Doctor Who_ Last of the Gaderene - Mark Gatiss [63]
‘Emergency!’ called Bliss, her voice only fractionally more energised. ‘Emergency. Cabin depressurisation.’
A high-pitched whine filled the air. Outside, the view appeared to show the plane rapidly descending.
‘Terribly... terribly realistic,’ croaked Darnell above the din. ‘Isn’t it?’
Miss Plowman no longer seemed to be enjoying herself.
‘Not a very good advert for an airline.’
Darnell shook his head.
The air in the cabin seemed to be genuinely altered.
Darnell felt his ears pop. Really, this was going too far.
Someone screamed.
‘Oxygen masks about to be released,’ said Bliss’s voice.
‘Do not be alarmed.’
There was a loud, splintering crack and fifty-eight oxygen masks swung down from the overhead compartments.
Some of the passengers, completely caught up in the simulation, reached for them. Others, like Darnell, looked about uncertainly.
He glanced back at the oxygen mask and frowned. There was something odd about it. The pipe which presumably led to the tanks was transparent but tinged a strange brown colour. A gelatinous slime seemed to ooze from it and the oxygen mask itself was more like the carapace of a crab, legs packed in a tight bunch, black eyes burning with malice.
The oxygen mask moved.
Darnell let out a little shriek of terror.
As the cabin appeared to plunge in a downward spiral, rolling in disorientating circles, the lights blacked out and fifty-eight slithering, living oxygen masks rocketed into the faces of fifty-eight Culverton villagers.
What little screaming there was, was drowned out by the roar of the simulated engines.
By the time the ride was over and another batch of passengers prepared to take their seats, fifty-eight satisfied customers filed out into the baking heat of the summer afternoon. It was obviously one hell of a ride. Every one of them was smiling...
The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. Not one of the Legion troopers had moved, nor even shown any sign that they had noticed the jeep’s arrival. They remained as immovable as shop window dummies the Doctor thought, then checked himself, remembering that shop window dummies didn’t always stay still...
‘What now, Doctor?’ said the Brigadier.
The Doctor shook his head. ‘I want to get another look at that wind tunnel. What we need...’
He glanced back at the jeep and then over at the ring of troopers. ‘...What we need is a diversion.’
Moving back towards the car, he made a quick examination of the windscreen. It was divided into two sections; a solid rectangular bottom half and a top half that was split in two. Each of these sections could be opened and angled upwards in its frame.
The Doctor opened the nearest one and tilted it until it caught the sunlight.
‘Pick one,’ he said.
‘Beg your pardon?’
The Doctor indicated the troopers. ‘Pick one of our jolly friends here. I’m going to try something.’
The Brigadier shrugged and pointed to the trooper nearest to the firmly closed gate.
‘All right: said the Doctor. ‘We’ll call him Charlie.’ He held up a hand and waved. ‘Hello, Charlie!’ The trooper didn’t react.
The Doctor angled the pane of glass in its frame until it was struck by sunlight, turning it into a square of dazzling yellow. He moved the glass further until it was shining directly into the Legion man’s sunglasses-covered eyes.
The trooper fell to his knees, clutching his face. Despite the sunglasses, he seemed unable to bear the direct assault.
‘You see!’ cried the Doctor. ‘They can’t stand bright light.
Something else I discovered last night.’
As one, the troopers took a step forward and unshouldered their machine guns.
‘How does that help us?’ queried the Brigadier.
The troopers raised their weapons.
Not a lot, it seems,’ said the Doctor.
And now the cyan-blue of the room turns deeper, like the last, faint shafts of sunlight penetrating a fathomless ocean.
The small creatures in their racks sleep silently, their delicate-looking, leathery chests rising