Doctor Who_ Last of the Gaderene - Mark Gatiss [41]
‘I thought so!’ laughed the Doctor triumphantly.
Taking advantage of the trooper’s disorientation, he delivered a chopping blow to the Legion man’s chest, sending him smashing back into the consoles. A whole bank of switches clicked into life. Soundlessly, smoke began to stream into the tunnel beyond the glass. The Doctor cast a rapid glance towards it and made out the massive shape of a jet engine at the far end. It was a wind tunnel.
Still unaccountably smiling, the trooper struggled to his feet. The Doctor kicked out with a cry and caught him in the ribs. The man fell back again but this time managed to wrestle his machine gun from under him. Mindlessly, he opened fire.
The Doctor dived to the floor, covering his head with his hands as bullets sang off every available surface. Rolling over and over, he flung himself into the corner just as a whole volley of shots hit the plate glass, shattering it into fragments.
Immediately, the room was filled with the roar of the jet engine in the tunnel beyond, as though a typhoon had been bottled and trapped there.
Wind tore at the Doctor’s hair and cloak.
The trooper staggered towards him, the flesh around his grin buffeted by the incredible strength of the wind tunnel. He raised his gun again.
The Doctor grabbed a swivel chair just by him and sent it crashing into the trooper’s knees. As the man crumpled, the Doctor jumped over him, landing on top of the consoles like a tightrope walker. But the trooper was ready for him, springing back to his feet like an unstoppable machine and pumping at the trigger of his machine gun.
Nothing happened. Something was jammed.
He glanced down and the Doctor span balletically round, his foot connecting with the weapon and sending it crashing against the wall.
Roaring like a beast, the trooper hurled himself at him and together they fell through the shattered glass and into the wind tunnel.
The force of the engine was incredible and the Doctor struggled to stay on his feet as the wind whipped and tore at his clothes.
The trooper advanced on him, teeth bared in his grinning face, hair streaming in the hurricane. The Doctor ran at him and gripped him in a bear hug. If he could only get the man on to the floor. He’d probably never be able to get up again...
Squinting as the wind slapped at his face, the Doctor tried to force the trooper down, kicking at his calves in an effort to unbalance him. The Legion man fought back, strong arms moving to clamp around the Doctor’s neck.
As they wrestled, the Doctor happened to glance upwards.
To his astonishment there seemed to be another tunnel, like a great chimney, stretching high up towards an impossibly distant ceiling.
On the wall, just visible in the dim light, were two large buttons. One glowed red, the other a muted green.
The trooper pushed his opponent away from him with a grunt and the Doctor fell back against the wall. With a roar, the man raced at the Time Lord but the Doctor stepped out, struggling against the incredible wind, grabbed his wrist, twisted it and threw the trooper over his shoulder.
He slammed against the raised buttons and the green light suddenly flared brightly.
At once, the force of the wind altered. The distant jet engine cut out and another, high above their heads, powered up. This time, however, it was sucking the air upwards.
The Doctor felt the massive tug at his cloak and scrabbled at the floor like a cat trying to find purchase on wet tiles.
The trooper shot into the air, arms and legs flailing, but managed to grab hold of the Doctor’s ankle.
Fingernails digging into the floor, the Doctor managed to grip on to a plastic tile. He could feel the glue coming away even as he did so, but it might hold long enough for him to reach the red button...
The trooper and the Doctor were strung out like acrobats, the latter clinging desperately to the floor, the former clutching on to the Doctor’s leg as the huge engine overhead sucked air into its heart.
The Doctor twisted his neck round.