Read Online Doctor Who: Fury From the Deep by Victor Pemberton - Free Book Online

quivering lines.
    'We've tried everything, sir. There's no response at all!'
    Robson ignored Price and started punching out video and computer keys. The monitor screen remained defiantly blank.
    'So the immediate crisis is over, is it?' said the Dutchman to Robson ironically. He was also watching the blank monitor screen.
     
    Frank Harris arrived home to find the front door of his apartment block wide open. 'Maggie!' he called out anxiously. 'I've brought the Doctor!'
    The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria followed Harris into the hallway. The moment they entered, Jamie became convulsed with a loud fit of sneezing.
    'Gas!' yelled the Doctor. He and the others quickly covered their mouths.
    Harris rushed into the bedroom and immediately shouted back to the Doctor to follow him. The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria charged into the bedroom, and were nearly choked by the smell of gas fumes.
    'Maggie!' Harris went straight to his wife, who was slumped in a heap on the floor. Everyone was coughing and spluttering.
    'Quick, Jamie!' the Doctor shouted. 'The window!'
    Jamie desperately searched around for something to break open the window. His eyes lighted on a heavy wooden chair, and, in a split-second decision, he smashed the window open with it, splintering glass everywhere.
    The deadly gas fumes were instantly sucked out of the room, to be replaced by a stream of ice-cold air from outside. The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria stayed by the broken window, taking deep breaths of fresh air.
    Frank Harris, distraught and desperate, was kneeling beside the lifeless body of his wife. Maggie's eyes were firmly closed, and her face was as white as sea foam. 'Maggie... ' called Harris, gently caressing her face with his hand. 'Oh, Maggie... '
     
    In the Control Hall at the Refinery, the video monitor screen was still flickering with distorted lines.
    'I'm sorry, sir,' said Price nervously. 'We've completely lost contact with Rig C.'
    Robson clenched his fist and punched it into his other hand in frustration. Then he turned away from the Cone, deep in thought.
    Van Lutyens pursued him.
    'I hope you are satisfied with what you've done?' The Dutchman's booming voice echoed around the Hall, causing everyone to stop what they were doing.
    Robson turned slowly. With seething rage he was glaring at the Dutchman. 'Van Lutyens,' he sneered. 'I'm warning you...'
    'And I warned you!' roared van Lutyens defiantly. 'But you were too stubborn to listen. Look at the facts, man, the facts!'
    Robson strode off. Again the Dutchman pursued him. 'First we lose contact with two rigs,' continued van Lutyens. 'Then, for over three weeks we have unprecedented and inexplicable pressure variations in the entire pipeline system.'
    'Oh, so that's it!' yelled Robson, stopping dead on the steps of the observation platform. 'You've been talking with Harris!'
    'Only because you refuse to listen to his calculations!' The Dutchman was matching Robson's outburst with his own anger.
    'That's why I went out to the Control Rig - to see if there was any explanation out there!'
    'And what did you find?' Robson snapped back. His exchange with van Lutyens had now become a shouting match. 'Nothing! And I'll tell you why - because there was nothing to find!'
    'I tell you Mr Harris's figures are - '
    'To hell with Harris and his figures!' Robson's face was now blood-red with fury, and a vein protruded from his forehead. 'D'you think I'm going to take notice of some schoolkid, with his bits of paper, graphs and sliderule? I've spent my life on this job. I know every nut and bolt on every rig out in that sea!'
     
    Van Lutyens sighed despondently. He had long been aware of Robson's antipathy towards Harris's red-brick university education.
    'All right,' said the Dutchman, 'so your prejudice prevents you from accepting Mr Harris's calculations. But what about me? Do you dismiss my opinion with as much contempt?'
    'You?' Robson's glare turned into a cynical smile. 'You, Mr van Lutyens, are here to