Read Doctor Who: The Sea-Devils for Free Online Page B

you what I mean.’ With a winning smile he reached over and helped himself to Jane’s notebook and pencil and drew the pattern of the scorch marks that he had just seen on the bottom of the upturned lifeboat. ‘You will notice they have a definite shape, like this,’ and he drew a number of overlapping circles. ‘Those marks could only have been caused by a concentrated beam of heat applied from underneath when the boat was in the water. It was a clear attempt to make sure that there were no survivors.’
    The captain glanced at the Doctor’s drawing, then turned back to the Doctor. ‘May I ask who you are?’
    ‘I’m the Scientific Adviser to UNIT,’ said the Doctor.
    ‘And I,’ said Captain Hart, ‘am Horatio Nelson.’
    ‘Good grief,’ said the Doctor, ‘I thought you were shot at Trafalgar. Well, my dear fellow, you’ve lasted pretty well!’
    The captain again held down his temper. ‘What I mean, sir, is that you are either an impostor, or mad, or both! If you were in any way connected with UNIT you would have arrived here in a proper manner and started by presenting your credentials!’
    ‘My dear fellow,’ said the Doctor, ‘how thoughtless of me. But if you had wanted to see my credentials, you should have asked for them.’
    ‘All right then,’ said Captain Hart. ‘Let me see them.’
    The Doctor hesitated. ‘I never carry them.’
    ‘Then that,’ said Captain Hart emphatically, ‘is the end of that!’ He picked up the telephone again. ‘ Master-at-Arms kindly come and take away the man in my office. Put him under guard—and then call for the police... ’ But it seemed that the Master-at-Arms was now telling the captain something, and the captain listened attentively. ‘ I see, ’ he said at last. ‘ You’d better bring her to my office. ’ He cradled the ‘phone.
    ‘Something gone wrong?’ asked the Doctor. ‘Has a mutiny broken out?’
    ‘There’s a young lady,’ said Captain Hart, ‘at the main gate, on a bicycle, with two UNIT passes. So possibly I shall be able to let you go.’
    ‘But I don’t want to be let go!’ the Doctor protested. A big chart on the wall caught his eye. It showed the island, part of the mainland, the contours of the seabed along this stretch of the coast. Oil-rigs, lightships, and danger points were also marked. In addition there were three black stars stuck to the chart, all clustered around one particular oil-rig. The Doctor pointed to the black stars. ‘Do those signify where the ships sank?’
    ‘I can’t discuss anything with you,’ said Captain Hart, ‘until I see your pass. Kindly be quiet.’
    The Doctor nodded in agreement, and sat absolutely still. The captain went and stood at his window, hands behind his back, like a man on the bridge of a ship. There was a heavy silence until a petty officer knocked on the door and entered with Jo.
    ‘Doctor,’ she cried, happy to see him again. ‘That Mr. Robbins is very angry with you!’
    The Doctor signalled her to keep quiet about Mr. Robbins and the boat. ‘This is Captain Hart, my dear. He’d like to see our passes.’
    Jo produced them, and Captain Hart inspected them carefully. ‘Thank you,’ he said, handing back the passes to Jo. ‘The petty officer will now escort you to the main gate.’
    ‘Oh no he won’t,’ countered the Doctor. ‘I was asking you a question. Do those stars indicate where the three ships sank?’
    ‘As a matter of fact,’ said Captain Hart, ‘yes.’
    The Doctor inspected the wall chart more carefully. ‘So all the trouble is centred around this one particular oil-rig. The sooner I get out there, the better.’ He turned back to Captain Hart. ‘Do you think some of your fellows could run me over there?’
    ‘Certainly not!’ stormed Captain Hart. ‘If you people from UNIT want to go joy-riding, you can fix up your own transport!’
    ‘As a matter of fact,’ said the Doctor, ‘we have.’ He turned to Jo. ‘Come along, my dear.’ He