Doctor Who_ The Hollow Men - Keith Topping [97]
„Being a human is hard enough,‟ said the Doctor. „The burdens you have pressed down on the shoulders of these people are unbearable!‟
Hatch laughed - and this time the laugh was very like the politician‟s own. „I sort the wheat from the chaff, if you‟ll pardon the pun.‟
The Doctor watched the colour bleed from the shadows around them. „Tell me,‟ he said, „why do you need Hatch‟s body? Aren‟t the tentacles good enough?‟
„Do not provoke me,‟ said Hatch, bunching his fists, as if to strike.
„Temper.‟ The Doctor tutted. „I‟d hate to see centuries of patient planning ruined in a day.‟
Hatch paused. „You need know only that I am the plague carrier. Where I go, madness will follow.‟
„Ah, I see,‟ said the Doctor, leaning on his umbrella. He was sure he hadn‟t carried it into the mirror with him, but it seemed that Jack‟s splintered psyche had provided it anyway. „You will carry the dark side of the taint: the instinct to murder, to brutalise, to destroy...‟
„My mere touch will bring insanity and death.‟
„Which Jerak will feed on?‟
„Do I not deserve the richest pickings?‟ said Hatch. „I can feast on anyone I wish. But countless humans, riddled by the taint - and yet not rendered sterile by it...? A mere meal becomes a banquet!‟
„And you‟ve “seeded” Liverpool in order to release psychic energy and destruction.‟
Hatch nodded. „We have liberated true humanity - the evil essence of the people of this planet.‟
„Yes, you see, that‟s quite a problem, isn‟t it?‟ said the Doctor. „The people of Hakol rely upon fear and terror - and these things are most naturally found in primitive, superstitious societies. They have always been limited as to what planets they can invade.‟
„Now the people of Hakol can unleash primitive terror in any race, anywhere in the galaxy.‟
„You‟ve changed your tune,‟ observed the Doctor. „Now, you‟ve been very good, telling me what‟s going on like this.
But I suppose our cosy tête-à-tête must come to an end.‟
„Indeed it must. I will consume you, Doctor. You have entered my domain of your own free will. No one ever leaves.‟
„If you say so,‟ said the Doctor with a cautious smile.
Steven had become so used to the sound of the scarecrows pounding on the trapdoor that he did not immediately realise that the noise had stopped. He turned to Joanna, huddled at his side. „Do you think...?‟ he began.
There were moans and cries from the kitchen above them, and then the sound of something heavy being overturned.
Steven‟s parents held each other in the semidarkness.
Someone hammered on the wooden hatch. „Oi!‟ came a familiar voice. „You lot OK down there?‟
„Ace?‟ asked Steven.
„Yeah. Open up.‟
„Prove it!‟ shouted Joanna, her voice ringing in the enclosed space of the cellar.
What?‟
„Prove it,‟ she continued.
Steven got to his feet, staring upward at the trapdoor. „It could be another trick.‟
„Oh, don‟t be such a plonker.‟ The voice from the kitchen sounded genuinely exasperated. „What do you want me to do? List Charlton‟s greatest triumphs, 1975 to date?‟ A pause. „Well, that shouldn‟t take very long...‟
Steven climbed the stairs to the hatch, and pulled back the bolts.
Blinking in the bright light of the kitchen, he could just make out a hand reaching out for him.
And beyond that was Ace, smiling. „Come on,‟ she said, helping him out.
Rebecca stood behind Ace, eyeing the room nervously.
„Don‟t mention Rebecca‟s father,‟ Ace whispered. Steven gave her an ominous look, then turned to help his parents and Joanna from the cellar.
„It was hell in there,‟ he said after a moment. „We could hear banging and shouting...‟
„Sounds like my local Chinese restaurant every Saturday night,‟ said Ace quickly. „Let‟s have