Doctor Who_ Beyond the Sun - Matthew Jones [98]
‘Down,’ one of their captors said, its face contorting slightly as it spoke as if struggling to articulate a language not its own. Benny glimpsed its sharp teeth as it spoke and decided to obey.
She walked to the edge of the hole, which was rough and broken. There was nothing to give an indication of its depth.
Emile and Tameka were looking on in horror. Probably mirroring the expression on her own face. One of the Sunless prodded Michael towards the pit, but he resisted. It slipped its arm around his neck and for a moment Bernice thought it was going to kill him. Instead, it abruptly kicked his legs out from underneath him and he hit the edge of the hole before plummeting down, howling in fear and pain. Almost immediately they heard him hit the bottom and curse.
Somewhat reassured, Bernice lowered herself gingerly over the edge, her feet dangling in blackness for a moment, and then she dropped into nothing.
Her feet hit the ground and skidded on something metal. She ended up sprawled on her backside with a sore ankle. She heard rather than saw Emile and Tameka lower themselves down after her.Bernice heard them call her name and she reached for their hands in the darkness. She was aware that Michael was somewhere around them.
He’d have to hold his own hand.
‘Wait,’ a harsh voice commanded from up above them.
There was a long pause. After a few minutes, Bernice thought that she could hear singing or chanting in the distance. Young voices, she decided. She was probably beginning to hallucinate.
‘Well this is real nice, Bernice,’ Tameka said eventually. Her defiant voice brought Bernice’s mind back into focus. Tameka’s tone was assertive and confident, but still sounded shaky. ‘Well, Professor, you want to speculate on the purpose of this construction?’
‘At least they want us alive,’ Bernice replied. ‘We’d be dead if they didn’t.’
She heard something move around her. Metal sounded against metal dully. Bernice grabbed hold of their hands more tightly.
Please don’t let there be something else down here with us, she pleaded. An image entered her mind unbidden: the large ratlike creatures spilling over the lip of the hole, falling on them, around their feet, piling up around their legs.
Bernice called Michael’s name.
‘Yeah, it’s only me. There’s a cup and a bowl here. They’re empty. Cutlery too. Someone’s been down here before us.’
‘A prison!’ Emile said suddenly. ‘We’re in a prison, like solitary confinement or something.’
‘Let me see.’ She groped the darkness until she touched the cold metal of the cup and bowl.
Her hand brushed Michael’s. It was warm in the cold. Without consciously having decided to, she asked him if he was OK. He only grunted something in reply.
The items were small. Child-size. Suddenly Bernice could hear the chanting voices clearly. They had been in the background most of the time they had been in the pit, only she hadn’t been aware of them. ‘It’s not a prison,’ she said, suddenly realizing exactly where they were. The pits were clearly the Sunless’s idea of detention. ‘It’s a school,’ she said.
Tameka listened as Bernice clambered on to Michael’s shoulders and scrabbled for the top of the hole. ‘No good, can’t reach,’ Bernice muttered, her voice straining with the effort. Tameka heard her jump back down.
‘We could try it with three,’ Michael suggested.
‘I’ve always wanted to join the circus,’ Tameka said.
‘Me too!’ Emile piped up, entirely missing her sarcastic tone.
Their first few attempts were disastrous. Tameka could easily stand on Michael’s shoulders but Bernice kept toppling the tower when she tried to climb up over them. Finally, with Michael crouching on the floor, Tameka sitting on his shoulders, Bernice was able to clamber up. Tameka felt Michael’s body quivering beneath her as he straightened his legs.
‘Got it!’ Tameka heard Bernice grunt. Bernice’s weight disappeared from her shoulders. Tameka dropped down on to the floor, eager not to stay in physical contact with the big man. They heard nothing from Bernice for a couple of minutes. Tameka was beginning to