Doctor Who_ Bunker Soldiers - Martin Day [90]
Then the beast sprang through the air, barbs extending from its face.
Without thinking, Nahum ran to Dmitri’s aid. The creature landed athletically, its clawed fists raised – but made no further forward movement. Nahum was effectively between the creature and the former governor.
‘The leader must be terminated,’ said the creature in a quiet singsong voice. ‘The bunker is already compromised. Most of the unclean have been destroyed. When the leader is terminated, the mission is over.’
I went to stand by Nahum, further blocking Dmitri from view. ‘Why don’t you attack?’ I asked.
The skull-face bobbed from side to side, taking us both in.
‘The pure must not be damaged,’ it said simply, as if this explained everything.
‘Fascinating,’ said the Doctor. ‘This is beginning to make sense.’ He took another step towards the monster, even going so far as to extend a hand towards its barbed face.
‘Doctor!’ I warned.
‘It’s quite all right, my boy,’ said the Doctor. He ran a hand down the beast’s face, as if stroking a pet. ‘It only wants to attack Dmitri. The rest of us are safe.’
‘But why?’
‘Oh, my boy, please do use that fine mind of yours! What do we all have in common? Or, rather, in what vital way are all of us different from Dmitri?’
I paused, thinking. ‘Well, Dodo and you and I don’t belong here. Perhaps it’s as simple as that.’
‘And what of Isaac and Nahum, hmm? What of them?’
I shook my head.
The Doctor refused to elaborate, but instead turned on his heel. ‘Steven, my boy, come with me.’
‘But what about Dmitri?’
‘Oh, one of the others can stand there. They will be quite safe. Now, come along, come along.’
The Doctor was right: Dodo, Lesia, Nahum and Isaac stood in a small semicircle in front of the governor, and the creature was thus rendered motionless. Its claws twitched, as if reflecting its desire to attack, but otherwise it didn’t move. I followed the Doctor back into the crypt. He crouched by the casket, and ran his hands over its smooth metal sides. ‘I have seen something similar to this before. Yes. And somewhere there should be...’
He let out a gasp of delight, and removed a small panel from the side of the ‘coffin’. It came away, resting in his hands like a computer pad. I could see a small recessed screen, and an array of nodules that I assumed were controls, and, at the base, a series of tiny holes.
‘What’s that?’
‘The controlling device.’ The Doctor pointed to the indentations, and I saw that they matched a random sequence of tiny metal needles in the casket. ‘I think we can use this. I must get it back to the TARDIS.’
‘The TARDIS!’ I exclaimed ‘But it will still be guarded.’
The Doctor paused solemnly. ‘Any Russian soldier who still lives will have concerns other than our access to the ship.’
We left the others behind, still locked in their motionless impasse and facing the beast. Again, I tried as best I could to follow my instincts and my memories of the tunnels. We had discussed heading back towards the great stairs that had so terrified me, but I reminded the Doctor that Yevhen had locked the door at the top some time ago. And, in any case, we wanted to go back to the governor’s residence, to find the TARDIS.
It was then the Doctor’s turn to remind me that Yevhen had also ordered that door to be locked. ‘But the creature has come down here,’ he added. ‘Perhaps the it has been opened again.’
It seemed at the time a vague and forlorn hope, but I said nothing, and was pleasantly surprised when we found our way back to the entrance. The door was, indeed, open – and the reason became obvious as we stepped through it. Two Russian soldiers, doubtless attacked by the beast, lay in an awful pile on the floor, their faces in ribbons.
As I entered the room I felt the small metal panel become warm in my hands. The Doctor had entrusted it to me, and I turned to speak to him, slightly alarmed.