Doctor Who_ Combat Rock - Mick Lewis [66]
‘I – I didn’t mean that. I just – ‘
‘You’re a Papul! And don’t you ever forget it:
‘My word! You seem to be rather more perky now, don’t you?’
Kepennis looked round, his anger choking him. The Doctor had approached them without the two guides even being aware of it. He was clasping his hands together and looking at Kepennis shrewdly, like he could see right through him. Kepennis nodded curtly and pulled on his cigarette.
‘Wonderful! Because we’re going to need your help to get us out of here.’
‘What do you mean?’ Kepennis asked suspiciously.
The Doctor beamed expansively with one of his winning, childlike smiles. ‘Well, you are the guides, aren’t you? I should think we’d have a very difficult time escaping on our own. Where would we go? Yes, I’m afraid we’re rather counting on you to show us the way home.’
‘Escape?’ Wemus whispered, ever conscious of the fact that OPG guerrillas were all around them.
‘I need a drink,’ said Kepennis bleakly.
‘Yes, well, as soon as Jamie returns, we will need your help,’ the Doctor continued. Then he turned away, tapping his hands against each other playfully and looking innocently up into the dawn sky. ‘That is, of course, unless you’re too afraid to risk helping us.’
Kepennis’s indignant reply was lost under the loud, splintering impact of something very large crashing through trees on the other side of the clearing.
There was a hubbub of excited chatter from the guerrillas.
Wemus and Kepennis followed the Doctor to the edge of the clearing to discover the origin of the noise.
They hadn’t heard the faint buzz of dying engines over the hullabaloo of the jungle’s dawn orchestra. But there was the familiar dented Indoni cruiser, surfing the treetops which were snapping and shearing away under the uneven contact, and now the craft was nosing drunkenly down into the clearing.
Tigus shouted something and the guerrillas dived for cover. The Doctor rushed for the shelter, where Wina and Santi were still arguing, and told them to huddle into balls.
The impact came a moment later. A series of thumps and the ugly sound of metal buckling, then a skidding slide and a final wrenching thud as the craft hit something solid.
They waited for the explosion.
Nobody moved. Wemus was curled up under a fat bole, his nose pressed up unpleasantly against Kepennis’s feet.
There were a few muffled cries from the guerrillas, but still no explosion. Wemus raised his head.
The white man in the skirt was staggering through the stand of trees away from the craft, which was nestled against a big stump like a broken shiny animal. Behind him, a few guerrillas fell out of the port, some limping, others looking merely dazed.
Jamie saw Wemus and wobbled towards him uncertainly.
Tigus rose to block his way, just as the Doctor emerged from the shelter.
‘Jamie!’ He rushed forward to clasp the highlander’s hands delightedly. They shook hands speechlessly for a moment, two dear friends reunited and thankful for it. Then the Doctor’s face assumed an anxious expression.
‘Jamie... did you find Victoria?’
Jamie shook his head. ‘She was there all right. But the soldiers have taken her into the jungle. Maybe they’re lookin’
fer us.’
Tigus had no time for any of this. He was waiting impatiently for Jamie’s fellow passengers to arrive. He lunged forward to clutch the first man into the campsite, and harangued the man in Papul. He didn’t look too pleased by the tired response he got. Meanwhile, the Doctor was doing his own, albeit more gentle interrogation, as he led Jamie towards the fire prepared earlier by the guerrillas. He poured the highlander some soup from the battered cooking pot and asked him about the expedition.
‘The pilot got shot,’ Jamie explained, shaking his head with disbelief, ‘so this other idjit flew us here. He couldnae fly to save his life. We’re all lucky to be in one piece.’
The highlander related the rest of the story of the attack on the army barracks at Wameen, the Doctor listening gravely.
When he had finished, the Doctor rose, turning his back on Jamie thoughtfully, both