Doctor Who_ The Nightmare of Black Island - Mike Tucker [69]
neuroses of the adults of Ynys Du, not the children. Instead of fantastic monsters, the nightmares were of a far more mundane nature.
‘Tainted by the trivia of the real world,’ as Peyne had put it. Without the imagination of the children to sustain it, the monster had simply ceased to exist.
He glanced up at the smudge of grey smoke that trailed into the blue sky from the cliff top. The fire in the rectory had raged all night. There would be no traces of the Cynrog machinery by now. He crossed to where Rose sat on the sea wall, shaking her head in disbelief. Ali was perched next to her.
‘I just came down the stairs and she was sitting there, fast asleep.’
‘How did old Bronwyn become pretty again?’
Ali had her head cocked to one side, squinting at the Doctor. He tried to look casual. ‘Well, the Cynrog transmitters were still working flat out until the moment they blew up. As soon as the monster was finally solid, they were designed to switch frequencies and suck the life force out of you lot to rejuvenate Mr Morton and his friends. When Peyne started to triangulate on Bronwyn’s psychic signature, looking for the final piece of Balor, the machinery somehow got its polarity reversed. Instead of rejuvenating Morton and the others, it look their life force and rejuvenated Bronwyn instead.’
Ali frowned and nudged Rose. ‘Does he always talk like that or do you get him to speak English sometimes?’
Rose laughed. ‘Nah, he’s always like this.’
‘Of course, the machinery was also operating on similar frequencies to the TARDIS, so there’s a possibility that she had a hand in it somewhere. . . ’
‘The TARDIS. . . ’ Rose looked at him quizzically.
‘Yeah, well, she does like to. . . interfere sometimes.’
‘Right. I wonder where she gets that from.’
‘I’ll tell you another thing. . . ’ The Doctor hopped up on to the wall next to Rose, whispering into her ear. ‘Bronwyn’s pregnant.’
‘No way? Another Jimmy?’
‘Could be.’
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‘But isn’t everything gonna just start up all over again? Doesn’t she still have a bit of that Balor thing inside her mind?’
‘Not any more.’ The Doctor tapped the side of his head. ‘In here. Ooh, nasty little bit it is, all buzzy and angry like a big wasp. Gonna have to give myself a mental enema when we get back to the TARDIS.’
‘Eeergh!’ Rose and Ali both grimaced.
‘Come on, Ali!’ The Doctor bounded off the wall, catching her by the hands. ‘Rose and I have got equipment to strip out of a lighthouse and some Cynrog to send on their way, and I want to buy you an ice cream before we go.’
Dai Barraclough puffed and panted as he took the final few steps on to the cliff top.
‘What have you dragged us all the way up here for, Hardy?’
Ali glared at him. ‘I told you. I’ve got something special to show you.’
‘It’d better be worth it.’
‘Shut up, Dai.’ Billy Palmer threw him an angry glare. ‘If Ali says it’s special, then it’ll be special.’
Ali smiled at him. She liked Billy Palmer.
The rest of the gang were squatted down on the grass at the cliff edge, staring out at the jagged rocks of Black Island. The sun was high in the sky, sending silver highlights dancing over the waves. A fresh breeze blew in from the sea, swaying the tall grass and flecking the rocks far below with foam.
‘What are we looking for, Ali?’ asked one of the twins. Ali glanced at her watch. ‘You’ll see. Any moment now. . . ’
With a loud rumble, something emerged from behind the lighthouse in a blaze of light, a silver shape skimming over the water before lifting higher and higher into the blue sky.
The children watched open-mouthed as it curved above them and then, with a flare of dazzling light, streaked away towards the horizon, the roar of its engines sending seagulls shrieking into the brilliant blue.
Ali shielded her eyes from the sun and smiled.
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∗ ∗ ∗
The Doctor and Rose stood in the console room of the TARDIS, eating their ice cream cones, watching on the scanner screen as the silver shape of the Cynrog ship slowly made its way out of orbit, accelerating away