Menagerie - Martin Day [49]
Jamie scratched his head. He could feel things shifting in his mind, like chunks of ice thawing and crumbling in the sun. And the only image that he could fix on was that of poor Cosmae, being dragged away, feet scraping the stone floor, bleeding. 'I . . . I didn't see anything.'
'Good,' said Araboam. 'You're learning very quickly.'
The cheers from the crowd formed a not unpleasant backdrop to Zoe's chores in the curtained-off section behind the ring. A selection of creatures, clowns and performers moved back and forth. She could just about hear Diseaeda's voice. 'I hope you enjoyed the Tumbling Terrors!' he cried.
Three men, arms and legs held so tight as to become human balls, rolled through the curtain at high speed, and came to rest in the sawdust next to Zoe. They stretched out, panting. 'Not bad,' said one.
'I had to compensate for your slips too many times,'
complained another.
The twins walked up to the acrobats. 'Take your arguments somewhere else,' said Raitak.
'The scree beasts are on in a few minutes,' said Reisaz. 'So unless you want your lovely hair covered with scree shit . . .'
Zoe returned to the job at hand, forcing small blue and silver paper strips into the false bottom of one of the clown's buckets. She heard the three men walk out of the tent, still arguing.
'A good little trick that,' commented Raitak, gesturing towards the bucket.
Zoe nodded seriously. 'A good idea, but this hinge isn't ideal. Engineering isn't really my speciality, but I'm sure a micro-switched magnetic seal would be much better.'
'I suppose it would,' said Raitak humourlessly. 'Now I suggest you get that ready or —'
There was a sudden shout from the back of the tent. The twins ran to investigate. One of the strongmen had appeared and was waving his hands, agitated. Zoe had been with the Doctor long enough to recognize the effects of fear on someone's body language. Slowly she got to her feet.
'Zoe!' called the twins earnestly. 'Quick!'
She ran to their side. 'What's the matter?'
'That creature of yours,' said Raitak. 'It's come back to life, broken out of its casket. And now it's on the rampage.'
Ten
The Doctor peered through the haze, fighting back the feelings of nausea. His head thumped painfully but he was determined to remain conscious, to establish where he and the knights were being taken.
He had a faint memory of struggling into semi-consciousness just after the ambush. One of the moth-like creatures had bent down to bite him. The mandibles had opened and a needle-like probe had extended, dripping poison. He remembered the creature's head moving away, its leaf-like antennae quivering, and then everything became dark again.
Some time later the Doctor had recovered consciousness, his neck feeling tender and swollen. The knights appeared to be out cold, each one draped over the shoulder of a moth, carried deep into the darkness.
For the moment the Doctor tried not to think too hard about the creatures, nor what they had planned for their prey. Slowed down by their prisoners, the moth-men trudged along the stone and metal corridors, wings hanging idly at their backs. The Doctor wrinkled his nose at the smell that rose from the creatures' oozing, creaking joints.
He twisted his head slightly to one side, keeping his eyes half-closed for fear of discovery, and stared intently at the walls and buildings that they passed.
With an involuntary twitch he realized exactly what his eyes had been telling him for so long. Rough natural caves and crude sewer pipes of stone had been replaced by buildings, thoroughfares, suites and corridors of soft metal alloys and mock wood.
The old city — for that