Doctor Who_ The Last Dodo - Jacqueline Rayner [27]
THE ISPYDER BOOK OF EARTH CREATURES
EASTERN BLACK RHINOCEROS
Diceros bicornis michaeli
Location: Eastern Africa
The leathery skin of this aggressive herbivore is not black but grey in colour. It has two curving horns on its snout, the longer front one measuring around half to one metre. These are made of tough hair. The rhinoceros has three hooves on each foot. Its upper lip curves over the lower one.
Addendum:
Last reported sighting: AD 2051.
Cause of extinction: poaching for their horns and for the bush meat trade.
ISpyder points value: 300
THE ISPYDER BOOK OF EARTH CREATURES
Creature Points
Subtotal 33500
Dodo 800
Megatherium 500
Paradise parrot 500
Velociraptor 250
Mountain gorilla 500
Aye‐aye 900
Siberian tiger 600
Kakapo 900
Indefatigable Galapagos mouse 1500
Stegosaurus 500
Triceratops 550
Diplodocus 600
Ankylosaurus 650
Dimetrodon 600
Passenger pigeon 100
Thylacine 250
Black rhinoceros 300
Mervin the missing link 23500
EIGHT
The cafeteria wasn’t manned, instead being full of vending machines; I guess that’s why it was still open at this time of night. Vanni got us three cups of tea and three doughnuts. There was something pretty reassuring about finding out they still have doughnuts in the future. Mine had raspberry jam in the middle.
I won’t go into what was said, all the recriminations and disbelief interspersed with a bit of weeping here and there. The sort of thing you get when someone’s just split up with their boyfriend, only a bit worse. I expect you can imagine. I could understand her feelings – after all, I can’t think how I’d feel if I discovered the Doctor had been going around chopping up pet dogs or something. But still, it got a bit wearing after a bit – I mean, this girl wasn’t even a friend of mine. But what can you do? I started to hope the Doctor would reappear and whisk me back to the TARDIS – and when you begin to wish you’re facing monsters instead, you know it’s getting bad. But no Doctor.
Anyway, I guess Vanni was feeling it too, cos after a while she started to yawn. Celia got all apologetic after that; well, it turns out Vanni should have been off‐shift hours ago; she was only still up because of all that had been going on. It was Frank and Celia who were supposed to be the Earthers on duty at the moment, and realising that made Celia go all sobby again.
And then Celia’s pendant started to beep. ‘Oh no!’ she cried, staring at us both, horrified. ‘What do I do?’ Turns out this was her cue for action, but of course she didn’t have anyone to take action with any more.
‘Ask Eve,’ Vanni said, and Celia flicked a switch on the back of her pendant, one that I hadn’t noticed before.
‘Eve?’ she said. ‘What do I do? I can’t do it on my own!’
Eve’s voice crackled out of the tiny device. ‘Celia. One moment, please.’ There was a pause, then: ‘The Doctor suggests that Martha could accompany you for now. He and I are busy, currently. It will give her something to do.’
Well, I won’t deny I resented that just a little bit. It was so like the Doctor, handing out jobs for you to do while he was off doing goodness‐knows‐what elsewhere, and I’d really had about as much as I could take of Celia for one night – but, there again, I was feeling a bit fascinated about exactly what the Earthers did, and it might take her mind off Frank’s betrayal for a bit. So I just shrugged and said, ‘OK.’
‘Good,’ said Eve’s voice. ‘I’ll programme you in. Be ready, time is precious.’ So we sat there, tense and alert, for what seemed like far too long. I was trying in vain to think of something to say, when – thank goodness – my pendant started beeping, just like Celia’s.
‘Good luck,’ said Vanni, yawning again and standing up. I think she was pretty relieved too. As she headed off to her bed, I waved goodnight, then, watching Celia’s hand rising to do the same, pressed the pendant’s blue button.
And would you believe, I was never for a second suspicious