Doctor Who_ Wetworld - Mark Michalowski [29]
Now Orlo was in position between the otter and the river. The little creature paused and turned. When it saw Orlo, it cocked its head on one side, clearly unsure what to do.
The Doctor crept out from behind the mud pile, his coat held out in front of him. He must have made a noise, because the otter suddenly turned its head. Ty could almost see the puzzlement – and then the panic – in its eyes. With a sudden amazing turn of speed, it darted to one side of Orlo. But Orlo was quick. He sidestepped and lunged for the creature. The otter was confused and stopped sharply before backing up, casting nervous looks over its shoulder at the advancing Doctor. Ty felt her heart pounding: she never thought that she’d be quite so excited at the sight of two grown men trying to catch a small animal. A twinge of guilt struck her. All her life she’d been a champion of animal rights, and the decision to go into zoology had been part of that – an attempt to understand the animal world, and to bring that understanding to a wider public. The idea of getting even a tiny bit excited over two men chasing a small (if not quite defenceless) alien otter with only a jacket and a sack would once upon a time have appalled her. Was she just getting old, or was she becoming more pragmatic?
The Doctor feinted left and, as the otter slipped to the right, he threw himself towards it, arms and jacket outstretched – and missed by a mile. The otter – clearly deciding that he’d be better off racing uphill and around the two sweating humans – bounded away, galloping as fast as its little paws would carry it.
Orlo staggered after it, sack raised, as the Doctor rolled along the ground, recovered spectacularly, and sprang to his feet. His eyes wide and crazy, he chased up the hill, hot on the heels of the otter.
‘This is madness!’ cried Ty with an exasperated sigh and stood up, in plain view of the little creature. It scrabbled to a halt, its paws digging into the soft mud and coarse grass. With a shake of her head, Ty reached into her pocket, pulled out a tranq-gun, and shot the otter in the shoulder.
Two seconds later, it gave a little wheeze and toppled over.
The Doctor heaved himself to his feet, looking even more mud-spattered than he had done the previous night, and fixed Ty with a stunned glare.
‘You had that in your pocket all along?’ he growled. ‘That.’ He jabbed a finger at the tranq-gun, still in her hand. ‘ That!’
‘Well you didn’t think I’d come out here unarmed after everything that’s happened, did you?’
‘And you didn’t think to use it earlier?’ He shook droplets of mud from his jacket – and Ty suspected that they weren’t landing on her totally by accident. ‘Have you any idea how hard it is to find a good dry-cleaner in this part of the galaxy?’ He held the jacket out at arm’s length and stared at it sadly. ‘Ruined,’ he announced. ‘ Ruined!’
‘Oh come on!’ laughed Ty, pocketing the gun. ‘Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that?’
The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her, but said nothing. Orlo came panting up, the tranquillised otter cradled in his arms. Asleep, Ty thought, it looked as sweet and friendly as they always did – possibly because its mouth was shut and its claws were sheathed.
‘Let’s get this into the cage and back to the lab,’ the Doctor said, with sudden briskness.
‘Why the hurry?’ asked Orlo.
‘Welllll,’ drawled the Doctor. ‘For one thing, I want to see how quickly its intelligence develops. And two. . . ’ He peered at something over Ty and Orlo’s shoulders, down the slope.
They turned – to see a carpet of writhing, wriggling brown bodies, flashing silver where the sunlight reflected from their still-wet fur, making its way up the bank from the river. Towards them.
Ty looked back at the Doctor. He raised an eyebrow. ‘How’s that for two?’
The three of them ran like they’d never run before – or at least like Ty had never run before.
Puffing and panting, her feet slipping on the muddy grass, she got the impression that the Doctor was holding himself back for her and Orlo’s sakes. He’d snatched the otter from