Menagerie - Martin Day [67]
As Zoe instinctively moved forward to try to help them Diseaeda dropped down on to the back of the creature from his hiding place on the turbine housing. He'd removed a huge greasy chain from somewhere and, as he pulled one arm as tightly as he could around the creature's neck, with the other he lashed out at the creature's face and snout. His first strike was a good one. There was a sharp splitting sound and something dark and viscous began to seep from under the bony plate that covered whatever passed for its eyes.
The twins scrambled to their feet and hobbled towards Zoe. She struggled to help them over the metal fence, grabbing a fistful of clothing in each hand and simply tugging until they were over. She glanced at Diseaeda and the creature, marvelling at the man's adrenaline-fuelled strength. He clung to the back of the bucking creature and lashed out with the chain, the monster's arms not having enough flexibility to reach behind it.
An overall-clad man, roused by the noise, came running from the far end of the chamber. He was shouting something and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. But there was no time to talk.
Zoe reached for a pile of thick metal rods stacked against one wall and gripped one in her hands. She didn't really know what to do with it, but she had to try something. She ran back to the writhing figures, hoping to use her forward momentum to spear the creature.
It side-stepped quickly, Zoe's hand jarring painfully as the metal impacted against the solid side of the machine. The twins were swinging a similar pole at the creature but it stayed resolutely out of reach.
Diseaeda couldn't hold on forever and a harsh twist from the beast sent him spinning off There was a dull thud as his shoulders hit the metal wall, his head snapping backwards, and then he slumped to the ground.
Ignoring the motionless figure the creature leapt over the fence, flicking the twins' metal bar away, and then bowled into them with an animal lust. A foot thudded into their stomach, pinning them to the floor, and it bent down to finish them with its jaws, its teeth grinding inches from their screaming faces.
A flaming blast enveloped the monster's head and it jerked backwards. The man in the overalls had found some sort of huge blow-torch and aimed it unswervingly at the creature as the twins rolled away once more. In moments the animal was a humanoid cloud of flame. Then it leapt through the air at the man, knocking the device to the floor.
There was no finesse this time, no delicious savouring of fear. A claw burst into the man's rib-cage.
Much of the creature's head and shoulders had been blackened by the attack but it turned gracefully to study Zoe and the twins, flexing its huge bloody claws delicately as if to prove that it was unharmed.
'What do we do now?' asked Reisaz, her face blistered by the heat and stained with sweat and soot. Raitak's eyes were half-closed and she was breathing heavily, a huge gash across her forehead.
Zoe shook her head and said nothing. They began to shuffle back across the expansive floor of the generating plant, staring always at the creature coming towards them.
As they waited for the final attacking leap Zoe wondered what it would feel like as the claws snapped over bone and muscle or as the staring face of death swept down on hers.
The ancient android's fingers hovered over the keypad, and then cancelled the entry process. It walked over to the Doctor. 'Show me the relevant data,' it said.
'Well, I can't, not as such,' blustered the Doctor. 'You see, the readings that would absolutely prove what I am saying can only be accessed from the reactor core test room.'
The android made as if to begin keying in the codes again.
'But,' said the Doctor, 'let's find out, shall we?'
Defrabax has not been able to access the test room,' stated the android. 'He lost the key.'
'How unfortunate,' said the Doctor. 'Show me where this room is.'
The motionless android weighed up the situation.
'Please hurry,' said the Doctor. 'You can't afford