Doctor Who_ Silver Nemesis - Kevin Clarke [16]
‘Now, though, I’ll let them all destroy each other, then we take the Nemesis.’ She pulled back the bowstring and fired another arrow into the mêlée below.
Seventy-five feet away, another Cyberman fell. Crouched under cover near him, De Flores watched as Lady Peinforte’s arrow proved as deadly as the last. His men were falling right and left, and it was clear that soon he and Karl, who was providing pointless covering fire from next to him, would be the last left. He shook Karl’s shoulder.
The young man stopped firing and cocked his ear to De Flores.
‘We must retreat,’ shouted De Flores above the gunfire.
‘It’s our only chance of final victory.’
Karl was disbelieving. ‘And leave the statue?’ he shouted back. To his surprise, De Flores agreed.
‘The statue alone is useless to them and the bow is ours.
Retrieve it.’
Without hesitation, Karl crawled into the open and began making his way across the ground towards the flight case. Lasers and machine-gun fire, with the occasional explosion from grenades, continued all around him.
As soon as Karl was away, De Flores too broke cover and dashed to the nearest dead Cyberman. Pulling the arrow from its chest, he ran back behind the wall where he had sheltered. He examined the arrow closely, although he had confirmed everything he suspected with a glance at its shining head.
On the rooftop, Richard’s attention was caught by something. ‘My lady. Who is that little man?’
Lady Peinforte fired another arrow, this time narrowly missing her intended target. She glanced across in the direction that Richard was indicating.
‘Who knows?’ she replied, reaching for another arrow.
‘Some interfering...’ she stopped, and peered more closely.
Suspicion dawned. ‘It cannot be,’ she whispered.
‘His face has changed,’ said Richard.
‘The wench’s too. But... of course. Why, toads and adders can be leaders of men, can the Doctor not change his face?’
A slight gust of wind blew the smoke from the burning buildings, clearing the air for a moment. Near the crater, the TARDIS was suddenly visible. Lady Peinforte was exultant. ‘O glorious evil,’ she cried. ‘ It is he!’
‘Where did it come from?’
The object of Lady Peinforte’s unconfined joy was crouched with Ace near the crater, examining the arrow that had killed the Cyberman. Now the Doctor was at last prepared to give his companion undivided attention, and his face was deadly serious.
‘I couldn’t see,’ said Ace.
‘Cybermen killed by a bow and arrow?’ said the Doctor.
‘It’s ludicrous...’ A thought struck him. ‘Unless...’ he said, half to himself. He pulled the arrow out of the chest panel.
It glinted. ‘Of course. The head’s made of gold.’
Ace was impressed. ‘That’s real gold?’
‘The only substance,’ the Doctor replied, ‘to which Cybermen are vulnerable.’
‘Classy,’ said Ace. She reached out to touch the arrow head. The Doctor snatched it away.
‘Gold dipped in poison.’ Ace froze. ‘Lady Peinforte’s signature.’ He looked around them carefully. Fifty yards away, the last paramilitary apart from Karl and De Flores was fighting a losing battle with the remaining Cybermen who were steadily closing in on him. There was no sign of anyone else. Ace shivered.
‘I really think we should get out of here, Doctor,’ she said.
The Doctor agreed. ‘I think you’re right. Now,’ he mused, ‘the Cybermen and Lady Peinforte both hate me to the death. The others mustn’t feel left out.’
He darted across the open space. The bow lay shining in the open flight case where De Flores had left it. The Doctor took the bow and snapped the case shut. He turned back to Ace.
‘Come on,’ he said. Ace needed no encouragement: together they bolted to the TARDIS.
On the rooftop, Lady Peinforte watched in horror as the Doctor took the bow. This development had played no part in her calculations of imminent victory. ‘No,’ she