Menagerie - Martin Day [45]
They had been trudging through the tunnels for hours.
The metal corridor that had so excited the Doctor led only to a room of old bricks and cobwebs. The Doctor was sure that his hypothesis was correct, but as yet they had found no more evidence of the ancient civilization.
The Doctor sat on a boulder and waved for Himesor to stop. 'I must rest for a few moments. I'm very tired.'
'Very well,' agreed Himesor. He motioned for his men to halt.
The Doctor, panting, removed his helmet. He breathed deeply, sniffed the air, and then coughed into his handkerchief
Himesor looked on, concerned.
The Doctor blew his nose, and then beamed at the Grand Knight. 'As I thought. The air is breatheable now. We don't need to wear the helmets.'
The knights removed their helms and settled down into groups, some talking quietly. Himesor sat next to the Doctor, making notes on the back of the map. 'We're into uncharted tunnels now.'
The Doctor looked about him at the smallish cave in which they had come to rest. The roof was invisible in the shadows, although the tips of stalactites glinted in the torchlight. It appeared to be a natural construction rather than part of the sewers or even the old city. 'I was expecting to have found your menagerie by now, I must admit,' he said. 'Still, let's hope we can get back, eh?'
'That should not be difficult. I've tried to keep a note of the landmarks we pass.'
'We're not alone down here, by the way,' said the Doctor casually. 'I keep glimpsing a humanoid figure moving in the shadows. It's checking on our progress.'
'Are you sure?' asked Himesor. 'I myself have seen nothing, and the knights that we have brought with us are the finest I know.'
'Well, I do have a slight advantage over you all,' said the Doctor. 'I know what I'm looking for.'
'And that is?'
'An android utilizing accepted stealth procedures.'
'A what?'
'A metal man following orders to hide in the shadows.'
Himesor paused for a moment in thought. 'I was about to say that I don't believe you,' he said, rubbing his chin. 'But you were right about these artefacts.'
'Marvellous bits of work, I'm sure you'll agree,' said the Doctor. He fiddled absently with his helmet.
'My interest in their creation is only matched by my increased awe at the beneficence of the Higher,' stated Himesor before getting to his feet. 'You said that the metal man was following orders. Whose might those be?'
'I have no idea,' the Doctor replied. 'But if Defrabax really does have a homunculus, I would imagine that it's actually an android. And whatever its orders are, it will follow them with immense efficiency.'
Himesor nodded, and then turned to his men. 'Be on your guard for a creature moving through the shadows. The Doctor thinks that —'
Something huge and dark landed on the Grand Knight, knocking him to the floor.
In the blink of an eye the knights were surrounded by a large number of moth-like creatures. As tall as men, their huge bony wings of orange and grey bore them gently to the ground with barely a sound. A number of knights reached for weapons, only to be clubbed to the ground by the creatures' powerful arms.
The Doctor turned to run, but was faced by two glittering compound eyes atop a damp maw of interlocking mandibles. The animal hissed and then lunged at the Doctor.
With a single movement it smashed him to the floor. The creature leaned over the Doctor, as if to bite him.
The Doctor slipped into unconsciousness. Far from finding the menagerie, it seemed that some of the creatures had come to find them.
Nine
There was an acrid taste at the back of Cosmae's throat and a suffocating pressure on his lips and nose. So . . . He must have been out drinking and collapsed. That wasn't so bad.
The floor beneath him steadied. He turned his face to one side and breathed deeply as the room continued its travels without him.
Oddly quiet for a tavern, though. Perhaps he'd been taken home and Defrabax had left him to sleep on the floor in punishment. Whatever, it was obviously time