Doctor Who_ The Bodysnatchers - Mark Morris [39]
It was big. Nowhere near as big as the creature they had encountered on the towpath, but big all the same. As it emerged from the shadows, Sam got a confused impression of a silvery, fish-scale body, a long neck and a head containing rolling eyes and slavering fangs.
Then the creature let out a thundering bellow and charged towards them...
Chapter 4
Devil Incarnate
Sam froze. The candle holder slipped from her nerveless fingers and clattered on the floor, the candle going out. Though it must have been no more than a split second, she seemed to be standing there for a long time, watching the vast bulk of the creature ploughing through the darkness towards her. I wonder what being eaten will feel like, she thought almost abstractedly. Then someone shoved her roughly to one side.
It was the Doctor. He leapt forward, holding his sonic screwdriver out before him like a weapon. The bulb on the end was glowing a fierce cherry-red. Sam clapped her hands over her ears as the Doctor manipulated a control, and the device suddenly emitted a high-pitched screech. Beside her, Litefoot screwed his face up and also pressed his fingers to his ears.
The effect on the creature was far more dramatic.
It released a groaning bellow of pain and skidded to a halt, its head weaving from side to side like a boxer trying to shake off the effects of a powerful, dizzying punch.
'Quickly,' the Doctor shouted. 'Make for the steps while it's disorientated.'
Sam felt him grab her arm with his free hand and propel her forward. 'It's all right, I can manage,' she gasped, and stumbled towards the creature, skirting round it and heading for the steps. The sound from the sonic screwdriver was like a drill trapped in her brain. She reached the steps and staggered up them, feeling as though she was going to fall flat on her face at any moment. She was vaguely aware of Litefoot just behind her, the Doctor bringing up the rear. Then she was stumbling out of the door and on to the factory floor, whereupon her legs promptly turned to jelly and she dropped to her knees.
Litefoot appeared, wheezing, having lost his candle, cane and hat, and half collapsed against the wall. Finally, out catapulted the Doctor. In a bewildering blur of movement, he switched off and pocketed his sonic screwdriver, slammed the basement door, and replaced the bar and padlock.
'Gad,' litefbot gasped.'What was that thing?'
'Well, I don't think it was the factory cat,' said the Doctor, and flipped a thumb at the door.'The creature will recover quickly, and this door won't hold for long. I suggest we make ourselves scarce.'
Litefoot nodded and pushed himself away from the wall, his face a pale oval in the darkness. Sam heard the Doctor coming towards her and forced herself to stand up before he had to help her. She was aware she had reacted badly, and was annoyed with herself for having done so.That, she promised herself, was the last time she would ever freeze. From now on, she would remain alert, would force herself to keep thinking, whatever the situation.
When the Doctor came up beside her and asked her if she was all right, she forced herself to grin and hoped the lack of light would mask the true expression in her eyes. 'Never better,' she told him, but her voice was too loud and too raw in the dark and silent factory.
***
Emmeline awoke with a jolt, her heart pounding. She lay for a few moments in the darkness, wondering what had woken her. The house seemed silent, and her sleep, as far as she could recall, had been dreamless. Presently she closed her eyes again, though now she did not feel the slightest bit tired. Her mind kept turning over that morning's events, particularly the awful and upsetting conversation she had had with her father. What was it that strange man, the Doctor, had said? He had told her her father was being controlled. But what precisely did that mean? Was her father being blackmailed or threatened in some way? Or was it something more than that?
She thought of how her father had seemed when she had