Doctor Who_ Full Circle - Andrew Smith [35]
The hat was crumpled and torn.
'Adric!'
The Alzarian dropped the hat and hurried after the Doctor.
Romana came to a halt at the top of a flight of steps which led down into the vast, cavernous lower-deck area of the starliner. From the railing where she stood she could see across the entire, shadow-laden width of this most unused part of the great ship. Large emergency escape portals were spaced along one wall at intervals of some six hundred yards or so.
Something was banging on the hull.
Romana smiled, and in the darkness the pulsating blue veins which had developed on her face were starkly prominent.
The banging on the hull continued. Romana descended the steps - to greet her friends.
Romana had left something of a trail of debris behind her, various scattered items which the Doctor and Adric were able to follow through the ship's passageways.
The Doctor was a little put out to find one half of one of his very finest waistcoats lying on the floor of one passageway.
A short distance away they found another crumpled piece of cloth on the floor.
'The other half of my waistcoat,' said the Doctor solemnly. He saw Adric pick something up. 'What's that?'
Adric proffered his catch. 'The image translator.'
The Doctor examined it. It was badly damaged, a number of its wires bared, its central diffusion crystal fractured. 'No more pictures of Gallifrey, then,' he said with finality. Thrusting the useless object into Adric's hand, he turned and walked off. 'Come on.'
Adric shoved the image translator into his pocket and followed the Doctor.
The sign on the wall by the immense hatchway read: EMERGENCY ESCAPE - TO BE USED ONLY WHEN SHIP HAS ACHIEVED PLANETFALL. Romana barely noticed. With a wide smile on her face, she reached out with both hands to grip the door's wheel lock. At first it stubbornly refused to budge, having been out of use for some time, but even this area of the starliner had been maintained by the citizens, and after a determined effort Romana felt the wheel give.
In that instant, the banging on the hull stopped.
Romana turned the wheel through three revolutions.
The hatchway swung slowly open with a hum of power.
Beyond the entrance there was a thick wall of fog, ebbing, swirling, beckoning.
Romana stepped back, and waited.
Then they appeared, emerging slowly from the grey vapour, snarling quietly, ominously, heads twisting to and
fro, assessing this new environment.
The Marshmen had at last achieved their objective. They were aboard the starliner.
10
'We've Come Full Circle'
They surged into the starliner, a wave of snarling bestiality, a number of the creatures wielding lengths of wood as weapons.
This was the group Romana had encountered in the cave. Their leader stopped next to Romana, staring at her.
She returned his gaze, unafraid - kindred.
The Marshleader lifted his hand. Romana pressed her own palm into his. Their hands caressed for a moment, and they shared one another's minds.
Releasing Romana's hand, the Marshleader moved off with the rest of the Marshmen.
Romana watched him go.
The Marshmen made their way up into the main body of the starliner, spilling out into the passageways in search of the humans.
Romana continued her task, moving along to the other escape hatchways, opening them, letting in the other Marshmen gathered outside the hull. They numbered in their hundreds, originating from marshes all over this continent of Alzarius.
Foreman Rok stood in the boarding area with his maintenance crew of Outlers, directing them as they opened the wall power-point by the door to fit yet another new component.
Varsh, standing at the back of the group, released a heavy sigh which drew a scornful look from Rok. Varsh didn't care. He was bored, and it didn't matter to him who knew it.
Suddenly his ears pricked up. Had he heard something?
Some small, shuffling movement? He turned his head, looking past the TARDIS, into the passageway beyond.