Doctor Who_ Corpse Marker - Chris Boucher [93]
‘Which is which?’
The Doctor pointed to the top switch. ‘Timer. Possibly.’
‘You do not know?’
The Doctor shook his head. ‘Not for certain. And it’s not something you can get wrong. Well, not more than once.’
The door to the outside crashed open and Tani rushed in, breathing hard. ‘They’re coming,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to get out of here.’
Leela strode out, putting the explosive packs into an equipment pouch as she went. The Doctor pocketed the pack he was holding. He didn’t like bombs but killer robots were difficult to reason with.
Outside, the normally bustling area was deserted and silent.
Toos and Poul were waiting, trying to catch their breath. ‘The others?’ the Doctor asked.
‘I think some of them got away,’ Tani said.
‘None that I saw,’ Toos gasped. ‘What I did see was robots beyond the boundary waiting to pick off anyone who did get out.’ ‘There was no way past them,’ Poul complained breathlessly.
‘They’re everywhere.’
‘Not everywhere.’ Toos said. ‘They can’t be everywhere.’
‘They seemed to be everywhere,’ Tani agreed.
‘It’s because they’re working in groups,’ Toos said. ‘And they’re coordinated. One group follows another. It’s as though they summon each other.’
‘Are you sure?’ the Doctor asked.
‘No, I’m not sure,’ Toos snapped. ‘But that’s what it looked like to me.’
‘Good,’ the Doctor said. ‘If we can persuade enough of them to chase us we may be able to make a difference.’
‘Persuading them to chase you is no problem.’ Tani said, pointing to where several feeder alleys opened into one of the streets leading to the intersection. Cyborg-class robots were running out of the alleys, coming together in groups of six and running on towards them.
‘We have to get up on to the top,’ the Doctor said.
‘You said that was the worst thing we could do,’ Toos protested.
‘That was then,’ the Doctor said, ‘this is now.’
‘You’ve changed your mind?’ Poul said.
‘We have to be between them and the survivors,’ the Doctor explained.
From behind them Padil said, ‘Listen to him and do as he says.’
‘Where did you come from?’ Tani demanded.
They set off running.
‘I’m sorry I doubted him,’ Padil said, running beside Leela.
When they reached the first rising bend in the roadway the Doctor glanced back. There were at least eighteen robots in pursuit.
Carnell’s problem was that there was nothing of value that he could take from Kaldor which would justify the years he had spent there. If he simply went back to where he had hidden the ship, fired it up and headed out then it was all wasted. He didn’t even have the dusty feeling of routine success, of doing what he had set out so confidently to do. He’d got it wrong, he’d got nothing to show after getting it wrong, and not even his reputation was intact because he knew he did not understand why or how it had happened. Without that understanding he could never be quite whole again. It was a risk to stay. Training and background and natural inclination told him that all risks were stupid risks. ‘But,’ he said aloud, ‘stupid is what I do well at the moment.’
‘Sorry?’ the flierman said.
‘I changed my mind,’ Carnell said.
‘You don’t want to go to Zone Seven?’
‘Take me back to Company Central. I have some unfinished business.’
‘It’s your money,’ the flierman said, banking the flier into a steep turn.
‘Yes, and I’ve got more than enough of it to settle all my accounts,’ Camel said, smiling.
By the time the six of them reached the Roof over the World the robots had fallen back a little but there were more of them and the numbers seemed to be increasing all the time. With the Doctor in the lead they ran on down the track over the roofs past abandoned carts and wrecked and deserted trading stalls.
They pounded over the bridges and finally the bridge they were aiming for came into view. It was the longest on the whole of the Roof over the World track and crossing it was slower and more dizzying than any of the others.
There was an immediately