Part 8 (2/2)

The Doctor heaved at the door, while Tegan struggled to pull her foot free.

It moved a little, and then jammed again.

'You go as well, Doctor. No point in us both dying.'

'Who's talking about dying?' said the Doctor cheerfully, and heaved again at the door.

Luckily the Myra showed no sign of leaving the airlock.

It stood poised, its great dragon-like head swaying to and fro, as if surveying the scene of its victory.

Curious that electrical effect, thought the Doctor.

Somehow the Silurians had engineered the thing so that its body contained a ma.s.sive electric charge that could be discharged at will a sort of cross between a dinosaur and an electric eel.

The Doctor paused, considering the problem.

Fortunately Tegan's foot was only trapped, not mangled. It only needed the door to s.h.i.+ft a very little more and she would be able to pull free. The Doctor thought about various alternative plans: some kind of grease or oil perhaps.

No time... The Myrka roared.

'Hurry, Doctor,' urged Tegan. 'That thing's getting restless. It's starting to edge its way out of the airlock.'

The Myrka roared again.

The Doctor redoubled his efforts.

By now Bulic's men had pulled back beyond the bulkhead area, and Turlough was swept along with them.

One of the crew thrust something into his hand. 'Here!' It was a blaster-rifle dropped by one of the dead guards.

'Thanks,' said Turlough a little dubiously.

He moved closer to Bulic, who was speaking urgently into his portable communicator, reporting to Vorshak.

'The creature's already in, sir,' he was saying. 'I'm afraid our weapons seem to be useless against it.'

'Use grenades!' ordered Vorshak.

'We can't, sir. The Doctor and the girl are too close.

They're trapped by the airlock.'

'Has the creature pa.s.sed beyond the main bulkhead door?'

'No sir. It's still in the airlock.'

'Then close the door. Seal off the bulkhead immediately.'

To close the bulkhead would cut off the Doctor and Tegan's only possible escape route.

'No!' shouted Turlough instinctively.

Vorshak's voice said angrily, 'Who's that? What do you mean, no? The safety of the Base depends on it. Do it, Bulic. That's an order.'

Bulic looked helplessly at Turlough. 'I'm sorry.' He moved towards a wall control panel.

'No, wait!' shouted Turlough. He tried to push Bulic away, but a shoulder-charge from a burly guard sent him flying.

Bulic stabbed at the control panel and the ma.s.sive bulkhead door began to close.

The Doctor glanced over his shoulder. 'They're closing the bulkhead! Come on, Tegan, one more try!'

There was immense strength in the Doctor's relatively slight frame. Summoning all his inner resources he gave one enormous heave. At the same time the Myrka started to advance. One of its huge feet stepped on the edge of the door which raised the end that had been trapping Tegan's foot a few inches. At the same time Tegan pulled back on her foot until it felt as if it would come off and suddenly she was free.

'Thank you so much,' said the Doctor to the Myrka.

The Doctor grabbed Tegan's hand and pulled her towards the fast-closing bulkhead door.

He was just too late. The final struggle had taken just a few seconds too long, and they reached the bulkhead door just as it slammed closed before them, cutting off their retreat.

The Doctor and Tegan turned in time to see the Myrka step over the fallen door and out of the airlock. It stood quite still for a moment, then it began moving towards them.

'Brave heart, Tegan,' whispered the Doctor.

Tegan was almost too indignant to be afraid. 'Brave heart?' she said incredulously. 'Brave heart? Doctor, that thing is going to kill us!'

7.

The Breakthrough Turlough picked himself up, the blaster-rifle still in his hand. He levelled it at Bulic's head. 'Open that bulkhead door!'

'I can't,' said Bulic calmly. 'Not even if I wanted to. The controls are locked now. It can only be opened from the Bridge.'

Turlough glared wildly at him, not sure if Bulic was lying or not, and almost angry enough to shoot him down anyway. Then he whirled round, and ran off down the corridor.

A guard made to follow him, but Bulic held the man back. 'Let him go,' he said, not unsympathetically.

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