Doctor Who_ Bunker Soldiers - Martin Day [46]
‘Yevhen and Tams?’ I queried. ‘Or Bishop Vasil’s men?’
Olexander shrugged his shoulders, then pointed the way ahead with his outstretched, bony finger. ‘Look. There it is.’
I saw some sort of covered tomb ahead, a small room within the larger chamber. The small door in the wall facing us was open.
‘What now?’ I queried.
Whatever response Olexander would have made never came.
A mute fear gripped us both as something flickered in the doorway. It was a tall creature bent double by the frame. Then it stepped out before us, drawing itself up to its full height.
The beast turned its skull-like face in our direction, its eyes glowing like brands of fire. Its pale skin seemed somehow to be constantly moving and re-forming, never quite at rest. I noticed slender, almost skeletal limbs that terminated in stunted fingers and toes, each one tapering to a wicked talon. And, surrounding and filling its leech-like mouth, were row upon row of ivory-white barbs.
I don’t know how long we stood watching the creature, and it us. My mind was screaming in panic, but every muscle in my body was frozen. I barely blinked; I was aware of an awful taste at the back of my mouth, but I could not swallow.
Mocking my own inaction, Olexander coughed politely and then stepped forward, bowing as if greeting a dignitary from a foreign land. ‘We know of you only as the dark angel,’ he said. ‘I have been sent by the rulers of our city to plead for our lives. To talk to you, to communicate, if I may. I come in peace.’
The creature moved its head a little to one side, as if turning the sounds over in its mind. Then the great maw opened, and a tiny facsimile of a generic human voice emerged, completely at odds with the beast’s awesome frame.
‘Peace?’ came the bland-sounding query. The creature turned its gaze from Olexander to me, and then back again. ‘I am... I am... an instrument of war!’
It took one elegant step forward, its fingers flexing.
‘The people of Kiev face a great threat,’ continued Olexander, seemingly unfazed. ‘There are those who believe you may save us. We ask only for your help.’
The creature came closer still, its eyes, like its skin, now flowing with colours and shades of light and dark. ‘This bunker must be compromised,’ it said, as if that explained everything.
‘We beg you –’ said Olexander.
They were his last words.
The creature leapt at him, its mouth gnawing at his neck and shoulder. Olexander screamed once as he fell and it held tight to him like a funeral shroud. There was just the slightest of pauses as they hit the ground, the creature’s head swinging from side to side. Then it raised one of its long arms and drew its claws across Olexander’s throat.
My body finally came to life. Sickened by what I had seen, and without even thinking, I turned to flee, my feet flapping furiously against the damp catacomb floor.
Before I even had time to consider where to run, or what to do, there was a rushing weight on my back that knocked me flying. My face clattered into the cold stone ground, sending a shower of sparking stars before my eyes.
I could taste blood in my mouth.
With flailing arms I tried to right myself, though my entire body screamed an immediate protest.
I looked up to see two eyes flaming in the shadows.
And I screamed in terror as that great mouth swept down on me.
X
Laqueus
Reloading archive 76-FG-92-SD...
Complete.
Resume archive 76-FG-92-SD...
Initial summary:
Command structure pathways to target BDR-997-XRF are being established. Ingress to the northern dome is confirmed as next priority.
The assassin approaches one of the dome’s smaller portals. It is wary of discovery, but knows that the success of its mission will depend on it hiding the caution it feels. As the mission proceeds, it will become even more important to maintain appearances.
Unclean soldiers stationed within the dome idly watch as the assassin rests a hand on the scanner. In tones laced with humour and resignation,