Doctor Who_ Halflife - Mark Michalowski [79]
‘Yes. Yes it is,’ the Doctor said guiltily. ‘Probably very, really.’
Calamee sighed. ‘It seems to break down organic stuff and turn it into slime, and then the slime turns back into whatever it was before after a few minutes.’
‘Sounds a bit ick.’ said Fitz, ‘but hardly run-for-the-hills material.’
‘But it’s why it does it that’s puzzling me,’ the Doctor said. ‘It seems to clean up the DNA, simplify it – like with the night beasts.’ He reached out and stroked Nessus’s head as he snoozed over Calamee’s shoulder, like a little hairy baby. ‘And with Nessus.’
‘Eh?’ said Calamee and hugged him tighter. Looloo, on the bed, threw Nessus a sullen look and began picking at the front of her grubby dress, pointedly.
‘Nessus. I ran the same DNA test on him when I was in the TARDIS, just out of curiosity. And he shares some very similar genetic characteristics to the night beasts. Which probably explains why he went wandering off: maybe he smelled Sensimi’s little pet; maybe he sensed the similarity, the fact that they’ve both gone through the wave – or been touched by whatever caused it.’
‘I’m sorry,’ interjected Sensimi herself, her voice unpleasantly thin and strident. ‘But there’s a thing heading for the Palace, and we’re all going to die!’
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‘Not die exactly. Not really. And it only comes up to about here –’ He pointed vaguely into the air above them. ‘We just need everyone to go upstairs and they’ll be perfectly safe.’ He looked at them as if he was describing nothing worse than a spot of inclement weather.
‘I’m going to tell someone,’ Sensimi said suddenly, heading for the door.
‘Get the Palace evacuated.’
‘No need for an evacuation,’ the Doctor reminded her. ‘Just get everyone into their bedrooms. Tell them it’s an electrical storm – that’s close enough to the truth. And don’t forget to get the rest of the city warned,’ the Doctor added helpfully. ‘Oh, and try not to cause a panic. There’s nothing worse for a disaster than a panic.’
Sensimi almost ran from the room, slamming the door behind her.
‘She’s going to cause a panic, isn’t she?’ said Fitz tiredly.
The Doctor nodded.
Sensimi headed for her father’s room. She didn’t trust this snotty Doctor. He didn’t seem too worried about this wave thing, but then it wasn’t his planet, was it? She gave a little yelp as she turned a corner and ran straight into Mother.
‘Sensimi? What’s wrong?’
Sensimi scowled.
‘I’m going to see Daddy.’
‘He’s sleeping,’ said the Imperatrix. ‘I’ve just been in and he’s not feeling well – he needs to rest. Can I help?’
Sensimi chewed at her lip. She really didn’t want to share this with Mother, but she knew that Daddy wasn’t well. She sighed – it wasn’t as if the Imperatrix could do anything bad with the news of the wave: after all, she’d hardly want the entire city to die.
‘There’s some sort of electrical storm or something,’ she said, wishing she’d actually asked the Doctor for a bit more information before rushing off. ‘It’s heading for the city.’
‘How d’you know? The weather bureau haven’t said anything.’
‘It’s some sort of freak thing. A. . . friend told me about it. He says it’s safe if everyone gets off the ground floor, goes to their bedrooms.’
‘And who’s this friend?’
Sensimi bristled. ‘Just a friend, that’s all. He’s come in from the country this evening. He says it’s important and that we have to get the word out to everyone in the city.’
‘Does he?’ The Imperatrix looked dubious. But eventually she nodded. ‘I’ll sort it out, Sensimi.’
‘You’ll make sure that Daddy knows, that he stays in his room?’
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‘Of course I will. And I’ll let the city police know.’
Sensimi wasn’t convinced: she knew what Mother and Javill had been planning for Daddy. But if he was asleep in his room, then he’d be safe. Sensimi wasn’t sure, but she wanted to get back to the Doctor and his friends: she didn’t want to miss anything.
‘OK, Mother. But tell everyone to hurry. My friend says it’ll be here in a couple of hours.’
‘Don’t worry, darling,’ her mother said. ‘I’ll take care of it.’
Trove frowned in puzzlement as he opened the drawer