Doctor Who_ The Gallifrey Chronicles - Lance Parkin [92]
Running through what had happened, again and again, Rachel wasn’t sure why she and Marnal were still alive. The Vore had just made them stand here, and tended to bump into them to separate her from Marnal if she tried talking. They didn’t do it every time, only when she and Marnal were facing each other. With all the monsters’ jostling and wriggling about, Rachel wasn’t sure if the same platoon of Vore had been watching them all this time, or whether there was a continual changing of the guard. It was like being in a room with a ticking time bomb – she got the sense the Vore could lash out at any moment.
They had been here, she thought, for about two hours. She was used to the low gravity now, and was dimly aware that if she got back to Earth it would feel like she was carrying sandbags around. The air was thick and bleachy. It smelled, Rachel reflected, not unlike an old people’s home.
The Vore were now hopping and skittering. For moments Rachel thought this was the point where she was going to die, but quickly realised the insects weren’t even acknowledging them. They were crowding around the display.
‘What’s happening?’ she asked Marnal.
‘I think the TARDIS has just entered the solar system. Yes, there it is.’
The display started to flare and spark. Whatever was happening was very dramatic.
‘They’re manipulating the hyperspace corridors, trying to trap the TARDIS.’
‘You said they could use those like spiders use silk. They’re weaving a web.’
Marnal nodded. ‘You can get carried away with analogies, but that one seems apposite.’
190
Rachel assumed this was a compliment from the tone of his voice.
The hologram looked more like a firework display now, bright reds and blues splashing out and scattering. She still had no idea what she was looking at, but it was large, violent, garish and entirely silent. Marnal was watching as though it was a boxing match, wincing and gasping in turn. Finally, the colours died down.
‘They’ve got him, they’re reeling him in,’ he said, the excitement in his voice making it clear which side he was on.
Rachel wasn’t feeling so happy. ‘If they can catch the TARDIS like that, how are you planning to escape in it?’
‘I know a few tricks the Doctor doesn’t.’ He didn’t seem worried.
The display vanished, and the Vore started filing out of the chamber. It reminded Rachel of the end of a movie at a multiplex.
Marnal joined the queue of Vore. ‘We should follow them,’ he said, shuffling along.
‘They’re going to the TARDIS?’
‘They must be.’
Rachel got into place behind Marnal.
‘How long were you and Fitz together?’
The answer was almost embarrassing. Mrs Winfield had just said she’d been married for thirty years.
‘A few days,’ Trix said. ‘We were friends before this. We’ve only really kissed and cuddled.’
Mrs Winfield sighed. ‘Bad timing.’
‘An occupational hazard,’ Trix agreed. She was feeling a bit more settled.
This was a normal kitchen, with a normal person serving her normal coffee, and she was having a chat about human beings.
Every so often a Vore would walk past, stand for a moment staring through the window, then walk off in its strange, lumbering-yet-twitchy way. It wasn’t easy to get used to.
‘Why did you love him?’ Mrs Winfield asked.
Trix hugged her coffee mug while she thought about that. ‘Well, it kind of snuck up on me. And him, I think. We were, er, workmates. He’s honest.
What you see is what you get with Fitz. No matter what was happening, he was. . . well, he was Fitz.’
‘Trust.’
‘I trusted him with my life, so often it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. He didn’t play games, no hidden agendas or emotional baggage.
Even after everything he’s been through.’
191
‘I’ve had a couple of friends, and their husbands or wives, well, they weren’t the people they thought they were. Or they changed for the worse. That wasn’t true with Des. It sounds like a criticism to say that someone. . . I can