Doctor Who_ Storm Harvest - Mike Tucker [27]
Ace unhooked a heavy rubber torch and handed it over. Rajiid 49
snapped it on, playing the powerful beam over the inside of the pod.
‘We’ve got a survivor!’ Ace and Greg crowded at his shoulder. The woman was huddled in a corner, her breathing fast and shallow.
Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she began to scream.
And scream.
And scream.
The Doctor stood on the deck of the Hyperion Dawn, steadying himself with his umbrella against the swell of the ocean. A stiff breeze was blowing in, flecking the sea with white foam. He stared down at the holes torn in the deck plates. MacKenzie was crouched next to them, running his hands over the shredded metal.
‘From the way this is folded it must have been done from underneath!’
He was incredulous.
The Doctor stared out to sea. ‘Are there any indigenous predators that could do this, Professor?’
MacKenzie shook his head. ‘There are a few primitive cetacean life forms, but no... nothing that could do this.’
The Doctor crossed the deck and hauled himself into the control cabin. MacKenzie followed him. The control console was wrecked, instrumentation smashed and twisted, the walls buckled and scarred.
The Doctor bent and ran his fingers over the floor. They came away sticky with blood. MacKenzie covered his mouth. ‘Oh, my God.’
There was a cry from outside. Q’ilp was bobbing in the water at the platform’s stern.
‘What do you make of this, Doctor?’
The Doctor crossed to the hollow where the escape bubble had nestled. The breeze brought a fetid smell across the deck. His nose wrinkled. The pod-release mechanism was covered with a thick black ooze that had splattered across the deck. Pulling a small bottle from his pocket the Doctor scooped up some of the slime. He held it up, raising his eyebrows quizzically at MacKenzie.
‘I found this as well.’ Q’ilp flicked his head and tossed a small metal container on to the deck. ‘It was hooked on to the hull, well below the water line.’
MacKenzie went to retrieve the container, but the Doctor stopped him.
‘Just a moment, Professor.’
He delved into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small gun-like device. He pressed the trigger and the machine crackled like a machine gun.
50
MacKenzie was puzzled. ‘Radioactive?’
The Doctor nodded.
‘But why would there be a radioactive source attached to the bottom of the platform?’
The Doctor said nothing. Suddenly he crossed back to the cabin. Its metal walls were criss-crossed with deep, narrow welts. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out the shell that Troy had given him. He leant forward and drew the shell along one of the tears, then stepped back and pushed it on to the end of his fingertip.
MacKenzie’s jaw dropped. ‘You’re not serious...’
‘I’m afraid I am, Professor. I think an old predator has woken up, and I think it’s hungry...’
Ace pulled the blanket over the woman and smoothed the hair back from her head. She looked up at Rajiid. ‘She’s sleeping now.’
Rajiid nodded. ‘The shot I gave her should keep her calm until we get back to the colony.’ He lifted up the woman’s identity tag. He turned to Greg. ‘See if you can raise control. Let them know that we’ve found the pod, and Holly ReIf with it.’
‘Rajiid...’ Ace straightened. ‘What do you think happened?’
Rajiid shook his head. ‘I don’t know.’ He looked over to where Bryce was writing furiously in his notebook. ‘But I’m not sure I buy Mr Bryce’s story of ancient aliens.’
‘The Doctor will know.’
‘Your friend?’
Ace nodded.
‘Well, we’d better get talking to him then.’
Rajiid had turned to get back into his chair when R’tk’tk suddenly surged upwards into the sub, sending water cascading over the floor.
‘R’tk’tk! What in God’s name...?’
‘There’s something out there!’ The dolphin was almost screaming:I can sense it. All the other fish, they’re all gone. Shut the hatch. Get us out of here, Rajiid.’
‘R’tk’tk...’
‘NOW!’
There was stunned silence in the sub for a second, then Greg gave a cry from the control cabin. ‘Rapid, you’d better get up here.’
The Indian darted forward to stand