Doctor Who_ Full Circle - Andrew Smith [45]
The Doctor, Romana, Login and Keara found him like that when they arrived moments later. Romana consoled him while Keara operated the wheel lock, raising the panel to the ceiling again.
Login stood ready with Adric's oxygen cylinder, but it wasn't needed. The Marshman was gone. Varsh's body lay in front of the TARDIS.
Adric knelt beside his brother, more calm now, keeping the intolerable sadness inside him, wiping his reddened eyes clear. He heard the Doctor say something. Without making out his words, he knew it was a remark of consolation, of shared remorse. Yet within him he knew no one could share the remorse he felt. Not really.
A small hand touched his arm. He turned and looked at Keara. She was kneeling beside him. Her eyes were moist. Her lips trembled. No words were necessary.
The Doctor left them in their melancholy and inconspicuously drew Login aside. This was no time for becoming lost in sadness and regret. Time enough to count the costs of their experiences later - if they were still alive.
'Have you got any more oxygen?' the Doctor asked Login. 'Besides the supply in the Science Unit?'
'Certainly,' Login replied. 'We have an electrolytic power system.'
The Doctor was pleasantly surprised. 'What, you mean you actually make the stuff?'
'Yes.'
'Splendid. Enough to flood the whole starliner?'
'I'll see what can be done.' Login turned and hurried away along the passageway.
The Doctor and Romana stood back from the youngsters, watching them, but not intruding on their tragedy.
Keara untied the marshreed belt Varsh wore around his waist and handed it to Adric. 'Here, take this,' she said. 'Keep it for him.'
Adric accepted it, staring at it determinedly. Varsh had died to save their lives. He would always remember his brother - and so would everyone else. Adric smiled gently.
Varsh would have been amused at his rapid elevation from outcast to hero. He secured the reed belt around his waist.
Login returned shortly, Garif accompanying him.
'All the oxygen valves are open, Doctor,' he announced.
'Let's hope it's not too late,' said the Doctor morosely.
'What do you mean?'
'Adric has described how the Marshman who... the Marshman they met here reacted to the oxygen attack. They've already begun to adapt to the enriched air.'
'It might not kill them, then?' said Garif.
The Doctor was appalled. 'Kill them? I certainly hope not. But if we're lucky it'll drive them back to the marsh.'
'Shouldn't we open the doors, then?' asked Romana.
The Doctor smiled at her. 'Good point. Come on. The lower deck.'
Throughout the starliner, hordes of Marshmen were recoiling under the oxygen atmosphere which was building to a higher and higher level of purity all around them.
The creatures scurried, whining, along the passageways, towards the exits to the planet surface.
The Doctor, Romana, Login and Garif stood amid the lower deck area of the starliner. Groups of cowed marsh creatures were coming down the stairs and hurrying over to the escape hatchways.
The creatures had no time for the humanoids just now. 'Horrible,' said Garif. 'Quick, Doctor. Kill them. Kill them.'
The Doctor despaired of Garif's attitude. 'No, Garif. Look at them. You just might learn something.'
The creatures were pressed up against the hatchways, their hands clawing at them, searching for a way out.
One of the Marshmen separated from the others and began experimenting with one of the hatchway wheel locks.
'Look at their feet,' said the Doctor. 'The soles have flattened to allow better mobility over smooth terrain. When they emerged from the marshlands their feet had claws which enabled them to keep a firm grip on the marshbed. They're adapting fast. Given a little time they'd learn to breathe the air. Oh, they might wreck the ship first, and wipe out the crew, but the manuals in the Great Book Room would show them how to put it all together again.'
'They could learn to read?' said Garif.
'Oh, yes,' the Doctor answered. He considered the creatures. 'Just as they did once before, four thousand generations ago.'
Garif was dumbstruck.