Read Online Doctor Who: Fury From the Deep by Victor Pemberton - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Victor Pemberton
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offer your expert advice. However, I am not obliged to take it. This is my outfit, and I run it the way I want to.
Understood?'
'Mr Robson!' Robson swung with a start, to see an engineer calling from the door of the Impeller Area.
'The impeller! She's down to 140 revs. Something must be jamming her at the base.'
Robson rushed into the impeller area. Van Lutyens followed him. The Chief Engineer was frantically tapping pressure gauges, stopping only to listen to the impeller Housing Unit. His crew were anxiously staring down into the darkness of the impeller shaft, where the sound of the giant pump was gradually slowing down.
Everyone was watching and waiting tensely. The giant pump was moving erratically now, crunching and grating with enormous effort. Finally, it ground to a halt with a huge thud.
The silence that followed seemed unnatural. No one could remember a time when the sound of the giant impeller pump had not dominated the life of the Refinery.
'All right, Mr Robson,' called van Lutyens, breaking the silence. 'Where do we go from here?'
Robson was staring in disbelief at the giant pump. He refused to reply or even look at the Dutchman.
Van Lutyens persisted. 'Well, come on! You have all the answers, don't you?'
'Quiet! Everyone!'
The Chief Engineer had his ear pressed up against the perspex case of the Impeller Housing Unit. Robson and the others joined him.
'What is it?' asked the Dutchman in a hushed voice.
The Chief Engineer closed his eyes whilst he tried to listen.
Without turning, he said, 'I think I can hear something...
Frank Harris's face was ashen-white with distress as he held the lifeless body of his wife in his arms.
Victoria and Jamie were anxiously watching the Doctor examine Maggie with his stethoscope. Victoria swallowed hard, then plucked up courage to ask timidly, 'Is she - dead?'
The Doctor removed his stethoscope. 'No, she's not,' he replied.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially Harris. 'Then what's the matter with her?' he asked.
'She's in some sort of coma,' said the Doctor sternly. 'Possibly because of that gas.' He removed the stethoscope from his ears, then looked Harris straight in the face. 'It was toxic.'
Harris was shocked. 'That's impossible,' he said. 'Natural gas isn't toxic.'
"This wasn't natural gas. It's the same sort of gas we found when Victoria was locked in the Oxygen Room.'
Harris was even more puzzled. 'But where could it have come from?'
'That's what I'd like to know,' muttered the Doctor, taking a quick, suspicious look around the room. Then he resumed his examination of Maggie, pulling open one of her eyelids to see if there was any sign of movement in the lifeless, staring pupil. 'What exactly did she say happened to her?' he asked.
'Something about being stung by a clump of seaweed.'
To anyone else, Harris's reply would have sounded absurd, bizarre. But not to the Doctor, Jamie, or Victoria, who all reacted with a simultaneous look at Harris.
'Seaweed!' said Jamie, turning suddenly from the smashed window.
'I asked Maggie to get a file from my study. Apparently she found the seaweed on top of it.'
'A curious place to find such a thing,' remarked the Doctor carefully. 'Did you put the seaweed there, Mr Harris?'
Harris took exception to this. 'No! Certainly not!'
The Doctor did not pursue the point. He decided instead to resume his examination of Maggie. 'There don't appear to be any marks or abrasions.'
'Doctor!'
Everyone turned to look at Victoria, who was cowering from something on the floor nearby. It was a small clump of seaweed.
'Seaweed!' said Jamie, stooping down to take a close look at the clump. 'What's it doing here?'
Harris gently lowered his wife back onto the bed, then joined the others, who were all cautiously watching the seaweed clump.
'It's still quite wet,' observed the Doctor, studying the clump from all angles.
'Perhaps this is what Maggie was talking about,' said Harris, stooping down to pick up
Understood?'
'Mr Robson!' Robson swung with a start, to see an engineer calling from the door of the Impeller Area.
'The impeller! She's down to 140 revs. Something must be jamming her at the base.'
Robson rushed into the impeller area. Van Lutyens followed him. The Chief Engineer was frantically tapping pressure gauges, stopping only to listen to the impeller Housing Unit. His crew were anxiously staring down into the darkness of the impeller shaft, where the sound of the giant pump was gradually slowing down.
Everyone was watching and waiting tensely. The giant pump was moving erratically now, crunching and grating with enormous effort. Finally, it ground to a halt with a huge thud.
The silence that followed seemed unnatural. No one could remember a time when the sound of the giant impeller pump had not dominated the life of the Refinery.
'All right, Mr Robson,' called van Lutyens, breaking the silence. 'Where do we go from here?'
Robson was staring in disbelief at the giant pump. He refused to reply or even look at the Dutchman.
Van Lutyens persisted. 'Well, come on! You have all the answers, don't you?'
'Quiet! Everyone!'
The Chief Engineer had his ear pressed up against the perspex case of the Impeller Housing Unit. Robson and the others joined him.
'What is it?' asked the Dutchman in a hushed voice.
The Chief Engineer closed his eyes whilst he tried to listen.
Without turning, he said, 'I think I can hear something...
Frank Harris's face was ashen-white with distress as he held the lifeless body of his wife in his arms.
Victoria and Jamie were anxiously watching the Doctor examine Maggie with his stethoscope. Victoria swallowed hard, then plucked up courage to ask timidly, 'Is she - dead?'
The Doctor removed his stethoscope. 'No, she's not,' he replied.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially Harris. 'Then what's the matter with her?' he asked.
'She's in some sort of coma,' said the Doctor sternly. 'Possibly because of that gas.' He removed the stethoscope from his ears, then looked Harris straight in the face. 'It was toxic.'
Harris was shocked. 'That's impossible,' he said. 'Natural gas isn't toxic.'
"This wasn't natural gas. It's the same sort of gas we found when Victoria was locked in the Oxygen Room.'
Harris was even more puzzled. 'But where could it have come from?'
'That's what I'd like to know,' muttered the Doctor, taking a quick, suspicious look around the room. Then he resumed his examination of Maggie, pulling open one of her eyelids to see if there was any sign of movement in the lifeless, staring pupil. 'What exactly did she say happened to her?' he asked.
'Something about being stung by a clump of seaweed.'
To anyone else, Harris's reply would have sounded absurd, bizarre. But not to the Doctor, Jamie, or Victoria, who all reacted with a simultaneous look at Harris.
'Seaweed!' said Jamie, turning suddenly from the smashed window.
'I asked Maggie to get a file from my study. Apparently she found the seaweed on top of it.'
'A curious place to find such a thing,' remarked the Doctor carefully. 'Did you put the seaweed there, Mr Harris?'
Harris took exception to this. 'No! Certainly not!'
The Doctor did not pursue the point. He decided instead to resume his examination of Maggie. 'There don't appear to be any marks or abrasions.'
'Doctor!'
Everyone turned to look at Victoria, who was cowering from something on the floor nearby. It was a small clump of seaweed.
'Seaweed!' said Jamie, stooping down to take a close look at the clump. 'What's it doing here?'
Harris gently lowered his wife back onto the bed, then joined the others, who were all cautiously watching the seaweed clump.
'It's still quite wet,' observed the Doctor, studying the clump from all angles.
'Perhaps this is what Maggie was talking about,' said Harris, stooping down to pick up
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