The Ice Warriors by Brian Hayles Read Free Book Online Page B

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