Doctor Who: The Seeds of Doom (3 page)

Suddenly the Doctor pointed. ‘What’s that over there?’ They had reached a high ridge and he was gazing at something below.

Stevenson peered into the gloom. ‘That’s our Power Unit.’ A small metal building lay half-buried in the snow, several hundred yards distant. Only the Doctor’s superhuman eyesight could have picked it out from such a range.

‘Why is it so far from the camp?’ he shouted.

‘Safety measure. It’s a new Fuel-Cell system. Being tested out here for the first time.’

‘Let’s take a look!’

They scrambled down the ice-covered slope and approached the Power Unit. The snow seemed undisturbed.

‘This door can’t have been opened for weeks,’ remarked Sarah. ‘It’s iced solid.’

‘It’s as well to be sure,’ said the Doctor and he started to yank it open. ‘He’d try to find shelter in this weather.’ Stevenson slipped the safety catch on his rifle. After a couple of hefty pulls from the Doctor the ice cracked away and the three of them stepped inside.

The walls and floor of the Power Unit were bare, but in the centre stood a large complicated structure, about ten feet across, giving out a soft glow of heat. This was the experimental Fuel Cell. One or two large pipes and cables ran off to the walls and then underground to the rest of the camp, to supply the power and electricity needed. There was very little scope for concealment.

‘No cactus spines or puddles of snow,’ said Sarah. ‘Doesn’t look like he’s been here.’

‘Is there anywhere else he could hide?’ the Doctor asked Stevenson.

‘Not outside the camp itself.’

‘He wouldn’t last long, would he... outside?’ ventured Sarah.

‘Not without special clothing,’ replied Stevenson.’No, I’m, afraid Charles must have collapsed somewhere.’

‘You keep forgetting, Stevenson—he isn’t a man any more. Not of flesh and blood.’

‘Well, if he’s a plant, Doctor—or a vegetable, whatever he is—he’d have even less resistance to cold, wouldn’t he?’ argued Sarah.

‘Perhaps. On the other hand, the Krynoid might come from a planet where this would be considered glorious summer.’

Stevenson frowned. ‘You know, I still find this hard to take. You’re trying to tell me these things are an alien plant species?’

‘And lethal to all human and animal life.’

‘But how do you know?’

‘Never mind how I know, it’s fact. On every planet where the Krynoid gets established all animal life is extinguished. What happened to your friend Moberly should convince you.’ Sarah could see the Doctor was irritated by Stevenson. She tried to sound reassuring.

‘But there’s no real danger now, is there? One pod is safely in the freezer and...’ she was about to say ‘Winlett’ but checked herself, ‘and... the other... is probably frozen stiff under the snow.’

The Doctor crossed to the door. ‘I hope you’re right, Sarah,’ he said as he led them out.

The three figures emerging from the Power Unit were unaware of a hideous form crouched behind a snowbank, less than twenty feet away. Its cold, inhuman eyes followed the Doctor’s movements as he bolted the door from the outside. Then, as the trio climbed back up the ridge and out of sight, the creature—half man, half plant—crept from hiding and crawled across the snow towards the building. With one swift movement it prised open the door and entered. Inside, it let out a low rattling noise and settled beside the fuel cell, sucking in the warmth.

In the Laboratory, Scorby and Keeler were conducting a methodical search.

‘You’re supposed to be the botanist, Keeler. Where would you keep this pod?’

‘It must be here somewhere.’ Keeler looked round in desperation. Scorby picked up an intricate piece of measuring equipment and held it aloft. ‘Careful!’ warned his companion, ‘that’s valuable.’

Scorby grinned, then smashed it violently on to the floor. ‘So what?’ he sneered, ‘there’ll be nobody here to use it after we leave.’

Suddenly the radio sprang to life. ‘HELLO... HELLO... THIS IS SOUTH BEND CALLING CAMP THREE... COME IN CAMP THREE... OVER...’

Scorby darted a look at Keeler then crossed to the radio. He pressed a switch. ‘Camp Three receiving you... over.’

‘IS THAT YOU DEREK?’ said the voice, distorted by static.

Scorby hesitated. ‘Er... yes... go ahead, South Bend.’

The voice continued. ‘THE WEATHER’S CLEARING THIS END. THE MEDICAL TEAM WILL BE WITH YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.’

‘Have they left yet?’ asked Scorby, concealing his alarm.

‘THEY’RE LEAVING RIGHT NOW.’

‘Cancel them!’ ordered Scorby. ‘We don’t need help. Everything’s under control.’

There was silence for a moment, then the voice spoke again, this time inquisitive and suspicious. ‘HELLO?... IS THAT YOU DEREK?’

Smiling, Scorby clicked off the radio and began smashing the circuits with the butt of his gun. Keeler looked up in alarm.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Fixing it,’ grinned Scorby. ‘Didn’t anyone ever tell you, silence is golden?’

‘But...’

‘Shut up, Keeler, and find that pod! ‘ The small man winced as his partner savagely dismembered the radio equipment.

A few moments later, however, Keeler let out an excited yell as he removed a tray from under the bench. On it lay the two empty halves of the first pod.

‘Look! It’s the pod in Dunbar’s photograph.’ He fitted the two halves together.

‘Some idiot’s cut it open,’ hissed Scorby.

Keeler shook his head. ‘No. It wasn’t cut. It must have germinated.’

‘What’s that?’

‘The pod has opened as part of its natural cycle to release a shoot or something.’

Scorby digested this unexpected piece of information. ‘But it’s the actual plant that Harrison Chase wants, right?’

‘Right.’

‘Then what have they done with it, Keeler?’ He paced the room nervously. ‘We’ve got to find it or Chase’ll skin us alive!’

‘If you hadn’t smashed the radio perhaps we could have asked South Bend.’

Scorby gave Keeler a scornful look. ‘Are you trying to be funny? The discovery of this pod has been kept secret. Only the top brass of the Ecology Bureau know about it.’

‘And Harrison Chase,’ corrected Keeler.

‘That bloke on the radio said medical aid was coming. Medical aid for who? There must be someone here who’s ill.’ A malevolent smile settled on his dark features. ‘And he’ll tell us where this thing is, I promise you.’

Gun in hand, Scorby led the way out of the Lab and down the passage. It ran to an intersection. ‘Which way?’ whispered Keeler.

Scorby paused then headed to his left. On the floor at the far end of the tunnel was a towel dropped earlier by Sarah in her haste. The two men turned the corner.

Opposite was a door marked ‘Sick Bay’. Scorby smiled and pushed open the door. His expression immediately turned to shock as he caught sight of a body on the bed, hurriedly draped in a sheet.

‘Is he dead?’ gasped Keeler.

Scorby pulled back the sheet. ‘Stiff as a board.’

‘Look! What’s that?’ Keeler’s finger pointed to the green mark on Moberly’s throat.

‘Dunn. But it’s not measles.’ Scorby twitched the sheet back. ‘And he won’t be telling us anything either.’

At that moment they both heard a noise in the corridor outside. Footsteps and voices were approaching. Scorby signalled Keeler to go behind the door and quickly positioned himself at the other side. It sounded like the Doctor and that girl. They were bound to notice the open door. Scorby’s finger tightened on the trigger of his gun.

The Doctor paused outside the Sick Bay, puzzled. Something was wrong. He motioned to Sarah to keep quiet. Why was the door open? His mind raced through the events of the last few hours like a computer. The two strangers! Of course! Their landing here was too much of a coincidence. They had come with a purpose, and that could mean only one thing!

The Doctor sprang into the room... and Scorby’s pistol dug coldly into his neck.

4
Sabotage!

‘Put your hands up, Doctor!’

The Doctor obeyed.

‘And you!’

Sarah was yanked into the room and forced to follow Suit.

The Doctor eyed the gun. ‘Have we annoyed you in some way? Food not to your liking?’

‘Shut up!’ commanded Scorby viciously. ‘OK... now start talking.’

‘Make up your mind,’ smiled the Doctor.

‘I said talk.’

‘Certainly. Did you know that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had perfect pitch?’

Sarah could see Scorby was not amused.

‘What happened to him?’ he hissed, jerking his head towards the bed.

‘Wolfgang Amadeus?’ The Doctor feigned puzzlement. ‘Oh,
him
,’ suddenly serious. ‘He died.’

‘We gathered that.’

‘What did it?’ asked Keeler.

The Doctor did not answer.

‘It’s something to do with that pod, isn’t it? What’s happened to the pod?’

‘What Pod?’

The pistol dug deeper into the Doctor’s neck. ‘There’s already one corpse in here, Doctor. I can easily double that number.’

Sarah glanced anxiously at the Doctor out of the corner of her eye. She felt certain Scorby meant what he said.

Finally the Doctor spoke. ‘There’s been an accident. One of the men here has been... infected.’

‘By the pod?’ exclaimed Keeler.

‘He went mad,’ said Sarah quietly.

‘Yes,’ added the Doctor, ‘you could say he’s not quite himself anymore.’

‘Where is he now?’

‘We don’t know,’ answered Sarah. ‘Somewhere out there.’

Keeler glanced around nervously. ‘You mean you have a homicidal maniac on the loose?’

‘More dangerous than that, I’m afraid,’ replied the Doctor. ‘If he... or rather it, is still alive, then it will be desperate to reach food and warmth. And there’s only one place it can find these things.’ He weighed his words carefully and looked for their effect on the two strangers.

‘You mean this Camp?’

‘Yes, comforting thought, isn’t it?’ said the Doctor airily. ‘I advise you to keep all doors and windows locked. That is, if you’re planning to stay.’ He smiled sweetly, like a benevolent hotel proprietor.

Keeler looked anxiously at his partner. ‘What are we going to do?’ Sarah could see the other man was not convinced.

‘I want some more answers. But not in here.’ Scorby nodded towards the bed. ‘He gives me the creeps. Come on, you two.
Move!
’ He prodded the Doctor and Sarah out of the Sick Bay and into the corridor.

In the Power Unit the creature was growing stronger by the minute, bathed by the warm glow from the Fuel Cell. All vestige of humanity had long since disappeared and it was now a mass of tendrils and fibrous shoots, like some giant, malformed plant; but a plant that could move and crush and kill. Slowly, it began to stir. From where the green growth was thickest there came a strange, low rattling sound. Then, the whole monstrous shape started to creep towards the door.

The Doctor and Sarah were led into the Crew Quarters and bound hand and foot on the floor. So far the two men seemed to have forgotten about Stevenson, who was busy locking the doors and windows of the outer huts. The Doctor wondered how long it would be before he returned. Stevenson still had his rifle with him. If they could play for time... He became aware of Scorby’s pistol again.

‘Right, Doctor, let’s have the truth. Where’s the plant that came out of that pod?’

‘That grew in the bed that was part of the house that Jack built?’

‘I am not a patient man,’ threatened Scorby.

Suddenly Keeler interrupted. ‘Ssshh! Hold it. Someone’s coming. Must be the other guy.’

Scorby turned from the Doctor and pointed his gun at the closed door.

‘Doctor? Miss Smith? Where are you?’ came a voice from outside.

The door opened and Stevenson entered.

‘Come and join the party.’ Scorby lowered his pistol to wave the visitor in. Stevenson reacted like lightning and fired his rifle point blank at Scorby’s chest. There was a harmless click.

Scorby chuckled. ‘Not very friendly.’ He grabbed Stevenson by the shoulders and hurled him across the room. ‘Get over there!’ Stevenson fell with a crunch beside the others.

‘Good try,’ said the Doctor.

‘What’s happening?’

‘For some reason these two want to get their hands on the pod.’ He looked meaningfully at Stevenson. ‘I’ve told them how dangerous...’

‘The pod’s still safe?’ interrupted Stevenson, misunderstanding. ‘They haven’t taken it out?’

Scorby’s ears pricked up visibly and Stevenson realised his blunder.

‘Taken it out where?’ Scorby turned to Keeler, a look of triumph on his face. ‘Know what that means?’

Keeler grinned. ‘They’ve got a second pod!’ Stevenson shot the Doctor an anguished look.

Scorby crossed to them both. ‘Where is it?’

‘Don’t be a bigger fool than you already are,’ said the Doctor angrily. ‘Don’t you understand, it’s dangerous!’

‘Where is the pod?’

The gun pointed menacingly at them, but the Doc-tor and Stevenson remained mute.

‘Stubborn pair, aren’t they,’ said Scorby, controlling his venom. ‘All right...’ He put the pistol against Sarah’s head. ‘I mean it this time,’ he whispered softly. Sarah felt her stomach turn over. She held her breath for what seemed an eternity.

The Doctor’s voice broke the silence. ‘It’s in the freezer.’

‘Thank you, Doctor.’ Scorby took out a second, smaller pistol, which he handed to Keeler. ‘Watch them. You,’ he prodded Stevenson, ‘come with me.’ He bundled the unhappy scientist out of the room.

Keeler trained the gun nervously on the Doctor and Sarah. ‘Don’t worry,’ beamed the Doctor. ‘You’re quite safe with us.’