Doctor Who: The Invasion Read Online Free PDF Page A

Jamie's astonishment the Jaguar hurtled straight towards it, shot up the gentle slope and slithered to a stop centimetres from the inside bulkhead. Even before they had time to clamber out of the car the ramp had started to close behind them like a gigantic mouth.
    An armed soldier with special shoulder flashes opened an oval door in the bulkhead and Jamie and the Doctor were ushered through into a long, dimly lit Operations Room. Along each side, rows of uniformed personnel sat at radar screens, computer terminals and communications units, totally absorbed in their various duties. Down the middle of the room, several officers sat at small desks on either side of an enormous Situation Map mounted on a perspex frame running down the centre. All personnel wore khaki berets and on their battledress pullovers a circular white badge indentifying them as UNIT 2 Personnel.
    At the far end of the Operations Room, a tall officer with Brigadier's insignia rose from his sizeable command desk and strode to greet them. 'Nice to see you again, Doctor!' he boomed, his strong square-jawed face and neatly clipped moustache suggesting calm and confident authority.
    The Doctor's eyes lit up with delighted relief. 'Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart!' he cried, scuttling forward to shake hands warmly. 'What a lovely surprise.'
    Lethbridge-Stewart smiled modestly. 'Well, Brigadier actually, Doctor. I've gone up in the world since we last met.'
    Jamie thumped the Brigadier heartily on the shoulder. 'Aye, the Yeti!' he exclaimed in recognition.
    The Brigadier nodded politely. 'McCrimmon isn't it? Yes, we met in the Underground. Must be four years ago now, all that Yeti business.'
    'Och, it seems like a couple of weeks.'
     
    'Jamie, time is relative...' the Doctor reminded the lad.
    'Are you still rushing around the Universe making nonsense of it in your machine... your TARDIS?' inquired the Brigadier heartily.
    'Still travelling, Col... Brigadier,' smiled the Doctor modestly.
    'But what's all this?' he demanded, spreading his arms. 'I'm beginning to feel like Jonah inside the whale.'
    'Ought to explain,' Lethbridge-Stewart boomed breezily, motioning to his guests to sit down at his desk. He had a brief word with Benton and Tracey and they immediately departed. Then he ordered a Sergeant to bring some tea. 'Sorry about all the cloak and dagger routine,' he went on brightly, 'but sometimes my chaps are a bit melodramatic. Fact is that since all that Yeti caper I've been in charge of a new independent security force. Call ourselves UNIT or United Nations Intelligence Taskforce.'
    'A world police force?' mused the Doctor.
    The Brigadier laughed. 'Not quite, Doctor. We don't actually arrest people.'
    'You arrested us right enough,' Jamie retorted indignantly.
    'Not quite, McCrimmon. We've got International Electromatix under constant surveillance and we're keeping tabs on everyone going in and out. Your pictures were transmitted here and I recognised you.'
    'Most efficient,' the Doctor congratulated him.
    The Brigadier turned to him confidentially. 'Fact is, Doctor, you two were lucky. A lot of people have gone in there but they haven't come out again.'
    The Doctor's eyes widened with fascination. He rubbed his nose attentively and sniffed suspiciously. 'Curiouser and curiouser,'
    he muttered.
     
    Zoe and Isobel stood in the empty foyer of the International Electromatix Building frowning warily at the silent computer terminals.
    'Golly, it's creepy,' Isobel murmured with a shiver. 'I suppose everyone's gone early as it's Friday and Monday's a Bank Holiday.'
    Zoe sat down at a terminal that had suddenly lit up as she approached it.
     
    'It's probably the same idiot machine that answers when you ring up,' Isobel warned her.
    'International Electromatix. State your business.'
    Zoe spoke loudly and clearly at the blank screen. 'Inquiry reference two persons seeking information regarding Professor Watkins.'
    'One moment...' blurted the artificial voice.
    The two