Doctor Who_ Storm Harvest - Mike Tucker [86]
‘We’ll never make it!’ Rajiid had to scream in her ear to be heard, the words torn from his mouth and whipped away by the wind.
Ace dragged him towards a huge tree, pulling him to its vague shelter. The two of them cowered against the trunk as the tree groaned under the onslaught of the wind.
Ace cupped her hands over Rajiid’s ear. ‘We have to get after 164
Garrett, and he’s managing to get through this. We can’t stay with the Dreekans.’
‘I know that, but this storm is going to tear us to pieces. Surely we can try and weather it out and then head for the colony?’
Ace shook her head. ‘It’ll be too late by then. That weapon is the only defence we have against the Krill.’
Their argument was cut short by a crack that rang around the mountainside like thunder, drowning out the sound of the hurricane. A bright white glare – brighter than the two suns – bloomed on the distant horizon, the storm clouds swept aside.
They turned away, shielding their eyes. As the glare faded Ace stared at the mushroom cloud billowing in the distance, then the storm clouds swept in once more.
165
Part Four
‘There are holes in the sky where the rain comes in...’
166
Chapter Eighteen
The EM pulse hit Coralee central control like a fist. Sparks showered from equipment sending technicians scrambling for cover. There was a low whine as the emergency generators kicked in. Brenda stared in disbelief at the emergency lights winking across the boards. She turned to the window. Before she could say anything the wind punched out the glass.
Holly Reif watched as the mushroom cloud vanished up into the swirl of the storm clouds. Out in the harbour the repulsor field flickered and died and the waves surged in.
A lone Cythosi shuttle, crippled by the burst of electromagnetic radiation, was struck broadside by the sudden wind and sent tumbling towards the water. Its engine pod was torn free on impact and the ship nose-dived, metal plates torn apart as the waves caught it in their grip.
From somewhere inside there was the dull thump of an explosion and fire flared from the stricken ship.
Holly’s workshop shuddered under the wind and roof panels began to tear themselves loose.
She heard glass shatter and turned in time to see one wall smashed apart by the sea. She scrambled to her feet and was racing for the jetty when the freezing water slammed into her back. She flailed wildly for something to hold on to, her hands raking across the floor as the sea tumbled her over and over.
Something slid through her outstretched fingers and she grasped at it blindly, her eyes streaming and her throat raw from the salt water. The rush of water tugged at her clothes trying to drag her back into the sea.
She tucked her head against her chest and hung on for dear life.
The grip of the water began to subside and she scrambled to her feet again. The walls of her workshop were split apart, crushed by the force of the waves. Through the ragged gaps she could see boats piled up in the harbour like kids’ toys, rigging lines flailing like whips.
The colony was dark, only the pale glow of the emergency lights piercing the gloom of the storm. Holly could hear the screams and shouts of people caught in the chaos. Burning fuel from the Cythosi 167
shuttle flecked the tops of the waves, the flames fanned by the vicious wind. She could see the storm shutters, dark and useless, towering over the buildings, waves shattering over their tops.
A sheet of corrugated metal, torn from one of the harbour buildings, sliced through the air like a scythe. Holly dived to the ground to avoid it, and watched as it was flicked across the jetty like a playing card, gouging lumps out of the tarmac.
With a splintering crash another wave tore the remains of her workshop apart and Holly curled herself into a ball as the sheet of water crashed down on top of her. She managed to snatch a breath of air and the next thing she knew she was helpless in deep water, virtually blind, terrified.
Her lungs bursting, she tried to establish where the surface was, but the churning