Doctor Who_ The Hollow Men - Keith Topping [95]
Ballam pointed to the scene, as if that were explanation enough.
„Who was responsible for that?‟ queried the Doctor, his voice numb with outrage.
„Baron Jeffreys of Wem,‟ said John Ballam, his voice hushed. „Or so we believed.‟
The Doctor spun back to face Hatch. „Well?‟
„Oh, come,‟ said Hatch. „These vermin can be of no concern.
I had travelled long and far to this world. I needed replenishment.‟
„So you corrupted Jeffreys, and fed off the mental energy of the terrified villagers?‟
„Jeffreys needed little corrupting,‟ said Ballam, under his breath.
Hatch licked his lips at the memory. „The meal was adequate. I drained what I could. From what was left, I fashioned my first followers. My limbs, in a world I was still not strong enough to dominate.‟
„The scarecrows,‟ said the Doctor. „You searched the psyches of all those dead people, and found something that you could defile.
Legends of wicker men and corn dollies, of pagan sacrifices to nature and the seasons. You based your reign of terror on mere stickmen to scare away birds!‟
Hatch clicked his fingers, and John Ballam vanished from sight with a scream, the vista behind him folding up like a map. „I am Hexen Bridge,‟ said Hatch. „They are all my children, and they owe their survival to me. Any father can do as he wills to his children.‟
„No,‟ said the Doctor. „Children will always have their independence.‟
„Not the children of Jack,‟ said Hatch. „We are all together.‟
„Yes, the taint of infertility ensured their dependence, didn‟t it?‟ said the Doctor. „They could only reproduce if they stayed in the area. You expelled the unruly and the exceptionally gifted, so that you would remain undiscovered. You controlled the population that remained, harvesting individuals here and there...‟
„They slaked my thirst. And now that thirst, that hunger, is all-consuming.‟
„But why the experiments to counteract the taint?‟
„Can you not guess?‟ Hatch smiled. „There is a flaw even in the psychic technology of the Hakolians.‟
„You mean the sterility is... an accidental side effect?‟
Hatch nodded. „There is no civilisation in the galaxy that can better the Hakolians‟ grasp of the psychic sciences. But, like all technologies, there are flaws. And sterility, though allowing me dominion over the village, is a by-product, a deficiency inherent in the mind-manipulation process.‟
„I know that Hakolian technology is entirely reliant on the mental energy of the slave creatures,‟ said the Doctor, deep in thought. „That much was obvious from Little Hodcombe. But if their slaves become sterile, then each conquered planet will in time die...‟
„When the Malus malfunctioned - when normal linkage was impossible - my orders were revised.‟
„You already had a cure for infertility, but it was localised,‟
suggested the Doctor. „Your ambitions were far wider. You wanted to use human technology to find a complete cure.‟
„When the people of Hakol conquer the Earth, the humans will provide all the energy they will ever need. The Hakolians will remain here for ever. They have no need for other worlds.‟
„Rubbish!‟ The Doctor turned to face Hatch, his eyes blazing. „They only know how to invade, how to destroy. Even the Terileptils turned against the Hakolians, aghast at their continual butchery!‟
The Doctor stared deep into the man‟s eyes, searching for traces of Hatch, but saw only the alien terror of Jack i‟ the Green.
Steven Chen put a comforting arm around Joanna Matson‟s shoulders. Joanna dropped her head on to his shoulder, as a baby sister might as a thunder storm passed by. The constant hammering of the scarecrows on the trapdoor overhead sounded like an industrial machine.
A small split appeared in the wood, sending a spear of light into the darkness. Mr Chen said something to comfort his wife, but the words were drowned by the beating fists.
„The hatch is very strong,‟ said Steven, in as upbeat a voice as he could muster. „Has to be. We walk over it all the time.‟
All the same, he gripped the cleaver in his hand more tightly.
Joanna mumbled something into his jumper.