctor
told me that John might know more than we suspect. I think he's
discovered something and is trying to warn us.'
'It must be a
delusion,' the Senior Scientist stated with iron certainty. 'Our
society is based on trust. Treason or secret plotting is impossible.'
The absurd naivety
of the Senior Scientist made Carol smile involuntarily. 'That's
rather a sweeping statement, isn't it?' she said.
The Sensorite was
totally at a loss to understand Carol's point of view. 'Why should a
Sensorite make any secret plans against anyone?' he asked. 'We have
the perfect society. All are contented.'
'Some people always
want more than others,' said Carol.
'That is a human
value,' was the unarguable defence.
'Perhaps
Carol turned back
to John who was continuing to mutter: 'Danger, I must tell you . . .
but it's so difficult. . . treachery ...'
'Don't worry,
John,' Carol said softly. 'I'll be with you all the time, and soon
you'll be able to tell me all you've discovered.' Concerned, she
looked again to the Senior Scientist. 'Are you sure he's going to be
all right?' she asked. 'He's still rambling...'
'He will be cured,'
the Scientist assured her and then attempted to explain: 'Long ago we
discovered that in our brains there are many different compartments
or divisions. When fear and alarm are at work that section becomes
open -a veil is lifted. This is what happened to John. But in his
case the veil will not lower itself. Therefore he is constantly
afraid: even when he is asleep the body says one thing and the brain
another. The result: total confusion.'
'And this treatment
is in order to close down this veil?' Carol tried to understand.
'Yes. Not
permanently, of course. Otherwise he would step into danger without
care.'
Carol searched for
an analogy. 'It's rather like an eyelid,' she said and then, noticing
the Scientist's confusion, explained. 'These shutters over my eyes.'
'Ah yes, of course.
We Sensorites do not possess them.' There was a curious note of
regret in the Scientist's voice. 'To see all the time is ... not a
good thing ..."
After the Engineer
had watched the Doctor, Ian and Susan depart he had hurried back to
the Disintegrator Room. His relief at leaving the dark seclusion of
the aqueduct was tempered somewhat by the panic he felt in having
learnt of the Earth-creatures' suspicions and discoveries.
When he returned he
found the City Administrator still revelling in the power he now
enjoyed over his former superior. The Second Elder's hands were still
tied firmly behind his back and he was slumped despondently in a
chair.
'What are we to
do?' despaired the Engineer after he had told the Administrator his
news.
The evil Sensorite
remained calm as he paced the room, reaffirming his beliefs to his
servant. 'These Earth-creatures are working to destroy the Sensorite
Nation,' he stated. 'Their pleasant smiles conceal sharp teeth; their
soft words hide deadly threats. And who oppose them? Weak and timid
creatures like the Second Elder here.'
He approached his
former chief. 'Betrayer of our people! Coward!' He spat out the
words. 'I should imprison you in some room wherein no light can shine
and fill that room with noise!'
The Second Elder
hung his head in hopeless resignation. 'Do it then,' he sighed.
'Finish with me . . .'
The Administrator
regarded him with pleasure, deriving great satisfaction from his
humiliation. 'Not yet,' he said. 'Remember your Family Group. First
you shall do something for me. Summon the Senior Warrior with your
mind transmitter and tell him to bring the Firing Key to the
Disintegrator. He is to meet you in the forecourt of the Palace of
the Elders.'
'No. I cannot do
such a thing,' he protested, recalling the Administrator's
original plans for the humans. 'The humans are not as you see them.
They are good people.'
'Remember your
Family Group!'
Reluctantly the
Second Elder nodded his head in agreement. At a sign from the
Administrator the Engineer untied the prisoner's hands. The Second
Elder took his mind transmitter from the Administrator and put it to
his forehead. As he sent out his message his captor listened in to
the mental conversation.
When the message
had been sent the Administrator snatched the mind transmitter from
him. 'Excellent!' he cried. 'I shall keep the appointment you have
made. The Senior Warrior shall know me by the sash I wear. Once I
have the Firing Key I shall put down the threat of the
Earth-creatures forever.' He marched triumphantly out of the room.
The Elder looked on
as he left. 'Why do you listen to him?' he asked the Engineer.
The Engineer
regarded the Second Elder with scorn. 'He will not betray our people
nor surrender our planet,' he claimed. 'He will be the saviour of the
Sensorite Nation.'
The Second Elder
shook his head from side to side in despair. How could he make the
Engineer see the truth of the matter? How could he make him realise
the consequences of the Administrator's mad acts? 'Don't you
understand?' he pleaded. 'He will bring us all down!'