Read Online Doctor Who and the Cave-Monsters by Malcolm Hulke - Free Book Online
Authors: Malcolm Hulke
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want, Quinn?’
Quinn said, ‘Knowledge. To be a respected scientist.’
‘We can make you much more important than that,’ said Okdel.’ We may not require the return of all of our planet. There may be regions where humans will be allowed to continue to exist. To lead them, we need a man whom we can trust. You.’ Without a further word, Okdel rose and went away through the inner door.
Quinn looked at the flat object in his hand. Possession of this alone made him the most important man in the world. But what Okdel had just promised sounded even more pleasing. With a little more hope in his heart he rose and went back into the caves.
8
Into an Alien World
Morka had been in the great cave to call back one of their fighting animals when he was shot. By using his third eye, which could see in almost complete darkness, he had clearly observed the strange creature at the far end of the cave. The creature looked to him exactly like the creature that visited old Okdel from time to time. It stood upright like himself, but it only had two eyes and on top of its head was a mop of fur. Its face was pink, almost red. It raised a kind of stick to its shoulder, looked along it, and then shouted something. Then the stick seemed to explode, and Morka felt a terrible pain in his leg. The fighting animal that Morka had come to call into the shelter attacked the creature, and probably killed it – the fighting animals were trained to kill. But Morka wasn’t very clear in his mind about that. The pain from his leg affected his brain. All he knew was that he must get out of the cave and that he must once again see the sun from which he, and his people, had been hidden for so long. He saw a patch of daylight somewhere above and pulled himself up rocks to get to it. After that he could not remember any more until he woke up.
He was lying in tall grass. As he opened his eyes he found himself looking directly at the sun, yet it did not blind him which seemed very strange. He remembered the sun as a fierce burning ball in the sky. Now it seemed weak, as though something in the atmosphere was filtering and reducing the power of the sun’s rays. He heard a droning sound, and looked towards the source of the sound in another part of the sky. It was an aeroplane. So, these primitive furry animals had discovered how to fly, just as the reptile people once flew in their machines long ago.
Morka slowly got to his feet to get a better view of the alien world around him. Open moorland stretched out on all sides. He had no idea how to find his way back into the cave, and once the weak sun had gone down he would need shelter. It was only with this thought that he realised how incredibly cold he was. Was this the depths of winter, or had the Earth’s climate somehow changed? He didn’t know. About a mile away he could see some boxes huddled together with smoke coming from a pipe in the top of one of them. Obviously it was a primitive dwelling place, and the smoke came from a fire which the creatures used to keep themselves warm. Morka’s ancestors had used fire to keep warm before they discovered electricity. He looked down at his leg. The wound had started to heal now, and trying not to put his weight too much on the injured leg, he started to walk towards the huddles of boxes with the plume of warmth-giving smoke.
He arrived at the farmstead half-an-hour later. Making the journey had been more difficult than he expected. Not only was the sun weaker than he remembered it, but also the air had gone thin. He wondered if, with the geological changes that must have taken place, the reptiles’ shelter was now just under a very high plateau, perhaps thousands of feet above sea-level.
A four-legged animal with vicious white teeth came out to meet him. It looked to Morka disgustingly unclean with its long shaggy fur, probably full of little insects. The animal stood growling, baring its teeth. Morka concentrated on it with his third eye. The animal
Quinn said, ‘Knowledge. To be a respected scientist.’
‘We can make you much more important than that,’ said Okdel.’ We may not require the return of all of our planet. There may be regions where humans will be allowed to continue to exist. To lead them, we need a man whom we can trust. You.’ Without a further word, Okdel rose and went away through the inner door.
Quinn looked at the flat object in his hand. Possession of this alone made him the most important man in the world. But what Okdel had just promised sounded even more pleasing. With a little more hope in his heart he rose and went back into the caves.
8
Into an Alien World
Morka had been in the great cave to call back one of their fighting animals when he was shot. By using his third eye, which could see in almost complete darkness, he had clearly observed the strange creature at the far end of the cave. The creature looked to him exactly like the creature that visited old Okdel from time to time. It stood upright like himself, but it only had two eyes and on top of its head was a mop of fur. Its face was pink, almost red. It raised a kind of stick to its shoulder, looked along it, and then shouted something. Then the stick seemed to explode, and Morka felt a terrible pain in his leg. The fighting animal that Morka had come to call into the shelter attacked the creature, and probably killed it – the fighting animals were trained to kill. But Morka wasn’t very clear in his mind about that. The pain from his leg affected his brain. All he knew was that he must get out of the cave and that he must once again see the sun from which he, and his people, had been hidden for so long. He saw a patch of daylight somewhere above and pulled himself up rocks to get to it. After that he could not remember any more until he woke up.
He was lying in tall grass. As he opened his eyes he found himself looking directly at the sun, yet it did not blind him which seemed very strange. He remembered the sun as a fierce burning ball in the sky. Now it seemed weak, as though something in the atmosphere was filtering and reducing the power of the sun’s rays. He heard a droning sound, and looked towards the source of the sound in another part of the sky. It was an aeroplane. So, these primitive furry animals had discovered how to fly, just as the reptile people once flew in their machines long ago.
Morka slowly got to his feet to get a better view of the alien world around him. Open moorland stretched out on all sides. He had no idea how to find his way back into the cave, and once the weak sun had gone down he would need shelter. It was only with this thought that he realised how incredibly cold he was. Was this the depths of winter, or had the Earth’s climate somehow changed? He didn’t know. About a mile away he could see some boxes huddled together with smoke coming from a pipe in the top of one of them. Obviously it was a primitive dwelling place, and the smoke came from a fire which the creatures used to keep themselves warm. Morka’s ancestors had used fire to keep warm before they discovered electricity. He looked down at his leg. The wound had started to heal now, and trying not to put his weight too much on the injured leg, he started to walk towards the huddles of boxes with the plume of warmth-giving smoke.
He arrived at the farmstead half-an-hour later. Making the journey had been more difficult than he expected. Not only was the sun weaker than he remembered it, but also the air had gone thin. He wondered if, with the geological changes that must have taken place, the reptiles’ shelter was now just under a very high plateau, perhaps thousands of feet above sea-level.
A four-legged animal with vicious white teeth came out to meet him. It looked to Morka disgustingly unclean with its long shaggy fur, probably full of little insects. The animal stood growling, baring its teeth. Morka concentrated on it with his third eye. The animal
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