Doctor Who_ Peacemaker - James Swallow [50]
‘Godlove,’ Nathan couldn’t help but sneer when he said the man’s name. Everything that had happened in this whole sorry mess could be laid at the con artist’s door. ‘No good if we can’t use it, though.’
‘No problem,’ said the Doctor. He aimed his wand-device at the wick and it puffed into flame. ‘Let there be light.’ He handed the lantern to Nathan with one hand and plucked Martha’s mow-bile from him with the other. ‘I’ll keep hold of this.’
Nathan looked back the way they’d come, at the pile of red boul-ders blocking the entrance from floor to ceiling. ‘You got a way of making a point, Doc. I sure hope there’s another means outta this rabbit warren.’
The other man hesitated, and took a long, deep sniff. ‘Oh, don’t worry. I can taste fresh air. There’s bound to be ventilation shafts and that sort of thing.’ His lip curled. ‘Of course, if there are other ways in –’
‘Then those trail rats out there are gonna reckon the same sooner or later.’ Nathan jerked a thumb in the direction of the entrance. ‘Guess we better move quick-like.’
The Doctor gathered up Martha in his arms and held her close.
‘Guess we better, then.’
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The teenager had not taken two steps before the Doctor called out to him. ‘Nathan.’ He froze. ‘Are you OK?’
All at once, the heavy little object Nathan had concealed in his vest pocket felt like it weighed a hundred tons. ‘Don’t worry none ’bout me,’ he replied, and walked on into the dark, a halo of flickering yellow light moving with him.
Kutter and Tangleleg dropped from their saddles and moved around the wagon. The flames had taken hold and were swiftly consuming the wood and canvas box. Both men ignored the crashes and chugs from inside the wagon as the fire shattered bottles of Godlove’s medicine.
Kutter paused just for a moment, using his scruffy boot to nudge Walking Crow where the man had fallen in a nerveless heap. The longrider snorted and turned away. The Pawnee would not be getting up again.
Tangleleg stood in front of the rockslide that blocked the mine entrance, and carefully worked the barrel on his gun, twisting it to dial down the diameter of the discharge. He studied the lay of the boul-ders, letting the power inside the pistol do the work, looking for an optimal place to start blasting.
Kutter let a short, negative-sounding buzz flick out from his lips, transmitting a situation report in a blink of noise. Combat engineering sensors warned against using brute power on the stones; moving them or blowing them apart would only trigger other collapses, and it would take too long to excavate the entrance carefully. They needed to find a different means of entry into the mine works. Their objective was in there; they could sense the faint proximity of another of their kind.
The two figures stepped back and began to survey the shallow hill in front of them, their eyes needling as the optic jelly inside them altered and changed. Vision shifted from the realms of normal light towards the infra red, and the hill became a yellow pyramid of sun-warmed colour.
Tangleleg spotted it first and buzzed out an advisory. There, towards the crown of the hill, was a patch of ground slightly colder 124
than the rest – a chimney perhaps, cut into the mine to let fresh air enter.
Holstering their guns, silently the longriders began to climb up the hillside.
The Doctor saw the light glittering from around the curved passageway ahead of them and had Nathan take Martha’s weight while he gathered up the lantern. ‘Let me do the talking.’ He gave the youth a hard look that showed he would brook no argument, and Nathan returned a sullen nod.
Martha gave a little gasp with each footstep she took, fighting off the raging pain. She was pale and drawn, and the sputtering light of the lantern threw shadows across her pretty face. ‘I’m OK,’ she said, realising the Doctor’s scrutiny. ‘Jones girls aren’t cry-babies.’
‘This’ll be over soon,’ the Doctor promised. ‘Just hang in there.’
‘I got her, Doc,’ Nathan added. ‘Go on.’
He led them