Doctor Who_ Last of the Gaderene - Mark Gatiss [69]
The Doctor threw a look over his shoulder to where he knew the beast to be. ‘We’ll have to push,’ he said at last.
‘We?’ said Jo.
The Doctor shrugged. ‘Well... you. Quickly!’
Jo, Noah and the Brigadier clambered from the safety of the car, the latter letting off a volley of shots into the darkness.
The worm’s shattering roar blasted over them all.
Noah pressed his hands to Bessie’s boot and pushed.
‘Put your backs into it!’ yelled the Doctor.
The wheels span uselessly. The worm slithered forward, its eyes clicking and swivelling in the darkness.
The Brigadier pressed the gun into Jo’s hand. She looked at him and he simply nodded, throwing his weight behind Noah’s. Bessie moved forward an inch.
Jo dropped to one knee and tried to collect herself. Her agent’s training seemed a long way off now.
She could see the worm looming through the dark, illuminated only by the car’s feeble rear indicators. Its terrible face glowed red. She took aim and fired.
The Brigadier managed to lock his shoulder into Bessie’s metalwork and pushed with all his strength. The Doctor tugged at the gear lever, coaxing his beloved car forward.
‘Come on,’ he muttered through clenched teeth. ‘Come on, Bessie!’
Noah wiped the sweat from his face and nodded at the Brigadier. ‘After three,’ he cried.
Lethbridge-Stewart prepared himself. With an earsplitting roar, the creature powered through the marsh towards them, its scales slipping over one another, a great shudder rippling through its snake-like body.
Jo fired. One, two, three, four.
The Doctor slammed his foot on to the accelerator. The car gave a great lurch and bumped forward on to solid ground.
Jo threw herself back into the car, followed at once by Noah and the Brigadier, their legs poking upwards.
The Doctor span the wheel again and Bessie swung in a 180° arc.
For a moment, the creature was fully illuminated in the glare of the car’s lights. It screeched again, as though the light were acid on its flesh, then fell back, water flooding over its hideous body.
The Doctor patted Bessie’s dashboard affectionately Then he put his foot down and the car roared away towards the aerodrome.
He glanced at the Brigadier. ‘Do you think your friend Mr Cochrane might listen to us now?’
Chapter Twenty-Six
Resurrection
Whistler sat down in a big, comfortable chair, the circumstances very different to his last visit to Bliss’s office.
He was grinning broadly and looking around him with childlike glee.
The Master pulled up a chair and sat directly opposite the old man, smiling pleasantly. Bliss was standing by the window, gazing out into the darkness. Her pale face was clammy with sweat, her great dark eyes wet and intense.
‘What is it?’ asked the Master.
Bliss shook her head. ‘Something out there. I can... sense it.’
The Master cocked his head, interested. ‘You mean your little guard dog?’
Bliss said nothing and took her seat behind the crescent-shaped desk. She raised a fat hand and indicated that the Master should proceed.
Nettled at her high-handed manner, he took his time. He pulled his gloves tight and leant forward towards Whistler’s chair.
‘Now,’ he said calmly. ‘Do you know who you are?’
Whistler’s eyes swivelled from side to side. ‘I think so,’ he said. ‘Perhaps you should tell me.’
The Master nodded. ‘You are Wing Commander Alec Whistler of the Royal Air Force.’
Whistler shook his head. ‘No. I don’t think that can be right.’
The Master shifted forward in his seat. ‘You are Wing Commander Alec Whistler and you flew Spitfires out of this aerodrome during the Second World War. Isn’t that right?’
Whistler’s grin broadened. ‘If you say so.’
The Master’s expression became grave, threatening. ‘I do say so. I am the Master.’
He looked at Whistler, fixing his intense gaze on the old man’s eyes. ‘I am the Master. You will obey me!’
Whistler stared at him. ‘I will?’
‘Now,’ continued the Master in his purring tones. ‘You have something which I’d like to see.’
Whistler