'Sail for when she's travelling on the surface.' He lowered it again.
'And how does she move underwater?' asked the Doctor.
'That's the one snag,' admitted Fulton. 'There's a propeller operated by an inside hand-crank, but that's hellish slow to be honest; she just creeps along. I tried to rig up an engine using steam power, but that's pretty tricky underwater.'
'Can't the Countess help?'
'She has at least, she's tried. She's come up with some kind of newfangled propulsion unit, something totally revolutionary. But it's so advanced I can't work out how to install it. To be honest, I'm getting worried.'
'How about armaments?'
'Latest thing,' said Fulton proudly. 'Torpedoes, air propelled. Travel two hundred yards underwater. My own invention.' He pointed to a row of slender cylinders. 'There's a rack of them over there.'
'Very impressive, Mr Fulton,' said the Doctor. 'Very impressive indeed.'
'Thanks a lot,' said Fulton. 'Of course, it all depends on how she performs on the sea-trials,' he went on. 'Out at sea things are very different from inside a nice safe and dry workshop.'
'This new system the Countess has come up with,' said the Doctor casually. 'What's its operating principle?'
'Beyond me,' said Fulton frankly. 'She mentioned atomics, whatever that means...'
'Fascinating,' said the Doctor. 'I know a little about atomics myself and...'
The door swung open and an elegant figure appeared. It was the Countess.
'Not giving away our secrets, I hope, Mr Fulton?' There was a distinct edge to her voice. 'Forgive the interruption but I bear an urgent message. The Emperor wishes to see you now!'
'Then I guess I'd better go now!' said Fulton. 'He doesn't care to be kept waiting.' He turned to his guests. 'You'll have to excuse me.'
'Don't worry, Mr Fulton, I'll take care of our guests,' said the Countess.
Fulton set off at a run and the Countess glided gracefully towards them.
'Doctor, Lady Serena! How nice to see you.'
'And how unexpected?' suggested the Doctor.
'I'm sorry?'
'After the little surprise you arranged for us, in the woods last night. How did you manage that, by the way?'
'That's the least of your worries, Doctor,' said the Countess dismissively.
'On the contrary, I fear it may be one of the greatest.'
'Your night visitor doesn't seem to have given you too much trouble.'
'Traditional methods,' murmured the Doctor. 'Always best with vampires. They're very conventional creatures.'
'We must try to find you something more formidable.'
'I gather Mr Fulton's invitation was really your idea,' said Serena. 'Why did you want us here?'
Ignoring her, the Countess spoke to the Doctor.
'I thought you might like to see what you are up against and to hear what we intend to do with the Nautilus Nautilus.'
'It's a very impressive piece of work, for its time. Mr Fulton deserves great credit. But his ideas are in advance of the available technology. It's not really a very formidable weapon, compared to a British ship of the line. Of course, with an atomic drive...'
'Precisely. The engines of the Nautilus Nautilus, and its armaments, are going to be augmented. It will intercept the British fleet on its way to meet Admiral Villeneuve, and blow the Victory Victory out of the water, killing Nelson before the battle. It will go on to sink as many British ships as it can, before mysteriously blowing up destroying more British ships in the process.' out of the water, killing Nelson before the battle. It will go on to sink as many British ships as it can, before mysteriously blowing up destroying more British ships in the process.'
'Is Mr Fulton aware of this?'
'Of course not. I'm afraid he'll never see his prize money.
But since he'll be steering the submersible when it blows up, he won't really miss it, will he?'
'Suppose we tell him?' said Serena.
'I'm afraid you won't get the opportunity. And in any case, he wouldn't believe you. I warned him that you were a jealous rival, Doctor, and that you'd try to discredit me in his eyes.
So, you see what will happen? Villeneuve will be victorious at Trafalgar, and the Channel will be undefended for the crossing of Napoleon's invading army. Napoleon will conquer England, and, in due course, the world.'
'And that's what you want?'
The Countess's blue eyes gleamed fiercely. 'Oh yes, Doctor, that's what I want.'
'Have you no conscience at all?' demanded the Doctor fiercely. 'An atomic drive, in this century! Suppose one of Napoleon's brighter scientists gets hold of it, works out the principles? It's a short step from that to Napoleon with an atomic bomb. And he's quite capable of using it!'
'It won't happen, Doctor. The drive will self-destruct when it has served its purpose. The mechanism is already built in.'
'Think of everything, don't you?'
'I try, Doctor.'
'Why are you doing all this?'
'You wouldn't understand.'
The Doctor sighed. 'No, perhaps I wouldn't. Then let me repeat Serena's question. Why are we here?'
'Your interference can no longer be tolerated, Doctor. You are here to die.'
The Countess turned and walked swiftly through the open door, slamming it closed behind her. They heard her commanding voice. 'Sentries! The man and the woman in there are spies. I am going for help. Do not let them leave.'
'Let's get away from here,' said Serena.
The Doctor saw a strange shimmering in the air. A shape was beginning to form between them and the door.
'No,' he shouted. 'No time. Get under cover.'
Grabbing Serena's arm he pulled her into the shelter of a pile of crates, pushing her down and crouching beside her.
'Don't raise your voice above a whisper and above all don't move.'
The shimmering patch solidified and became a human-shaped silvery metal figure. Its body and limbs were smooth and featureless and its head was round and perfectly blank like a silver egg. It swung gently to and fro as if scanning the area around it.
'What is it?' whispered Serena.
'It's a Raston Warrior Robot,' the Doctor whispered. 'The most efficient killing machine in the cosmos.'
Chapter Nineteen.
The Killing Machine
Serena peered at the silvery apparition from behind her crate.
She had seen robots before and wasn't particularly impressed.
'It doesn't look all that dangerous to me, Doctor. It's not very big, and it isn't even armed. Why don't we just throw a barrel or a crate at it and knock it over?'
But she had spoken too loudly. The robot swung around, 'pointing' like a hunting dog, focusing on the spot where she was hiding. Serena was uncomfortably cramped, crouching down, and she shifted her position. Her gown rustled, only a little but it was enough.
The robot's arm flashed out and a silver javelin thudded into the crate beside her. Serena would have screamed had not the Doctor clapped his hand over her mouth.
He put his lips close to her ear and breathed, 'Don't move or you're dead.'
Absurdly, Serena noticed that there was still a faint whiff of garlic about him.
'Don't talk unless you must,' the Doctor continued softly, 'and then only in a whisper. It reacts to sound, and, above all to movement and what it finds it kills!'
He took his hand away and Serena whispered, 'Where did that spear come from?'
'Its weapons are built in. It can extrude whatever it needs lance, sword, garrotte, anything.'
'But what's it doing here?'
'Somebody brought it here as a little surprise for us.'
'The Countess?'
'Or one of her associates.'
The robot had begun to patrol up and down the workshop.
'What's it doing now?'
'Checking out the terrain. Its primary function is to guard.'
'Guard what? Against whom?'
'Anything against anybody. It doesn't know or care. It'll kill anyone who turns up.'
'So what do we do? We can't stay here forever, I'm getting cramp.'
'I'm trying to think. Maybe we can distract it.'
The Doctor looked round and saw a pile of rusty iron bars on the ground nearby. Moving slowly and carefully, he picked one up.
'Move when this lands, try to get nearer the door.'
Choosing a moment when the robot had its back to them, he lobbed the bar into the far corner of the room.
It landed with a clang on the stone-flagged floor. Instantly the robot whirled and fired a javelin at the source of the sound. The Doctor and Serena dodged into better cover behind a stack of barrels near the entrance.
Suddenly the robot vanished, reappearing in the corner from which the sound had come. It scanned the area, found nothing and resumed its patrol.
'Right,' whispered the Doctor. 'One more time.'
'Will it fall for the same trick again?'
'I hope so. It's super-sensitive and very conscientious, but it's not all that bright.'
The Doctor threw another bar, into a different corner this time.
The robot reacted to the clang in exactly the same way, a swiftly fired javelin and a flashing move to inspect the corner.
Then it resumed its patrol.
The Doctor and Serena, meanwhile, had gained the shelter of a workbench close to the front door.