Read Doctor Who: The Devil Goblins From Neptune for Free Online Page B

saluting. 'And sir, I have Bruce Davis outside.'
    'Who?'
    'The new crash retrieval officer from New York.'
    Lethbridge-Stewart nodded. 'Well, you'd better show him in, Captain. We don't want the Americans to think we're all bungling incompetents, do we?'
     
    The morning after the attempted kidnap, the Doctor was again travelling down the country lanes between UNIT HQ
    and the tracking station. On this occasion the journey was uneventful, if less comfortable.' the rigid metal seating of an armoured personnel carrier was no match for Bessie's forgiving, leather-clad seats. The conversation, too, had taken a turn for the worse, Benton joining in the ribald banter of the accompanying UNIT troops and seeming to have little time for the introspection of the previous day. When they finally reached the radar station, the Doctor was both relieved and delighted to find that one of the technicians working at the station was Sam, a young American whom he had personally recruited to UNIT's research-and-development wing during a lecture tour of the United States the previous year. 'I see they've given you the most boring job imaginable,'
    said the Doctor.
    'It could be worse, Dr Smith,' said the young man. 'I could be making the tea!'
    The Doctor immediately set about examining the equipment, Benton looking over his shoulder. 'This machinery is working perfectly,' the Doctor concluded triumphantly after several minutes.
    'Never doubted it,' replied Benton with a hint of sarcasm.
    'Ah, but the Brigadier did. I really wish that man would listen to what I say once in a while' He turned to face Sam.
    'Were you here when the large mass was picked up?' he asked.
    'Yes. It frightened me to death. At first I thought it was just a meteor, but it was about the size of Rhode Island. If that had hit I lie Earth ... '
    'I know,' said the Doctor sympathetically. 'What happened next?'
    'Well, this is the really interesting thing. The mass began to disintegrate, just as you would expect with a meteor. But the fragmentation seemed too uniform - as if it was choreographed. I remember what you said at MIT about looking for anomalies when watching the skies, so I logged it immediately?
    But the Doctor wasn't listening. His attention had been drawn to the copy of the Sun that Benton and Private Harrison were busy reading. 'Give me that.' said the Doctor, snatching the newspaper from the hands of the startled soldiers.
    'Hey, I was reading it!' said Harrison sulkily, but the Doctor shushed him to silence as he stared at the front page, a huge photo of a pop concert with a headline that screamed NAKED RAVERS SEE STARS!
    'Evidence,' said the Doctor, tucking the paper into his pocket. 'What's up, Doc?' asked Sam, suppressing a grin when the Doctor shot him a filthy look.
    'What is it, Doctor?' added Benton, slightly more respectfully.
    The Doctor removed the paper from his pocket and began to read from it. -Thousands of half-naked hippie kids, enjoying high temperatures at the Redborough '70 pop festival on the south coast yesterday, claimed to have seen unusually bright shooting stars..." Blah, blah, blah. This is appallingly written' He glanced up at Benton. 'Do you read this regularly?'
    'Very popular with the lads, sir. Tells us what's going on and let' us get on with our lives. And the sports coverage is very good.'
    'Hmmm.... The Doctor sounded unconvinced. 'Anyway, tilt report goes on to say that the crowd witnessed this meteor shower at around eight o'clock in the evening.' He glanced at the date 'This is yesterday's paper, describing the evening when you reported the meteorite. About what time was that, Sam?'
    Just before eight... Ah.' Sam purred like the cat with the cream. 'I see where you're coming from'
    And where it was going to,' said the Doctor with a flourish. 'Now, this pop festival took place on the Earl of Norton's land. Old Norton's been an invalid for decades, so I imagine that permission for this thing would have been given by his