Doctor Who_ Last of the Gaderene - Mark Gatiss [92]
He raised a hand and touched her cheek. Then he turned on his heel and walked swiftly towards the column.
Jo’s whole frame sagged. Noah crawled forward and put his arms around her. She closed her eyes. At last, she took the R/T set from her bag and made contact with the Brigadier.
‘You can call off the Spitfire,’ she said flatly. ‘The Doctor’s going in alone.’
‘What?’ came the Brigadier’s reply. ‘Say again.’
Jo let the radio fall to the ground.
The Doctor stood as close as he dared to the boiling, twisting column of light. The twelve elders were almost formed now, standing as though behind a shimmering curtain, just waiting for the moment to break through. They fluttered and jerked like an old film, shadowy impressions of the creatures’ full forms. They moved in and out of focus, testing the waterfall of light with their claws.
The Doctor looked for a moment into their pitiless black eyes and then over at their intended homes, the people lying prone on the black couches only feet away.
The nearest encoder was visible, thrust into the ground about five yards away from him. He could try and reach through the curtain of light, of course, and only risk destroying part of his body, but he had to be sure. He had to uproot the encoder and send the Gaderene streaming back into space and inevitable destruction. It gave him no pleasure to contemplate this. They were merely striving to survive. But he could not allow them to destroy humanity.
The Doctor took a deep breath, gathered himself and stepped forward.
With a bellowing scream, the Bliss creature was on him, sending them both flying backwards. He gasped, winded, and tasted earth in his mouth. He tried to turn over but the massive, wounded beast was holding him flat, mandibles chittering, fathomless eyes dilating with evil intent.
The Doctor managed to chop at its neck and the alien croaked throatily, spewing its saliva on to his chest. Managing to raise one leg, he kicked blindly at it and sent it rolling head over tail.
Jumping to his feet, the Doctor made straight for the column.
The Bliss creature’s tail coiled around his ankles like a snake and dragged him to the ground. He fell heavily, his face connecting with the iron-hard soil. With lightning speed, the tail was around his throat, crushing the life out of him.
The Doctor gasped for air, eyes bulging.
He tried to get his fingers between the scales on the monster’s skin, to find any vulnerable spot. But there was nothing. He felt the alien’s spiny claws bite into his clothes as it grasped him in a deadly bear hug.
He tried to crawl forward. He had to make it into the column. He had to remove the encoder and destroy the Gaderene. Had to. If it was the last thing he did...
A dark figure suddenly swam into view. The Doctor tried to focus on it, but consciousness was leaving him as the alien throttled him to death. He was vaguely aware that the figure was raising its arm...
Then there came a sharp, electric crackle and suddenly the Doctor could breathe again.
He sank to the ground, dragging breath after ragged breath, and finally managed to look over his shoulder.
The Bliss creature was shrinking before his eyes, scales impacting upon one another, the lethal tail winding itself up like a spring, the mandibles crushing themselves, the black, black eyes popping like over-ripe fruit. The creature’s roar diminished into a pitiful squeal as it grew smaller and smaller and smaller and finally lay still.
The Doctor rubbed his eyes, scarcely able to believe what had happened.
The Master stood before him, his black weapon in his hand. ‘I could hardly deny myself the pleasure of killing you myself, Doctor.’
He grinned and raised the weapon.
Whistler banked the Spitfire to the left, peering through the cockpit hood at the scene below. A white-haired man was lying prone on the grass, a figure in black pointing some kind of gun at him.
The man in black was obviously one of Bliss’s mob. His jaw setting grimly, Whistler