The Ice Warriors by Brian Hayles Page B

bubbled – as though scorched by fire.
    ‘But that would take immense heat!’ exclaimed Clent.
    ‘The electricity—’ offered Jamie.
    Arden rejected this. ‘I used a low voltage, deliberately!’
    ‘But a high current, I believe,’ pointed out the Doctor.
    ‘Yes… but it was safe – there was no fire risk!’ retorted the geologist.
    ‘It isn’t necessarily a question of actual fire,’ explained the Doctor. ‘Suppose that current flowed through a high resistance. What would be the result?’
    ‘Extremely high temperatures,’ replied Jan. ‘You mean, that thing…’
    ‘I said it wasn’t human, didn’t I?’ the Doctor reminded her. ‘In my opinion, the sudden build-up of heat shocked him back into neural activity.’
    ‘And what about Victoria?’ demanded Jamie, clearheaded and alert once more. ‘What can we do to save
her
?’
    A surge of guilt flowed over the Doctor’s mind. He faced Jamie tensely, the scientific problem forgotten.
    ‘You’re right, Jamie. We’ve got to find her! They couldn’t have got far!’
    Clent, too, had reacted sharply to the reminder that an undesirable alien menace was loose within the Base complex; less important was its helpless hostage. He moved quickly to the video-communicator.
    ‘Danger. Red alert!’ he snapped to all channels within the Base. ‘Intruders within Base perimeter. Capture and control – priority one!’
    But Jamie wasn’t impressed. ‘What good’s that? Suppose they’re already out of it? We’ve got to go after them – now!’
    ‘My dear chap, I’m very sorry, but we’re down to emergency personnel only. I cannot release men to go wandering off outside this Base. It’d be madness!’
    ‘But the girl’s life may be at stake!’ added the Doctor. ‘You
have
to make a search party available!’
    Jan Garrett saw Clent’s mouth tighten stubbornly. No matter how much the Doctor argued, the Leader had made up his mind. But there was one possible way out.
    ‘Leader Clent,’ she suggested calmly, ‘we must inform the computer.’ She paused, knowing he had to agree, then went on, ‘It could soon tell us whether it is possible to reallocate the work schedule to release a rescue party.’
    The others watched tensely as Clent considered Jan’s shrewd suggestion. He reluctantly nodded his head.
    ‘Very well, we will put it to the computer…’
    Unknown to Clent and the Doctor, Victoria was being held prisoner only a hundred yards away. At the first sound of the security alarm, the Ice Warrior had entered the nearest convenient bolt hole – a medical store room.
    Victoria had still been unconscious when they had taken cover. Coming round now, she had no idea where she was. All that she could see from the corner where she lay huddled, was the gigantic form of the Ice Warrior. He was standing by the door, listening intently. The distant alarm call stopped abruptly. Seemingly satisfied, the creature now turned towards Victoria – and she saw his cruel face clearly for the first time.
    Her throat became so tight with fear that she could scarcely gasp… The so-called armour of the helmet-head and massive body was in fact tough, and reptilian in substance – but unlike animal eyes, its hard glass-covered eye sockets revealed no emotion. Only a vaguely flickering light illuminated their dark depths.
    Like the eyes, the creature’s ears looked mechanical in design – electronic, as the Doctor had said. But the mouth was different: mobile, leathery, lizard-like. It seemed to be forever struggling to snatch in precious air, with the result that every breath, every word it uttered, hissed snake-like from that menacing head. From the huge shoulders downwards, the armoured skin took on the shape of a great protective shell.
    Victoria noticed with a shudder that instead of hands, or even webbed, reptilian claws, the arms ended in what looked like metallic clamps. And from the right forearm, compact and sleek, but as though part of the