Doctor Who: The Green Death Read Online Free PDF Page B

saw or heard Hinks as he quietly slipped into the lift machinery by way of its outer door. Hinks was no engineer, but the lift machinery was simple enough for him to understand. In a couple of seconds he was able to sabotage the machinery and make his getaway.
    The man put down the phone. ‘We’ve got to get him out—quickly!’ He noticed Jo standing by the door. ‘I told you, girl, go away!’
    ‘If someone’s hurt,’ she said, ‘I could be useful. I’m trained in first aid.’
    ‘Women don’t go down the pit,’ said the second man.
    ‘Those poor little pit ponies you used to have years ago down in the mines,’ said Jo, ‘did they all have to be males?’
    ‘There’s a daft question for you,’ said the second man.
    ‘If female ponies can go down a mine,’ said Jo, ‘so can female humans. Especially if they can be useful. I’m Jo Grant. Who are you two?’
    ‘Dave Griffiths,’ said the first man.
    ‘Bert Williams,’ said the second.
    ‘Which of you is coming with me?’ asked Jo.
    ‘There’s cheek for you!’ said Bert Williams. ‘Who said you were going?’
    ‘Could either of you put a splint on a broken leg?’ asked Jo. ‘Or know how to give the kiss of life?’
    Neither answered.
    ‘So you see,’ said Jo. ‘You need me. How do we get down there?’
    ‘I’ll take her with me,’ said Bert. ‘Perhaps she could be useful.’ He turned to Jo. ‘We must get a helmet to fit you, miss, although with a head as big as yours that might be difficult. Come along.’
    Bert led Jo across to one of the locker rooms, a long low building with rows of metal lockers where the miners used to leave their working clothes. There were helmets on the shelves, and Bert found one to fit Jo. On the front of the helmet was fastened an electric lamp. Thus equipped, they went back to the pit head office.
    ‘Has he phoned again?’ Bert asked.
    ‘Nothing,’ said Dave.
    ‘All right,’ said Bert, ‘get ready to operate the machinery.’
    Dave hurried into the room containing the lift machinery. Bert put on his helmet, and took Jo away from the office towards the lift. It was like a cage, large enough to carry twenty men at a time.
    ‘This isn’t like a lift you’ll find in a shop,’ said Bert. ‘We don’t go down slowly and gradually, with someone to tell you what you can buy on the different floors. Once we start moving, we drop like a ruddy stone, and you can see everything go by.’
    ‘I’m not frightened,’ Jo fibbed.
    ‘I was the first time,’ said Bert. ‘Fourteen years old I was, and scared out of my wits, but I tried not to show it.’
    The cage started to move.
    ‘Here we go,’ said Bert. ‘Hold tight.’
    Suddenly the floor of the cage dropped away from under Jo’s feet. She felt very sick.
    As the big wheels above the lift shaft began to spin, they were observed by the Brigadier and the Doctor. They had just arrived in the Brigadier’s jeep.
    ‘I thought this mine was closed,’ said the Doctor.
    ‘It is, or supposed to be.’ The Brigadier stopped the jeep and ran to the pit head machine room, the Doctor close behind. They found Dave Griffiths at the controls. ‘Who’s going down the mine?’ asked the Brigadier.
    ‘One of my mates and some girl or other,’ said Dave. ‘What’s it to you?’
    ‘A girl?’ said the Doctor. ‘Please stop the lift immediately.’
    ‘There’s a mate of mine hurt down there,’ said Dave. ‘In some kind of trouble.’
    ‘All the more reason to stop winding!’ shouted the Doctor. The look on his face was imploring, the tone of voice imperative.
    ‘Right you are,’ said Dave. He pulled on the brake. Nothing happened. He pulled harder. The wheels of the lift mechanism kept spinning. ‘I can’t stop it,’ he screamed, ‘it’s out of control. Clutch and brake both gone.’
    The Doctor noticed an old iron bar lying on the blackened floor. He picked it up and wedged it against the main drum of the machinery. ‘Now reverse the motor,’ he