Doctor Who_ Longest Day - Michael Collier [64]
She stared at him.'Not just the inmates, then.'
The old man suddenly sank back further into the dark green velvet of the Doctor's coat sleeves. "They're coming,' he said, very plaintively, before slipping into a deep sleep.
A couple of minutes later he was dead.'RIP, George,' said the Doctor solemnly. He stood up, and gently picked up the body from the ground.'Let's get him inside, away from all this.'
Anstaar shook her head, as if trying to clear it of all the fear and the questions. Glancing behind her, she could see that George still lived, hundreds of him in a long line. His warning...
She followed the Doctor inside.
***
When Sam regained consciousness she realised something heavy and sweaty was on top of her. It smelled a bit, but not horrible. Then she realised her mouth was full of thick soil, clay-like and heavy with the moisture in her mouth. Suddenly she began to panic. She could hear voices, shouting, gunfire. She was buried, she thought to herself, buried under something and they were going to dig her out, she'd be safe if she just held on.
Then events flooded back into her mind, painfully vivid, and she froze.What the hell was happening now?
'Damn you, Felbaac!' It was Sangton's voice, quivering with age and indignation.'Shoot him. Kill him!'
Anger twisted Sam's face into determination, and she was about to struggle against the weight holding her down, when she recognised the musky smell and realised it had to be Tanhith.What had happened? She could hear his breathing, shallow and fast. God, he smelled good, but she felt guilty for even thinking it in this situation, and she pictured the Doctor wagging a finger at her. Just her luck to stumble upon an alien humanoid male whose body odour didn't gross you out even when he was half dead in never-ending sunshine and she wasn't allowed to do anything about it and -
The Doctor, wagging a finger at her.
Yeah, well, come and get me out of all this if you're that bothered.
She stayed still, ears straining, thinking hard what to do next.
***
Felbaac was running from his own would-be private army, from the K'Arme troops, from the whole sorry situation. Damn Tanhith, damn him, damn him, damn him. He needed to get away, come back when things had died down.
No, how could he? The main things dying down would be the men when Sangton rounded them back up. It was a good job they were hampered by the pain of their injuries, he thought, then flushed with shame; Felbaac the fearless rebel running from fellow revolutionaries who had only one good foot. Damn Tanhith! Where was his back-up - Maadip,Yattle and Caft -and where the hell was Yast when he needed him?
He had to win back the respect of the men. And to do that, he had to kill Sangton and his troops. Take the men off this planet for good. Let them rest up, then carry on fighting the good fight. Somaath's name would be eclipsed by his own, the glory of Felbaac shining brighter than the sun up there.
But right now glory was nowhere, and the sun beat down so hard he felt he could just lie down and fry. Behind him a few of the prisoners were limping at a half-run after him, about five or six of them. He scrambled up a small rise. A guard was approaching fast from behind. He waited until the guard had shot one of the running men, then fired the fusion device. Silently it took off the guard's shoulder, and he screamed in agony. The men chasing Felbaac stopped, turned to see.
'You see?' panted Felbaac, struggling for breath.'I can save you all. But I must lead you to victory.' The men looked at the guard thrashing about on the floor in a dust cloud, then back at Felbaac. A few of them