Doctor Who_ The Devil Goblins From Neptune - Keith Topping [70]
Shuskin came and stood next to Liz, a grim smile of satisfaction on her face. The other soldiers formed a protective ring around the Doctor, shooting at the Warn as they flew into the air and preventing any more from approaching with a constant barrage of machine-gun fire.
When none of the creatures remained on the Doctor's body Liz handed the device to Shuskin and ran to his side.
He was still and very cold. His face was covered with numerous cuts and bruises, although one arm had been thrown up to protect his eyes. Deep gashes had been made into his chest and shoulders. He'd already lost a lot of blood -
if, indeed, that stuff that flowed through his veins could be classified as blood.
Liz tried to move the arm that protected his face, but it was stiff, as if the Doctor's entire body had been cast in bronze. She )laced her fingertips over the Doctor's pale lips.
She felt the gentlest tingle of exhaled breath.
'Not again,' she said sadly.
You really should stay in for another night or two, Mr Benton,'
aid the consultant neurologist. 'I can't overstress the potential
!angers of treating concussion lightly.'
'So you've said,' noted Benton. Five times already. 'My mind's made up. I need to get back to work' He glanced at himself in the mirror opposite his bed and saw his head swathed in bandages. He looked like the top half of an Egyptian mummy. Funny really. Benton smiled and returned his attention to finding his jacket.
It's on the back of the chair,' said the consultant helpfully.
'Thank you.'
Benton slipped on his brown suede jacket. It had been in the bag of clothing brought into Challesford Royal Infirmary by Corporal Bell. She'd been chatty, as usual, and admitted that she was worried about Mike Yates's ability under pressure, but Benton had been too out of it to take much notice.
It had been even worse when he'd first arrived. When Benton recovered consciousness in the sterile surroundings of the hospital he had been confused and groggy, unsure of anything much, including where he was or how he'd got there. Then, gradually, the pieces started to slot into place.
He'd been in the Doctor's lab and...
something important was missing, some vital piece of an enormous jigsaw. Benton struggled to remember, but still it refused to come to mind. He could remember all sorts of stupid timings.' that the last three winners of the European Inter City Fairs up were Leeds United, Newcastle United and Arsenal; that the capital of Bolivia was La Paz; that the girl with whom he'd lost his virginity was called Deborah Phelan, and that her brother played wing three-quarter for London Irish. His brain was clouded by trivia. Long-forgotten scenes from his childhood, of his early days in the service, were as fresh as daisies, and yet he couldn't remember what he'd been thinking about immediately before t I me explosion.
Carol Bell had told him about the bomb - that Mike suspected t he Russians but that, thankfully, he'd talked to the Brigadier who had given him alternatives. Mike, she said, seemed to be heading for a breakdown. Benton nodded passively at this new bit of information, and stored it next to a memory of a scene from Steptoe and Son, when the old man dunked his pickled onions in his bathwater.
Mike had always been a bit panicky, especially when he was given the 'Big Chair', but Benton had always assumed that, with his public-school background and his training as an officer, it was just something that Yates would grow into.
Damn it! Why could he remember the name of the fifth Marx brother, but not this... whatever it was?
* * *
'We can't wait any longer,' said Shuskin. The Doctor's device clearly works. We must press on towards the base and see what is there.'
Liz had just finished using the Doctor's sonic screwdriver to solder the wires together. She looked up, about to argue.
Shuskin raised a hand. 'I