Doctor Who_ Foreign Devils - Andrew Cartmel [49]
'Quite right, Doctor. The perfect means of disposing of you and the others. All the witnesses in one go. Vanished without a trace. No corpus delecti, no crime, no recriminations.' Pemberton braced his rifle against the crook of his arm so he could aim it one handed, then reached down with his free hand and clawed up a large clump of earth. He turned and threw it into the void. The clod of earth described a lazy trajectory, sailing outwards and downwards, disappearing into the void, falling forever, or at least until it was out of sight. He smiled with approval and turned back to his captives just as the Doctor was drawing a silver whistle from his pocket.
'Put that away, Doctor, or I'll blow your head off.'
'Very well,' said the Doctor affably, 'if you insist.' He slipped the whistle back into his pocket. Pemberton nodded with approval. 'Now who will be the first to step off the edge?' He smiled at them over his rifle. 'Come now. No volunteers? What about you, Doctor? Come, I thought you'd be eager for the experience. Surely you should embrace it in the spirit of scientific enquiry.'
'I will,' said the Doctor quite calmly, peering over the edge with interest.
'No!' cried Zoe. Jamie growled something incoherent and menacing. The Doctor silenced them with a look, then turned to Pemberton. 'But before I go, answer one question. Why did you desecrate the grave of your ancestor Roderick?'
'I didn't. The lightning strike was genuine. Perhaps another manifestation of the curse. What happened to his remains I don't know.' He raised his gun. 'Now kindly step off the edge of the world, Doctor.' 'Sorry,' said the Doctor. 'Did I say one question? I meant two. My other question is simply this. Why do you think you were spared?' Pemberton frowned impatiently over the sights of his rifle. 'Spared? What do you mean?'
'The curse was intended to wipe out all surviving descendants of the opium trader Roderick Upcott. And they are indeed all dead. With the conspicuous exception of yourself.'
'I have no idea, Doctor. Now kindly step off the edge or I'll blow you to hell where you're standing.'
'The Doctor's right,' said Carnacki. 'The curse hasn't run its course yet. You're a condemned man, Upcott.' Pemberton turned his rifle to Carnacki. 'I'll take my chances,' he said. 'And since you chose to speak up, you can be the first to go, Mr Carnacki.' Celandine Gibson gave a small cry of despair and hugged Carnacki fiercely. 'No,' she cried. 'If you won't let go of him,' said Pemberton, 'the two of you can go together.'
'I suspect you may be the one who is going somewhere,' said the Doctor. 'And if you look towards the house you'll see the figure who will be accompanying you.'
'A feeble trick, Doctor,' said Pemberton.
'Not at all. Why do you think the house and its grounds were transported into this void, this colossal cosmic emptiness where it now hangs?'
'The workings of the curse, I suppose. I don't know. Anyway, you're just playing for time. Now be a good fellow and step off the edge.' 'Before I do I should point out that the curse did indeed bring us into the void. But it did so for a specific reason, so that certain natural laws would be in abeyance.' 'Of course,' murmured Carnacki. 'This is all very dull, Doctor,' said Pemberton.
'And certain extraordinary things could happen. So that certain entities could appear among us. Look behind you, Pemberton.' But Pemberton stubbornly kept both the rifle and his gaze aiming unwaveringly at the Doctor. It was Zoe who looked towards the house and realised the Doctor wasn't bluffing. She gave a small cry and everyone else turned to look, including Pemberton.
An apparition was stalking towards them, across the snow, out of the shadows of the house. Even at this distance it could be discerned that, despite being human in general form and outline, there was something terribly wrong with it. Zoe took a step closer to Jamie. 'What is it?' he murmured, a note of fear in