Doctor Who_ The Zarbi - Bill Strutton [21]
try talking to them, do you think? Make them understand?’
Doctor Who grunted. ‘I doubt it. Short of rubbing our back legs together like some sort of grasshopper. No. I’m afraid I haven’t the key to this kind of grammar.’
The Zarbi confronting Doctor Who, apparently the leader of this swarm, gestured to the two men with a foreclaw in a unmistakable sign of command.
‘It wants us to move on. That’s clear enough anyway.’
Ian stood his ground sullenly. Doctor Who shouted impatiently, ‘For heaven’s sake, Chesterton, at least it will lead us to the ship!’
‘Even if it’s the last thing we ever see!’ Ian retorted, and as the Zarbi thrust him forward, he wrenched his hand wildly to be free and backed away. Immediately a fresh chorus of angry chirrups broke out and the Zarbi surrounding Ian closed in towards him.
Again Doctor Who shouted desperately, ‘No, my boy!
Save your energy for when we can use it!’
Ian glowered back and shrugged. He allowed himself to be led forward as his Zarbi captors pulled at his arms. He looked with loathing about him at the chirruping swarm, and muttered as Doctor Who came abreast of him, ‘You were right. These crawlies are nothing like the thing we saw back there, on the ground.’
Doctor Who nodded. ‘Quite. It’s all much different from what I expected...’
‘It could scarcely be worse,’ Ian snarled, and grimaced at the merciless tugging on his hands.
‘It’s the planet Vortis, all right, just the same.’
‘Did you expect this to happen too?’ Ian asked bitterly, and nodded about him at the rearing, shiny shapes of the Zarbi herding them towards the strange web building.
‘I didn’t choose to land on Vortis,’ the Doctor snapped.
‘But yes — one would expect to find the Zarbi here.’
‘Zarbi — is that what these things are called?’
Doctor Who nodded stiffly. ‘But what I didn’t expect was to find them... behaving like this...’
‘Then how? Were they supposed to scuttle away at the sight of us — or greet us with speeches of welcome and garlands of forget-me-nots?’
‘I meant,’ Doctor Who said coldly, ‘that I didn’t expect to find them acting with any organized intelligence at all, which is rather more than you are showing. Hm. Yes — it’s that which fascinates me...’
‘ Fascinates you?’ Ian snorted. ‘It just gives me the creeps!’
Now there was movement everywhere. The crags which dotted their descent seemed to be alive as the shapes of more Zarbi emerged from them and joined the swarm which was hustling the Doctor and Ian down the rock-littered slope.
Out of the corner of his eye Ian saw something new and even stranger. A Zarbi scuttled into sight on top of a crag.
It pointed downward and waved a foreclaw in an oddly precise gesture of command.
In answer, something moved on the rock. It was a living thing, but not a Zarbi.
Ian caught at Doctor Who with his free hand pointed.
They both stared.
Something else was scuttling down the rock — an animal, and as the pulsing light from the web-building in the valley shone its ray towards them it lit the creature briefly.
It was like a giant wood grub, with more legs than a centipede beneath a rounded, scaly, armoured back — and an evil pointed snout.
‘What is it?’
‘A grub of sorts. But huge...’
‘And we thought this planet was deserted! It’s swarming with life! All of it horrible!’
Doctor Who was frowning, racking his mind to identify this new creature more precisely. ‘Larva... he muttered to himself. He looked again towards the grub-like creature and saw that, each time the Zarbi on the rock gestured, it changed its direction in obedience to the sign. Ian saw it too.
‘It’s that Zarbi that’s moving it about! Has he got it on some sort of string...?’
Doctor Who was looking intently. In his fascination he had halted.
‘No,’ he said. No... but you’re right. It’s being...
controlled.’
An angry chirrup rose from his Zarbi captor. With a wrench of a steely foreclaw it hustled the Doctor along so that the old man stumbled and nearly fell.
He marched on, looking backward, deep in thought.
‘There’s another!’ Ian said, pointing.
Another grub, its long sharp