Part 10 (2/2)

Knight waited. He kept thinking he could hear the faint electronic sound of a Yeti signal. It seemed to be very close...

Suddenly two enormous s.h.a.ggy figures loomed out of the mist, eyes glowing red, fangs bared in a savage roar. The Yeti had found them.

The Doctor heard the roars just as he found his vital missing component. Stuffing it in the box with the others, he ran into the shop. Two Yeti waited there. The body of Knight lay sprawled in the shop doorway.

For what seemed a very long time, the Doctor and the two Yeti stood facing each other. Then the Yeti wheeled and moved away, out of the shop and into the mist.

The Doctor hurried across to Knight. He was dead, killed by a single slas.h.i.+ng blow. Sadly the Doctor straightened up. Then he paused. Somehow he still seemed to hear a faint Yeti signal. It was coming from Knight. The Doctor searched the pockets of the dead man. Soon he felt a familiar shape.

From out of Knight's pocket he took a model Yeti. Jumping to his feet the Doctor hurried from the shop.

He had reached the entrance of Goodge Street Station when he heard footsteps coming through the mist. A voice called, 'Doctor!' He turned to see Lethbridge-Stewart running towards him.

Private Evans was feeling distinctly aggrieved. Returning to the Fortress in the role of surviving hero, he was being sharply questioned by the Colonel, the Doctor and almost everyone else. 'Look,' he protested, 'it's no use trying to pin anything on me.' He glanced furtively round the crowded laboratory. The Colonel, the Doctor, Jamie, Victoria and Anne Travers looked suspiciously back. 'I didn't pinch your rotten Web sample. And I didn't plant no Yeti model on the Captain, neither.'

'You know,' said the Doctor, 'I'm inclined to believe you.' He held up a Yeti model. 'Here's the one you gave me. I put that out of action straight away. Here's the one I found on poor Captain Knight!' He put it in a vice, applying a vicious squeeze to the lever and crus.h.i.+ng the Yeti's base. 'Now that one's harmless. But there were three Yeti models un-accounted for-and the third is still missing.'

Lethbridge-Stewart shook his head. 'It's like a nightmare. An enemy we can't see or touch, who knows our every move. Out there in the street, the Yeti were waiting for us every time. Wherever we went, whatever we did, it was still no good...' He stopped, aware that the Doctor was staring at him in horror. 'What is it, Doctor?'

'Don't you realise what you're saying?' the Doctor said sharply. 'Colonel-turn out your pockets. Quickly now!'

Dumbly, Lethbridge-Stewart obeyed. He produced keys, money, notebook, wallet-and the tiny model of a Yeti. It started bleeping faintly. 'That's why they tracked you so easily,' said the Doctor grimly.

He was reaching for the Yeti model to make it safe when the door smashed open. The vast, s.h.a.ggy bulk of a Yeti filled the entrance.

With curious formality the Yeti entered the room and took a position to one side of the door. A second Yeti entered and stood on the other side. Then Professor Travers came in.

He stood like a barbaric monarch, flanked by guards.

'Father!' cried Anne joyfully. She started to move forward, but the Doctor stopped her. Anne saw that her father's face was blank, mask-like, all traces of humanity wiped away. With a shock of horror, she realised what had happened. He had been taken over by the Great Intelligence!

11.

'I want your mind'

'Father,' said Anne again. She took a step towards him.

The two Yeti moved menacingly towards her, blocking the way. The Doctor put a hand on her arm. 'No, Anne, don't go near him.'

'It was you you,' said Jamie accusingly. 'You were the one working with 1hem.'

The Colonel cleared his throat. 'Now see here, Travers, I don't understand what's happening but-'

'Silence!' The word came horn Travers's mouth, but not in Travers's voice. The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria had all heard those icy tones before. It was the voice of the Intelligence.

The cold, inhuman voice went on. 'Listen to me. I am the Intelligence. I speak through this man's mouth because it is time for you to understand my purpose.'

The Doctor stepped forward, unafraid. 'What do you want here?'

'You defeated me in Tibet, Doctor. Now you have fallen into my trap.'

'So that's why you brought me here. For revenge.'

'Revenge a petty, human emotion. My purpose is a greater one.'

'And what is that?'

'I observed your mind during our previous encounter, Doctor. It surpa.s.ses that of common humans.'

The Doctor didn't seem particularly pleased by the compliment. 'Get to the point, please,' he said irritably. 'What do you want want?'

'I want you you, Doctor-or rather your mind. Its contents will be invaluable to me in my conquest of Earth.'

'And how do you propose to get it?'

'I have prepared a machine. It will drain all knowledge and past experience from your mind. Your brain will become as empty as that of a newborn child.'

'I can resist you, you know,' the Doctor challenged. 'You can't just take me over, like poor Travers. My will is as strong as yours.'

'You must submit to me willingly. Otherwise the machine will not function.'

'And suppose I refuse?'

'Then I shall settle for quant.i.ty, rather than quality,' the cold voice mocked. 'I shall drain the minds of all the humans here, and those of many others, until I have the knowledge I need-to complete my conquest. Weaker minds will not survive the shock as yours will. The humans will die.'

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