Doctor Who_ Interference_ Book Two - Lawrence Miles [22]
SAM: Doctor!
CREATURE: Too late. One of us. Will be one of us.
[SAM turns, and reaches for the weapons rack. She doesn’t look as though she’s even thought about what she’s doing. She grabs the chemical grenade, then turns back to the hatchway.]
CREATURE: Ordifica will be ours. All ours.
DOCTOR [whisper]: Sam… do it… stop them all…
[SAM’s hand shakes as she holds the grenade over the hatchway. Her face is frozen. Blank.]
DOCTOR [whisper]: Please…
[SAM raises her thumb above the end of the grenade, where the triggering mechanism is set into the plastic.]
CREATURE: All ours.
[SAM screams. It sounds more like a war cry than anything else. As she screams, she presses the trigger and drops the grenade.
[We hear the sound of the grenade hitting the lower level. The CREATURE hisses, and lets go of the DOCTOR.]
DOCTOR [whisper]: Sam…
[There’s a burst of light from the hatchway, like a magnesium flare. For a second, we see the CREATURE in every detail, its half-formed features illuminated by the flash. We also see the DOCTOR as he falls to the floor, his face supernaturally calm.
[Then SAM turns away from the hatchway, eyes tight shut. The next thing we hear is the sound of the CREATURE screaming, as the chemicals from the grenade eat away its flesh.
[Not opening her eyes, SAM begins to run, tearing away from the hatch and along the corridor.
[She looks as though she wants to be anywhere in the universe but here.]
* * *
‘She sacrificed her companion,’ Guest noted. ‘The thing that means the most to her.’
Compassion snorted. ‘You mean she let him get it in the neck while she made a run for it.’
‘No. It wasn’t a question of personal survival. It was a question of principles.’ Then Guest narrowed his eyes. He looked as if he were trying to remember something. ‘The Doctor, though…’
‘Know him?’
‘No. I think I knew the name, before I was remembered. The Faction may have mentioned him.’
‘He’s got a TARDIS,’ said Compassion. ‘That’s the important thing.’
‘Yes. It’s interesting, don’t you think? This scenario. Ordifica. The colony planet. The alien intruders.’
Compassion furrowed her forehead. ‘Am I missing something?’
‘Perhaps. Doesn’t the name “Ordifica” mean anything to you?’
‘No.’
‘Then you’ve forgotten even more of our history than I have.’ Guest stroked the receiver in his ear. ‘The media hasn’t finished with her. It’s still trying to understand the sacrifice concept. Or to make us understand.’
‘So far, we haven’t learned anything,’ said Compassion. ‘Just that the girl’s people are good at throwing away their lives and killing their friends.’
‘We’ll see,’ said Guest.
* * *
Scene 44. Space
[We see Ordifica again, and the small black ship in its orbit. However, there are other shapes moving into the picture now. Sleek golden needles, taking up strategic positions around the planet. Time Lord vessels, not unlike the ships from Scene 30.]
* * *
Scene 45. The Control Section of the Ship
[SAM sits in the pilot’s seat, hunched over the control panels. She’s talking into some kind of communicator.]
SAM: Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me?
[There’s no reply. SAM continues to fiddle with the controls, trying to make it look as though she knows what she’s doing.]
SAM: Doctor, it’s me. I’m on the transporter. Doctor? Come in, Doctor.
DOCTOR [voice, through the static]: I’m here.
SAM: Yeah? Where’s ‘here’?
DOCTOR [voice]: On board one of the Time Lord ships. Some of the aliens tried to follow me off the planet, but I, er… dissuaded them.
SAM: The Time Lord ships. What are they?
DOCTOR [voice]: Automatic defence system. The Time Lords programmed them to track the aliens through the vortex. They’re already in position. Just waiting for the order.
SAM: Order? What order?
[There’s a long pause from the communicator.]
SAM: Doctor? Did you hear me? I said –
DOCTOR [voice]: The order to open fire. To destroy Ordifica.
SAM: What?
DOCTOR [voice]: There doesn’t seem to be much of a choice, Sam. The aliens have taken over the transmitter network. They’re giving instructions