Doctor Who_ Last of the Gaderene - Mark Gatiss [12]
The rustling from the jungle came again and the Doctor looked swiftly behind him. If he could only make it down to the lake...
Making a snap decision he ran on, peering ahead to try and make out the reflection of the water ahead. A boat was meant to be waiting for him. A boat across to the island where he had materialised the TARDIS at the start of this whole sorry, ill-advised adventure.
He had made friends and allies, of. course, during the past
– how long was it? – a week? Two? But the terrible regime which ruled the planet had not taken too kindly to his meddling and, not for the first time in his life, the Doctor found himself a marked man. Desperation had got him over the walls of the prison and into the dense jungle beyond, but the soldiers were hot on his track as the increasingly raucous rustling behind him showed.
The Doctor dragged off his ruined jacket and hurled it into the undergrowth. His shirt was wet with perspiration as he hurtled on, aware that the spongy surface beneath his feet was crumbling. The jungle was giving way to a steep escarpment.
The lake couldn’t be far away.
Staggering down the hill, his boots plunging deep into the muddy ground, the Doctor suddenly saw the lake stretching ahead, like a drop of quicksilver in the moonlight.
He allowed himself a smile of satisfaction and raced on, ignoring the jets of watery mud that splashed up at him from the shallows.
A rotting wooden pier about twenty feet long extended out into the lake and a small boat, like a coracle, was bobbing gently nearby, attached to the legs of the pier by a thick, tarry rope.
The Doctor plunged on through the water. It was very cold and he could feel it pouring in through the tears in his shirt, ballooning the fabric as he waded towards the boat.
Just visible in the centre of the lake was the small, heavily wooded disc of the island. The Doctor gave a sigh of relief and hauled himself over the lip of the boat. He sank back against the wooden struts and closed his eyes.
‘You took your time, my friend,’ said a voice, cutting through the silence.
The Doctor’s eyes snapped open. He was staring down the barrel of a very large, very vicious-looking gun.
‘Now don’t do anything rash, old chap,’ he said patiently, holding up both hands. ‘I’m a friend, remember?’
The man holding the gun was small and thin with a dome-shaped head and the pale yellow, almond-shaped eyes characteristic of his race. His name was Rujjis and he had been the Doctor’s constant companion for the last few hectic days.
The alien lowered the gun and smiled. ‘We’d all but given up on you, Doctor.’
The Doctor dropped his hands and glanced over his shoulder ‘Well, it was certainly a near thing. And they’re not far behind now. I suggest we start rowing.’
With a nod, his companion pulled himself over the edge of the little boat, slipping silently into the waters of the lake where he began to untie the rope from the jetty. The Doctor pulled a stubby paddle from the wet planks at his feet and made ready.
Rujjis’s nimble hands fiddled with the soaked fibres of the rope. The Doctor looked round sharply as a loud crash came from the jungle behind them.
‘Quickly, man!’ rapped the Doctor.
Rujjis gave a final tug and the rope came free, uncoiling from the wood like a water snake. ‘There! Go, Doctor!’
A bullet sliced into the still water next to the boat. Rujjis waded across and extended his wiry arm. The Doctor took his hand.
‘Goodbye, my friend.’
Rujjis smiled.
‘Goodbye, Doctor. We owe you much.’
The Doctor shook his head dismissively. ‘The power was within you all the time. All I did was give it a little encouragement.’
Rujjis smiled, his leathery face dimpling.
Another bullet smacked against the fragile hull of the boat.
Rujjis glanced down worriedly and, with a final wave, pushed