to shake hands with his captor, when he realised it might be electrified. He withdrew quickly.
‘Now that you know who I am,’ continued Dr Stevens, ‘perhaps you would care to elaborate about yourself?’
‘I am attached to UNIT as a scientific adviser,’ said the Doctor. ‘Does that clarify the situation?’
Dr Stevens smiled. ‘Of course, the errant Doctor. We’ve been hoping you’d arrive, although not quite like this. Do you normally break into private property, especially when you’d be more than welcome arriving at the front door?’
‘I do very little normally ,’ said the Doctor, ‘unless that is the quickest way to go about things. In this instance, an abnormal approach seemed more fitting. We urgently need cable-cutting equipment at the mine. You refused to give it. Yet my information is that it is stored in that shed over there.’
‘May I ask where you got this information?’ said Dr Stevens.
‘From someone to whom you loaned the equipment only recently,’ replied the Doctor.
‘Well,’ said Dr Stevens, ‘we certainly did have that kind of equipment here. But not now. It’s all been returned to our main stores in another part of the country. But to put your mind at rest, let us investigate.’
He pressed a button on the wall and the metal grille slid out of the way. Without a word Dr Stevens, accompanied by Hinks, crossed a concrete area to the equipment shed. Dr Stevens nodded and Hinks produced a key and unlocked the doors. The shed was completely empty.
‘You see?’ said Dr Stevens.
‘It seems I’ve been misinformed,’ said the Doctor.
‘Believe me, Doctor,’ said Dr Stevens, as he now walked the Doctor away from the empty shed, ‘Panorama Chemicals always tries to be a good neighbour. Our plant in Ethiopia has distributed thousands of tons of grain to the starving. In Persia and Saudi Arabia all local employees have free classes to learn to read and write their own languages.’
‘Most impressive,’ said the Doctor politely, even though he was being gently escorted off the premises.
‘If we had anything that could help the people of Llanfairfach,’ Dr Stevens went on, ‘we’d be only too glad to give it.’
From where Mark Elgin stood he could hear Dr Stevens’s voice fading away as he, the Doctor and Hinks went out of sight. Elgin crossed to the now open equipment shed and looked inside. He had passed this way only yesterday and had caught sight of masses of equipment in the shed. Where had it all gone? And why?
The Brigadier felt pleased with himself. Halfway to Newport he and Dave Griffiths had passed through a small town with an extraordinarily long Welsh name where the Brigadier had spotted the words ‘Crash Repairs’ over a local garage. He stopped the jeep immediately and called in to see the proprietor. They used oxyacetylene equipment to cut away damaged parts of cars. The owner of the garage, an ex-miner, was only too pleased to lend the Brigadier everything that was needed.
When the Brigadier got back to the pit head office he found the Doctor and Professor Jones, and a number of ex-miners who had turned up to help, had everything well organised. The donkey engine was in position; a new cable now led from the drum driven by the engine to the ‘up’ lift. All that remained was for the old cable to be cut and the lift would work independently.
‘You seem to have done well, Doctor,’ remarked the Brigadier. ‘Are there some old overalls I can borrow from someone?’
‘Why, tired of your uniform?’ asked the Doctor.
‘To go down the mine,’ said the Brigadier. ‘To rescue Miss Grant and her companion.’
‘Mines are for miners,’ interrupted Dave Griffiths, ‘not for soldier boys. It’s me and my mates will be going down there.’
‘The man in charge of a situation,’ said the Brigadier, ‘should always be willing to do the most risky job.’
‘Then that settles it,’ said Dave, ‘because where pit rescue is concerned, I’m
‘Now that you know who I am,’ continued Dr Stevens, ‘perhaps you would care to elaborate about yourself?’
‘I am attached to UNIT as a scientific adviser,’ said the Doctor. ‘Does that clarify the situation?’
Dr Stevens smiled. ‘Of course, the errant Doctor. We’ve been hoping you’d arrive, although not quite like this. Do you normally break into private property, especially when you’d be more than welcome arriving at the front door?’
‘I do very little normally ,’ said the Doctor, ‘unless that is the quickest way to go about things. In this instance, an abnormal approach seemed more fitting. We urgently need cable-cutting equipment at the mine. You refused to give it. Yet my information is that it is stored in that shed over there.’
‘May I ask where you got this information?’ said Dr Stevens.
‘From someone to whom you loaned the equipment only recently,’ replied the Doctor.
‘Well,’ said Dr Stevens, ‘we certainly did have that kind of equipment here. But not now. It’s all been returned to our main stores in another part of the country. But to put your mind at rest, let us investigate.’
He pressed a button on the wall and the metal grille slid out of the way. Without a word Dr Stevens, accompanied by Hinks, crossed a concrete area to the equipment shed. Dr Stevens nodded and Hinks produced a key and unlocked the doors. The shed was completely empty.
‘You see?’ said Dr Stevens.
‘It seems I’ve been misinformed,’ said the Doctor.
‘Believe me, Doctor,’ said Dr Stevens, as he now walked the Doctor away from the empty shed, ‘Panorama Chemicals always tries to be a good neighbour. Our plant in Ethiopia has distributed thousands of tons of grain to the starving. In Persia and Saudi Arabia all local employees have free classes to learn to read and write their own languages.’
‘Most impressive,’ said the Doctor politely, even though he was being gently escorted off the premises.
‘If we had anything that could help the people of Llanfairfach,’ Dr Stevens went on, ‘we’d be only too glad to give it.’
From where Mark Elgin stood he could hear Dr Stevens’s voice fading away as he, the Doctor and Hinks went out of sight. Elgin crossed to the now open equipment shed and looked inside. He had passed this way only yesterday and had caught sight of masses of equipment in the shed. Where had it all gone? And why?
The Brigadier felt pleased with himself. Halfway to Newport he and Dave Griffiths had passed through a small town with an extraordinarily long Welsh name where the Brigadier had spotted the words ‘Crash Repairs’ over a local garage. He stopped the jeep immediately and called in to see the proprietor. They used oxyacetylene equipment to cut away damaged parts of cars. The owner of the garage, an ex-miner, was only too pleased to lend the Brigadier everything that was needed.
When the Brigadier got back to the pit head office he found the Doctor and Professor Jones, and a number of ex-miners who had turned up to help, had everything well organised. The donkey engine was in position; a new cable now led from the drum driven by the engine to the ‘up’ lift. All that remained was for the old cable to be cut and the lift would work independently.
‘You seem to have done well, Doctor,’ remarked the Brigadier. ‘Are there some old overalls I can borrow from someone?’
‘Why, tired of your uniform?’ asked the Doctor.
‘To go down the mine,’ said the Brigadier. ‘To rescue Miss Grant and her companion.’
‘Mines are for miners,’ interrupted Dave Griffiths, ‘not for soldier boys. It’s me and my mates will be going down there.’
‘The man in charge of a situation,’ said the Brigadier, ‘should always be willing to do the most risky job.’
‘Then that settles it,’ said Dave, ‘because where pit rescue is concerned, I’m
Similar Books
