Doctor Who_ Deep Blue - Mark Morris [82]
The Morok battle cruiser, its rusty, barnacled hull rearing up from the waves, was an eminently adaptable ship. It was designed to transform itself to suit whatever planetary conditions presented themselves. It was thanks largely to ships like this that the Moroks would eventually extend their seven-hundred year empire across the nine galaxies. This particular vessel, however, would no longer form any part of their battle fleet, its crew having long since transformed to swell the ranks of its Xaranti invaders.
When the battle cruiser had reached shallow enough waters, it retracted its long submarine-like snout, which had streamlined it to allow easier access through the deeps, drew in its powerful propellers, and extended tank-like caterpillar tracks, which gripped the sea bed and hauled it clanking and roaring on to the sand. On dry land it sat for a while, like some vast behemoth acclimatising itself to its new surroundings. Water streamed from its battle-scarred hull; its prow - if such a shapeless, ugly-looking craft as this could be said to have a prow - peeked over the sea-wall at the promenade.
Suddenly there was a tumultuous grating sound, and a number of doors at ground level slid slowly open, extending ramps that clanged down on to the sand. For a moment the openings contained only darkness, and then the black, bristling bodies of fully-grown Xaranti began to emerge into the light, like ants from a nest.
‘It looks deserted,’ Mike said.
It was the first time either of them had spoken since Tegan had spurned his attempts to console her after the death of Andy Weathers. She had moved across to the passenger seat and turned her back on him, using her hand as a cushion between her face and the window. Her shoulders had heaved as she sobbed silently It was clear she was no longer in any fit state to drive. Mike had hesitated over suggesting that she sit in the back with the Doctor again, and in the end had decided that the Doctor would be OK. Around here they’d see trouble coming from far enough away for Mike to provide him with any protection he might need. Besides, Tegan with a gun in her hand while in this state of mind was not a good idea, especially now that he’d noticed she was beginning to scratch her shoulders and arms more and more.
Tegan did not respond to his comment, merely stared dully through the windscreen, her eyes pink as if stained by their red rims. The hospital car park was three-quarters full, but there was no sign of life either out here or at any of the building’s many windows.
Mike stopped outside the open gates and glanced at Tegan.
‘I didn’t want to kill your friend, you know, Tegan,’ he said again, ‘but I had to. If I hadn’t he would have killed me, and then the Doctor, and then probably you too.’
Tegan said in a low, bitter voice, ‘Don’t you think I know that?’
‘I don’t know. Do you?’
She swung round suddenly, glaring at him. ‘Of course I do.
I’m not stupid!’
‘I never suggested you were,’ he said gently. ‘It’s just that...
well, if we’re going to get through this, we’ve got to work together. We’ve got to know we can rely on one another.’
She gave a snort too mirthless to be termed laughter. ‘You can’t rely on me. I’m changing into one of those things.
Haven’t you noticed?’
‘Yes, I have noticed. But you’re still in the early stages.
You’ll be OK for a while yet, won’t you?’
She shrugged. ‘I think so. I hope so. I keep having these...
these funny thoughts.’
‘Funny thoughts?’ he prompted.
‘Insights, I guess you’d call them. I seem to know things without knowing how I know them. It’s like... like I’m tapping into their minds... into its mind.’ She shuddered. ‘It’s horrible.’
‘What kinds of things?’ Mike asked.
‘Well, for instance... I know that... that multiplying and expanding is all important