Doctor Who_ Last Man Running - Chris Boucher [49]
Leela ran from cover at an angle. She had seen the warrior’s eyes and she was confident that he did not see well at the extremes. His was the predator’s sight: narrow and forward-fixed. At the flat run she hit him hard and low, kicking his legs out and knocking him down. He recovered instantly, twisting as he fell and stabbing at her with the spear blade. Leela dodged the blow and rolled to her feet. The warrior was up almost as quickly. He circled, shield raised, spear poised.
Everyone else was gone from his attention. This was his purpose. Killing Leela was what he was here for.
The warrior’s blade stuck for a moment in Sozerdor’s ribcage and he had to break the bones to pull it from the corpse. The dead man’s embrace made it more difficult but it seemed frustration was not part of the warrior’s make-up. So he simply wrenched until it was clear and then shoved the dead man backwards out of the way.
The warrior Belay had hit had somehow pulled himself upright and was hopping forward, intent on killing Kley. Belay shot him in the other leg. As he went down the warrior threw the spear with fierce strength in Kley’s direction. The spear hit Sozerdor’s collapsing body. Belay shot the fallen warrior in the head and then found it was his last shot. His gun was empty.
Fermindor fervently hoped that he had two shots left because he knew that to stop the thing he would need two shots and he would need to get them right. Fermindor fell backwards as the warrior leapt high over Sozerdor’s body, spear raised, Kley within reach. Fermindor fell backwards as the warrior crashed over him and from under the shield arm he fired upward at the warrior’s chin. The shot tore out the bottom of his face and the leap became a tangled sprawl.
Fermindor kicked out with both legs and heaved the warrior’s body to one side, then lunged at the spear arm and held it down with his own body. Reaching over with the gun, he jammed it into what was left of the warrior’s face and blew his head to fragments.
The fight had been abrupt, brutish and so short that it was over before the Doctor could reach it and try to intervene.
Only Leela and the white-crested warrior were still on their feet and in combat by the time he got to the shocked survivors. Sozerdor was obviously dead but the others seemed to be dazed but otherwise more or less unhurt. He helped Fermindor and Kley stagger clear of the mess, saying,
‘I’m going to need your help to stop that.’ He jerked a thumb towards Leela and the remaining warrior.
The warrior feinted right with his spear and at the same time threw a kick from the opposite direction, a perfect low, flat arc with his left leg. It was like a lethal dance step made possible by his double elbow joint and his perfect balance.
Leela pirouetted away and slashed backhanded with her knife at the warrior’s ankle tendon, nicking it but not damaging it enough to slow him up. He circled to the left, looking for the weakness. Leela circled with him.
The Doctor was shedding his coat. ‘I’ll put this over his head and shoulders. Each of you grab an arm and the other two get his legs.’
Kley stared at him blankly. ‘I got Sozerdor killed,’ she said.
‘Possibly,’ the Doctor said brusquely. ‘I don’t want the same thing to happen to my companion.’ He glared round at the others. ‘So do you all know what you’ve got to do?’
Leela had been taught to hide her thoughts and feelings as she fought. Circling warily she tried to hide them now, but she was beginning to lose confidence. The warrior’s face gave nothing away. His expression was blank no matter what was happening. He showed no surprise, no fear, no tiredness.
There was not the slightest flicker of a clue for Leela to pick up on. His attacks came without warning; her attacks were countered without reaction. The only recognisable intention this alien fighter showed was a silent, obsessive determination to kill her. She had been combat-trained by the best and most talented in the tribe