Free Doctor Who: The Invasion by Ian Marter

scanned the skies. 'Nothing,'
    he snapped.
    Packer was astounded. 'Nothing at all, sir?'
    'They cannot hurt us, Packer,' Vaughn assured him in an almost unnatural voice. 'Just leave this to me...'
     
    Thanks to their memory of the layout of the complex seen from Vaughn's office window, Jamie and the Doctor managed to reach the railway sidings very quickly without being spotted. They shut themselves inside a freight wagon and flopped down between the containers to recover their breath. All around them sirens droned their eerie alert and they soon heard the tramping of boots outside as Packet's men searched the yard.
     
    'D'ye think this could be the train Zoe and Isobel were on?'
    Jamie whispered.
    The Doctor considered a moment. 'If it is then these crates should be empty, Jamie.'
    Jamie knelt up. 'Soon see,' he grunted, heaving at the lid of the nearest container. Slowly it swung open. He could just distinguish a bulky outline in a kind of plastic material surrounded by dense cobweb filaments, like a cocoon lying in the darkness. 'Och, these are full,' he said, disappointed.
    The Doctor crawled over and peered into the crate. His face went rigid and he bit his lip uncertainly. 'I wonder what it is...'
    Sudden voices outside silenced him. 'Search these wagons!'
    someone shouted and they heard the ominous sound of wagon doors opening.
    'Quick, Jamie, hide,' warned the Doctor, jamming himself into a tiny niche between the stacks of containers. Jamie searched around feverishly for somewhere for himself. All at once the handle of the door was wrenched back and the heavy door started to slide open. In sheer desperation Jamie clambered into the open container and pulled down the lid in the nick of time. There was just room for him squeezed betwen the lid and the strange object underneath. He lay motionless, scracely breathing while the guards searched the wagon.
    Suddenly he felt a slight movement beneath him and heard a faint brittle rustling, like dead leaves in a breeze. Instantly a clammy cold sweat broke out all over his body and tiny hot needles seemed to prick his neck and scalp. He fought to stifle a scream of terror and the urge to jump out of the crate. In the end he hardly knew whether it was his own quaking or something else that was really moving underneath him. The nightmare seemed eternal, but eventually he heard the wagon door slide shut and all was quiet again.
    The Doctor crept out and opened the lid.
    'Doctor..
    'Ssssh, Jamie, the guards are still outside.'
    Jamie climbed out, his teeth chattering with fright. 'That thing in there... it moved!' he whispered.
    The Doctor stared at the cocoon thing and shook his head.
    'Imagination. Jamie. Darkness plays strange tricks.'
     
    'But I felt it, Doctor.'
    The Doctor looked sceptical. 'Are you sure? Then we'd better take a look.'
    At that moment there was a commotion outside. 'Sangster and Graves, get those girls over to Administration pronto...' someone shouted.
    'The lassies!' Jamie hissed, forgetting the horror of the last few minutes and making for the door.
    The Doctor grabbed his sleeve. 'Wait. Jamie. Let things quieten down out there, then we'll go and find them.'
    Reluctantly Jamie obeyed, but his blood was up and his blue eyes sparkled with aggressive determination.
    As soon as the guards had gone, they emerged cautiously from the freight wagon and then sprinted hell-for-leather along the narrow alleyways between the huge factory buildings towards the Administration Block. The sirens had stopped wailing, but they had to dodge and dive for cover whenever patrols or personnel appeared.
    Eventually they rounded a corner of the generating plant and flattened themselves behind an empty skip to watch Packer supervising the opening of two containers which had just been deposited on the steps of the entrance to the Administration Building by a small forklift truck.
    Zoe and Isobel were hauled roughly out of the crates and bundled through the glass doors at the base of