Doctor Who_ Wetworld - Mark Michalowski [57]
‘Thanks,’ said Martha, smiling tightly, watching Ty go.
‘In a minute,’ the Doctor said, tossing the wicker ball into the air over his shoulder as he strode off towards the zoo lab, ‘I think it’s time to have a good look at all creatures, erm, small.’
Martha caught it perfectly, watching his back as he went.
‘Good catch!’ he called out.
‘Yeah,’ said Martha drily. ‘It’s what I’m good at.’
‘But first, we have a few people to chat to.’
The rescued settlers had been gathered in the hospital, where Sam Hashmi and his staff were checking them over, giving them food and drink and generally making sure they were OK. The Doctor whirled in, Martha at his heels, and surveyed the scene.
‘Gently does it, I think, Doctor Jones,’ he said quietly. ‘They probably won’t have much conscious memory of what they were doing or how they got there, so let’s tread softly. Relax them, try to get them to go back, in their heads, to earlier on.’
Martha suppressed a little shudder, remembering what had happened to her when her memory had been jolted too suddenly. From what she’d heard, she’d been quite a handful. And that was just one of her. The thought of half a dozen snarling, snapping people didn’t exactly fill her with joy.
The Doctor moved to cover one side of the room; Martha picked out a woman – a kindly, motherly looking woman with silvery-white hair and pale skin. She was perched on the edge of a bed, sipping at a mug of tea.
‘Hi,’ she said, sitting down beside her. ‘I’m Martha. How’re you?’
The woman – whose name, Martha discovered, was Marj – smiled tightly, gripping the mug as if it were the only solid, stable thing in her world.
‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Just fine.’
‘Just wanted to see if there was anything you remembered – you know, about before.’
Marj stared away into the distance.
‘Marj?’
‘It was like. . . ’ Marj stumbled for words. ‘Like being in someone else’s head. Looking out through their eyes.’ She turned to Martha.
‘Does that make sense?’
‘You’ve no idea,’ Martha replied. ‘It happened to me too. Horrible, isn’t it?’
‘It’s the loss of control,’ Marj continued, now staring down at the mug that she held firmly on her lap. The feeling of being violated, of everything that’s you just being pushed aside for that. . . that. . . ’ She couldn’t finish the sentence.
Abruptly, the mug dropped from her fingers and crashed to the floor, tea splashing across the wooden floor like a wave breaking on a shore.
Martha’s mouth went dry and, for just a moment, an image of cool, clear water sprang into her head.
Suddenly the Doctor was there in front of her, squatting down, his eyes level with hers.
‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ she whispered.
‘Course you can, Doctor Jones,’ he said. ‘Just remember – the chemicals are gone from you. That thing has no power over you any more.’
‘But what about us?’ It was Marj, her voice clipped and trembling.
‘What about me?’
‘That’s why Martha needs to speak to you now,’ said the Doctor gently. ‘Before the chemicals in you vanish completely. You’ll be fine, trust me. But we need to find out what you were being made to do.
You do understand, don’t you?’
Marj nodded uncertainly.
‘Good. Let me get you some more tea, and you have a chat with Martha. There’s still a dozen settlers out there, and anything you can tell us might help to get them back.’ There was another nod from Marj, and she tried to smile.
‘OK,’ said Martha. ‘Let’s start at the beginning, shall we. . . ?’
‘Useless!’ said Martha. ‘Absolutely useless!’
‘Oh come on! You’re not –’
The Doctor stopped when he saw the expression on Martha’s face.
She wasn’t in the mood for his usual brand of jokiness. He sighed and plonked himself on the bed next to her.
‘Sadly,’ he said, ‘I’m inclined to agree with you. There’s just not enough to go on – not without poking deeply enough to trigger psy-chotic episodes like you suffered. I’d try a bit of hypnosis if I didn’t think it’d be too intrusive.’
Martha nodded. ‘It’s like most of them didn’t even