‘I can only guess how they got here in the first place. But they are like germs in the human body. They have infiltrated the body of this Colony, and now they live like parasites.’
‘You make it sound like a disease!’
‘I think that’s what they are... a disease.’
‘But they’re in
there
, Doctor. In charge! Surely that’s like getting into the
brain
?’
‘Exactly like,’ nodded the Doctor.
The Macra at the instruments turned towards the porthole. Both Polly and the Doctor ducked back. ‘Did he hear us?’
‘I don’t think so.’
As they watched, the great crab-like creatures were breathing deeply, filling their lungs as the gas pressure increased.
The Doctor indicated the equipment they were using. ‘One system provides the gas... the other is the outflow.’
‘So all the time the people in the Colony are slaving away in the pits to get this gas for them,’ said Polly bitterly. ‘And they’ve been so hypnotised they think they’re working for the good of all.’
‘We must disillusion them,’ mused the Doctor.
‘We should bring the Pilot here. He seems to be the most important. Show him that the Macra really
do
exist. Show him the truth.’
The Doctor was thoughtful. ‘Yes... it might work.’
The strain of the last few hours was beginning to tell even on the well-adjusted leaders of the Colony.
Ola and the Pilot faced each other angrily in the pit head offices. Ben looked on, saying nothing, watching his old friend, Jamie, who was now securely tied up.
‘Where did you recapture him?’ asked the Pilot.
‘In the Colony hall.’
‘So he returned of his own accord?’
‘That’s not the point,’ replied Ola. ‘He should never have been allowed to escape.’
‘Are you criticising Control?’ asked the Pilot coldly.
‘I’m criticising the running of the pits!’ Ola did not hide his anger.
‘That is my responsibility,’ said the Pilot.
The two men faced each other grimly.
‘I know that,’ said Ola, ‘and if it hadn’t been for my guards, he would have been a danger to all of us still. I intend to report this to Central Control. There is no discipline in these pits!’
‘That’s not the only report Control will get,’ the Pilot told him. Ola was furious. ‘Ever since these strangers arrived in this Colony, your authority has gone to pieces! Even now, two of them are still missing!’
They spun round at the sound of the Doctor’s voice. ‘Good morning! Good morning! Good morning! So everyone is up bright and early... And the last two strangers are not missing at all!’
They looked at him as though he was crazy.
‘Come along, now,’ coaxed the Doctor. ‘We cannot allow bad temper and differences of opinion in this happy-type Colony. Say you’re sorry, Ola... Say you’re sorry, Pilot!’
Jamie was alarmed. ‘What did you come back for, Doctor? You’ve stepped into a trap!’
‘Ah, Jamie. How nice to see you being so well cared for... No, no, my boy. Don’t worry. I’ve merely dropped in to have a word with my old friend, the Pilot.’ He turned to give a wave of welcome to Ben.
‘Hello, Ben. Feeling more like yourself, I hope?’
‘Yes, Doctor, I do.’
‘Good.’
The Pilot gestured to the Doctor as he asked Ola, ‘How is it your splendid guards did not arrest these strangers?’
Ola was uneasy. ‘I really don’t know...I can’t say...’ He pulled himself together and called to the guards. ‘Put these two under arrest.’
‘That’s not necessary now,’ said the Pilot.
‘Of course not,’ agreed the Doctor. ‘You don’t arrest people if they give themselves up. That’s against the rules.’
‘Very well, Doctor.’ The Pilot turned to him. ‘You wish to see me?’
‘Yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘Urgently. Come with me.’ He began heading for the passageway.
He had taken only a couple of steps when Control sounded urgently throughout the pit head. ‘Control speaking. Everyone is to return to normal working immediately. This order includes all executives. This includes the Pilot. Everyone back to work as from now!’
The Pilot stopped in his tracks. ‘I have to go,’ he told the Doctor.
‘Not yet,’ said Polly. ‘You must listen to what the Doctor has to tell you.’
‘You heard Control...’ began the Pilot.
‘They know what we’ve found out! They don’t want you to see anything... or learn anything... about what they really are!’
The Controller cut in loudly. ‘At once! Back to work. That is a top priority order!’
‘Don’t take any notice,’ pleaded Polly. ‘That’s not your Controller. He’s your enemy!’
‘No discussion with the strangers!’ the Controller called from the screen.
‘Why not?’ demanded Polly.
Jamie stood by her side and shouted at the image, ‘What are you so scared of?’
The Controller was shaken. It was a moment before he could speak.
‘Arrest them! Arrest all strangers!’
‘That doesn’t sound like a man in control,’ said Ben thoughtfully.
The picture faded abruptly.
The Pilot hesitated. ‘Well, Doctor,’ he said, ‘what did you want to tell me?’
Ola interrupted. ‘You heard Control. Don’t speak to them. Take thern away.’
‘I am still the Pilot here! You take orders from me. Get back to your duties.’ The Pilot made an effort to regain command, but Ola wasn’t to be shrugged off so easily. ‘Follow me,’ he called to his guards, and as he went he called back to the Pilot: ‘I intend to report you immediately.’
The Doctor looked on approvingly. ‘That was a very brave thing of you to do,’ he told the Pilot.
‘Or very foolish,’ said the Pilot drily. ‘What is it you want?’
‘Come with me.’
The Pilot followed as the Doctor led the way down the darkened passage, retracing the steps he and Polly had taken. The further he went the more the Pilot began to drag his heels.
‘This is forbidden territory,’ he protested.
‘I’m not surprised,’ said the Doctor. ‘I think you will soon see why.’
‘We are breaking the law,’ said the Pilot.
‘Laws were made to be broken,’ the Doctor told him lightly.
At the pit head tension ran high.
‘Anything may happen,’ Polly whispered to Jamie. ‘We must be ready to run for it.’
‘We can’t leave the Doctor,’ he protested.
The workers prepared to return to the pit, but they delayed; all were very shaken.
‘What will happen?’ they asked each other. ‘The Pilot has disobeyed Control.’ It was something that had always been beyond the bounds of possibility! Obedience was ingrained. And now... So it was possible to disobey!
‘He’ll be arrested, imprisoned. Even sent to the Pit himself!’ But he had broken the pattern, and the shock went deep.
‘What has happened to the Pilot?’ asked Officia as they met.
‘He has turned traitor,’ said Ola grimly.
‘It’s those strangers!’ said Officia. ‘They have changed him.’
The screens all over the Colony lit up and the Controller spoke gravely. ‘The Pilot has no more authority. Ola is in command.’
The Doctor and the Pilot were closing in on the porthole when they heard the Controller’s announcement. ‘You heard that, Doctor?’
The Doctor nodded sympathetically. ‘Don’t worry. You’re well quit of that job. Anyhow you’ll soon be in charge again.’
The Pilot looked at him in wonder. ‘I don’t know why I trust you,’ he said.
The Doctor grinned. ‘Maybe because I’ve got an honest face.’
The Controller’s voice boomed throughout the Colony: ‘The Pilot is to be arrested. This is a happy and obedient Colony. Orders will be carried out.’
‘What am I to do, Doctor?’ The Pilot stood in the darkened passage, overwhelmed with doubts.
‘Don’t give up now,’ urged the Doctor. ‘We’re almost there.’ He pointed to the light that shone from the window ahead.
They moved forward. The Pilot hesitated, then followed.
‘There,’ said the Doctor. ‘I want you to look in.’
‘It is forbidden... absolutely forbidden...’ the Pilot whispered as he climbed the iron rungs, and peered through the thick glass of the porthole.
The voice of the Controller sounded again. ‘All guards are to report to the pit head. They are to take orders from Ola... Everyone in the Colony is to obey Ola.’
It was a full minute before the Pilot could speak or move. He had almost stopped breathing. The appalling sight had taken the strength from his body. He clung to the iron ladder. The Doctor climbed up beside him, and indicated the creatures in the room.
‘They are the Macra,’ he whispered. ‘The creatures, the bizarre form of life, they have taken over your Colony. You have not been receiving instructions from someone like yourselves. The Controller is merely a cardboard figure, an image to put you at your ease, to set an idea. But behind that superficial figurehead, these are the beings that have been shaping your destiny. They have used you and the Colony for their own ends, destroying your life force in order to live themselves.’
The Pilot was filled with revulsion. ‘They are horrible! They must be destroyed.’ His voice rose in disgust.
One of the Macra turned to stare at the porthole, its crab eyes vicious and cold.
‘Has it seen us?’
‘More than likely,’ said the Doctor.
The Macra turned with speed to the instruments beside it, and manipulated them hurriedly. The Controller’s voice issued from the mechanism before him, calling out to the Colony. ‘They are here! On forbidden territory! The Pilot and the Strangers. They must be destroyed!’
When he had to, the Doctor could move fast.
‘Step on it!’ he said, and grabbed the Pilot by the arm, racing him down the passageway.
The Pilot didn’t say a word until they were back in the little room just off the pit head.
He stopped in wonder and horror. ‘What are they? Bacteria? Insects? What?’
‘I don’t know,’ said the Doctor simply. ‘But whatever they are, you must fight them.’
‘How can we?’
‘You must first take over command here.’
‘Defy Control?’
‘You have just seen what Control truly is.’
‘Yes... yes... of course. I must fight... we all must fight.’
They opened the door into the Pithead, and stepped into a circle of guards with weapons trained on them. ‘We’ve been waiting for you,’ said Ola.
‘This is no time for petty rivalries.’ The Pilot faced Ola. ‘The Colony is in the hands of a grotesque form of life, huge insects, by the look of them.’
‘So you’re seeing things as well,’ jeered Ola.
‘They
are
there, Ola. As several of our people have told us before. As Medok reported.’
‘Yes, and where is Medok now?’
‘They are the Macra, Ola.’
‘You know what happens to people who speak like that!’
Polly was overjoyed. She turned to the Doctor. ‘Did the Pilot see them?’
The Pilot nodded. ‘I saw the Macra.’
The voice of the Controller sounded angrily. ‘It is forbidden to say that! Ola, I command you! Don’t let him say he has seen the Macra!’
The Pilot turned to the screen defiantly. ‘I saw you!
You
are the Macra. You are just a voice produced by a machine!’
‘Silence!’ demanded the voice. ‘Silence the Strangers! That is an order!’
‘What are we to do with them?’ asked Ola.
‘Return them to the pipe room, the three Strangers and the Pilot. They are to be locked in. Under no circumstances are they to be let out!’
‘In there... all of you!’ barked Ola. The guards dragged them away.
‘Doctor!’ Polly called in alarm.
‘Get in.’ Ola pushed her ahead. ‘Obey Control.’
They were forced towards the little room.
‘Doctor,’ called Polly. ‘The Macra!’
‘You’ll be all right,’ Jamie assured her. ‘We’ll look after you.’
‘I won’t go in!’ She fought hard.
‘Get her in,’ shouted Ola, and the guards threw her in with the others, and slammed the door.
‘There is nothing we can do by force, Polly,’ said the Doctor gently. ‘But the situation changes. We may be able to do something here.’
‘What? The door’s locked.’
Control spoke. ‘You have done well, Ola.’
‘What instructions, Control?’ asked Ola.
‘Clear the building. Guards and workers are to return to the Hall of Music.’
‘We obey,’ said Ola.
‘This will take precisely four minutes,’ continued Control. ‘And then it will be safe for everyone to return to their duties.’
‘I understand,’ said Ola.
‘Four minutes,’ repeated Control with satisfaction.
In the confined space of the little room Polly could hear everything.
‘Why four minutes?’ she asked.
‘What can they do in four minutes?’ Jamie was sceptical.
‘We must be ready for everything,’ the Doctor told them. He guessed there was quite a lot Control might do in four minutes.
A moment later he lifted his hand for silence. It was as he had expected. They could hear a familiar sound.
‘That’s the gas!’ said Jamie. ‘Just like it was in the pit. It’s coming in here.’
‘Do you know where it may be coming from?’ the Doctor asked.
The Pilot shook his head. ‘I have never been in this place before.’
The Doctor began to search the room.
‘There must be a gas jet. Quickly, everyone. We have only a short time to find it.’
The Controller’s voice sounded confident. ‘You will not be able to stop the flow, my friends. There is no point trying.’
The Doctor ignored him. ‘Down on your hands and knees, Jamie. Any sign of it?’
‘Aye. It’s over here. It’s
that
strong.’
Jamie staggered back with his hands over his face.
The Doctor examined the spot. ‘Right, Jamie. It’s in this corner. Maybe we can screen it.’ He pulled off his jacket and tried to plug up the flow.
‘It’s coming from over here as well,’ called the Pilot.
The Controller’s voice told them drily. ‘You are unable to stop it – it will not last long. Only four minutes. By that time you will be completely helpless. Not quite dead, but helpless.’
Polly hammered on the door. ‘Let us out!’
They were taken aback as there came an answering tap from the other side of the door: ‘Hello, in there!’