Doctor Who_ The Also People - Ben Aaronovitch [87]
Another wave crashed against the breakwater and doused them both in freezing water. Chris spat salt. 'Now what?'
'I think we do it again,' yelled feLixi.
They did it again and again, each pull gathering up a few precious metres of line. Chris was soon glad of the driving horizontal rain; it washed the sweat off. There was a burning pain in the muscles of his arms and across his back. He could hear feLixi panting for breath, obviously as exhausted as he was.
The line went inexplicably slack.
'Look,' shouted feLixi.
Out amongst the high swell Chris saw a grey shape surge out of the water. Six metres long from the tip of its horn to the end of its tail, the fish seemed to hang agonizingly in the air before crashing down into the waves.
'Crank the handle,' screamed feLixi, 'before it gets away.'
Chris wound like a madman until the line went taut.
And still the fish defied them, fighting every centimetre of line. A kind of madness overcame Chris and feLixi; there was never any thought of quitting, there was only the fish, the sea and the hard rain coming down. Their hands were raw with pain from gripping the rod and their backs were bent with agony.
Until suddenly it was in front of them, thrashing urgently at the base of the breakwater. 'One last pull,' called Chris. Using the ripped-out pockets of their coats as makeshift gloves they took hold of the line and heaved the fish upwards. While feLixi kept it tight against the parapet Chris grabbed hold of the fish itself, the skin rough and cold against his numb hands, and manhandled it onto the top of the breakwater.
They stepped back, amazed at what they had done, triumphant. The fish thrashed on its side, gasping in the air, an eye like a wet pebble stared up at them.
'What do we do now?' asked feLixi, panting for breath.
'I think we're supposed to bash it on the head,' said Chris.
'Well,' said the fish, 'excuse me!'
Chris opened his arms to their fullest extent. 'He was twice this long,' he said.
SaRa!qava was an indistinct figure through the steam. 'So where is he?'
'We had to let him go,' said Chris. He flinched as Dep dug her fingers into his back, kneading the tension out of his knotted muscles. A single strand of her hair caressed his ear.
'You could have invited him back for a drink,' said saRa!qava.
'We did,' said feLixi from one of the upper, hotter benches, 'but he said that he had a promising shoal of fish to worry.'
'Wasn't he annoyed?' asked Dep.
'Actually,' said feLixi, 'he said he rather enjoyed it and needed the exercise anyway. No nerves in his mouth, or so he says. Put some more water on the stones, saRa!qava, I'm beginning to contract again.'
Chris averted his eyes as saRa!qava stood up to fetch a ladle of water. He wasn't used to casual nudity, especially as it pertained to his girlfriend's mother. Ladled water sizzled on the hot stones in the pot, filling the small room with clouds of aromatic steam.
'He almost pulled us in,' said Chris.
'Did he have a name?' asked Dep.
'We asked,' said Chris, 'but he said he hadn't gone to all the trouble of having himself turned into a fish to get away from people just to start handing out his name when he got caught.'
'I think he was embarrassed really,' said feLixi, 'for swallowing such a crappy lure in the first place.'
'Knock, knock,' said a voice.
'Who's there?' said saRa!qava.
'The Doctor,' said the Doctor.
'Well, don't just stand there,' said saRa!qava, 'come in.'
The Doctor walked, fully dressed, into the steam room. He looked around curiously. 'Have I ever told you about Wulf the Unsteady?' he asked. 'Very fond of steam baths was Wulf, especially after a hard day's looting and pillaging. Now there was a real barbarian. Big homed helmet, shaggy beard, chunks bitten out of his shield, the whole shmutter. Pity about the narcolepsy though. Used to fall asleep during raids.' The Doctor slipped off his jacket and sat down on the bench next to Chris. 'I've