Doctor Who_ Deep Blue - Mark Morris [75]
It didn’t matter. She couldn’t get away. He was linked to the group mind now and he knew that there were Xaranti waiting on the outside for her too.
Sooner than he had expected, he burst through a set of double doors and into the light. He stood swaying for a moment, blinking and disorientated. He could hear people shouting, hear his own kind hissing at those who were still transforming. As his eyes adapted he took in the scene before him at a glance.
The UNIT soldiers, many of whom were clinging to their humanity only by the thinnest of threads, were fighting a rearguard action against those of his kind whose transformations were more advanced than his own. If it hadn’t been for the man, Yates (backed up by Benton) marshalling them, shouting out orders, pulling them back from the brink, the Brigadier felt sure that most of them would have succumbed by now. At Yates’s behest, the soldiers had encircled an army truck, in the back of which lay the Doctor, still unconscious. Crouched beside the Doctor and facing the conflict wild-eyed with fear was the Australian girl. The hybrids were prowling the perimeter of the human circle, looking for a way in. Those who ventured too close were driven back by blows from rifle-butts. The Brigadier knew that they had not yet attacked in force, overwhelming the humans by sheer numbers, because they needed the Doctor in one piece.
The Doctor was important to them. His mind would make an invaluable contribution to their cause. Indeed, it was not an exaggeration to say that the sum of his knowledge could turn the Xaranti into the most powerful race in the universe.
It was imperative, then, that the humans were not pushed to firing their weapons. Consumed by bloodlust they would be unable to differentiate between friend and enemy. Under such circumstances the Doctor might be damaged beyond repair.
More subtle methods had to be employed, therefore. The current stand-off needed to be brought to a swift and bloodless conclusion. The one major unpredictable element in this situation was the Doctor himself. Who knew what kind of influence he might be able to exert if, or when, he regained consciousness?
Suddenly, as if the idea had come fully-formed into his mind, the Brigadier knew what he had to do. He drew his gun and stepped towards the small pay-booth at the front of the Ghost Train. From there, keeping low and hiding behind the screen of hybrids, he crept around the perimeter of the circle until he was opposite Mike Yates. Yates was standing in line with his men, gun drawn, still shouting out orders and encouragement, occasionally checking with Sergeant Benton on the far side of the truck to keep the circle tight.
The Brigadier suddenly stood up behind the hybrids and proceeded to barge through them, brandishing his gun, pointing it into the faces of those that made a show of lunging at him, hissing. He even clubbed a couple for good measure to make it look convincing.
‘Sir!’ Yates shouted, seeing the commotion, and despatched two of his men from the circle as a rescue party.
They were back within seconds, the Brigadier staggering between them, the hybrids making a show of surging forward then falling back as the soldiers swung their rifles this way and that.
‘Sir,’ Yates said again, ‘are you OK?’
‘Fine, Captain Yates,’ said the Brigadier heartily. ‘I see our little problem has increased somewhat.’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Yates. ‘As you can see, we’re in a bit of a spot. This lot are hanging back for the moment, but they’ve got us surrounded. Thing is, I don’t want to give the order to fire if I can help it, because... well, because whatever they look like, they’re still people, sir. To be honest, I’m damned if I know what to do next. I keep hoping the Doctor’ll wake up and come up with something.’
A cry came from behind them, raucous and vehement.
‘Don’t trust him!’
It was the Australian girl, standing up in the back of the truck, pointing a rigid finger at the Brigadier.
‘Miss Jovanka -’ he began, speaking her name before he was even aware he’d remembered