Doctor Who_ Wetworld - Mark Michalowski [73]
There was a dull thud beside her, and she turned to see Pallister’s body sprawled out on the ground like a discarded toy: the tendrils that had supported it had burst, and greeny-black ichor was gushing everywhere.
Then Candy was beside her, helping her to her feet, and Orlo and Ty were dragging the Doctor away from the dying alien.
When they were clear of the spurting, bubbling fluid, Ty and Orlo lay the Doctor on the ground. Martha rushed to his side and cradled his slime-covered body in her arms. He coughed in her ear and tried to push her away. But Martha was having none of it. She held onto him until Ty gently prised her away.
‘I’m not sure which was worse,’ the Doctor choked, trying to sit up, wiping his face with his hands. ‘Being smothered by slimey, or being smothered by you.’ He looked up at her and grinned stupidly. ‘Actually,’ he said. ‘It was no contest. Hello, Martha – you don’t halflook different through green glasses, you know.’
And then he fainted clean away.
‘But why didn’t the poison kill him?’ Martha said as she finished wiping the slime from his face.
‘It wasn’t a poison,’ Ty said, tossing the tranquilliser gun to the ground and fixing it with a look of disgust.
‘But it killed that thing – didn’t it?’
‘Actually,’ said the Doctor muzzily, opening his eyes. ‘I’m rather afraid you’ll find that I killed it.’
‘So what was in the dart?’ Martha was confused.
‘A rather clever little solution of RNA.’ He sat up and rubbed the back of his head – before examining the goo on his hand and pulling a disgusted face. Before Martha could stop him, he sniffed his hand and gave it a lick. ‘Ew!’ he said. ‘Needs more salt.’
‘Stop it,’ Martha chided, slapping his hand away from his face.
‘What did you do?’
‘Well it all seems a bit obvious now.’
‘Not to me it doesn’t. Stop being smug.’
He peered past her to where the remains of the creature were nothing more than a huge, dark stain on the ground. Shreds of greeny-black flesh lay all around like the tattered pieces of a burst balloon. ‘Slimey, there, controlled other organisms with proteins – injected them into them along with RNA to transfer memories and images. So it occurred to me that it might work the other way round: if I could get the right proteins and RNA inside it, I might be able to, well, mess about with its metabolism a bit.’
‘I told him it was dangerous,’ insisted Ty, as if trying to absolve herself of some guilt. ‘I warned him.’
‘She did,’ the Doctor admitted. ‘That’s why I couldn’t tell you, Martha – I knew you’d stop me.’
‘So this RNA. . . I mean. . . ’ Martha was at a loss for words.
This was all coming too thick and too fast. ‘ How? ’
‘The marvellous Doctor-o-tronic!’ he beamed up at her. ‘I told you I was the best biological computer around. I had to make direct contact with the creature to be able to work on its metabolism – that’s why I offered it the TARDIS.’ His expression became suddenly more serious. ‘I knew it wouldn’t be able to resist and that it would try to take control of me like it did poor old Pallister. But I had to give it the option. There always has to be a way out. Just a shame that people don’t take it when it’s offered.’ He shrugged. ‘Ah well. Anyway, it’s had so much practice now that it knew exactly what to do with me.
Well, it thought it did. It started to invade my body, and when it did.
I invaded its body and reprogrammed the RNA string that Ty injected into me to destroy its outer membranes.’ He grinned again, back to his jokey self. ‘Didn’t they teach you anything at medical school?’
‘He couldn’t have injected it into himself earlier,’ Ty said. ‘In case it broke down too quickly – or the creature detected it and neutralised it. It had to be at the very last minute.’ Ty sighed and shook her head.
‘I’m sorry I frightened you Martha, honey, really I am.’
Martha shook her head. If it hadn’t worked. . . ‘You ever do that again,’ she said