Doctor Who_ The Art Of Destruction Part 3

Basel stopped for breath, wiping his sweaty forehead on his arm.

'Must be a skylight.'

'Yeah, right, a skylight in a volcano.'

29.'An opening in the lava tube to the surface,' he explained. 'It's what they're called.'

'So, what maybe it built its nest there and found a way into this growth chamber place?'

'Right.' Basel nodded. 'We should climb up there and check it out.'

Rose dabbed at her dusty eyes and gauged the distance. It wasn't really so far up, but in this heat. . . 'What's got you so keen?'

He half-smiled. 'Maybe I just want to impress you.'

'Oh yeah?'

'Maybe.'

He was off again. Not to be outdone in the middle of some serious flirting, Rose forced herself to match his pace. They reached the rocky side of the volcano. A portakabin had been put up close by, some sort of storehouse. Basel stacked a number of metal billycans into makeshift steps and they soon reached the roof. From there it was a fairly challenging leap on to the sheer rock-face, but luckily there were plenty of foot-and handholds.

'You up to it?' he asked.

Actions spoke louder than words so she jumped, landed neatly and smiled back at him. Basel landed right beside her and scrambled swiftly up the rock. He offered her his hand to help her up on to a ledge. She accepted only so she could quickly scale the treacherous, scree-covered slope to the next ledge and offer a helping hand to him. With a rueful smile, he accepted.

'I think our bird took the next one up,' Basel said, still holding on to her fingers.

She nodded, pulled her hand away. 'Let's slow down a little. Could be dangerous.'

Cautiously they climbed up on to a shelf cut into the bare black rock. Rose could make out a hole maybe the size of a dinner plate, with little heaps of crumbled stone marking the edges. Higher up and beyond it there lay a large, messy pile of dried-out straw, sticks and husks.

'That must be its nest,' said Basel warily. 'It didn't go back there, then.'

30.'Needs a place with a bit more bling now,' Rose joked. 'Must have vanished off down that skylight of yours.'

'Wait.' Basel's whole body seemed to tense. 'Skylights are formed when the rock falls inwards. But there's stone chips and stuff round the outside of this one.'

Rose's eyes met his as her heart started to sink. 'So whatever made this hole was inside the cave and tunnelling out. . . '

Almost cheesily on cue, a blob of something like molten metal popped up from out of the hole. It kind of resembled mercury but with a golden sheen, quivering like metallic jelly. Rose and Basel took several steps backwards, almost to the edge of the ledge.

'I know it's hot here,' said Rose, 'but hot enough to melt metal?'

'It's cold in the caves,' Basel told her. 'This stuff must be what Adiel saw with. . . '

His voice choked off as the molten golden blob started rolling towards them, gleaming in the sunlight, leaving no marks on the rock behind it.

Time we were making tracks at any rate, she thought. But out loud she simply shouted, 'Run!'

Basel was first over the edge, but Rose was right behind him. When she reached the ledge she turned and looked up. Saw the glob somehow sticking to the rock-face as it rolled down towards them.

'What is that thing?' panted Basel.

'Dunno,' said Rose, launching herself down the next scree-scattered slope. 'But I think it's hungry.'

The rough rock tore at her clothes, stung her palms and scratched her skin as she scrambled back down, Basel right beside her. At last they reached the asphalt roof of the portakabin. Rose risked an upwards glance to find the molten metallic thing was hissing its way towards them, faster and faster.

Wild-eyed and panting for breath, Basel sprinted over to the makeshift billycan stairway. He rocketed down and Rose followed but one of the metal canisters had been knocked loose, it gave way under her step and suddenly she was falling.

31.She hit the ground hard and awkwardly amid the clanging of tumbling billycans, and gasped as a shooting pain burned through her ankle.

In a moment Basel was beside her, helping her up. 'You OK? Can you walk?'

'Better hope I can run,' said Rose grimly as the molten blob appeared at the edge of the roof, pulsing with golden light. Suddenly it flopped off the edge and landed on the baking earth. Rose backed away, ignored the biting pain in her ankle as the blob rolled towards her.

But Basel had crept behind it with one of the billycans and now he brought it down, spout first, on the golden blob, trapping it inside.

'Quick, get something we can stick on top of it!'

Rose hobbled over to grab another of the fallen canisters. She planked it on top, then went to get more to stack around the sides. Soon the billycan was buried and still.

'Nice one, Basel,' said Rose admiringly. 'Simple but effective.'

Basel looked less sure. 'We don't know how long it'll hold that thing.'

'Let's find the Doctor. He'll be able to sort it.' She thought hard. 'But where's it come from?'

'Fynn,' said Basel with certainty. 'He's been messing round with nature too long. Something like this was bound to happen.'

'This isn't anything to do with nature,' said Rose. 'It's got to be. . . '

He looked at her expectantly.

'Well.' She felt suddenly embarra.s.sed. 'It's got to be alien or something.'

He grinned. 'Yeah, right. Come on. We'll see what Fynn has to say about it.'

He set off. With a last worried glance at the pile of canisters, Rose hobbled after him.

Fynn started as the Doctor suddenly sat bolt upright. 'Are you OK?'

'Where was I?' The Doctor stared round, took a deep breath in and winced. 'Oh yes. In here, in pain and in the dark.' He looked over at 32 the open entrance to the growth chamber. 'Could be getting lighter. When did Goldfinger step aside?'

'Not long ago,' said Fynn. 'I I was going to go inside but. . . ' But I was terrified! But I was terrified! He looked away. 'I didn't think I should leave you here.' He looked away. 'I didn't think I should leave you here.'

'Ooh, sweet,' said the Doctor vaguely. 'What we have to ask ourselves is why is he knocking us back one minute and welcoming us in the next? Eh? Mm? What's changed?'

'You used that tool on him. What was it?'

'Sonic screwdriver.

Resonates magnetic fields, oscillates atomic structures and available in a variety of attractive colours.' The Doctor looked at Fynn. 'D'you think he responded to a bit of posh technology, is that it?'

Fynn scowled. 'You said he was dead.'

'Oh, Kanjuchi's dead, yes. The man himself, the man you employed, he's dead as a dinosaur. But his body is still in service. Question is whose service?' The Doctor got up. 'And whoever or whatever's in charge, do they want to find out more about me and my posh technology, or do they want me dead? I dunno. I just dunno.' He clapped Fynn heartily on the back and grinned. 'I do a great impression of a lamb trotting off to the slaughter. Wanna see?'

'I need to find out what's happened to my crop.' said Fynn quietly.

'Let's have a look, then.' The Doctor slipped through the narrow gap between the two boulders and stepped cautiously into the growth chamber.

Fynn followed him quickly inside. 'Oh no. No!' In the red light, the crop of fungus stood gleaming as if it was made of gold. 'What's happened here?'

'This stuff has coated Kanjuchi, that vulture and now your fungus. . . ' The Doctor shrugged. 'Maybe it's designed to target organic life.'

'Designed?'

'By a controlling intelligence.'

Fynn wiped cold sweat from his forehead. 'A controlling alien intelligence? Is that what you're asking me to believe?'

33.'I'm telling you.' the Doctor snapped. 'Down to you if you believe me or not. And fungi are cla.s.sified as being closer to animal life than plant life. . . Perhaps this stuff isn't very discriminating.'

'But what does it want want?'

The Doctor shrugged again. 'Maybe it's just trying to make your art look a little prettier.'

Suddenly there was a piercing shriek from above them as a bloated, enormous shape came flapping down from the rocky ceiling of the growth chamber and perched on the gleaming spires of fungus. It had a hooked, twisted beak, wings so badly distorted they had to be broken, talons like broken pitchforks. Its eyes burned, molten with malice.

'Hold very still,' the Doctor murmured. 'Looks like our vulture's come home to roost.'

'Whatever happened to Kanjuchi has happened to the bird?' Fynn whispered.

'Yes. The DNA's been reordered.' He glanced behind him. 'By that.'

Fynn peered into the crimson shadows of the growth chamber. He saw something gleaming there, slowly pulsing with white-gold light. Rocking back and forth as if in antic.i.p.ation. Waiting for them. The vulture rose into the air on its burnished, broken wings. Fynn took a few involuntary steps backwards, then caught movement behind him. The large glowing blob split into four smaller ent.i.ties and started to roll forwards. Fynn recoiled and the vulture hurled itself towards him. Fynn threw his arm up over his face, then took another step back.

But the Doctor grabbed hold of him. 'It's trying to herd us into that lot,' he hissed. 'The sonic screwdriver must have made it wary. Whatever this stuff is, it's taking no chances.' The shining, cadaverous vulture flapped at him with another ear-piercing screech. 'We're trapped!'

34.

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Fynn tore himself free of the Doctor's grip. 'You said your sonic device made this stuff wary,' he said. 'Use it again! Full power! Scare it!'

'Full power?' The Doctor stared at him in horror. 'Have you any idea how much the batteries for this thing cost?'

The vulture thrashed through the air towards them and thumped the Doctor in the chest, knocking him down. Its talons raked the air above his face. At the same time, the golden blobs surged forwards to get him.

The Doctor whipped out his little ceramic wand and held it out towards the blobs. The tip buzzed blue. The vulture descended, twisted beak wide open to tear at his fingers, but the Doctor brought up his legs and pedalled the air to keep it at bay. The blobs stopped rolling forwards, pulsed faster, quivered as if they were trembling.

'Ultrasonics,' the Doctor called cheerfully over the raucous screams of the vulture. 'Agitates the molecules. And sometimes. . . '

With a deafening clap, the back of the growth chamber seemed to split open like a cracked eggsh.e.l.l. The vulture flew backwards as if repelled by some invisible force. The various blobs of molten matter flowed back into one.

35.Then the warped figure of Kanjuchi appeared in the narrow opening to the chamber, struggling to squeeze his golden girth through the gap between the boulders. His fingers tore and gouged at the stone. He even started to bite it, gleaming fangs crunching through the solid rock as if it was hamburger.

'He's not scared,' Fynn shouted. 'He's livid!'

With a guttural roar and an explosion of stony shrapnel, Kanjuchi pushed through into the chamber and charged straight for the Doctor. Fynn tried to help him Hp, but Kanjuchi was too fast. He swatted Fynn aside and then ran on to the back wall of the chamber. There, glinting redgold in the dull, scarlet light, he turned and planted himself firmly in front of the gaping split in the rock, his arms raised so he completely blocked the way.

'Interesting.' The Doctor jumped up, switching off his device. The primary purpose of this stuff has to be defensive. It's trying to protect something and so it's converting local animal life into sentries.' He beamed at Fynn but then the smile faded. 'But what's it protecting, eh? What's so important? And what's suddenly set it off now if you opened up this chamber a while ago?' He jerked his head at the split.

'What's through there?' He took a couple of steps towards Kanjuchi and raised his voice. 'I said, what's through there?'

The golden fingers of the Kanjuchi statue curled and clenched into enormous, lumpy fists.

'Come on, Doctor.' Skin crawling, Fynn turned quickly and headed back towards the crumbling exit. 'Before something else comes to bar our way.'

'Ignoring the problem won't make it go away, Director,' the Doctor warned him. 'Something's woken up. Something very old and very hostile. And what we're seeing are the first stirrings, that's all. It's gonna get worse, a whole lot worse. We're talking huge amounts of worse here!'

Alarmist nonsense, thought Fynn as he hurried from the chamber. He only wished he had the courage to say so out loud.

36.Solomon walked slowly through the darkness of the abandoned eastern caverns, his dying torch spilling a sickly yellow light over the twisting path ahead. All around were piles of rubble where ceilings had collapsed and stalagmites shattered. Some of the lava tubes were too small to walk through, you had to crouch and crawl and even wriggle on your stomach. It was small wonder the eastern tubes had been pretty much written off, at least until the fungus crop had taken hold and they needed the extra room.

Solomon reached what seemed at first sight to be a dead end in the narrow crawl-s.p.a.ce. But the dying torch beam suggested the shadow of stones piled there, blocking the way. He flicked off the light, started to pull the rocks away.

There was a distant sound somewhere behind him and he froze. He mustn't be found here. If he was. . .

The noise did not come again. Solomon returned to clearing the stones from the narrow pa.s.sage ahead, then wormed his way through the gap. On this side, the pa.s.sage was taller and wider. And someone was standing at the end of the pa.s.sage. A dark figure, holding a flaming torch.

'What are you doing here?' Solomon demanded.

'We want more food.' said the figure quietly, Solomon shook his head. 'There is no more. I've told you all along, I can only give you one delivery each week.'

'It is not enough.'

'Any more would be missed.' Solomon walked towards the man with the torch and held out his hand. 'It's good to see you, Talib, but I've warned you never to come here.'

Talib accepted his hand, but his face was cold as the darkness. 'Robbers and rebels took most of the food. They took our sheep and cows, even the mats we sleep on. And they will be back.'

'I cannot give you any more,' said Solomon. 'You risk too much, coming here. If you were seen if anyone knew the tunnels stretch as far as Gouronkah you could find yourselves relocated to the shelters, or pushed into aid camps. Is that what you want?' He looked at Talib 37 suspiciously. 'No. I know what you want. You want to find your own way through, don't you? Trying to take food for yourself.'

'We need it, Solomon.'

Solomon couldn't keep his voice from rising. 'If I'm caught stealing for you, I'll be sent to the labour camps. And then you'll get no food, nothing you understand? Nothing ever again.'