Menagerie - Martin Day [71]
'What do we do now?' asked the scout.
'I will ensure that no one else can operate this machinery.
And then we'll go back up to the surface, preferably avoiding the sewers this time. I need to find Jamie and Zoe, and I want to find out who arranged the Taculbain ambush.'
The Doctor smiled sadly. 'A number of people have died already. I don't propose that there should be any more before I leave this planet.'
Zoe stood next to the twins. 'I'm very sorry,' she said.
'He shouldn't have done that,' said Raitak.
Reisaz nodded. 'He's saved our lives twice now. Once should have been enough.'
Zoe pulled a makeshift tourniquet tighter around her leg.
The bleeding seemed to have stopped now. She would need a few stitches but other than that she'd be all right. But there was no sense of victory in her mind. Diseaeda had sacrificed himself in order to destroy a lethal and uncontrollable creature let loose into a civilization that had no real defence against it.
They closed the metal doors over the furnace and then slumped down to the floor, too exhausted and shocked to speak. After a period of contemplation the twins found a herbal lotion in one of their pockets which they dabbed around Zoe's wound and on their own blisters.
And then the twins started crying, great whooping, choking screams of uninhibited grief.
Zoe stared ahead, stoically.
Some minutes later Raitak blew her nose on her sleeve.
'It'll be dawn soon,' she said through sobs.
'What will you do?' asked Reisaz, rubbing her eyes as she looked at Zoe. 'Under our law you're free to go now, of course.'
'I'll go back to the city, find the Doctor and Jamie,' replied Zoe. 'When I tell the Doctor what's happened I'm sure he'll make sure that the other creatures stay in suspended animation.'
'We'll come with you,' said Raitak. 'The circus can wait.'
'You'll be going back to the freak show?' asked an incredulous Zoe.
'On Diseaeda's death not only are all his servants and helpers liberated,' said Raitak, 'but we become its new owners.'
'It will be good to see you safely reunited with your friends,' said Reisaz.
'But most importantly of all,' said Raitak. 'We must ensure that there are no more creatures like that thing we have just destroyed.'
Fourteen
The silver globe of the sun rose slowly through the early morning mist. Woods and farmhouses were rendered as dim grey shapes in the distance. Only the road ahead was straight and true.
Zoe turned to look at the twins. They had returned to the circus to retrieve Diseaeda's favourite horse and to find a suitable creature for Zoe to ride. She was grateful for the comparative comfort of her return journey, but was shocked by the grey faces of the circus workers and townsfolk as they cleared away the bodies. The twins had been numbed by Diseaeda's death, and conversation had been difficult.
Zoe had seen many deaths since beginning her travels with the Doctor and, although her faith in him was absolute, that never meant that coping was any easier. And her grief was always second-hand, like sobbing at a motiveless murder reported by the telepress. What were those affected actually going through?
Such strength of emotion was alien to Zoe. Despite the Doctor's playful cynicism she still felt that logic was a vital part of any civilized person's mentality. But did she feel this simply because she was lucky enough not to have experienced the death of someone very close to her?
The trouble with the long journey — and the twins'
taciturnity — was that it gave Zoe a lot of time to think. She wasn't sure if she welcomed the prospect.
'Tell us again about your friends,' said Raitak suddenly.
Reisaz jumped as if waking up from a deep sleep.