Doctor Who_ Storm Harvest - Mike Tucker [88]
‘Trying to save his life,’ said Mottrack. ‘It was a good attempt.’
Then he lost interest. ‘Place a guard on the tank and return to the bridge.’
‘Sir.’ Bisoncawl gestured to his troops, and they filed out. He turned to Bavril.
‘Dispose of the body,’ he said, and marched away behind his troopers.
Bavril waited until the squad had gone, and then stooped to examine the body.
A whisper, from the shadows. ‘Bavril!’
‘Peck,’ muttered Bavril, as his fellow functionary stepped forward.
He was carrying a plasma gun.
‘What did you find out?’ asked Peck.
‘I’ve seen the planet, Bavril whispered excitedly. ‘It’s habitable.
There are humans already there. We have a new home, Peck!’
‘We have the weapons,’ said Peck. ‘And the Cythosi still don’t seem to be on to us. We’re ready to secure the lower decks. Who’s he?’
He gestured down at the body at their feet.
‘Bisoncawl called him the Doctor,’ said Bavril. ‘He was with Mottrack on the planet. He’s dead.’
‘No, he’s not,’ said Peck.
He was right. The body moved, ever so slowly. It let out a soft groan.
‘Unpleasant stuff...’ it said.
‘It’ll evaporate soon enough in the air,’ said Peck. He pointed his gun at the figure. ‘Get up.’
The man clambered weakly to his feet.
‘How do you do?’ he said. ‘I’m the Doctor.’
Peck ignored the proffered hand.
‘I didn’t have time to reprogramme the transmitter,’ the Doctor said.
‘Did you rescue me from in there? If so, thank you.’
‘The Cythosi did,’ said Bavril.
‘Then I owe them my thanks.’
Bavril gestured at the shapes in the tank. ‘Did you bring that lot up?’
he asked.
‘I suppose I must have,’ said the Doctor.
He peered into the tank. His face creased with worry. He clambered up the ladder, fiddled with the hatch release and opened the hatch. He 170
stuck his head into the tank.
‘I must get to the command deck,’ he said, springing back down the ladder. ‘I must see General Mottrack at once.’
‘Oh no,’ said Peck. ‘No chance.’ He pushed the gun into the Doctor’s stomach. ‘There’s a revolution going on here,’ he snarled.
‘We’re going to have your friend General Mottrack’s head on a stick.’
‘I can assure you, the general is no friend of mine,’ said the Doctor.
‘And yet you’ve just completed his mission for him,’ said Bavril.
‘You’ve successfully transported these things aboard.’
‘I transported the Krill here to prevent a holocaust on the planet down there,’ said the Doctor. ‘I had no desire to help Mottrack. This holding tank seemed to offer my only solution. I was wrong.’
‘Whatever... you probably heard what I said when you were lying there. You know our plans. We can’t...’
‘Wait a minute,’ Bavril interrupted. ‘What d’you mean, you were wrong?’
‘The eggs are hatching,’ said the Doctor. ‘Perhaps the initial radiation leak down there was sufficient to trigger them – perhaps the teleportation process did it. I don’t know – but 1 can assure you they’re starting to hatch. I must see General Mottrack.’
Bavril looked painedly at Peck. Peck’s features were set.
‘Do you know what those things currently hatching can do? Do you know what they’re capable of?’
They were interrupted by shooting, somewhere in the distance.
‘It’s begun!’ exclaimed Peck, his eyes shining. He turned away from the Doctor. ‘Come on. Bring him, Bavril.’
Bavril tried to look authoritative.
‘It’s all right,’ said the Doctor. ‘I’ll come.’
171
Chapter Nineteen
Brenda watched from her shattered office window as the sea smashed into the harbour sector. She could hear screams carried on the wind, smell burning fuel from the mess that had once been a Cythosi shuttle.
For one brief moment she almost gave up, almost surrendered to the despair in her gut. There was nothing she could do, nothing to save the colonisers who had already been through so much.
She swept the thought from her mind as soon as it arrived. She was the co-ordinator of the colony, people relied on her, and she was damned if she was going to sit back and let years of work be taken from her.
Behind her