Doctor Who_ The Zarbi - Bill Strutton [22]
Behind it was poised the feeler of a Zarbi. The foreclaw moved faintly against the sky, and as it did so the grub turned slightly, following Ian and Doctor Who with its snout as they passed on down the slope.
Doctor Who exclaimed suddenly, ‘I have it!’
‘What?’
‘Venom grubs! Let me see... — yes! That would fit.
But...’ The doctor wagged his head, puzzled.
‘.. venom?... you mean, those things are poisonous?’
‘I mean they lived on venom...’
‘Ugh!’ Ian said. ‘Charming!’
‘Well, as I recollect from my studies of the Isop Galaxy, they used to serve a very useful purpose. You saw that long proboscis?’
‘That snout, you mean. Wicked isn’t it? I shouldn’t like to get a jab from that!’
‘Neither did their enemies. You see, their hard shell made them impervious to attack themselves. If a poisonous creature attacked them, it couldn’t penetrate the shell. But with that snout, the venom grubs could pierce anything.
They would seek out their attacker’s poison sac, and impale it.’
‘You mean, disembowel them?’
‘No. Puncture them. Disarm them. By – drawing out their poison.’
‘Oh!’ Ian stared back with rather more interest.
‘But there’s something which puzzles me,’ Doctor Who said. He walked a few paces, submitting tamely to the hustling of his Zarbi captors.
‘I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s puzzled,’ Ian said savagely, glaring around him.
‘Well, it’s this,’ the Doctor said sombrely. ‘The venom grubs have changed their habits too.’
‘How?’
‘The Zarbi were once their natural enemies. Now they appear to have... tamed them. The question is – how the Zarbi tamed them... and what for?’
‘Not for household pets, I shouldn’t think,’ Ian said. ‘Venom grubs, eh? I’d rather keep a pet cobra.’
‘No,’ agreed Doctor Who. ‘Not for household pets.’
Now the glowing building with its writhing tentacles stretching far out over the land, loomed ahead of them with the great wheeling light at its apex. More chirruping broke out among the Zarbi as they shoved the two men towards an opening in the enormous web. The opening glowed more brightly than the mass of interlaced strands which almost covered it, and as they came closer, Ian and Doctor Who saw that the opening was in fact the mouth of a tunnel leading far inside.
They paused instinctively, awed by all this strangeness, and were shoved on into the tunnel. Ian stared around him. Even the concave walls of the tunnel were made of web, and as he looked, he saw it move, faintly but clearly.
Small globules swelled at the entrance to the tunnel. The globules expanded, broke into web patterns, and stretched outward, then solidified, extending the tunnel minutely as they did so.
‘Doctor – see that? That stuff is growing...!’
Doctor Who looked more closely. ‘Mm... yes – so I see.
Organic matter, I imagine – reproducing itself.’
‘But that’s fantastic!’
‘It happens on your own planet, remember.’
‘Among tiny forms of life, maybe,’ Ian retorted. ‘But not like this! This... building, whatever you call it, why – it’s enormous! Bigger, even, than it looked from the ridge!’
‘Quite. And... stretching out across the planet. How long has it taken to reach this size, I wonder? Mm? A hundred years? Two hundred? More?’
‘But why? What for? These Zarbi creatures can obviously live outside of it. What use is a web to them? It doesn’t seem built to catch anything, does it?’
Doctor Who sighed. ‘My dear boy, I wish I could answer all your questions. Unfortunately I’m as puzzled as you are.’
Now the Zarbi began heckling them with angry, impatient chirrupings, and those nearest roughly shoved the Doctor forward again. He turned testily, but as always kept his dignity.
‘Yes, all right – don’t push!’ Nevertheless, he stared with some misgiving inward, along the mysterious tunnel which seemed to taper to infinity. He summoned a jaunty cheerfulness.
‘Well, the key to it all is undoubtedly inside...
somewhere. Lead on, my boy.’
‘Tell me what else I can do!’ Ian growled. He gestured dismally ahead of them. ‘Come into my parlour