Part 9 (1/2)

The telephone rang and the Brigadier picked it up. 'Oh, it's you, Yates. How are you getting on?' The Brigadier listened. 'Oh, I see. Hold on.' He turned to the Doctor. 'It's Yates. He's had a bit of a hold-up with his er cargo.

Trouble with a crane.'

The Doctor looked puzzled.

The Brigadier looked meaningly at Chin Lee, not wanting to be more explicit.

The Doctor followed his glance and grinned. 'Oh, I see.

Well, tell him to be careful with his er cargo!'

The Brigadier gave him a quelling look, and returned to the telephone. 'What's that, Yates? Yes, she's here now.

There's been quite a bit of trouble here too...'

The Master sat back in his limousine, listening to the voices on the UNIT phone.

He heard Mike Yates's voice ask, 'Really, sir? What happened?'

'Well, as far as I can make out, she tried to scare the American Delegate to death with a hallucination, but the Doctor stopped her.'

The Master leaned forwards, frowning.

Yates said, 'Don't think I quite follow, sir.'

'Quite frankly, Captain Yates, neither do I. Apparently it's all to do with the Keller Machine at Stangmoor prison.'

The Master flicked off the listening device. After a moment, he smiled to himself. It never did to underestimate the Doctor. Who would have thought he would have reached the truth so quickly?

The Master slid back the part.i.tion that divided him from his chauffeur. 'Stangmoor Prison, if you please.'

The limousine swept smoothly away.

The Brigadier was interrogating Chin Lee. This time she answered his questions without hesitation. It had taken the Doctor most of the night to loosen the Master's hypnotic grip on her mind, but now she was more or less herself again, and at least willing to tell what she could.

'Where did you first meet this Emil Keller?'

'At an Emba.s.sy reception, Brigadier. He talked to me about the Keller Process for reforming the habitual criminal. He invited me to visit Stangmoor Prison with him.'

'You agreed to go? May I ask why?'

With a hint of her old severity, Chin Lee said, 'Prison reform is high on our list of priorities in Peking, Brigadier.'

'Can you tell us what happened at Stangmoor?'

'I know that we went to the Process Chamber. But I can't remember...' Her voice tailed away.

'Did you see this man Keller again?'

'Yes, many times I think. But if I try to think about it, my mind becomes confused..

'Post-hypnotic block,' explained the Doctor. 'His usual technique.'

'Whose usual technique?'

'Think, man,' urged the Doctor. 'Who else would make a deliberate attempt to plunge the world into war using techniques and equipment not even developed on Earth?'

The Doctor held out his hand, the telepathic amplifier in his palm.

The Brigadier gave him a horrified look. 'The Master?'

The Doctor nodded. 'The Master otherwise known as Emil Keller.'

Once released, Doctor Summers had made for the Governor's office, a comfortable old-fas.h.i.+oned room, ornamented with s.h.i.+elds, regimental photographs, and a suit of armour. He leaned forwards over the Governor's desk. 'Please, listen to me, Governor. You've got to negotiate.'

'I'm sorry, Doctor Summers, that's out of the question.'

'But you're risking innocent lives!'

'Suppose I do turn Mailer loose? And those other thugs with him? They'd kill anyone who got in their way. How many innocent lives would I be risking then?'

Summers was silent, realising the truth of what the Governor had said.

Chief Prison Officer Powers said, 'We've done everything we can, Doctor Summers. The Special Wing is sealed off. If they get the slightest chance, my men will rush the block.'

'And if they don't get a chance?'

'We'll wait it out,' said the Governor. 'Mailer's not stupid, he knows he can't hold out for ever. Once he realises he can't bluff me '

'But Mailer isn't bluffing,' said Summers desperately.

'He's a killer and he means what he says. What about Miss Grant?'

'Miss Grant is a member of UNIT,' said the Governor stolidly. 'She is here on duty, like the rest of us.' He looked sympathetically at Summers's anguished face. 'All I can do is inform her headquarters of the situation.'

Finally, even the Brigadier had run out of questions. He sent off Chin Lee under the charge of Corporal Bell and turned to the Doctor. 'Well, what am I to do with her?'

'Let her go, of course, she's not a criminal. She won't do any more harm, now I've got the telepathic amplifier.'

The telephone rang and the Brigadier lifted the receiver.

'Yes?' He listened for some minutes, then turned worriedly to the Doctor. 'There's trouble at Stangmoor.'

'Is Jo all right? Well?' snapped the Doctor.