Doctor Who_ Full Circle - Andrew Smith [9]
Respect and obedience cultivated or not, this was a shock and it took some time for Draith to quell the frightened jabber.
'There is no need for alarm,' he assured them, 'so long as you all follow the procedure.' He paused to allow that point to sink in. 'You have two hours.' He gestured for them to be moving, and immediately they started gathering up their tools and their bags.
Draith and Dexeter moved back to the water's edge and stood contemplating the seething, gargling mass before them.
'You know,' Draith confided in a low voice, 'if the citizens knew what I know from the System Files about Mistfall... we would never be able to maintain control over them.'
Dexeter was dumbstruck by the Decider's candour.
From where he lay, Adric could see the riverfruits lying unguarded, just a short distance away.
Mistfall. He had been instructed in the legend from birth, as they all had. The mere word itself had all the sinister connotations of the 'bogey-man'... and Adric had not believed. It was Varsh who had convinced him, as he had convinced Tylos and Keara and the other Outlers.
It had been Varsh's theory that Mistfall was a device created by the Deciders to keep the citizens dependent upon the starliner and thus controllable - a myth. But now no longer a myth, Mistfall was happening.
And yet, despite his fear, Adric could not take his eyes off the riverfruits. The Outlers were watching, he knew. What better way to prove his bravery than by going ahead with it even after all this?
Adric found himself rising to his feet, stalking cautiously towards the riverfruits.
When Varsh saw what his younger brother was doing he was only just able to quell a shout to make him turn and run. Adric had made his decision... he couldn't be stopped.
Draith turned from the water's edge, considering the vast responsibility which would rest on his shoulders over the coming years of siege caused by the planet's evolutionary proclivities.
Then he saw Adric.
A fierce rage coursed through Draith as he saw the boy scooping up armfuls of riverfruit, a rage at the insolence of the boy at a time like this. 'Adric!' he snarled, sending his sturdy frame lumbering towards the youngster.
Adric's head shot up at the sound of his name. Seeing Draith bearing down on him, he turned and ran, scattering the riverfruits, his mind racing, in an instant regretting ever having thought of going through with this.
Dexeter watched, perplexed, as Draith pursued the young thief.
'Decider, come back!' he cried. 'He's not worth it!'
But Draith was gone.
From their place of concealment, the Outlers had seen it all.
'Split up,' Varsh ordered. 'We'll meet back at the cave.'
They turned and started at the sight of the thick wall of mist which confronted them. It hid everything from their view.
Varsh steeled himself, shouted, 'Come on!' and ran into the mist. Tylos, Keara and the others followed, taking different routes away from the place.
Adric ran blindly through the forest, thrusting branches and shrubs to one side without once breaking his stride. There was a fear in him, a cold, stabbing fear, and that fear had a name... shame.
Behind him, over the sound of his own rapid breathing, he could hear Draith's heavy footfalls. the old man was moving very quickly - his fitness was legendary.
Adric was unaware that all around him the mist was getting thicker.
He almost ran into a marsh, had to check himself sharply and veer to the right, running along the water's edge.
Had he the time to do so, Adric might have noticed that the mist seemed suspended particularly thickly over the waters of the marsh.
Suddenly Adric was falling. His right knee cracked off a rock and this sent a sharp pain through his whole body. He rolled over, looking down at his knee and seeing an ugly, bloody mess through the tattered cloth of his trousers. Gazing beyond the knee, he saw the half-hidden tree root which had caught his foot. He cursed quietly.
And then Draith was there, standing over him,