Doctor Who_ Bunker Soldiers Part 26

And with that, he drew his huge sword from its scabbard.

The metal sang through the air like an arc of lightning.

The headless body of Yevhen collapsed to its knees in a parody of supplication.

Batu turned to Mongke. 'How many have survived?'

'What with the disease, the collapse of the church... Our own n.o.ble actions. A few thousand, perhaps.'

'Let them live. And let news of our great victory go forth, to the cities we are yet to conquer!'

Unnoticed by everyone, a Mongol soldier standing some distance away nodded almost imperceptibly at these words. Then he turned on his heels and disappeared into the shadows of Kiev.

'It is very quiet,' observed one of the Russian soldiers, still watching the locked door to the tunnels.

'Perhaps we have won,' said the other. 'Perhaps it is all over.'

'So quickly?' pondered the other. 'After all this time...' He paused, and for a moment his face was filled with joy. What if they had won? What if, somehow, they had defeated the devilish Tartars done what no city had done before? Then he shook his head, his features becoming hard. 'No,' he said firmly. 'They would have sent word by now. We would have heard the sounds of rejoicing!'

'But it is all over,' came a quiet voice from the other side of the room. 'I am very nearly finished.'

The men turned and, to their horror, saw a short Mongol soldier step into the room. In truth, they did not recognise him as 'Mongol' or 'Tartar' so alien was his face, so extraordinary was his clothing.

They drew their swords. 'Devil!' one spat.

'Put down your weapons, said the man. 'I am tired of this.'

The soldiers gripped their swords ever more tightly, but did not advance on the Mongol.

'Very well,' he said. He paused, straightened up and, incredibly, became slimmer, taller, before the amazed eyes of the soldiers. His skin lightened in colour ruddy hues swirling into nothingness like distant clouds and, under the skin, bones became mobile, disjointed, fluid. Eventually they too settled.

'Witchcraft!' cried one of the soldiers.

'Yevhen!' blurted out the other, recognising the now-solid visage in front of them.

'Yevhen is dead. All your people are dead. This bunker has been destroyed. My mission is over.' The figure twitched, uncomfortable in clothing that was now ill-fitting, for what he had been wearing had not changed.

'Bunker? Mission? What words are these?' The soldier raised his sword and made as if to advance.

The creature that wore Yevhen's face flew at them in a blur, spines extending from its fists and lips. Moments later it held the two corpses almost tenderly in its arms. 'I have followed my orders. It is over.' Then it dropped the bodies to the floor, and advanced on the locked door.

It found a key, and pushed it into place. 'I am so tired,' it said. 'I must rest now.'

The door opened, and the creature disappeared into the darkness.

XXI.

Oblationes et holocausta We were soon deep within the tunnels that linked the catacombs under the cathedral with the governor's residence. The Doctor was impatient to find the crypt that contained the tomb of the 'angel': I, on the other hand, was more interested in trying to find our way through the cold stone pa.s.sageways and out again.

In any event, my sketchy geography reminded me that the crypt was between us and the cathedral. Behind us was only a locked door, so both our objectives could be met if we found our way through the darkness.

Dodo was quiet still pondering the Doctor's awful story about the Black Death, I suspected but Isaac and Nahum were talking animatedly, as if we were on some sort of fact-finding expedition. Both, it seemed, had long suspected the existence of a whole range of tunnels under the city, and were intrigued to finally find themselves exploring the subterranean corridors.

Dmitri brought up the rear, alternately mute and muttering, but able at least to walk unaided. He didn't know where he was, but seemed content enough just to be walking somewhere, to have something to do.

The Doctor was chattering away to himself, if no one else about labyrinths and mazes, and infallible ways of conquering them that involved paint or beads. ' ...and if a doorway is without a mark, you may go down that, making two marks on it. And if you proceed through a doorway with but one mark on it... Is it one or two more marks? Two, I think. Yes. Two. I'm certain.

And if you arrive at a junction with no marks at all...'

I ignored him, and concentrated on my dim memories of my time in the catacombs, trying desperately to recognise patterns on the walls, bends in the tunnels, particular configurations of archways or doors.

In actual fact, we came upon the crypt soon enough, though I am sure it was more by accident than by design. It was much as I remembered it a small structure beneath the great arches of the cathedral catacombs, punctured by a small open door. The Doctor, ever inquisitive, wanted to lead the way, but I overruled him. For all we knew, the skull-faced thing could have returned, and was waiting for us. I remembered my own encounter with the creature, and the way it had remained within the crypt watching me with great malevolence, and I suppressed a shudder.

I stepped into the arch of the doorway, and saw at once two things: the great, ruptured coffin within the centre, and a pale and near-naked body on the far side of the room. I recognised who it was, and darted outside again.

'Dodo!' I exclaimed.

'Steven?'

'I need your help. Don't worry, the creature's not here.' I turned to the others. 'I don't suppose we have a spare cloak?'

They looked at me blankly, but Nahum volunteered the rough cape he had been wearing. I listened, almost amused, to the conversation within the crypt which had been preceded, no doubt, by some vigorous shaking, for the person was clearly comatose.

'Wake up!' I could hear Dodo saying. 'Come on!'

A m.u.f.fled moan, a stifled cry of terror, then: 'Dodo!'

'h.e.l.lo, sleepyhead.'

'Where am I?'

'You don't want to know.'

'And... And where are my clothes?'

'I'm not sure you want to know that either. Here, put this on.'

Moments later, Lesia embarra.s.sed and groggy stepped through the doorway, pulling the cloak tightly around her with as much dignity as she could muster. Nahum let out a whoop of delight and ran to embrace her.

'Fascinating!' said the Doctor. 'The creature can change its face, but not its clothing.' He stifled a chuckle.

'I remember Steven's account of the discovery of the cook's body,' said Isaac. 'It all fits together.'

'But unfortunately she was killed,' said the Doctor, 'and yet this girl was allowed to live... for which I am, of course, grateful.

But why do you think that is, hmm?' Without thinking, he had turned to address Dmitri, but the former governor's face was blank and, whatever he was looking at, it was not at us.

'My son was not killed when there were opportunities to do so,' added Isaac. 'Steven also. There is no consistency in the creature's actions!'

'I believe there is!' said the Doctor. 'We're just not seeing it.'

He stepped into the small room and Isaac and I followed him.

He stepped up to the casket.

'I might not know much, Doctor,' I observed, 'but that's no coffin!'

'Quite right, my boy. A life-support capsule of some sort, hmm?' He ran his fingers over the surface. 'Clearly capable of travelling great distances through s.p.a.ce, all the while keeping its occupant in suspended animation.'

There was a sudden cry from outside. 'Doctor! Steven!' It was Dodo's voice.

I was nearest the door, and ducked through.

I saw the creature stepping into the circle of light created by our torches. It was angular and pale now, and had made no attempt to mimic the human form. Its head scanned from side to side, but it did not move until it saw Dmitri.

Then the beast sprang through the air, barbs extending from its face.

Without thinking, Nahum ran to Dmitri's aid. The creature landed athletically, its clawed fists raised but made no further forward movement. Nahum was effectively between the creature and the former governor.

'The leader must be terminated,' said the creature in a quiet singsong voice. 'The bunker is already compromised. Most of the unclean have been destroyed. When the leader is terminated, the mission is over.'

I went to stand by Nahum, further blocking Dmitri from view. 'Why don't you attack?' I asked.

The skull-face bobbed from side to side, taking us both in.

'The pure must not be damaged,' it said simply, as if this explained everything.

'Fascinating,' said the Doctor. 'This is beginning to make sense.' He took another step towards the monster, even going so far as to extend a hand towards its barbed face.

'Doctor!' I warned.

'It's quite all right, my boy,' said the Doctor. He ran a hand down the beast's face, as if stroking a pet. 'It only wants to attack Dmitri. The rest of us are safe.'

'But why?'

'Oh, my boy, please do use that fine mind of yours! What do we all have in common? Or, rather, in what vital way are all of us different from Dmitri?'

I paused, thinking. 'Well, Dodo and you and I don't belong here. Perhaps it's as simple as that.'

'And what of Isaac and Nahum, hmm? What of them?'

I shook my head.

The Doctor refused to elaborate, but instead turned on his heel. 'Steven, my boy, come with me.'

'But what about Dmitri?'

'Oh, one of the others can stand there. They will be quite safe. Now, come along, come along.'

The Doctor was right: Dodo, Lesia, Nahum and Isaac stood in a small semicircle in front of the governor, and the creature was thus rendered motionless. Its claws twitched, as if reflecting its desire to attack, but otherwise it didn't move. I followed the Doctor back into the crypt. He crouched by the casket, and ran his hands over its smooth metal sides. 'I have seen something similar to this before. Yes. And somewhere there should be...'

He let out a gasp of delight, and removed a small panel from the side of the 'coffin'. It came away, resting in his hands like a computer pad. I could see a small recessed screen, and an array of nodules that I a.s.sumed were controls, and, at the base, a series of tiny holes.

'What's that?'

'The controlling device.' The Doctor pointed to the indentations, and I saw that they matched a random sequence of tiny metal needles in the casket. 'I think we can use this. I must get it back to the TARDIS.'

'The TARDIS!' I exclaimed 'But it will still be guarded.'

The Doctor paused solemnly. 'Any Russian soldier who still lives will have concerns other than our access to the ship.'

We left the others behind, still locked in their motionless impa.s.se and facing the beast. Again, I tried as best I could to follow my instincts and my memories of the tunnels. We had discussed heading back towards the great stairs that had so terrified me, but I reminded the Doctor that Yevhen had locked the door at the top some time ago. And, in any case, we wanted to go back to the governor's residence, to find the TARDIS.

It was then the Doctor's turn to remind me that Yevhen had also ordered that that door to be locked. 'But the creature has come down here,' he added. 'Perhaps the it has been opened again.' door to be locked. 'But the creature has come down here,' he added. 'Perhaps the it has been opened again.'

It seemed at the time a vague and forlorn hope, but I said nothing, and was pleasantly surprised when we found our way back to the entrance. The door was, indeed, open and the reason became obvious as we stepped through it. Two Russian soldiers, doubtless attacked by the beast, lay in an awful pile on the floor, their faces in ribbons.

As I entered the room I felt the small metal panel become warm in my hands. The Doctor had entrusted it to me, and I turned to speak to him, slightly alarmed.

Before I could say a word I was transported there is no other word for it to a different place and time entirely. There was a knot in my stomach, and wind whipped my eyes. It was as if I was on some awful fairground ride or, worse, one of those dreams where you fall from a great height, only to awake as you hit the ground.

But this was far worse more real, it seemed in a moment, than reality itself. I tried to scream, but the sound was ripped away by my rushing descent.

I fell past moons and planets and suns, then dark skies, then clouds. The air around me began to burn, but before I could see what if anything I was travelling in, I landed. There was no thud of impact, no awful rending of bone and muscle: one moment I was falling like a missile, the next I was on my feet, walking about as if I had casually stepped off a footstool.

My vision settled and I saw a planet of red and brown rock, dominated by a circle of distant volcanoes that poured a constant stream of ash and flame into the air. Worse still, a battle was being played out in front of me. Great tanks that walked on insect legs over the uncertain terrain loosed off laser weapons; human-sized creatures in glorified s.p.a.cesuits buzzed around them like insects. Another group of armour-clad humanoids were marching towards a dome-like structure only a mile or so from where I stood; without warning, the ground beneath them shattered, revealing a vast craft like a battle-green trapdoor spider. The entire platoon was wiped out in a moment, and the 'spider' settled back beneath the ground.

An aircraft flew low overhead, strafing the area with some sort of cl.u.s.ter bomb. I realised, then, that I was borrowing someone's eyes, someone's perceptions I could no more control my body (whatever it was!) than I could run in one of those awful, powerless nightmares. I knew only that I was moving at speed and that my destination seemed to be the dome.

Above me, I realised, were more of the creatures in their pale s.p.a.cesuits, and they were protecting me (us?) from attack. I soon came to the outside of the dome all the while protected by the covering fire of the flying humanoids and a blue-brown, three-digited hand extended towards some sort of control panel. I realised with a shock that this was 'my' hand, or the hand of whatever creature's experiences I seemed to be sharing. It flickered over the controls, and the door opened.

I/we stepped inside, into the darkness, to find the Doctor staring at me in concern. I was back in the governor's residence, and less than a moment had pa.s.sed.