Chapter Severn
In the centre of the chamber was a massive round hatch. "But if they are under there" Doctor Oleg gasped "Then, they can't possibly be human"
The Doctor "They are in and around the water that is cooling the fuel rods. Where the Radiation is strongest. If you want to find out what they are you need to open that hatch."
Doctor Oleg paused for a minute then turning on the walkie-talkie commanded "open the hatch"
There was a brief silence, then the sound of the technician could be heard out loud. "Beg pardon Doctor Oleg, but could you repeat your instructions?"
Doctor Oleg paused again then said slowly and calmly "Open the hatch"
"But that's impossible" came the voice again "The hatch is the only safety you have from the fuel rods, if you open it, you will be incinerated"
"We have reason to believe" Continued Doctor Oleg "That whatever living organism there is here in the reactor is living in the very water that cools the fuel rods, to conduct a thorough examination we need to open the hatch. But use the manual override so that the fuel rods aren't engaged and remain submerged in the water"
There was another pause longer than the first the finally the voice said "Hatch opening commencing in no less than twenty seconds"
"Come" hissed The Doctor and taking Doctor Oleg's hand they moved away from the hatch, the voice continued to count down "Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Clamps released." There was a loud clunk and the central locks disengaged and slowly the massive hatch began to open.
It took only about forty seconds for the hatch to completely open. Once it had The Doctor and Doctor Oleg walked slowly forward until they were standing on the brim looking down. Into the inky blackness below.
Just then The Doctor grabbed Doctor Oleg round the raised and pulled her away from the edge. What they saw made Oleg's eyes widen in horror and she would have screamed if The Doctor hadn't put his hand firmly over her. Hanging over the steel rim, an arm could be seen, but it certainly wasn't human, the skin was slimy and looked grotesque with a slightly greenish tinge and there were three fingers each with a long pointed claw on the end. For a brief moment it was out as if grabbing for something then it slowly retracted down back into the inky abyss.
The Doctor was the first to recover he grabbed Doctor Oleg's hand and they ran to the lift. Once inside he used his sonic screwdriver to get it going. In less than five minutes they were rocketing back up to the control deck.
"What…" Began Doctor Oleg
"Gordavians" The Doctor explained "They are alien, hostile and from the planet Asalore. I fear that this is a very dangerous situation! I need to get hold of Captain Alexi and sort things out."
"Gordavians" Captain Alexi asked The Doctor "And what are they?" They were in the gentlemen's changing room; The Doctor had taken off the boiler suit and was now buttoning his waistcoat.
"Gordavians, Captain are a savage reptilian race from the planet Asalore. A barren planet where the sun is in constant supernova, bombarding the planet with pieces of radioactive material, I don't know what Gordavians are doing her, Aslaore is over 53 million light-years away from earth, but that explains what they are doing literally hugging the fuel rods. A massive dose of plutonium would be identical to their habitat on Aslaore. The question is what do they want and how are we going to stop them. One thing about Gordavians is that their plans are never peaceful."
The Doctor stood up and turned away from Captain Alexi, he heard a click and knew that there was a gun aimed at the back of his head, Slowly he turned back with his arms "What do you want me to do?" he asked
"You are going to get rid of these things" Alexi said sternly, The Doctor nodded and Alexi lowered his weapon, The Doctor sighed and removed his jacket,
"First thing I have to do if to get back down to the reactor and see what they want. But only I will go, I want to avoid any bloodshed"
Captain Alexi nodded, once again in the boiler suit The Doctor made his way to the door, Alexi said after "be warned Doctor, any signs of either treason, or sabotage and you'll be locked in the chamber and we'll turn the reactor up to full power." The Doctor nodded but wandered how he was going to pull this off.
