Menagerie - Martin Day [97]
Darkness again, and then a gradual letting-in of information.
Surroundings, distinct from me, distinct from the receding darkness at the core of my being. Realizing that there were things beyond me, that I was a unit in a sea of data . . .
Seeking definition from surroundings, from other units.
Understanding life.' Zaitabor's face hardened in an instant. 'I remember nothing of my childhood. My first memory is offering myself to the Higher and the wisdom of the way of Kuabris.'
'You had no childhood!' said the Doctor. 'At least, not in this life.'
'I am a man!'
'You can fool yourself, but you cannot fool your own augmented biology. Have you ever been ill? Have you ever felt tired? How much of your humanity is a clever, randomized program, with hungers, desires and dreams put on for show, disguising the emptiness of your soul?'
'This is a mere distraction,' said Zaitabor, turning away.
'You are trying to confuse me, to thwart the Higher's great plans.'
'I've seen the image of the man you once were. You look a little better for the weight you've lost, but you have the same diseased mind.'
'I shall initiate the final sequence,' said Zaitabor. 'The core will overload.'
'Where did you learn such words?'
'I am not justifying anything to you!' screamed Zaitabor.
'This dark city will be destroyed!'
The Doctor sighed. 'I had hoped to reason with you, but it seems that you find this particular human concept alien.
Still, one way or another, I shall stop you,' he affirmed.
'Any attempt to stop me will result in the boy's death,'
said Zaitabor, pulling Cosmae back into the picture.
'Who will die when that reactor goes up anyway,' said the Doctor.
Zaitabor pressed the knife hard into the young man's throat. 'You want to see him die now?'
'No,' said the Doctor. 'I promise that the android will make no moves against you.'
'And yourself?'
'I never make promises I can't keep,' said the Doctor, flicking off the comm unit. He turned to Jamie, Zoe and the others. 'I've got one chance to get rid of the remaining Mecrim,' he said, 'and stop the power station exploding. But I'll need something that can get me to the power station fast.'
'I've seen lots of old fliers and hover vehicles around the city,' said Zoe. 'I'll try to restart one of those.'
'Good,' said the Doctor. 'Do you think you could bring one back in, say, five minutes? Take Jamie with you.' He pointed towards the far end of the park. 'I'd suggest going in that direction. It looks like the Mecrim will stay here for a while.'
'We'll be back as soon as we can,' said Jamie, following Zoe.
'And what are you going to do?' asked Defrabax.
The Doctor glanced in the direction of the Mecrim. There were about fifteen of the creatures still standing, and they tore into each other with unquenched aggression. Heads were crudely hacked off, legs snapped, rib-cages shattered.
The edge of the park was a grisly blur of movement, watched by shocked Dugraqs and hovering Taculbain.
'The Mecrim are attracted to large animals, as the twins found out,' he said, nodding in their direction. He pointed to his gun. 'With this we were able to fool a number of Mecrim into attacking their own kind. Now, I'm going to reprogram the entire gun and the last cartridges it contains. I want it to give off the heat signature of a boiling blue whale. And then I'm going to lead the last Mecrim to their doom.'
'We have a legend of such a man, who mesmerized verminous beasts and led them to the sea,' said Defrabax.
He caught the Doctor's eye. 'But now is probably not the time to recount it,' he added hurriedly.
Zoe and Jamie ran across the muddy plain that was once the park's playing fields. 'There's one,' said Zoe, pointing to a flat area of concrete. It still bore the faint lines of parking spaces, although in the semi-darkness they resembled strange geometric shapes unearthed by an archeological dig.
A single metallic-blue object sat in one of the bays.
'And you're expecting to get one going after all this time?'
'If they were well designed, there's no reason why not,'
said Zoe.