Doctor Who_ The Awakening - Eric Pringle [54]
‘Colonel Wolsey,’ he said gently. ‘Ben Wolsey. Your friend.’
Finding a flaw in the determination of its servant, the Malus roared and jerked Sir George back to full attendon.
He pointed the guns firmly at Wolsey’s head. ‘Get back!’
he warned. Now, impelled by the Malus, he moved steadily forward.
Wolsey was forced to retreat. Yet despite this setback he was determined to take care of Sir George himself. ‘We’ve something to settle,’ he insisted.
Sir George did not even hear him this time, because the Malus was inside his head again.
‘Sir George,’ the Doctor said urgently. He came forward to stand at Wolsey’s shoulder. ‘It’s vital that you should listen.’
But Sir George kept moving forward, pressing them back. At the same time he was edging round towards his master.
The Malus roared.
The noise thundered down the crypt and reached out to Joseph Willow, who lay sprawled where he had fallen. It entered his mind like a lightning stroke.
Willow sat bolt upright, as if someone had dashed cold water over him. He drew his pistol hurriedly, then hesitated, trying to remember where he was. His head ached and he felt shaken; when he saw the gun in his hand he felt puzzled. Then the noise echoed in his ears again. It filled his head, drew him to his feet and led him across the crypt to the steps.
Sir George Hutchinson had worked round to stand in front of the Malus. The monstrous head loomed above him, jerking, shuddering, roaring constantly now and billowing dense smoke.
They had to shout to be heard above the noise. ‘Listen to Colonel Wolsey!’ the Doctor cried. ‘Concentrate your thoughts – you must break free of the Malus!’
‘Free?’ Sir George stabbed the pistols forward. ‘Why?
I’m his willing servant.’
‘You’re his slave,’ the Doctor argued. ‘He only wants you for one thing.’
The Malus roared; the noise buffeted Sir George and he staggered and swayed, utterly disorientated. ‘You’re mistaken,’ he cried. ‘He has offered me enormous power!’
He tried to smile, but the pressure in his head was monstrous and his face twisted with pain.
‘No!’ the Doctor tried again. How could he explain?
‘The Malus is here for one reason – to destroy. It’s the only thing it knows how to do.’
Ben Wolsey saw the confusion on Sir George’s face. The Doctor seemed to be getting through to him. ‘Now listen to the Doctor,’ he pleaded.
Sir George was being torn apart. He tried to hear the Doctor’s words but the Malus lashed his brain and he cried out in agony. He put a hand to his head to contain the noise; he felt as if his skull was breaking open. He waved the other hand, and the pistol it still held, at the Doctor. ‘I don’t believe you,’ he moaned.
The noise of the Malus was beginning to vibrate the whole fabric of the church. The Doctor doubled his efforts.
He shouted above the raging sound: ‘Without you the Malus is helpless ... through you it feeds on the fear and anger generated by the war games. Once it is strong enough it will destroy you!’
Sir George stared wildly at the Doctor. But as his uncertainty returned, the Malus began to sheer the mind clean out of him. His face moved into a paroxysm of pain.
‘No!’ he screamed. He staggered, but used all his strength to recover his balance, and levelled the pistols again.
Wolsey’s hand grasped the hilt of his dagger. The Doctor stepped forward to make one last effort, But as he did so, Joseph Willow appeared in the archway and crept up behind them. He had exchanged his pistol for a knife.
‘Sir George,’ the Doctor pleaded, ‘your village is in turmoil and you’re pointing your gun at a man who is a friend. That’s the true influence of the Malus. Cant you feel the rage and hate inside your head? Think, man!’
The Malus roared and Sir George staggered and clutched his head again. He was grunting and moaning, and beginning to buckle under the weight of pain. ‘Did you have any such feelings before you activated that thing?’ the Doctor insisted.
Sir George gasped. He reeled; he was losing control of his limbs. ‘I ... don’t ...’ He could find no words to express what