Doctor Who_ Nightshade - Mark Gatiss [74]
Ace ruffled his hair. ‘You’re full of those clichés, aren’t
‘What d’you mean?’
you?’
‘Maybe it’s good that you can’t take it in. You’ve got to They laughed again, eyes shining.
keep your wits about you. I think the best thing you can do Perhaps she would tell him everything soon. Tell him of for her is to stay alive.’ Ace took his hand and pulled him to the wonders and the horrors she’d seen. And who she and her. They kissed again.
the Doctor really were. Perhaps...
‘Tell me about the Doctor,’ said Robin at last, stroking her The floorboards creaked loudly and Ace jumped in shock.
hair from her eyes with his delicate fingers.
She peered into the dusty corners.
Ace shrugged. ‘We travel together. He’s a sort of ... guru
‘There’s somebody there!’
for me, I suppose.’
‘Can’t be.’ Robin began to advance towards the trap door.
Robin laughed. ‘You’re not into all that hippy shit, are
‘There is!’ Ace grabbed his arm. ‘Listen!’
you?’
A heavy silence followed and then they heard the same
‘No!’ Ace grinned. “The Doctor’s ...’ She thought of a creaking of boards followed by a deep moan.
word she’d found in a little yellow-backed novel in one of
‘What the hell is it?’ Robin whispered from between the TARDIS’s less dusty rooms. ‘The Doctor’s... my mentor.
clenched teeth.
He teaches me things, shows me places. Helps me to grow Ace shook her head. Something small and dark scuttled up.’
into view, starlight from the window picking out its bent
‘You don’t seem like you need much help.’
contours.
‘Oh, I did. Still do, I suppose. Sometimes I feel like he Billy Coote walked slowly towards them, his arms stiff manipulates me. But it usually turns out for the best.
and his hair swept back from his head like a halo.
Usually.’
Ace gasped. ‘Look at his eyes!’
‘Cruel to be kind, eh?’
The old man’s black orbs jerked and twitched in their Ace nodded. ‘Something like that.’
sockets. A voice, deep and rumbling, rose from the depths She stared into the darkness and smiled. ‘He’s shown me of his chest.
so many things, so much beauty...’ Ace looked at Robin,
‘I can see it! I can see it!’
suddenly embarrassed. ‘Stuff like that.’
Then, more powerfully, the timbre becoming almost Robin could sense she was troubled. ‘But?’
musical: ‘I can see it!’
‘I’d do anything for him,’ said Ace. ‘But now... now he’s talking about jacking it all in.’
Trevithick, Vijay and Holly shot to their feet. For an Robin squeezed her hand. ‘All good things come to an instant, the sky was like an upturned crucible, fire leaving a end.’
starburst after image on their eyes.
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DOCTOR WHO: NIGHTSHADE
DOCTOR WHO: NIGHTSHADE
Holly gasped and jumped back from the window, reared up on its legs, mandibles clicking, and the others shielding her eyes.
followed suit as though obeying a silent command.
‘Mr Medway, I presume,’ said Trevithick hollowly, Gradually, very gradually, the soft rustling sound clasping his hands behind his back.
whispered into the air, rising in volume like the sound of an Vijay pulled a parka off the back of his chair. ‘I’m going to expectant crowd.
find Cooper.’
‘You see!’ cried Trevithick. ‘It’s them! Remember!’
He expected Holly to react, to ask him to stay with her as Vijay’s gaze was forced away from them for a moment as she had done before, but she just slid to the floor, gently more consoles blinked back to life. He grabbed Holly’s hand rocking herself. Vijay didn’t really want to go outside at all.
but she resisted, pressing her feet against the floor tiles.
Trevithick came to his rescue. ‘Are you sure about this, Vijay gritted his teeth and picked her up bodily.
young fella? We don’t want to risk any more of us, do we?
‘Mr Trevithick. Into the interior. Quick!’
It’s rather like those Hammer horrors I used to do where The row of insectoid creatures sprang through the people get bumped off one by one. You always end up window, gutteral screeches escaping their jaws.
saying “Why do they go off on their own? It’s so obvious!”
Trevithick yelped in fright and pelted across the room Maybe we should stick