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.Once inside, Jamie looked around curiously.There was little to see, just row upon row of metal drawers occupying every wall from floor to ceiling.Jamie opened one at random, and gave a gasp of horror.The compartment was divided into six moulded segments and in each one lay a doll-like shape.But they were not dolls.They were living, breathing people, young humans, somehow miniaturised and made dormant.Hurriedly closing the drawer Jamie looked round the little room.Hundreds of drawers, and, for all he knew, hundreds of store rooms like this one.the sheer scale of it all was staggering.The door slid open behind him and a voice said, ‘I was afraid I’d missed one of you.’Ann Davidson was standing in the doorway, a ray gun in her hand.She stepped to one side.and two shapeless figures shambled into the room.The Commandant said, ‘Yes, I see.thank you.I’m very sorry.’ He put down the phone.‘Air Sea Rescue have just found the body of the RAF pilot.They think he’s been electrocuted.’‘Do you still think these Chameleons are from Earth?’asked the Doctor.The Commandant sighed.‘If only there was one solid bit of evidence, Doctor.’The Doctor looked up as Meadows came into the room and took over his usual station.‘I think it’s just come in!’He nodded towards Meadows.‘Do you mind if I question him? I think I know how to make him talk.’Followed by the astonished Commandant, the Doctor went over to Meadows and tapped him on the shoulder.As Meadows swung round the Doctor took out the two sheaths, one black, one white from his coat pockets.‘Do you know what these are?’‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,’ was the reply.‘Oh, I think you do,’ said the Doctor gently.His voice hardened: ‘Roll up your sleeve.’Meadows turned to the Commandant.‘Do I have to take orders from this man, sir?’The Commandant said, ‘I think you’d better explain, Doctor.This man works for me and –’‘Oh no, he doesn’t,’ interrupted the Doctor.‘You just think he’s working for you! The entire personnel are being systematically replaced.This isn’t Meadows, he just looks like Meadows.He’s wearing one of these things on his arm.’‘All right, Meadows,’ said the Commandant.‘We’d better settle this now.Roll your sleeve up.’Slowly Meadows began to obey – then stopped and made a dash for the door.As he passed her, Jean Rock threw a chair in his path and he crashed to the ground.‘Grab him!’ shouted the Commandant, and two astonished technicians lifted Meadows to his feet.‘Put him in that chair,’ ordered the Commandant.‘All right, Doctor, fire away!’The Doctor nodded to one of the technicians.‘Roll up his left sleeve, please,’ he said.The half-dazed Meadows offered no resistance as the technician obeyed, and revealed the black sheath on the prisoners forearm.The Doctor gripped Meadows’s wrist and studied the controls set into the sheath.‘Suppose I alter some of these."he asked.‘No, don’t touch it.’ screamed Meadows, wrenching his arm away.‘Eery well,’ said the Doctor quietly.‘Now, you are going to answer all my questions.In return, I promise that no harm will come to you.’Meadows nodded, utterly defeated.‘Good,’ said the Doctor.‘Now, where do your planes deliver your passengers?’‘To a space station, about a hundred and fifty miles above Earth.’‘And why are you abducting all these young people?’‘We had a huge atomic explosion on our planet.It affected the genetic coding of our race in some strange way.Our bodies tend to lose all individual identity, and the race is dying out.’‘But what use are our young people to you?’ asked the Commandant.Meadows explained that the bodies of humans and his race were in some way compatible.Chameleon scientists had devised a way of using strong young humans to transmit a kind of blueprint.By stealing their identities, the Chameleons were able to attain stability.‘How many of these young people do you plan to abduct?’ asked the Doctor sternly.‘Fifty thousand.’Even the Doctor was astonished.‘How big is this space station? Surely it would have to be immense?’Meadows shook his head.‘The passengers are miniaturised on the journey.‘The plan is to restore them to normal size on our home planet and make use of them there.’‘And how many of your people are now working at the Airport in human form?’‘I don’t know.’The Doctor reached out as if to touch the sheath and Meadows screamed, ‘I’m telling you the truth, I swear it.Only our senior people know.’The Doctor dropped his hand.‘What happens to the people whose identities are taken over, the originals?’‘They’re somewhere in the Airport, but I don’t know where exactly.’‘I’ll have the whole place searched,’ said the Commandant determinedly.‘We’ll find them –’‘No,’ shouted Meadows.‘You mustn’t –’ He became silent, as if realising he had given too much away, revealed some weakness.‘Any originals we find will have one of these on, won’t they?’ said the Doctor, brandishing a white sheath.‘And if we take it off, something terrible will happen to the linked Chameleon, is that it?’Meadows closed his eyes.‘Yes,’ he said wearily.‘What if you have to revert to your own form?’‘It can be done, but only with the use of the conversion machine.’‘The machine in the Medical Centre?’ said the Doctor.Meadows was talking quite freely now, all resistance gone.‘None of us know where our originals are, you see.Except the Nurse.She’s senior, and very cunning.She kept her original with her.’‘Of course,’ said the Doctor suddenly.‘I saw it myself!We’ve got to get down there right away!’Samantha Briggs lay strapped to the couch in the inner room of the medical centre, conscious but gagged.She watched helplessly as Nurse Pinto checked her bonds then went through to the outer room.In the outer room the Nurse opened a Red Cross cabinet on the wall, and pressed a concealed button, turning the back of the cabinet into a monitor screen.Spencer’s face appeared, and his voice came faintly from a hidden speaker: ‘What is it?’‘I still have the girl here.What am I to do with her?’‘Keep her.She may be useful as an original.’‘Surely we are bringing no more of our people to Earth –’ She broke off, closing the cabinet door, as the Doctor came into the room.The Nurse turned, her face impassive.‘Can I help you?’she asked.The Doctor spoke over his shoulder.‘Bring him in.’The Doctor stepped aside and two policemen brought Meadows into the room.‘I don’t understand,’ said the Nurse calmly.‘Is this man ill?’‘I think you two have something in common,’ said the Doctor.‘Will you roll up your sleeves, please?’‘Certainly not! What are you talking about?’‘Officer!’ said the Doctor.One of the policemen came forward and held Nurse Pinto’s wrist while the Doctor pushed back her sleeve revealing the black sheath.‘I’ve seen all I need to see,’ said the Doctor.He took the silver freezer-pen that was clipped to her tunic ‘I think I’ll have this though, if you don’t mind! Now, as I remember, your original’s in there [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]