Doctor Who_ The Bodysnatchers - Mark Morris [75]
'No,' said Balaak. 'It is too soon to engage the humans in open conflict.
Besides, if they are intent on destroying the factory, then that is useless to us now. Relocate.'
'Yes, Commander,' hissed Zorva.
Like a pearl-diver, the Doctor moved slowly over the barnacled surface of the Zygon ship. He knew that the ship was a manufactured, nonsentient life form, and that its outer surface was pitted with 'breathing-holes', not entirely dissimilar in appearance to those possessed by whales. After several minutes of searching, he managed to find a breathing-hole that was large enough for his purpose. He knew that eventually the hole would open, and when it did he intended to be sucked in with the water from which the ship extracted oxygen to survive. As best he could, he settled down to wait.
He had been waiting for several minutes when the ship gave a sudden lurch. Bucked as though from a frisky horse, the Doctor scrabbled for a handhold. He was still trying to secure one when the ship's broad back tilted steeply. Even as the Doctor rolled down it, as though down an almost vertical cliff face, he realised what must be happening. The ship must be unfurling its long, spider-like legs from beneath it and rising unsteadily to its feet. The question was, why? It surely couldn't simply be to dislodge him.
For some reason it must be altering its location, abandoning the web of influence it had woven around Seers's factory. The Doctor rolled right to the edge of the gnarled back, unable to halt his momentum, and next moment was sinking blindly into a great swirling cloud of muddy water.
For several seconds it was like falling through nothingness, no points of reference above, below, or to either side of him.Then, with enough of an impact to dislodge his mouthpiece, he struck bottom. He lay there on his back for a moment, unable to breathe, mud curling around him like thick, enveloping smoke. As it cleared, he got a vague impression of the Zygon ship, its underbelly high above him and still rising, propelled by the straightening of its long, jointed legs. Even as the Doctor shook his head to clear his vision and groped for the mouthpiece which was floating in the murk somewhere in front of his face, he became aware of the ship beginning to move slowly forward along the river bed like a gigantic spider.
He was so woozy that he didn't realise he was lying right in the ship's path, until suddenly, to his horror, he saw one of the craft's massive legs spearing down through the murky water towards him, threatening to skewer him as effectively as a javelin might skewer a beetle.
Chapter 8
The Broth of Oblivion
Gathering his wits, the Doctor hurled himself out of the way, rolling over and over in the soft mud, his oxygen cylinder jolting beneath him, digging into his back. The leg came crashing down into the place where his body had been just a second before. As it sank deep into the river bed, the Doctor scrambled to his feet and launched himself through the churning water towards it. Though the legs of the Zygon craft seemed spindly in comparison with the mass that they were supporting, the girth of the one nearest the Doctor was still akin to that of a good-sized oak tree. As the ship continued its remorseless advance along the river bed, the Doctor saw the leg tilt from one side to the other, and knew that any second now it would take its next step, pulling itself free from the mud and rising into the air. He gritted his teeth and pushed himself as hard as he could, his hands reaching for the leg with the same desperate eagerness as an Olympic swimmer reaching for the wall at the end of a race. Even as his fingers touched the granite-rough appendage, bristling with spiny hairs, he felt and saw the leg begin to slide upwards, dragging itself from the mud in readiness for its next step.
He grabbed hold and clung on, pressing his body up close against the leg, wrapping his limbs around it as best he could. As the leg rose up through the water with dizzying speed, he felt like someone trying to remain in his seat during