Doctor Who_ Full Circle - Andrew Smith [31]
'Then let them rejoin the Preparation,' Nefred proclaimed. 'There is no punishment.'
The sudden materialisation of the TARDIS in the boarding area startled a maintenance crew of five who were working on a power-point by the door. They regarded the blue box speechlessly.
The doors opened and the Doctor emerged with Adric at his side.
'Romana will be perfectly all right in there, Adric,' the Doctor was saying. In his hand he carried a small cotton pouch, secured by a knotted cord at its neck. As they started off, the Doctor gave the maintenance crew a friendly wave and placed the pouch inside one of his coat pockets.
It contained the remains of the spider from the cave.
They gathered in anticipation: Nefred, Garif, Login. They stood in their galleries in the Great Book Room, turned to watch the wall behind them where a massive monitor screen - the screen which had once shown Yakob Lorenzil his first and only glimpse of the surface of the planet Alzarius - was lit with a view of Dexeter's Science Unit.
Dexeter was standing behind the Marshchild, wearing surgical garb, a scalpel held deftly in his gloved hand.
The Marshchild, strapped securely to the couch, was letting out low, weary sounds.
Dexeter, in the Science Unit, looked up at his own monitor and saw the faces of the three Deciders looking at him. It was a small camera in the wall above it which transmitted his picture to them.
'The anaesthetic has worn off and the creature is now fully sentient,' he began by way of explanation. 'I am about to begin a surgical examination of its brain.'
'We will be watching closely, Dexeter,' Nefred came back.
Dexeter lowered the scalpel, about to make the first incision in the Marshchild's skull.
He was a nanosecond away from making the incision when he heard a commotion in the Great Book Room. Looking up at the monitor, he saw the Doctor striding in through the Book Room's massive doors, Adric behind him.
'What's going on here?' the Doctor demanded, looking past the Deciders towards the screen, and realising in an instant exactly what was going on.
Dexeter smiled narrowly. 'Doctor. You're just in time.'
'Dexeter, you promised that you wouldn't harm that Marshchild!'
Dexeter assumed an anxious expression. How could he make the Doctor understand? 'Doctor, without a scientific understanding of these creatures, we'll be doomed to fear of them forever.'
'That's not scientific understanding, it's cold-blooded murder!' the Doctor retorted with vivid vehemence.
Unnoticed by anyone, the eyes of the Marshchild suddenly opened wide, staring and alert.
In her quarters in the TARDIS, Romana's eyes opened.
Dexeter was unsure. The scalpel wavered hesitantly in his hand. 'I - I repeat,' he said, without conviction. 'I am beginning surgery.'
'Dexeter!' the Doctor called out in a last attempt to make the man see reason. 'Stop! You've no right!'
Dexeter looked anxiously at the Doctor, then moved the scalpel to recommence the operation. He gasped as he found the Marshchild staring up at him.
Snarling furiously, it began twisting and turning underneath the straps, straining to break free of its restraints.
The Doctor understood what was happening. The Marshchild knew what Dexeter intended to do to it, and in order to survive was developing the animal strength in itself that would enable it to break free and destroy its assailant, to destroy Dexeter.
In that moment, the Doctor understood the Marshmen and their perspective.
'Dexeter!' he called out. 'Get out of there!'
But Dexeter was too afraid to move.
'Move yourself! Run!'
With a resounding snarl, the Marshchild erupted from the couch, its hands rising and finding Dexeter's throat. Relentlessly, those hands applied pressure.
The gathering in the Great Book Room knew they were absolutely powerless to help.
Dexeter put up a desperate but vain struggle, and soon he became limp in the Marshchild's grip. After making sure of the job, the Marshchild,