Menagerie - Martin Day [99]
Jamie grinned.
'Thank you, anyway,' said Zoe.
Jamie began to angle the hover vehicle towards the very recognizable form of the Doctor.
'Oh, and Jamie?'
'Yes?'
'You do know how to stop this thing, don't you?'
Defrabax and the twins walked around the parked vehicle.
'That's quite something, isn't it?' said the mage.
'It would make a fascinating exhibit,' said Raitak.
The Doctor bustled back towards the vehicle, Jamie and Zoe in tow. 'Now, I suggest you all get well away from here. When I activate this gun the Mecrim will think that a huge creature has just hoved into view. They'll stop attacking each other and, with any luck, follow me all the way to the power station.'
'You must let us come with you,' said Jamie.
'No, it's much too dangerous. There have been enough deaths already, and frankly I'm worried enough about Cosmae. You two stay here with the Dugraqs. You've provided me with all that I need.'
'You know how to drive it?' asked Zoe.
'I taught Jamie everything he knows!' said the Doctor proudly. He jumped in behind the steering wheel. 'I've heard the 603 is quite something. Stand back!'
With that he operated the vehicle's hover mechanism, and then pulled the trigger on the gun. A heat-haze immediately surrounded him in the cockpit.
The Mecrim turned from their personalized massacre and looked up. As one they charged towards the Doctor's flier, tumbling over each other in the excitement. Zoe had never seen them move so fast.
The Doctor rotated the vehicle on the spot, and then sped off into the distance. The Mecrim ran right past the Dugraqs, Taculbain and humans, and were soon lost from sight in the streets of the old colony.
The Doctor glanced between the rear vehicle sensor array, showing multiple blips of pursuing Mecrim, and the computerized bar graph that showed his diminishing speed and power. 'Not far to go,' he said, staring at the approaching power station. 'Just don't let me down now.'
He looked behind just in time to catch a Mecrim making an optimistic leap towards the back of the vehicle. Its claws fell well short, and it collapsed beneath the charging feet of its companions. Moments later it was back in the pack, running at full speed.
A large metal gateway appeared before the Doctor. Had he come this way before? The Doctor never found out if there was a sensor in the gate to facilitate opening as the flier smashed straight into it and careered towards the main reactor building.
Clutching the gun to his chest the Doctor slowed the hover vehicle and then jumped out of the door. He was aware only of the hardness of the ground as he hit it, and the wave of heat that crashed over him as he rolled.
He staggered to his feet, one shoulder feeling very bruised. The Mecrim had come to a halt some yards away from where the hover vehicle had hit a wall. They were confused, but it wouldn't last long. Soon they'd discover that the flames weren't a living creature.
The Doctor ran towards a doorway into the building. It slid open as he approached, the noise making the Mecrim turn. He had to ignore them now, just trust his luck and his judgement.
He ran towards the control room, still holding the gun to his chest. The metal was beginning to blister under the immense heat that was being discharged. The Mecrim were grunting behind him, their feet hammering on the floor —
but above even this the ominous groaning of the generators could be heard.
The corridor seemed to stretch for ever, the pursuing Mecrim sounding ever-louder behind him, but the Doctor knew that his emotionally heightened perceptions were not to be trusted. In a rush the control room appeared before him.
The door opened. The Doctor took in the scene in an instant, the android motionless in the corner of the room, Araboam standing behind a shivering Cosmae, glancing nervously towards his lord, and Zaitabor himself sitting at a terminal. His hands were flickering over the keyboard,