The Fathom Trap (short story)

The Fathom Trap was a short story published in Doctor Who Annual 1974. It featured the Third Doctor, Jo Grant and the Brigadier.

Summary
A plane carrying General Byland to UNIT headquarters has been lost at sea. The Brigadier has been told to find the plane, the pilot and the general. He takes the Doctor and Jo with him on the support ship Explorer. The three of them then enter a submersible craft piloted by Jim Burton. At a depth of one thousand metres they spot the wing of the lost aircraft. The Doctor asks Jim to scan the sea bed and they spot a huge mound. Jim clears the sand and sludge off the top of the mound top reveal a large hatch which begins to open. The Doctor orders Jim to get them away as quickly as possible but the small craft is pulled into a shaft. When the four people come round they find themselves bound at ankle and wrist by thin strips. They seem to be in a metallic docking chamber. The Doctor tells them that he was the first to recover and has already met their captors: they are alien. At that moment a group of large serpents enter the chamber. Two of them wheel in canisters containing the bodies of the general and his pilot. Through telepathy, one of the serpents tells the Doctor that they are Kluss and their ship crashed on Earth. They rescued the two men but cannot repair them unless they have a model to work from. The Brigadier volunteers and is taken to a chamber while surgeons study him and then operate on the two men.

Jo watches the operation while the Doctor explains to the Kluss how they can extract magnesium and potassium from the sea so that they can power up their craft. The humans return to their submarine, the Kluss launch into space and the Doctor wishes them a safe journey.

Characters

 * Third Doctor
 * Jo Grant
 * Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
 * General Byland

Continuity
to be added