Doctor Who and the Cave-Monsters (14 page)

‘You forget, there are now millions of this species,’ said Okdel. ‘They will send others to attack us.’

‘Then we shall destroy them all,’ said Morka. ‘Ask your questions of this so-called intelligent ape, then I suggest you exterminate it.’ Morka abruptly walked away.

Okdel stood looking at the Doctor. Slowly he asked, ‘How many of your species now pollute our planet?’

‘Over three thousand five hundred million,’ said the Doctor, thinking it unwise at this moment to point out that Man was not his own species.

‘That is impossible,’ said Okdel. ‘You give this enormous figure to frighten us.’

‘I assure you,’ the Doctor said, ‘the figure is accurate. Since you were the rulers of Earth the apes, as you call Man, have multiplied time and time again.’

‘We outnumber you by millions to one,’ said Major Barker. ‘So put that in your pipe and smoke it!’

‘Do all carry these exploding sticks,’ said Okdel, ‘such as this ape had with him,’ and he indicated Major Barker. ‘Only soldiers,’ said the Doctor.

‘We
all
carry weapons,’ cried Major Barker. ‘Millions and millions of us!’

Okdel turned and looked at Barker. ‘You lie. It will not help you.’ He turned back to the Doctor. ‘You say you wish to help us?’

‘Yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘I can stop you from being destroyed.’

‘We have studied your weapon. It is very primitive.’

‘But you know nothing of the fighting power of the humans,’ the Doctor said. ‘You have only seen one rifle!’

‘Be quiet!’ said Barker. ‘If you say another word about weapons, Doctor, I shall personally see that you are prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act!’

‘What other weapons do you humans possess?’ asked Okdel.

‘Explosive shells that can penetrate armour-plating,’ said the Doctor, ‘bombs that can wipe out whole continents…’

The Doctor’s words were choked as Barker put his hands through the bars dividing the two cages and grabbed the Doctor by the throat. ‘I’ll shut your mouth for you, you swine! You’re a traitor! I’ll stop you helping them!’

The Doctor tried to pull Major Barker’s hands from his throat, but the Major had a steel-like grip. Okdel turned towards Major Barker, and his third eye started to pulsate. Barker suddenly fell away, a crumpled heap on the floor of his cage. The Doctor looked through the bars.

‘Have you killed him?’

‘No,’ said Okdel. ‘He will recover.’

The Doctor felt his bruised throat. ‘Can’t you let me out of here? I’m in no position to harm you, and I earnestly believe we must talk before it is too late.’

Okdel seemed to consider for a few moments. Then he looked down at the lock on the Doctor’s cage door. His third eye pulsated, and the lock sprang open. ‘Come with me,’ he said. ‘I have never talked with an ape before, but I realise that things have changed. Walk behind me.’

The Doctor followed close behind Okdel towards an inner room. Their route took them past the caged-over pit, and the Doctor stole a quick glance down into the pit. He caught a glimpse of the spiked back of a huge reptile, then hurried on after Okdel. The inner room also had walls of sheet metal riveted together. It was a small control-room with some devices for measuring the external temperature and air-condition. Okdel turned and stood facing the Doctor.

‘If you attack me,’ Okdel said, ‘I shall destroy you instantly.’

‘I have no intention of attacking you,’ said the Doctor. ‘I wish to help you.’

‘What do you want to say?’

‘First I need information,’ said the Doctor. ‘I want to know exactly why you have hidden yourselves in this shelter?’

‘Quinn asked such questions,’ said Okdel. ‘It does not help us to provide you with information.’

‘It may,’ said the Doctor. ‘Please tell me what happened?’

Okdel considered. Then he spoke again. ‘A small planet, wandering through space, was attracted by the gravity of this planet. Our scientists said that when it swept by our planet it would cause great waves and winds. All life on the surface might be destroyed. So, we built these shelters; and, to save bringing food and water, we put ourselves into a form of hibernation. The return of the Earth’s atmosphere, which would be drawn from the Earth for a short time, was to activate triggering devices on the surface that would automatically de-hibernate us. But somehow, something went wrong.’

‘I think I can guess what it was,’ said the Doctor. ‘Did your planet have a moon?’

‘Moon?’ said Okdel, not understanding.

‘You have given me the answer,’ said the Doctor. ‘You see, that little planet you feared didn’t sweep by Earth. It went into orbit around it. The atmosphere was never pulled away. It was the
return
of the atmosphere that was to activate your trigger devices, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, its return.’

‘How many of these shelters did you build?’ asked the Doctor.

‘I do not give you information,’ said Okdel.

‘I can only help if I know everything. How many are there?’

Again Okdel considered. ‘Many thousands, all over the world. When we are ready we shall reactivate the others from this base.’

‘That’s understandable,’ said the Doctor. ‘But do you realise this could result in the most terrible war between two intelligent species in which both will be destroyed?’

‘There is no alternative,’ said Okdel.

‘I think there is. In most of the world,’ the Doctor said, ‘the climate is very different from when it was your planet…’

‘It remains
our
planet,’ said Okdel.

‘Nevertheless, over the last hundred million years or so the climate has changed,’ said the Doctor. ‘Your people thrive in hot climates, and there are still large areas in the world today very similar to the conditions in which you knew the planet, and these areas are hardly touched by Man. With your technology you could build cities in those parts of the world which Man has ignored.’

‘We have cities,’ said Okdel, ‘great domed cities in valleys waiting for us to return.’

‘No,’ said the Doctor. ‘This must be hard for you to understand, but there is no trace of your civilisation on this planet. The Earth’s crust is always moving. You are fortunate that this shelter has not been crushed to pulp by some internal movement of the crust.’

Okdel seemed deeply affected to learn that his civilisation had completely vanished. ‘Nothing of us has been found?’

‘No,’ said the Doctor. ‘Only some fairly small versions of your animals – the lizard, the crocodile, and the snake.’

Okdel swayed slightly from one side to another, and from the depth of his throat there came a gentle whining sound. The Doctor thought this must be the reptile man’s way of showing grief. Then a single drop of liquid slid from one of Okdel’s eyes. The old reptile man was crying.

‘I am very sorry,’ said the Doctor. ‘It must be sad to realise that you are so completely forgotten.’

Okdel stopped swaying. He did nothing to conceal the single tear, which had left a glistening path down the scales of his face. ‘These areas of which you speak,’ said Okdel at last. ‘Would your people agree to this?’

‘They are not my people,’ said the Doctor, ‘but I think they might listen to me. First you must release the men who are trapped in the caves. This will help me to convince the humans that you do not intend to harm them.’

‘These apes have only shown hostility to us,’ said Okdel. ‘The other in the cage tried to hurt my friend, Morka.’

‘You have only shown hostility to the humans,’ said the Doctor, ‘by releasing your fighting animals in the caves. But someone must make the first move towards peace.’

‘We are a peace-loving species,’ said Okdel. ‘But it is difficult for us to think of apes as equals.’

‘There are some hard pills to swallow,’ said the Doctor, ‘and one of them is that the apes have grown up.’

‘If your plan is acceptable to the other species,’ said Okdel, ‘it would be understood that we are the superior race?’

‘I am sure that the humans could learn to treat you with great respect,’ said the Doctor. ‘But these days people don’t talk about superior and inferior races. Everyone is equal.’

‘Every one of the humans is equal,’ said Okdel. ‘But we must be respected.’

‘I would certainly try to arrange that,’ said the Doctor.

‘Good. Then I shall release the apes in the cave.’ Okdel’s third eye started to glow very gently.

The Brigadier and his men sat slumped against the wall of the cave. The dust from the roof falls had completely settled now, so that they were not choking from it. But with a total blockage at each end of the passageway no air was able to get in or out. The Brigadier looked up and down the passageway, and tried to make a mental calculation as to the number of cubic feet of air they had to breathe, and then to equate that figure with the number of men. If they were lucky, they had another three or four hours but no more. Sergeant Hawkins came over to the Brigadier and slumped down beside him.

‘What about getting the lads to try to shift the rocks again?’ said Hawkins.

The Brigadier shook his head. They had already tried that, and found the rocks impossibly heavy to move. ‘The less the physical activity,’ said the Brigadier, ‘the longer our oxygen is going to last. Try the telephone again.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Sergeant Hawkins scrambled over to the field telephone, and cranked the handle. He listened. The line was dead. ‘The lead must have been cut by the rock fall,’ he told the Brigadier. ‘There isn’t a sound.’

The Brigadier stood up. ‘Remain seated, everyone,’ he said. ‘It’s a soldier’s job to
do
things, not to sit on his backside. But the situation is rather against us. If we try heaving at those rocks we shall run out of oxygen in no time. The telephone’s been cut. But if we remain here, quietly, not even talking, we can last out a very long time.’ He knew this was a lie, but he had to give his soldiers some hope. ‘Eventually, our non-return is going to be noted by the people at the research centre. There’s a man from the Ministry of Defence there at the moment. He’s bound to take action. Other troops will be sent in to dig us out. Understood?’

There was a murmur of understanding from the soldiers. The Brigadier sat down again. Then he noticed the scratching sound coming from one end of their walled-in section of passageway. He flashed his torch in the direction of the sound. Private Robins was crouched against the cave wall apparently scratching a stone against the wall. The Brigadier quietly signalled to Hawkins to follow, then went down the passageway towards Robins. ‘Something up, Robins?’ he said.

Robins did not reply. The Brigadier came up behind Robins and flashed his torch on to the wall where Robins was scratching with the stone. Etched into the wall of the cave were crude drawings of animals and what might be men. Hawkins had come up behind the Brigadier. ‘Robins,’ said Hawkins, ‘pull yourself together, lad!’ Robins took no notice and continued with his crude wall drawings.

‘Leave him alone,’ said the Brigadier.

There was a sudden rumble at the other end of the area in which they were trapped. ‘Sir,’ said Hawkins, ‘down there – more of the roof falling in!’

The Brigadier and Sergeant Hawkins swung their powerful torches in the direction of the increasing sound. ‘I don’t believe it,’ said Hawkins. ‘I don’t believe it!’

As they watched the great mass of rocks and boulders that blocked their escape rose up from the floor of the cave, all neatly going back exactly into position to reform the cave roof.

‘I quite agree with you,’ said the Brigadier. ‘I don’t believe it either, but let’s get out of here while we’ve got the chance.’

‘What about Robins, sir?’

‘Two of you men,’ called the Brigadier, ‘come and give Robins a hand.’

Two soldiers sprang forward and helped Robins to his feet.

‘Now then, men,’ shouted the Brigadier, ‘back down the passageway to base. And sharp about it!’

Grinning, all the men scrambled to their feet and started moving off down the passageway.

Okdel’s third eye stopped pulsating. He turned to the Doctor. ‘The apes in the cave have been released.’

‘Thank you,’ said the Doctor. ‘Are any of them hurt?’

‘No,’ said Okdel. ‘They are all unharmed.’

‘Good. Now you must allow me to return, and I shall tell the humans what you have done.’

Morka entered and stood himself directly in front of Okdel. ‘Why have you released the humans?’

Okdel said, ‘I have decided it is possible for the two species to live together on this planet.’

‘This planet is ours!’ Morka stormed.

‘Not exclusively,’ said the Doctor.

‘We are the masters of our planet by birthright,’ said Morka. ‘All other species are inferior.’

‘This other species,’ said Okdel, ‘has developed its own civilisation. We must accept them, and hope that they will accept us.’

‘They are savages,’ said Morka. ‘See this wound in my leg? This is the work of these animals.’

‘That was a mistake,’ said Okdel. ‘These are intelligent beings. We can reason with them.’

‘If they are so intelligent,’ Morka said, ‘they can serve us as slaves. Either they accept that, or we destroy them!’

‘I shall decide what is to become of the humans,’ said Okdel. ‘Not you. Now leave me.’

For a moment Morka’s third eye glowed in uncontrollable rage, and the Doctor felt a twinge of pain across his own forehead. Then Morka turned and left the inner room.

As Morka left the inner room, his thin body quivered with rage. In the far corner the scientist K’to was completing the de-hibernation of yet another reptile man. Morka crossed over to K’to.

‘Okdel speaks of sharing our planet with apes,’ he said.

‘And your opinion?’ asked K’to carefully.

‘We should kill them all.’

K’to said, ‘Since our time they have mutated and developed far beyond anything we ever expected. That is obvious from the two specimens we have caught.’

‘They are still mammals,’ said Morka, ‘the lowest form of life!’

‘Okdel is the leader of this shelter,’ said K’to. ‘Perhaps when the other shelters have been found and re-activated, there will be different ideas among the other leaders.’