Doctor Who_ Last of the Gaderene - Mark Gatiss [76]
‘Well, Doctor?’ cried the Brigadier.
The Doctor looked round rapidly, taking in the parked lorries and the garden of Whistler’s cottage.
‘I’ve got an idea. We can’t risk hurting any of those people but I think they’re here to try and prevent you from attacking the aerodrome.’
‘So what can we do?’ asked Jo.
‘Attack the aerodrome!’ said the Doctor. ‘By the time they get there, we could be inside. Leave half your men here, Brigadier. The rest of them go up in force.’
The Brigadier nodded. ‘Divide and conquer, eh Doctor?
Splendid.’
He swung round towards Benton. ‘Sergeant, you stay here.
Captain Yates and I will lead the assault on the aerodrome.’
Benton saluted. ‘Yes, sir.’
The Brigadier cast a worried look at the approaching villagers. ‘I want you to do whatever you can to restrain those... people. Without resort to firearms. Is that understood?’
Benton answered in the affirmative.
The Doctor nodded confidently to himself. ‘Right. That might buy us some time.’
He took Jo by the elbow ‘Jo, I need your help.’
Jo allowed herself to be steered back towards the cottage.
The Doctor grabbed Noah and forced the boy to look away from the strange and horrible sight of his father and uncle.
‘You too, Noah. I think I may know a way to disable these creatures. At least temporarily.’
Noah looked pleadingly at the Doctor. ‘Will... will they be OK?’
The Doctor looked far from sure but gave him a winning smile. ‘I hope so, Noah. We can only do our best.’
He ushered the boy through into Whistler’s cottage.
‘Just what have you got planned in that devious mind of yours, Doctor?’ asked Jo brightly as they stood on the threshold.
‘Tell me, Jo,’ said the Doctor. ‘Do you have green fingers?’ Jo gave a puzzled frown.
Sergeant Benton approached his troops and gave them the order to shoulder their rifles.
The possessed inhabitants of Culverton were gathering again and stumbling forward.
Benton swallowed nervously and ordered his men to link arms. Above all, they must not let the villagers through.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Attack!
Bliss placed the last of eight jade-coloured objects on a small table in front of Whistler. Each was almost identical to the key which the Doctor had found in the Spitfire but with subtle differences in the shaft; tiny microcircuitry made up a complex pattern that sparkled and shimmered as though alive.
Bliss arranged the keys in a rough semicircle.
Whistler tried not to look at them, working his mouth open and closed, feeling the strain of the ejected creature on his old jaw. He felt a violent urge to be sick.
‘Look at them, Whistler,’ urged the Master. ‘Look at these objects. You’ve seen one like them before haven’t you?’
Whistler shook his head and clamped his eyes shut.
‘What’s going on?’ he mumbled, raising a shaking hand to his temple. ‘Who are you people?’
The Master stared at him. ‘That’s not important now.
There’s nothing at all that’s important except that you show me where the last of these objects is hidden. The ninth key.’
Whistler steadied his breathing. He was severely disorientated and could remember very little of his recent experiences, but he knew an interrogation when he saw one and he wasn’t about to let these people have what they wanted.
‘I’ve never seen anything like those things in my life,’ he said carefully.
Bliss barrelled towards him, moving swiftly despite her bulk. ‘Lies!’
She raised a hand to hit him but the Master grasped her wrist.
‘Do you have to be so drearily unsubtle?’ he hissed.
‘Please, allow me to do this my way.’
Bliss snatched her hand away. The Master turned back to Whistler. ‘Focus on the keys, Wing Commander. Let me see into your mind.’
Whistler gritted his teeth and tried to turn away. The Master grabbed his chin and wrenched his head round. Despite himself, Whistler looked directly into the stranger’s eyes.
When he tried to look away, all he saw were the whirling spools of tape on Bliss’s computer. They seemed to be as one with the Master’s eyes; merging, blurring, spinning...
The Master’s voice was persuasive, Whistler had to