Doctor Who_ Full Circle - Andrew Smith [36]
Varsh felt his spine chill. A procession of Marshmen was heading straight down the passageway towards them.
Varsh staggered back towards the others. 'Marshmen!' he called hoarsely.
The others turned to him. Rok was flustered. 'Don't - don't be silly,' he began.
And then the Marshmen appeared from the passageway, pausing to assess the humans. Their chests rose and fell, their lungs rasped out swinish snorts.
'Gulnar, run!' Refnal shouted, breaking and running up the second passageway. Gulnar was right behind him. They ran as fast as they could.
Refnal was so frightened he didn't see the second group of Marshmen until he collided with them. Before either he or Gulnar could run off, the Marshmen's hands were at their throats, pressing, tearing.
In the boarding area, Varsh, Tylos, Keara and Rok heard the youngsters' death-screams reverberate eerily around the metal walls.
As both groups of Marshmen entered the boarding area en masse, the three remaining Outlers backed against the TARDIS for protection. Rok held back by the starliner door, hoping the youngsters might distract the Marshmen sufficiently for him to be able to make his escape.
'Varsh!' Keara screamed, flinching, arms raised pathetically over her face as the Marshmen advanced. Had the Doctor observed her, he might have considered the irony in that her stance almost exactly mimicked that of the Marshchild when faced with Omril and the other citizens earlier.
Varsh still carried his satchel. In a vain effort, he removed it and threw it at the nearest of the Marshmen. It did little to harm the creature, but the bag's contents - components of all kinds - spilled out across the floor.
Amazingly, the Marshmen seemed to lose interest in the youngsters. They lowered themselves to the floor to examine these strange objects, intrigued by them, trying to deduce their functions. Varsh remembered what Romana had said about their intelligence.
Keara grabbed his arm and started to pull him with her towards one of the passageways. 'Varsh, come on, let's go!'
Varsh went with her. 'Move, Tylos!' He and Keara ran off.
But Tylos remained where he was, staring across at Rok. The foreman was cowering by the entranceway, one of the less inquisitive of the Marshmen towering malevolently over him. He was whimpering with fright.
For a moment Tylos was undecided, then he committed himself. He sprinted across to the entranceway, grabbed Rok's arm and pulled him out from in front of the Marshman. 'Run!' Tylos urged him.
Tylos watched as Rok made his dash for the safety of the passageways, and then the Marshman's arm closed around the young hero's neck. Tylos felt himself being bent backwards by the creature, hardly able to breathe, totally helpless.
Rok hesitated by the entrance to one of the passageways, considering Tylos's plight, his strong instinct for survival battling with his weak conscience.
Casting the youngster from his thoughts, he turned and ran from the boarding area just as fast as his legs could carry him.
'She could be anywhere.'
The Doctor made this observation as he and Adric came to a halt at yet another passageway junction, having well and truly lost the flimsy trail offered by the objects they had found scattered around the passageways. 'There must be a better way of doing it than this,' said the Doctor and, looking round, recognised the passageway designation notice on the wall next to him. They had been here before. 'We've come full circle,' he sighed, then walked on regardless. Adric followed.
'That's what the Decider said,' Adric piped up after a moment.
'Decider?'
'Decider Draith. At the marsh. His last words.'
The Doctor stopped dead. 'What words? Tell me what he said - exactly.'
'There's really not much to remember. He just said, "Tell Dexeter we've come full circle."'
'"Tell Dexeter we've come full circle"?' The Doctor reflected on this, then gave Adric a sideways look. 'How's your knee, by the way?'