Doctor Who_ Last of the Gaderene - Mark Gatiss [93]
The Doctor heard the bullets hit the ground before he saw them. Two smashed into the parched soil, scoring a direct hit on the ring of encoders. With a loud crack, one of the keys came loose, like a rotten tooth.
More of the deadly bullets smashed to earth and suddenly, with an agonised cry, the Master pitched forward on one knee.
He toppled backwards and the weapon rolled from his gloved hand.
The column of light flickered uncertainly. The Doctor could see the adult Gaderene shuffling perplexedly, their claws tearing at the blue light.
In an instant, he was at the Master’s side. Blood was pouring from the Time Lord’s hand.
‘Don’t try to move,’ said the Doctor gently.
The Master shook his head. ‘It’s no good. It’s finished.’
The Doctor threw a quick glance at the Gaderene. They seemed impatient to be free, writhing and pushing through the column of light. The loose key rocked in its socket.
‘I should have listened to you,’ said the Master softly.
The Doctor nodded. ‘You could never have controlled them.’
The Master managed a small shake of his head. ‘No. I mean.. I mean I should have listened to you years ago...’
He succeeded in smiling, then coughed. ‘I liked this body,’
he said at last. ‘It had style.’
The Doctor stared down at him, then over at the column.
The Gaderene had still to be stopped. His work wasn’t over.
The Master suddenly sprang to his feet.
Taken by surprise, the Doctor fell sideways. He clutched at the Master’s tunic but his old enemy pushed him back.
‘Dear Doctor,’ he laughed. ‘I was always better at play-acting than you!’
He stepped into the blue incandescence.
The Doctor watched helplessly but it seemed that without the ninth key in its proper order, the dazzling column was safe to enter, just as it had been when Bliss inserted the key some time before.
The Master pushed through the half-formed Gaderene creatures towards the loose key. In moments he would reinsert it, step out and the invasion would be complete. The Doctor had no choice but to enter the blazing light. He moved swiftly forward, his cloak streaming behind him.
Whistler listened to the Brigadier’s voice on his radio. He was deep in conversation with a young girl named Jo. She was very upset. It seemed this Doctor fella was about to throw his life away by trying to remove Whistler’s good-luck charm.
There was no other way to stop this invasion. The Wing Commander still had no idea why the jade-coloured thing was so important to Bliss and her cronies but important it obviously was.
As he flew, Whistler managed to open the little lead tin that sat next to him. The dog-eared, white-bordered picture of his one-time love looked up at him, her smile still as vivid to him as on the last day he saw her. He touched the picture with his left hand and then set his jaw determinedly. He had one last mission. One last chance for revenge.
The Master fell to his knees, put his uninjured hand around the ninth key and struggled to ram it back into its proper place.
He was genuinely shocked when the Doctor grabbed his shoulder, span him round and punched him to the ground.
Kicking out savagely, the Master caught the Doctor on his shins and brought him slamming down on to the earth. For a long moment, the two men grappled, the flickering blue incandescence boiling around them. The half-formed adult Gaderene and the thousands of embryos swirled over their bodies like wraiths.
The Master reached out a gloved hand towards the ninth key. It was only inches from his fingertips.
The Doctor rammed his hand under the Master’s arm and held onto it in an iron grip. Grunting, the Master slammed his elbow into the Doctor’s side and the Doctor fell back, gasping in pain.
‘You’re too late Doctor!’ screamed the Master triumphantly as his hand closed around the key.
Just as he was thrusting the key back into place a tremendous roar, louder even than the deafening cacophony of the light-column burst upon them and both he and the Doctor looked up. A great dark shape was