Doctor Who_ Last of the Gaderene - Mark Gatiss [91]
The Brigadier nodded. Half a dozen troops were wrestling with the villagers in hand-to-hand combat. He turned to Yates who was once again crouched at his side. ‘Any luck?’
Yates shrugged. ‘I’m not sure, sir. There’s no way of telling... ah!’
The R/T set gave a positive-sounding squeal and Yates thrust it into the Brigadier’s hand.
‘Hello, Spitfire. Hello Spitfire. Are you receiving me?
Over.’
The radio crackled.
The Brigadier clicked again. ‘This is Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Is that you up there, Alec?’
The Spitfire roared over the aerodrome.
Inside the cockpit, Alec Whistler suddenly felt forty years younger. He peered through the glass at the terrifying but beautiful column of blue fire which lit up the heavens. He could see it stretching away through the clouds, seemingly into infinity, like a vast tornado frozen to the spot. Then he saw the monstrous, wounded worm thrashing about in the ruins of the hangar buildings. He thrust the joystick down and prepared to make another pass, then raised the radio receiver to his masked face.
‘Alistair! What a lovely surprise. Can I be of assistance?
You look like you’ve got your hands full. Over.’
The ancient device hissed and the Brigadier’s delighted voice came through.
‘Don’t worry about us, Alec. I’ve got some very specific instructions. Now listen very carefully. Over.’
The Master was pointing his sleek, black pistol, hastily retrieved after the Doctor’s attack, at Bliss. She seemed in the grip of a convulsion, her flabby white skin rippling and puckering.
‘Even if you kill me now, the Gaderene will destroy you, Time Lord.’ Her face juddered and a whole section fell away, revealing a gaping, mandible-stuffed maw.
The Master considered what she had said. He glanced over at the row of gurneys and then up at the terrible creatures taking shape within the column if light.
‘Your weapon cannot affect the encoders,’ chittered Bliss.
‘You know that.’
‘And what if I simply destroy your... swine?’ said the Master simply. ‘Then where will your precious race take shelter? You won’t get far trying to take over the world if you’re stranded on the runway of an East Anglian aerodrome.’
He smiled and swung the weapon round to cover the recumbent form of Charles Cochrane. The Secretary of Defence slept soundly, unaware that death was poised to claim him.
With a screeching howl, Bliss threw herself bodily at the Master, knocking him to the ground. His weapon rolled out of sight without firing a single blast.
The alien’s bulk was immense and the Master struggled to get his breath as it straddled him. He put both fists together and smashed them into its chest. Bliss howled and slumped slightly, clothes and flesh falling away to reveal more and more of the vile creature beneath. A segmented tail burst from what had been one of Bliss’s legs and wrapped itself around the Master’s throat.
Gasping, he rolled on to his side and slapped his gloved hand on the grass, desperately trying to locate his weapon.
Bliss’s tail tightened, scale sliding over scale. The Master retched and hammered his fists against the unyielding flesh.
The alien reared over him, the last vestiges of Bliss falling in disgusting clumps from its massive, locust-like head. Now the great dark eyes were fully revealed, gazing down with terrible malice at the prone Time Lord.
A rapid staccato of gunfire bit into the parched soil. Grass and dry mud flew into the air as the Spitfire rained down bullets, aiming for the column of light.
Again and again they came, stabbing at the earth. Then bullets hit scaly flesh and dark fluid pumped into the soil.
Wisps of smoke filled the air. The Bliss creature opened its mouth and howled in agony.
The Doctor stood some distance away from the column of light with hands on hips. He shook his head. ‘It’s no good, Jo,’
he said at last. ‘Whistler’s not even touching the encoders. I have to go in myself.’
Jo shook her head violently. ‘But you heard what Bliss said! Anyone who goes in there will be killed. It’s suicide!’
The Doctor