The Ice Warriors (6 page)

‘But not you.’

Clent faced the Doctor squarely, and replied with a tense dignity.

‘I have a job to do… and I do not intend to fail. My duty is to make the Ionisation programme succeed – and save five thousand years of European civilisation! I
must
not fail!’

In the pause that followed, only the Doctor saw the desperate plea in Clent’s eyes. It was impossible to ignore his silent appeal for help.

‘I respect that, Leader Clent,’ conceded the Doctor. ‘Now tell us how we can help.’

Before Clent could say what was in his mind, the double doors of the laboratory swung open, and Arden walked in. At first, Clent didn’t see Walters and the other technicians wheeling the trolley behind the defiant scientist. He swung himself from the vibro-chair in a blaze of anger.

‘Arden! Is this what you call co-operation?’ Clent strode forward fiercely. ‘How are we expected to carry out this project when idiots like you—’ The Leader stopped abruptly, in full flow. Arden had stepped aside, and for the first time Clent caught sight of the prize he had brought back from the glacier. No one spoke. They were all gazing speechless at the mighty form contained within the great chunk of ice. That one moment alone was triumph enough for Arden.

‘I thought you might be interested, Clent,’ declared the geologist perkily. He turned to his helpers, and pointed to a corner of the room. ‘Wheel him over there.’

The others followed, hardly able to take their eyes from Arden’s discovery. As yet, the ice had barely started to melt.

‘Doctor,’ whispered Victoria, ‘what is it?’

Jamie’s eyes shone with admiration. ‘It’s a great warrior! Do ye no see his war helmet?’

The Doctor inspected the warrior thoughtfully. ‘Frozen for centuries and perfectly preserved,’ he said, then added, ‘odd, though…’

Arden had succeeded in silencing Clent, but hadn’t yet summoned up the courage to tell him of Davis’s death. He now turned on the Doctor suspiciously. ‘Who are you?’

Clent stepped in with an explanation. ‘An addition to our staff, Arden. I’ll explain at the meeting.’ He turned to the Doctor, intrigued by his snap criticism. ‘What exactly is it that you find odd?’

‘The armour, it’s all wrong. When this man was frozen to death, only primitive cavemen existed…’

Arden lunged forward and confronted the Doctor defiantly.

‘Well I say it’s an undiscovered civilisation! Think of the implications!’

Clent needed time to think, and a full scale discussion of Arden’s find was the last thing he wanted at the moment. The geologist would have to be reprimanded – yet what he had found was obviously of sufficient importance to interest world authorities. But everything depended on the success of the Ioniser mission. First things first, then.

‘Arden, whatever the implications, this find of yours must take second place to our project,’ declared Clent. He watched as the young geologist connected the output leads of a portable power pack to electrode points on the horizontal block of ice. ‘You can give me a full appraisal of your theories after the meeting,’ he consulted his watch, ‘which will commence in three minutes fifteen seconds exactly.’

Without seeming to hurry unduly, Arden had completed
his
power connections and was ready to go.

‘Miss Garrett, perhaps you’d lead the way?’ continued Clent. ‘Come along, Arden. You can play with your toy later. You’ll be needed at the meeting too, Doctor.’

With that, he and his colleagues passed through the swing doors towards the conference room.

The Doctor may have heard Clent’s last words – if so, he showed no inclination to obey them. Instead, alone with Jamie and Victoria, he stood hunched over the ice-encased giant, studying it intently. Jamie pointed to the wiring and the black power pack that Arden had attached to the ice.

‘What’s all this about, Doctor?’

‘It’s a portable power pack, Jamie,’ the Doctor explained. ‘Arden has set the current so that it will melt the ice very slowly.’

‘But it’s working quite quickly – look!’ cried Victoria.

Jamie and the Doctor looked to where her finger was pointing, and saw that a large flake of ice had fallen away from the side of the warrior’s helmet. He didn’t, however, hear the faint but ominous humming which seemed to come from the power pack. The Doctor didn’t notice. The Doctor bent close to the helmet, examining it through the cloak of thin ice with an expression of intense astonishment.

‘But that’s… incredible!’ he blurted out.

‘What is, Doctor?’ asked Jamie in amazement. It wasn’t often something set the Doctor back on his heels!

‘Jamie…’ murmured the Doctor wonderingly, ‘that’s an electronic earpiece – there, on the helmet! Almost identical to the ones used on modern space helmets!’

Both the youngsters looked at him uncomprehendingly.

‘But Doctor… it can’t be,’ said Victoria finally.

The Doctor raised his head abruptly. His voice was keen with excitement, and possibly something more… ‘Don’t you realise what this means?’

He looked into their young faces, and saw that they did not understand. Reaching a quick decision, he hurried towards the door.

‘Wait here,’ he shouted back over his shoulder, ‘and don’t touch anything!’

Jamie and Victoria were getting used to his sudden exits, and exchanged a gentle chuckle.

‘I wonder what sent him off like that?’ asked Jamie.

‘Scientists are all the same,’ replied Victoria. ‘They’re forever shouting
Eureka
, or something. Hey! What are you doing? Don’t be a spoilsport!’

Half playfully, she struggled to prise Jamie out of the vibro-chair – not because the Doctor had told them not to touch it, but because she dearly wanted to have a go in it herself. ‘Me first!’ she shouted, then gasped as she felt the machine tingle into life, switched on by Jamie’s eager hand, as he relaxed in the chair.

Neither of them noticed that more ice had fallen away from the warrior’s helmet. The power pack’s electrodes were now touching bare metal. Their excited laughter hid the hum which was coming from the prostrate form, and which seemed to be ever increasing in volume.

They didn’t see the eye-pieces of the cruel helmet flicker, nor the reflex twitch of the great, gauntleted hand.

Slowly but surely, the Ice Warrior was coming to life…

3

Creature from the Red Planet

THE DOCTOR HAD
been summoned to Clent’s meeting – but he hadn’t been told how to get there. Flustered and irritated, his brain almost bursting with the news of the terrible discovery, the Doctor turned a corner and found himself in the main reception hall. He paused, and took a deep breath. This sort of building must be like others of its period. If he could just mentally picture the architectural plans: music room ahead… next to that the ballroom or great hall… to the rear of the house, leading from the great hall… the library or study. The Doctor opened his eyes, his mind alert. The library – that was it!

The memory of the Ioniser control room, lined with elegant bookcases and splendid antique paintings, echoed in his mind – as did the half-remembered glimpse he had had into the vast room beyond, filled with its banks of computers and monitoring equipment. That’d be the place! Quickly, he orientated himself in line with the room plan he had formed in his head and then set off once again, grimly determined.

His latest discovery about the Ice Warrior was vitally important. Clent and the others must be told – and quickly!

*

In the laboratory, Jamie had at last given Victoria a turn in the vibro-chair. As the almost imperceptible tingling began she closed her eyes and smiled with childish delight. Jamie stood over her, his back to the great block of ice. Neither of them was aware that it had all but completely disintegrated, leaving the body once trapped inside it free and alive.

Suddenly, Victoria opened her eyes, looked past Jamie – and screamed. At the same moment, Jamie heard the power pack crash to the floor, and spun round to see what had caused the noise. The massive form of the Ice Warrior was not merely free of the ice block, but was looming over him, hideously threatening! His immediate reaction, keyed by Victoria’s choked scream, was to protect her. Without hesitation, he threw himself against the motionless giant, in a vain attempt to grapple with that immense strength – but he might as well have been a wolfhound tackling a dinosaur. With one sweeping blow from its mighty arm, the Ice Warrior knocked him unconscious to the ground. With one great lumbering stride, the armoured giant reached the vibro-chair – but Victoria had already fainted. For a brief moment, the Ice Warrior gazed at her limp body, the breath seeming to hiss with difficulty through his strangely reptilian lips. He ponderously looked all around the room – as if searching for the best means of escape. Then, lifting Victoria as though she was no more than a feather, he strode past Jamie’s fallen body, through the nearest doorway, and into the corridor beyond…

Clent and his subordinates were seated in a tight semi-circle around the table top formed by the
ECCO
control
area.
A stranger would have observed that the video-eyed communicator was not merely treated as a convenient information source, but was functioning as a member of the group. In fact, it had several jobs. Like an electronic secretary, it was taking minutes of the meeting; it produced relevant statistics when required, and it evaluated group decisions in the light of world policy. At the moment, however, it was passive. Clent was completing the summary of his confrontation with the Doctor.

‘It took him just ninety seconds to propose and explain Ionisation,’ he stated, ‘and with no prior knowledge!’

Arden was impressed, but cautious. ‘It took us and the World Academy of Scientists years.’

‘And the computer three millisecs,’ interrupted Miss Garrett. Brilliant though this stranger might be, he could never be superior to her beloved computer. Arden disagreed.

‘It couldn’t do anything without proper programming,’ he pointed out shrewdly, much to Jan’s annoyance. But Clent shared her absolute faith in the machine.

‘I’d like an assessment from the computer,’ he insisted, ‘before we make any final decision about this… Doctor.’

‘I agree,’ nodded Miss Garrett. ‘We have to be completely certain.’

‘
ECCO!
’ instructed Clent. The artificial head turned expectantly. ‘State the work potential and group value of this new member of our team.’

The computer’s answer was immediate and passionless.

‘
More information needed for complete evaluation. Interim judgement: high IQ but undisciplined to unit’s immediate
needs.
Possible use on research projects. Could be obstructive in certain subjective situations
.’

The last sentence went largely unheard. At that moment, the door burst open and the Doctor stumbled rather breathlessly into the room. ‘There you are!’ he exclaimed.

‘We’ve been waiting for you, Doctor,’ Clent pointed out with icy formality. ‘Perhaps you wouldn’t mind sitting down?’

‘I’ve been looking for you everywhere!’ replied the Doctor. ‘Why don’t you label your doors, or something?’

‘Perhaps you’d let us complete our official business before making unnecessary complaints about administration,’ said Clent coldly.

‘No, I’m afraid not,’ insisted the Doctor. ‘I’ve got something pretty important to tell you actually. It’s about that thing in the block of ice.’

‘The Ice Warrior!’ exclaimed Arden anxiously. ‘Has something happened to it?’

‘We have more serious matters on hand than amateur archaeology!’ interrupted Clent. But the Doctor was not to be shouted down.

‘This is serious,’ he continued grimly. ‘It’s the thing’s helmet – it’s not what we think it is.’

‘You’ve discovered that it’s a prehistoric drinking cup, I suppose,’ said Clent sarcastically.

The Doctor was looking at Arden as he spoke. ‘It has electronic connections,’ he said.

There was a tense silence, as this remark struck home. Clent frowned. Was this stranger, dressed like a scavenger but with the brain of a scientist, a complete eccentric or,
even
worse, a practical joker? On the other hand, his face was deadly serious.

‘What are you talking about, man?’ he demanded, uncertainly.

Arden’s amazement exploded into words. ‘It’s not possible! You must’ve made a mistake!’

‘I’m quite sure.’ The Doctor was almost apologetic. ‘Of course, you do realise what this means?’

Clent said nothing, but it was obvious that thoughts were racing through his mind. Arden groped for an explanation.

‘It must mean…’ he paused, then plunged on, ‘it
has
to mean its culture was even more advanced than we first thought!’

‘So much more advanced,’ remarked the Doctor drily, ‘that they even had astronauts?’

‘What!’ exclaimed Clent.

‘That headpiece of his,’ observed the Doctor, ‘it’s not a warrior’s tin hat, you know. It’s a highly sophisticated space helmet!’

Miss Garrett firmly decided that the Doctor was having them on. What he was saying was impossible – and somebody had to tell him so!

‘Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions, Doctor – for a scientist?’ she said coolly. ‘I mean to say – a prehistoric spaceman! It’s ridiculous!’

Arden’s face was shining with excitement. The implications were fantastic! ‘If it’s true,’ he whispered, his mind in a turmoil… But the Doctor’s next words brought him down to earth.

‘If it’s true,’ the Doctor repeated grimly, ‘the Ioniser programme here could be finished for good.’

Clent had the barest premonition of what the Doctor’s warning could mean. But it was too startling to be admitted openly.

‘In what way?’ he asked, smiling. ‘How can one deep-frozen body, no matter how many centuries old, affect our project? You’re talking nonsense, my dear chap!’

The Doctor studied Clent’s seemingly amused face, and understood why he didn’t want to admit the truth. It really was an impossible dilemma – but it had to be faced. He sighed. He’d better explain, gently – as if to children.