Doctor Who_ Storm Harvest - Mike Tucker [55]
The robot, gory from its kill, spun round.
There was a loud click, and the dolphin’s metal chest-unit slid open.
Twin gun-barrels peeped out.
Blu’ip began to fire round after round into the little machine. The robot danced about the floor under the impact of the bullets, sparking and twisting until it was just a piece of tangled metal and circuits. Still the dolphin fired.
Bavril lurched to his feet and began to run. The sound of machine-gun fire echoed after him.
Ace and Rajiid lay sprawled across her gigantic bed. The sheets lay in a tangled heap on the floor. Ace gazed up at the white ceiling, her mind a galaxy away from their problems.
106
The noise from the streets seemed to have increased. Footsteps, raised voices, the incessant, calm, feminine tones of the public address system. Ace strained to make out the words.
‘BY ORDER OF THE COLONY CO-ORDINATOR, A CURFEW
IS NOW IN FORCE. PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR HOMES OR
HOTELS WITHOUT DELAY. ALL BUSINESSES ARE TO CLOSE
IMMEDIATELY. PLEASE VACATE THE STREETS NOW. THE
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICE APOLOGISES FOR ANY
INCONVENIENCE CAUSED. BY ORDER OF THE COLONY CO-ORDINATOR...’
The crackle of police megaphones mingled with the gently booming voice. Tersely barked orders cut across institutional calm.
Ace sat up. ‘Something’s happening,’ she said.
Rajiid turned over with a groan and buried his face in a pillow.
‘Does this normally happen here?’ Ace asked.
Rajiid shook his head.
‘Never,’ he said. He thought for a moment, then grinned. ‘Still... you heard the announcement. Looks like we won’t be going anywhere for a while.’
There was a new sound – a deep, throbbing hum that seemed to shake the floor. The streets were suddenly silent. The vibration filled the room.
It was getting dark outside. The room was suddenly bathed in gloom.
Rajiid sprang to his feet. ‘They’re raising the storm shutters,’ he said.
Ace was suddenly anxious.
‘I’m going to find the Doctor,’ she said.
‘How?’ asked Rapid. ‘He went looking for Bryce, remember? He could be anywhere.
‘I don’t know,’ said Ace, ‘but I’m going to try.’
The room was suddenly filled with harsh electric light. The twilit streets were drenched in it. Ace crossed to the window and peered out.
Where the sand had basked, fringed by trees, and beyond that the sea had stretched to the horizon, there was now only a towering expanse of metal, shining dully in the artificial lighting. The storm shutters were still rising out of the ground, inclining inwards as they formed a perimeter wall around the colony. They towered over the island’s trees and buildings. Out at sea a shimmering line of energy sliced across the harbour. A flicker of energy began to arc from the tips of the shutters, veiling the sky with a glittering force field.
Its shadow passed across the twin suns, and it was night.
* * *
107
The door to Garrett’s office was open. There was a smell of rank decay coming from within. The Doctor entered cautiously. The room was dark.
He groped his way to the window and opened the blinds. Electric light cut through the slatted darkness.
He turned. Next to him, sprawled dead on a table, was the alien body from the dig. Or what was left of it. Meat hung from the torso in strips.
The Doctor examined the great gouges. They were fringed with ragged toothmarks.
There was movement to his left. He sprang back from the corpse as something toppled past him and landed heavily on the floor. It was Edwin Bryce; he was stiff and dead. The Doctor stooped to examine the body. An expression of pure terror was etched into Bryce’s face.
The flesh on one of his cheeks was gone. The head was half-severed from the trunk.
The body was still warm. The Doctor’s gaze flashed quickly about the shadows. He’d have to be quick – whatever had done this to Bryce might still be here.
He began rapidly to search the room. No sign of the weapon. He opened a door at the far side of the room and peered through it.
A control panel covered one wall. The Doctor brushed the controls