Free The Ice Warriors by Brian Hayles

It made a funny, quiet sort of noise – and nobody knew you were going to come to life, but you just did!’ She paused, breathless and afraid.
    But it was enough for the Ice Warrior to understand. His great clamp-like fist pointed towards his armoured chest. ‘A power source,’ he hissed wonderingly. ‘High resistance… great heat… and then – life!’ He swung round to face Victoria, and pointed the device at her terrified face.
    ‘This room we came from,’ he whispered harshly, ‘I wish to return to it – now!’
    Victoria’s face brightened. ‘I’ll tell you how to get there!’ The Ice Warrior wasn’t taken in by her sudden co-operation.
    ‘You will take me there,’ he commanded, gripping her arm. ‘You will help me find the power unit. With that my men, too, can be brought back from the dead…’
    Desperately, Victoria searched her mind for excuses, all the while aware of the numbing pressure on her wrist, and the delicate menace of the device on Varga’s arm.
    ‘But we’ll have to go along the corridor,’ she pointed out quickly. ‘And supposing someone sees you holding me prisoner?’
    ‘Then I shall be forced to kill them,’ hissed the Martian warlord calmly. ‘And you also, if you attempt to call for help.’ He held the device between Victoria’s frightened eyes. She swallowed hard, but spoke bravely.
    ‘What is it?’ she asked fearfully.
    ‘It is a sonic destructor. To put it simply, it will disintegrate your brain with sound waves.’
    She looked at the Martian, eyes wide.
    ‘All right,’ she said, trying to hide the fear in her voice. ‘Are you ready now?’
    Varga silently gestured for her to lead the way. Victoria slowly opened the door, praying desperately that they would meet nobody on their way to the medicare centre. She paused for a moment, surveying the corridor outside. It was deserted. Varga shuffled close behind her, urging her onward. Blindly, she obeyed. The alternative was too horrible to think about…
    Penley had approached the same corridor from the terrace. Huddled in a shadowy corner, he was contemplating his next move. The corridor was unusually quiet – without even the normal security guard. What could it all mean? Was something really wrong – or was it some sort of trap? He listened intently. In the far distance, he could hear the high pitch of machinery which had once been so familiar to him. The Ioniser was still functioning then – though not for much longer, he thought grimly. But all that was Clent’s problem now. The immediate goal was to get into the medicare centre and select the drugs needed to save Storr’s life.
    Suddenly, he froze. His ears had caught a sound – subtly different, puzzling – coming along the corridor towards him: slow, ponderous, shuffling – and accompanied by a lighter, more timid step. He looked cautiously out from the shadows that concealed him – and his eyebrows shot up in amazement.
    Advancing cautiously towards the doorway of the medicare centre was a girl – but it was her companion that had shocked Penley. He had seen nothing like it on Earth! Immense – eight feet tall at least – it looked almost prehistoric. A glint of light suddenly caught its helmet and clumsy mechanical hands. Penley barely managed to stifle a gasp. His mind raced, throwing up a flood of questions. What was it? What was such a creature doing inside the Base? Who on earth was the girl?
    Then, Penley saw the tight look of terror on the girl’s young face – barely more than a child, he realised, as she moved closer. Her slender wrist was gripped by the monster who was hulking beside her. They stopped outside the medicare doorway.
    Then, as the reptilian giant biped thrust the doors open with one blow of his massive arm, the girl looked about her desperately, before being dragged inside. Her eyes widened as she saw Penley. His first reaction was to rush forward to help – but something in her face stopped the movement almost before