Doctor Who_ Longest Day - Michael Collier [60]
Now the Doctor told her the base was overrun by monsters, that Vost and Vasid were dead. But all that seemed so distant now, like an old, half-remembered dream that seemed more and more unreal in the face of this sudden, uncertain reality she was facing now. The events in the arena repeated themselves through her mind. She was scared, her legs ached, and that wretched dizziness kept spinning her round and round...
She stumbled and fell to her knees. She could see them sinking into the mud as if she was being sucked into quicksand. She tried to look up, but her head felt heavy - no, it was as if someone was holding her head down.
She strained against it. Her eyes darted to her right - and to her horror she saw the projections of George begin to meld together, begin to move, slowly along the path. The whole world seemed to be shifting around her, and she called out to the Doctor.
But her voice was slurred. With terror she realised it was as if a recording of her voice was played at an absurdly slow speed. Her tongue was like lead in her mouth, it didn't want to move, it hurt to move, and now she could see the Doctor's legs moving in front of her, but so quickly, too quickly, he couldn't be moving that fast, he was playing about, what a time to be clowning, what a time -
Then it was if a roaring wind was filling her ears as she was grabbed by the Doctor and held up against his body. George was a million statues again, the Doctor was breathing hard, and now she could feel herself breathing, her chest heaving up and down as if the air didn't want to stay in her lungs.
She could talk again, but a choking sob came out and then tears followed in their place. The Doctor held her, very tightly, and she clutched hold of him until the panic went away.
Gently, she felt the Doctor pulling himself away from her. He spoke low and urgently, and it took her a time to work out what he was telling her.
'Time is unsettled here, Anstaar. We're in great danger, and we've got to move quickly. The distortion effect is increasing, and this zone is getting more and more unstable.'
'You mean we're going to end up preserved for ever, trotting all the way along this path?' Anstaar looked at him, and felt tears rising once again.
'Doctor, what happened to me?'
'You were caught up in a time eddy. Don't worry, it was very minor. But it's not something you want to happen to you too often.'
Anstaar almost laughed.'You don't say.'
The Doctor looked puzzled.'I do say! Come on. We'll move quickly.'
'But where are we going?'
'To the centre of all this. I'd leave you here, but I'm not convinced it's a lot safer.' The Doctor looked sympathetically at her.'I'm sorry, Anstaar. But there's nothing else to do.'
She looked at the form of the uniformed George stretching away over the uneven track. 'No. I don't suppose there is, is there?'
***
In the watery pink cave, the platform glowed white once again and another of the creatures began to materialise.
***
In her panic Sam's eyes flickered over the whole crazy tableau before her.
In what felt like a split second she took in the men, Tanhith.Yast, Sangton, Fettal, the troops.
Tanhith's eyes rose to meet hers. They were calm. He seemed at ease -
then she realised. He was imploring her to do it. His eyes were hard, focused on hers. His eyebrow lifted a fraction, like a lover having asked for a small, trivial but much-appreciated favour.
He wants me to do it, he really wants me to.
Then she looked up at the sun, still sitting unchallenged in the pink sky, blazing and burning down on all of them. She didn't shield her eyes, and the sun burnt down into them.
She grabbed the gun, held it over her head like a club, then brought it down hard on her forehead. The pain yanked at her but it wasn't