Doctor Who_ Storm Harvest - Mike Tucker [66]
unwelcome company with me. It might be a good idea if we weren’t at home.’
One of the women shook her head. ‘We can’t leave.’ She pointed to a bed in the corner of the room. The Doctor crossed to it, his face grim.
‘Holly Reif.’
Ali the other beds were empty
‘Thank God we have so few patients, the nurse said. ‘We started an evacuation – got most of the patients down to the basement levels.
They’re setting up barricades in some of the storm shelters. But then the Krill cut us off. There’s nowhere to go – they’re everywhere. She stroked the unconscious woman’s forehead. ‘Maybe we could make it, but we won’t leave the patients.’
They started as the door slid open with a soft hiss. A young policeman, his face bloodied and bruised, appeared in the doorway
‘They’re on this level. We’ve got to leave – now!’
The nurses looked at the Doctor in desperation. ‘But we can’t...’
The Doctor pushed them forward. ‘Get out of here. Leave her to me.’
‘But...’
‘I’m the Doctor. Go! ’
The policeman bustled the nurses towards the emergency exit. The Doctor watched them go and pressed his hand against the door panel.
The frosted glass slid shut, cutting out the noise of battle. The Doctor turned back into the silent medical bay. The only noise breaking into the quiet was the hum of the auto-doc suspended over the one solitary patient.
He crossed to Holly’s bedside. The sleeping woman’s breathing was steady and low, her face peaceful. She was completely unaware of the battle for existence raging around her. Not for the first time the Doctor marvelled at how such fragile creatures could have survived so long when the universe continued to throw up enemies that were better armoured than them, more vicious, more ruthless.
Behind him he could hear hissings and scrapings in the corridor. The Krill were gathering.
The Doctor leant forward and placed his hands on either side of Holly’s face, holding her head ever so gently. He took a deep breath and pushed her head sharply to the left.
Holly’s eyes flickered open. They stared straight up into his. He smiled.
‘Hello. I’m the Doctor.’
Holly smiled nervously back. ‘Doctor?’ She looked around her.
‘How did I...?’
‘Ssh.’ The Doctor put his fingers to his lips. ‘Quietly...’
128
Her brow creased, ‘I was at sea, I remember...’ She suddenly caught sight of the silhouetted shapes of the Krill outside the door and drew in a breath, about to scream.
The Doctor caught hold of her nose and squeezed it gently, stifling her scream. His steely eyes fixed on hers.
‘You have been through more than anyone should have to go through, and I wish I could let your body heal in its own time, but we are in deadly danger and I need your help.’
Holly nodded and the Doctor released her nose.
Tears began to flood into Holly’s eyes as her memory began to come back. The Doctor laid a gentle hand on her arm. ‘I’m sorry about your friends, but this is not the time to grieve. You’ve seen the Krill. You’ve seen what they can do. They are here now, and will be coming through the window any minute. These creatures are overrunning your entire colony and we have to find a way of slowing them down.’
He slipped away from the bed and passed Holly a white lab coat from the back of a chair. ‘The Krill aren’t aware of us yet, but it’s only a matter of moments before they are.’
Holly clambered unsteadily from the bed, pulling on the coat and rubbing the tears from her eyes.
‘D’you have a plan?’
The Doctor cocked his head to one side. ‘How well do you know this colony?’
Holly looked at him. ‘I’ve been helping to build it for the last four years of my life.’
‘Then I have a plan.’
Ace pulled a handful of harpoons from a carefully arranged display on the wall behind Brenda’s desk, hefted the gun in her hands and turned to leave the control room.
Brenda caught her arm. ‘Where are you going?’
‘After the Doctor.’
Brenda shook her head. ‘Let the riot teams get him.’
Ace pulled herself free angrily ‘Listen, missus, the Doctor is my responsibility, get it? We’re a team.