Doctor Who: Earthshock

EARTHSHOCK

Based on the BBC television serial by Eric Saward by arrangement with the British
Broadcasting Corporation

The towering cliffside resembled a gigantic human skull with the dark openings of caves gaping like empty eye-sockets and nostrils. High overhead, the sun cast deep ominous shadows over the wild precipice and huge birds of prey wheeled silently in the hot dry air. At the bottom of the wall of rock yawned a cavernous mouth overhung with bristling thorn bushes and dangerously loose scree. Ten tall, lean figures were positioned in a menacing arc round the cave entrance, their young faces alert but impassive. They all wore tight-fitting green uniforms consisting of a kind of battledress tunic, trousers tucked into boots, a protective helmet and gloves. They stood motionless, levelling sleek tubular weapons into the darkness.

Behind them, other uniformed figures were huddled round a quietly humming machine resembling a small radar apparatus. They were staring intently at the greenish glow of a display screen which was protected by a hooded visor from the glaring sunlight. A pair of dish-shaped antennae connected to the machine were scanning slowly back and forth along the base of the cliff. Nearby, a rather plain plumpish woman in her late thirties and dressed in tattered buff overalls and a white mining helmet was pacing agitatedly up and down, her hands twisting the ragged remains of a pair of gloves. She darted anxious glances repeatedly at the sky, at the cave and at the frowning faces round the scanner.

After a long silence the young trooper seated at the control console turned to the tall, dark-haired officer standing beside him.

'It's hopeless, Lieutenant Scott. There's nothing, absolutely nothing,' he reported, gesturing at the blank screen.

Lieutenant Scott glanced helplessly across at the endlessly pacing woman and fingered his moustache. Then he walked slowly over to her.

'I'm sorry, Professor Kyle, there's no sign of them,' he murmured.

The young woman bit her lip as she struggled to remain composed. She was blinking back the tears behind her sunglasses.

'Well . . . could they be shielded from your apparatus in some way?' she asked desperately, stopping and spreading her arms vaguely.

Scott shook his head. 'Only by a lead or alloy screen,' he replied. 'The scanner detects and focuses on the body's cardioneurological activity. It's specifically tuned to mammalian life. It's extremely reliable.'

Professor Kyle looked up at the slowly circling vultures. 'I just can't believe that they're all dead,' she said in a hollow voice. 'It seems such a senseless waste.'

Scott nodded. Then he turned briskly. 'Trooper Walters, make one final scan.

Maximum amplification,' he ordered. He put his hand gently on the Professor's shoulder. 'Rest assured that we shall catch whoever is responsible for this outrage, Professor Kyle,' he added quietly as the scanner whirred into action again.

'They can't be far away,' the Professor replied bitterly. 'I radioed as soon as I got out of the main cavern.'

'And we came as fast as we could,' Scott said abruptly, his pale grey eyes searching the woman's dark lenses as if he were seeking some loophole in her story.

He looked at her ashen face, streaked with dirt and a little dried blood. 'How many of you were there down there?' he suddenly demanded.

'Eight including myself,' she answered in a startled voice.

'And what were you doing exactly?'

'A survey . . . I told you . . .' the Professor stammered, glancing nervously at the slowly tracking antennae. 'The inner cave system has only recently been discovered and it's unusually rich in fossils. Some of them are of hitherto unknown species and...'

'Palaeontologists?' Scott interrupted.

'And geophysicists,' Miss Kyle nodded. 'The area is geologically rather unstable and we...'

'It is also a security zone,' Scott cut in harshly. 'You have permits, of course?'

The Professor took off her sunglasses. The pupils of her large brown eyes shrank in the sudden glare. 'Of course, Lieutenant,' she retorted, trying to meet his hard stare without flinching.

'It doesn't make sense,' Scott exclaimed, turning on his heel and walking back over to the scanner.

After a few minutes, Trooper Walters switched off and stood up. 'Scan completed, sir. Negative. There's no sign of life.'

Scott contemplated the blank screen for a moment, fiddling uneasily with the ends of his moustache. He became aware that Professor Kyle was staring at him with a new determination in her pale face. He turned authoritatively to the efficient-looking young female officer beside him. 'Sergeant Mitchell, prepare the squad. We're going in,' he snapped.

The troopers checked their radios and switched on the twin lamps fitted on either side of their helmets. Within a few seconds the well-disciplined taskforce was ready to enter the caves.

Scott had drawn Mitchell aside. 'What do you think of Kyle's story?' he asked her.

She glanced across at the Professor. 'I think it's the truth, Sir - at least as far as she knows it.'

Scott grunted. 'We'll keep her up front where we can see her, just in case,' he murmured, then went over to Kyle. 'I am sorry to drag you down there again after what you've been through,' he said.

Professor Kyle shrugged. 'You'd never find the bodies without my guidance,'

she replied, managing a brave smile. 'The inner cave system is completely uncharted.'

Scott nodded curtly. He beckoned a squat, tough-looking female trooper standing by the scanner. 'Snyder, you remain here with Walters,' he ordered. 'I want a constant scan. Inform me the instant you detect anything.'

With a jerk of the head Scott motioned Professor Kyle to lead the way and he and his squad followed her into the darkness.

At first they made rapid progress through the outer tunnels of the labyrinth, which twisted and turned as it bored deeper and deeper into the mountain. Subsidiary tunnels branched continually in every direction and at regular intervals Scott halted the squad and their sharp twin beams stabbed into the hollow blackness, revealing shiny snakelike strata and weird gargoyle formations in the rock. Faint marker lamps had been installed in the main tunnel by the Professor's survey team and as the troopers jogged along, their shadows coiled and flapped around them on the uneven walls like long-forgotten ghosts.

Not far away in the waiting darkness, two other shadowy forms - without any light or human bodies to project them - suddenly detached themselves from the cold damp gloom and flitted silently along, keeping watch and biding their time. It was as if the darkness had formed itself into two humanoid shapes, tall and slim, male and female, hairless and featureless, with heads like huge polished black stones. Lithe and powerful, they effortlessly stalked the thirteen struggling humans through the echoing maze, keeping always just out of reach of the probing helmet lamps. When the taskforce paused they also paused, their enormous heads poised as if listening, and no sound of breathing disturbed the dank air around them. And when they moved on again they moved together as one being, as if knowing each other's very thoughts.

These black beings were the sentinels of the mountain and the vigilant guardians of the secret at its very heart...

Out in the blinding sunlight, Trooper Snyder was squinting into the visor and following the dogged progress of the thirteen fluorescent dots moving in close formation across the scanner screen. Trooper Walters was leaning against the hood, swigging water from a flask and craning up at the ominous birds still hanging high above them.

Suddenly Snyder leaned closer and put her arms around the edge of the visor to shut out more of the glare. 'Is that supposed to happen?' she exclaimed.

'What?' Walters said, trying to peer over her shoulder.

'It's gone now. There was a kind of flaring just there,' Snyder explained, indicating a place on the screen close to the slowly moving pinpoints representing Scott and his squad.

Walters thumped the side of the console. 'Probably ghosting,' he muttered scornfully. 'This contraption's ancient.'

'But the Lieutenant said it was...' Snyder broke off and they both stared wide-eyed at a blurred luminous patch which had suddenly appeared next to the group of moving blips. 'There it is again!' Snyder cried. 'I think we should warn them!'

Walters leaned over and adjusted some of the controls. The strange patch grew momentarily brighter and then faded to nothing again. He shook his head. 'Just tetramagnetic echo,' he grunted. 'There's nothing there.' He took another greedy swig at the flask.

Snyder wiped the sweat out of her eyes and shaded the scanner with her arms again. 'Well, I don't like it,' she murmured, peering into the visor. 'I believe in ghosts.'

Adric lay on his bunk staring up at the ceiling. He was a small wiry boy in his early teens, with a round face, wide mouth and slightly snub nose, and his straight black hair was cut across in a fringe. He wore a dull-coloured shirt with a yellow jerkin over the top and his muddy-coloured trousers were tucked into boots. On his chest was pinned a large gold-edged badge in the shape of a star. His face was crumpled in a sullen frown.

Adric was bored. Bored with the TARDIS. Bored with the Doctor and his endless exploits. Bored with those prattling females Tegan and Nyssa. Bored with himself. He glanced in disgust around his room, bright with wallcharts and complex three-dimensional puzzles, and all at once appeared to make a decision. He sat bolt upright. 'I want to go back,' he said aloud. 'I definitely want to go back.'

'Before you go anywhere you ought to read this!' exclaimed the tall fair-haired young man who at that moment had burst in through the door excitedly waving a book at him. His face was long and tanned, and although it was gentle it also suggested enormous strength and determination. The cheerful newcomer was dressed in a kind of pale, knee-length blazer with bright red edging, a cream shirt, a cricket pullover and striped trousers. On the open collar of the shirt two red question-marks were embroidered. He looked as though he were dressed for a summer garden party or a regatta.

Adric swung his legs off the bunk. 'What ought I to read, Doctor?' he demanded resentfully.

The Doctor looked a trifle disconcerted, but his blue eyes still sparkled with gentle enthusiasm. 'What's the matter Adric?' he inquired quietly, sitting on the edge of the bunk.

'I'm fed up, Doctor. I'm tired of being teased.'

The Doctor smiled. 'Everyone gets teased sometimes,' he pointed out reasonably.

'But you don't take me seriously,' Adric protested. 'You always answer all Nyssa's and Tegan's questions, but you never seem to bother with mine. How can I learn if you never have time to explain?'

The Doctor spread his long arms wide. 'I promise I'll make more time in future,' he said apologetically and then chuckled at his little joke.

Adric sprang angrily to his feet and walked furiously up and down his room.

'Oh very funny,' he cried. 'You've said that before, but something always interferes or you get us all into some scrape or other.'

The Doctor stood up, his face flushing. 'That's not fair!' he objected, turning away as if to hide his hurt feelings.

Adric faced him squarely. 'Oh no, it's never your fault when things go wrong, is it?' he retorted sarcastically.

'Have you quite finished?' asked the Doctor in a cold whisper.

'No, I haven't,' shouted Adric. 'There's lots more.'

'Well, it can wait!' snapped the Doctor striding to the door.

Adric followed hard on his heels. 'Well, I
can't
,' he cried, clasping the Doctor's arm. 'I'm sick of being an outsider. I want to go back. To my own people.'

The Doctor turned with his hand gripping the doorknob and stared at the fuming boy in disbelief. 'Absolutely not!' he shouted after a moment's pause, wrenching open the door and striding out. 'I will not do it, Adric.'

'But you've done it before...' Adric pleaded, following him and almost running in order to keep pace.

'The TARDIS is not designed for E-Space,' the Doctor argued, opening another door and bursting into the TARDIS control chamber. 'You tell him, Nyssa.'

An aristocratic-looking girl with a pale face framed by thick curls of brown hair looked up from the hexagonal console located in the centre of the softly humming chamber. She was dressed in a full-sleeved plum-coloured blouse and matching slacks. She looked startled. 'What?' she exclaimed, laying aside some galactic charts she had been examining.

'This young idiot wants to go home!' the Doctor exploded, finally managing to shake off Adric's tenacious grasp.