Doctor Who_ Longest Day - Michael Collier [98]
There was no hesitation in her reply.'Yes.' She looked at the floor, a slightly puzzled expression on her face as if her own answer had surprised her.
'Yes,' she said again, with more conviction, looking at Tanhith.'I do.'
'Why?' He was staring at her now.
Sam looked down again, then up at the sky, then in all sorts of directions.
She found her mouth opening, almost in a smile. 'I don't know. I don't know, but I do. I shouldn't, it's useless -'
She stopped talking and joined Crichter peering over the top of the rock. He ignored her. The Kusks were getting close to the cave mouth, but there was no cover to hide behind between the rock and the Kusks.
Crichter's voice was emotionless. 'We'll be dead if they turn round and catch us.'
Sam was feeling a little stronger. 'We've got to get in there and see how they operate the machinery. If we can't suss it out, we've no chance at all.'
Tanhith looked at her, grasping the general gist of her words. "Then let's go.'
Crichter looked at them and nodded. They walked out from cover. The Kusks strode on silently some way ahead of them. A feeling that was almost liberating came over Sam. She was walking openly, with nothing to hide. If the Kusks turned round they would no doubt kill her. If they didn't^
there was a chance she'd get back to the Doctor. There were only those two possible outcomes, and that made her feel decisive, really purposeful, for the first time in so long.
Sam became almost jaunty in her movement along the dusty surface, and she saw a grim smile break out on Tanhith's face.
***
Anstaar realised she could see the moon in the sky, frozen along with everything else in the silent tableau above her. She thought of the Doctor up there, somewhere in the future or the past. Busying himself righting all those wrongs, or lying dead beneath the brute club foot of a Kusk? The pile of stones lay to her right, and she spat in its direction.
Then she saw something glowing in the distance. Like the fireflies back home. Two little lights, weaving around. Orange. Getting slowly bigger and brighter out of the dark mists.
Cold panic rose up from her stomach. She'd never find somewhere to hide in time.
Anstaar painfully moved round towards the one place left to go.
***
Noise and heat. The blackness - no sight... no, wait - the blackness of space. Pinprick stars. Vision.
'Felbaac,' croaked Yast from the floor. 'Felbaac, rebel of the Outer Worlds...
out'a time.'A cackling laugh rattled out of him.
The head of Furstican's corpse nodded in mute agreement as the craft shook and screamed, pitching wildly.
Felbaac ignored him, stretching out a bony emaciated hand to the flight keys.'Need nearest shelter. The ship will steer us to nearest heat trace. A safe landing.'
He stared at the screen, his eyesight failing him again. Auto lock-on. Let the ship guide them down.
Felbaac patted Yast's lifeless leg. The man's tiny eyes were fixed on his, accusingly.'We'll be all right!' he said.
The symbols on the navigation screen rolled, then flickered out.
***
There was a band of golden light stretching beyond the cliff face near the entrance to the cave. Now they were closer it was clearly visible, despite the harsh sunlight.
'What's that?'whispered Crichter.
'The end of this zone and the start of the next, perhaps,' murmured Tanhith.
The band of light crackled and spat, seemed to move backward away from them. A small grove of tall, sinister-looking dark trees with broad leaves and huge clumps of orange berries were left behind, glowing with a strange power.
'Oh, my God,' breathed Sam, recognising the time trees for what they were.'What the hell are they doing here?'
The soil was darker beneath the weird forest, and a pungent smell filled the air. The two Kusks had entered the cave, and Sam prayed they would not emerge to investigate the change in atmosphere the movement of the time barrier had brought about.
'Wait here,' Sam whispered, and skittered across the hundred or so metres between her and the darkness of