Doctor Who_ Companion Piece - Mike Tucker [5]
Groaning and breathless, the Doctor rolled onto his back. The W ierdarbi commandant loomed over him, mandibles clacking.
`Almost, Doctor, almost:
A gleaming tentacle snaked from the augmented, insectoid torso, winding its way inside the Doctor's jacket. W ith a sharp click, it gripped something and withdrew. The W ierdarbi cocked its head and examined the small phial of liquid metal. `W ierdarbi gold is precious, little one. You were foolish to think that you would get away with it
The Doctor smiled weakly. 'W ell, you know what it's like when you're redecorating. You want to find that colour that's just right:
Razor sharp claws extended from the commandant's forearms. 'Let's see if the colour of Time Lord blood matches our furnishings.'
A piercing whistle echoed around the cargo bay. The Doctor craned his neck back to see Cat leaning precariously over the gantry, something black and bulky hanging from her outstretched arm.
`Special delivery from Cat and the Doctor: She let the object go.
The Doctor scrambled to one side as his pre-war Gladstone bag dropped twenty feet and smashed onto the deck-plates, bursting like a water-filled balloon. Dozens of small metal shapes scattered across the floor.
`W hat is this?' hissed the commandant.
`Oh, dear,' said the Doctor.
There was an explosion of movement as every one of the metallic objects sprouted a variety of legs, tentacles and protuberances and launched into a sudden attack on the startled W ierdarbi. The cyborgs barely had time to raise their weapons before the first of them collapsed onto the deck in an untidy heap of disassembled parts.
`Not possible!' The commandant swiped at the tiny robots that crawled over his exoskeleton. 'You will die for this, Time Lord!'
He raised a bladed forearm, then watched in disbelief as it dropped neatly away from his torso and crashed to the floor with a metallic clang.
`Sorry.' The Doctor shrugged apologetically. 'My assistant does seem to like to take things apart to see how they work.' Dancing between the W ierdarbi's flailing arms, the Doctor plucked the phial of liquid from between the pincers.
`No!' The commandant lashed out at him, but the Doctor was already scampering towards the police box shape of his TARDIS.
The W ierdarbi gave a bellow of rage and started after him. W arning lights were beginning to light up across his torso readouts. He crashed to the ground as three of his legs folded under him. The little robots were swarming over him now, precision lasers flaring and slicing. He could see the Doctor's companion sliding down the ladder, grinning broadly. Then Time Lord and girl vanished inside the tall blue box and, with an elephantine trumpeting, the box vanished from view.
The Doctor mopped at his forehead with a large paisley handkerchief and regarded the small glass phial in the palm of his hand. 'Refilling these fluid links really is going to be the death of me one day.'
`You should stock up, get a bumper pack. You know, "buy one, get one free", something like that.' Cat shrugged out of her donkey jacket and slumped back onto the chaise longue.
`Quite. The Doctor shot a disapproving look at his companion. 'W ould you like to explain to me what just happened out there, Miss Broome?'
Cat gave him a cheeky grin, and popped the lid off the biscuit tin that sat on the low occasional table.
`I saved your ass. Again:
`That's not quite what I meant: The Doctor slid the delicate glass phial into an ornate, brass-studded socket on the polished wooden surface of the console and leaned back against one of the perforated metal girders that arced over the control area. 'I meant, how does a twenty-eight year old woman manage to overpower a hive of W ierdarbi?'
`By using my considerable talents, and by listening to you for once: Cat popped a whole biscuit into her