Doctor Who_ The Fall Of Yquatine Part 4

And then, suddenly, the small moon disappeared.

President Vargeld jerked forward in his seat, his breath seeming to solidify in his body. Almost blindly his fingers tapped the controls in front of him, activating the long-range scanners. He glanced down at them, seeming to see the figures as if from far away. They made no sense: Muath was still there, but he couldn't see it. As if it had been swallowed by shadows.

'What the h.e.l.l '

Then the c.o.c.kpit went dark, as if something had come between his ship and the sun. He craned his neck and looked out of the top of the bubble.

Blackness. No stars, no sun, just a blackness that hurt his eyes, made his head throb. He looked wildly around. There were shapes shapes everywhere, sliding across the stars, shutting out the light of the sun. It was as if giant hands had cupped his ship in black fingers. What was this? A new Anthaurk weapon? everywhere, sliding across the stars, shutting out the light of the sun. It was as if giant hands had cupped his ship in black fingers. What was this? A new Anthaurk weapon?

President Vargeld felt a terror rising within him, a terror of the unknown. Hands shaking, he set course for a small shard of visible star-speckled s.p.a.ce and cranked the ion engines right up.

The little fighter shot towards the narrowing gap, and President Vargeld yelled, an animal sound of fear and defiance. The starfield almost filled his forward vision when the surrounding blackness shifted and the ship glanced against something solid, throwing President Vargeld against the console. He gasped as everything danced around him, the fighter flipping out of control. Stars and black fingers and the blinding inferno of the sun spun around him in a sickening kaleidoscope. His insides knotted with dread as he realised that he was spinning away from Muath, towards the sun. Unless he did something soon he'd enter the sun's corona and burn up. He grabbed the nave-rod with both hands, fighting to bring the ship under control. But there was something wrong: the little ship wasn't responding, her engines dead.

As he spun away towards the orb of the sun, the President looked back towards Yquatine. And what he saw made him forget that he was going to die, burned to nothingness.

What he saw was a swathe of ships, arrayed in a vast arc around the planet. They were featureless black ovoids, their size and number impossible to determine. And they were closing in on Yquatine. Already the bluegreen disc of his home planet was being obscured by the invaders, like a swarm of flies crawling over a petalfruit.

Of Muath, there was no sign.

He should have been thinking of the millions of people who were probably going to die, but he could think of only one.

One who may already be dead.

Arielle...

Chapter Four.

'In a few hours, nothing will be left alive'

In the end, Fitz didn't find Compa.s.sion. Compa.s.sion found Fitz.

He'd wandered aimlessly at first, back through the marketplace and town until he'd come out on to the seafront. It reminded him of the places he'd been as a kid Brighton maybe, or Weymouth but everything was on a much grander scale, the buildings gleaming and seamless, and most striking of all there was no litter. It all looked so perfect, so serene, that Fitz momentarily forgot his quest and crossed the road to look at the beach. He'd taken in the view for a few minutes, marvelling at the yachts and cruisers moored in the harbour and at the rippling green expanse of ocean, before he remembered he was supposed to be looking for Compa.s.sion.

He'd started wandering along the pavement beside the beach, unable to keep his eyes from the sunbathers, even though many of them weren't even human. He'd rarely seen such a variety of alien life tentacles, flippers, feelers, all crowded the beach; here. at least, were people determined to have fun. When he did eventually clap eyes on a pair of naked, female, human b.r.e.a.s.t.s it felt like coming home, and he'd had to restrain himself from breaking into a round of hearty applause. He was contemplating a bevy of bipedal dolphin-like creatures, splashing and laughing at the water's edge, wondering if they were humans who'd decided to become dolphins or dolphins who'd decided to become human, when a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

He turned. It was Compa.s.sion, her face still hidden beneath her hood. 'Fitz, we have to get away from here. Something bad is coming.'

Fitz was relieved to see her. 'Where have you been? Are you OK now?'

Compa.s.sion shook her head. 'No. Come on, we have to leave.'

Then Fitz saw something out of the corner of his eye. Something falling. There was a splash from out at sea, a few shrill cries from the dolphin creatures. People were getting up, pointing at the thing that was bobbing in the sea.

Fitz shaded his eyes. A black spiny object, for all the world like a mine. As he watched, more of them fell out of the sky with eerie whistling shrieks.

Fitz pointed. 'Is that what you mean?'

Compa.s.sion nodded. 'Yes.'

A flicker of movement above. Fitz looked up. And gasped. The sky was black with oval shapes, blotting out the sun, dappling the white sand with shadow. From them the spiny things were dropping like seeds, whistling and splashing into the sea. Now black gas was surging out of the objects in the sea, spreading incredibly quickly as if it was replicating within itself, rolling over the top of the waves, heading for the sh.o.r.e. People were screaming, climbing over the sea wall, pushing past Fitz and Compa.s.sion. The dolphin creatures ran past, chirruping and squeaking in agitation.

Fitz stared at the black gas as if hypnotised. 'What is that stuff?'

'Some sort of gas, but there's something more. Something '

'The Doctor,' cried Fitz. 'We gotta get back to the pie shop.'

'We'd never make it,' said Compa.s.sion.

It was true. Now the entire seafront was a thick ma.s.s of black, as if a thundercloud had fallen to earth, and it was surging up the beach towards them. Fitz watched as someone fell, further along the sh.o.r.e, their cries abruptly cut off as the black cloud rolled over them.

'Time to go,' said Compa.s.sion, and turned herself into a doorway.

Fitz felt oddly detached. It was almost as if he'd been expecting this.

Then it began to rain.

A drop landed on the flagstones before Fitz. It hissed angrily, burning a tiny crater in the concrete.

Acid rain?

Fitz gritted his teeth, closed his eyes and dived into Compa.s.sion.

Everything went white and Fitz fell And then there was solid ground beneath his feet.

Fitz opened his eyes. He was inside Compa.s.sion, in the console chamber.

'Acid rain,' he muttered, looking up at the roofs.p.a.ce with fearful eyes. If he'd stayed out just a second longer...

The roofs.p.a.ce was Compa.s.sion's scanner, and Fitz had a grandstand view of the attack if it was an attack. It seemed more like a natural process or nature gone mad. The sky was dark with the black shapes, the air gleaming with rods of acid rain. Fitz could see the outlines of the buildings on the esplanade visibly softening as the acid ate into them. The facade of a large hotel began to melt, its balconies crashing down into each other, human and alien figures thrown clear, their bodies steaming as the acid went to work on them. Everywhere at ground level, the black stuff, rolling along the streets, rising up in obscene hammerheaded clumps, like a sea monster rearing its head.

Nothing made of flesh and blood could possibly withstand it. Bile forced its way into Fitz's mouth and he swallowed. He tried not to imagine what the acid would do to all those people, all those beings. The streets would run with blood. People would see their loved ones eaten away, faces sluicing from skulls, before their own pain became too much.

Compa.s.sion's voice, flat, emotionless. 'They're surrounding the whole planet. In a few hours, nothing will be left alive.'

Fitz slumped to the floor, totally stunned by the speed and devastation of the attack. He spoke, his voice cracking. 'Take us out of here.'

Compa.s.sion's voice rang out again, this time a hoa.r.s.e, desperate whisper. 'Get this thing out of me first.'

Fitz was too stunned to focus on her words. 'What?'

The voice took on a rough, urgent edge. 'The Randomiser. Quickly!'

Fitz got up and approached the console. He didn't want to go near it it was like the spider in the corner of the bedroom, the darkness at the top of the stairs. He forced himself, swallowing, the sour taste of bile still tainting his tongue. The silver box of the Randomiser was still embedded in the console. And it was changing: black tendrils, like plant roots, were twining up from the console, wrapping themselves around the metal box.

Fitz hesitated to touch it. He remembered what happened before, when the Doctor had tried to remove it. 'It'll hurt.'

'Do it.'

'Are you sure?'

'I don't want it in me. I want control!'

Fitz felt a pressure inside his head. It was getting hard to breathe, for some reason. He was safe in here or was he? Why was it so hard to breathe? Was Compa.s.sion proof against the acid? The old TARDIS had been indestructible, so the Doctor said but look what had happened to that!

Fitz spun round, peering agitatedly into the roofs.p.a.ce, anxious tor signs of acid. But he couldn't d.a.m.n well breathe breathe. His hands clawed at his throat and he felt sweat break out on his forehead and down the middle of his back. 'Compa.s.sion,' he wheezed. 'What's happening?'

No longer a whisper, her voice rang loudly in his ears, making his head throb. 'I've stopped the oxygen supply. I'll only restore it if you get that thing out of me.'

Fitz sank to his knees. 'You'll kill me!'

'Help me.'

Fitz's vision was beginning to blur. It wouldn't be long before he pa.s.sed out. He had no choice. He staggered to his feet, fell on to the console and grabbed the Randomiser with both hands. It felt as solid as rock. Black ooze was congealing where the box joined the console. Fitz was sweating freely now, the breath rasping in his throat.

He really had no choice.

He grabbed the Randomiser at both ends and twisted, hard.

Compa.s.sion screamed, the TARDIS lurched and Fitz staggered away from the console, sinking to his knees, hands scrabbling uselessly at his throat, stars flashing before his eyes and his head pounding, pounding, pounding in time with his struggling, hammering heart.

The Doctor followed Lou Lombardo along a dark, dripping sewer tunnel. He had to bend low to walk, and the stench was not pleasant. He forced himself to forget about Fitz and Compa.s.sion, at least for the moment, and concentrate on the situation in hand. Which was largely unknown. Down here, he couldn't know what devastation was being wreaked above ground. He tried not to think about it.

Lombardo seemed to know where he was going. His silver-dad back bobbed before the Doctor's eyes, the torch beam questing ahead. The Doctor smiled. Lombardo had obviously had recourse to this route many times before.

After what seemed like an age of cramped-up crab-walking, they stopped. The slimy rungs of a ladder hung on the wall to their left. The Doctor estimated they must have walked at least a mile, maybe two.

Lombardo turned round. His face was pale and sweating in the torchlight. 'This leads to one of the underground hangars of Yendip s.p.a.ceport.'

The Doctor was thinking. 'This s.p.a.ceport. Commercial or military?'

'Commercial. Why?'

The Doctor clapped his hands. 'If we could get our hands on a battleship or a fighter at the very least, we'd have more of a chance. It would be better shielded and armed.'

Lombardo shrugged. 'Any port in a storm.'

'Shhh!'

The Doctor grabbed the torch from Lombardo and put his hand over the end. He felt Lombardo grab his arm.

'What is it?'

'There's something in here with us.'

From further along the sewer, there was a slow, laboured shuffling. The Doctor squinted into the gloom. 'No giant rats on Yquatine, are there?'

'h.e.l.lo?' called a female, human voice.

The Doctor relaxed, shining the torch at the two figures approaching.

'Thank the G.o.ds,' said the woman. She was supporting a tall, gaunt man in a green tunic. His arm was a melted, fused ma.s.s, and his eyes were rolling. 'We thought we were the only ones left alive.'

The Doctor and Lombardo helped the couple. The woman was small, middle-aged, with short steel-grey hair and an intelligent, lined face. The man was tall and gaunt, with long white hair tied in a ponytail.

The Doctor felt relaxed, confident. This was what he was used to. Saving people. 'I'm the Doctor, this is my friend Lou Lombardo.'

The woman extended a hand. 'Naomi Vohner. This is my husband Thom.' A brief, tired smile. 'I know you, Mr Lombardo. The pie shop in Arklark Arcade?' Even though she was being formal, putting a brave face on things, the Doctor could see the worry in her dark-brown eyes, the tension in the set of her mouth.

He examined Thom's arm. The flesh on the forearm was being eaten away, as if by acid. He was delirious with pain.

'What happened?' said Lombardo.

Naomi told them, in a weary, matter-offact voice. One of the spiny capsules had landed in their garden, and they had gone to investigate. When more of the things had started to land, and the black gas had begun to emerge, they had decided to escape underground. Not before acid rain had begun to fall, catching Thom's arm as he pulled the drain cover over their heads.

The Doctor set his mouth in a grim line. Again, he tried not to think of what could be happening to Fitz and Compa.s.sion.

'We need painkillers,' said the Doctor, looking up at Lombardo and Naomi.

Lombardo shook his head. 'We have to get to the s.p.a.ceport, get out of here.'

The Doctor spoke to Thom. 'Can you hear me? Can you climb that ladder?'

Thom made no sign of having heard him.

'We're going to have to leave him,' said Lombardo.

'No,' said the Doctor and Naomi in unison.

Lombardo looked embarra.s.sed. 'Well, OK we'd better move. then.'

The Doctor smiled rea.s.suringly at Naomi. 'Just follow us and do exactly as I say.'

They climbed up the ladder, Thom progressing slowly, and emerged into a dusty tunnel, festooned with spiders' webs. Naomi was staring at Lombardo's silver shirt and medallions.

The Doctor turned to Lombardo. 'Where now?'

'We're in a subsidiary service tunnel. Used for maintenance access. There's a ship docked not far from here.'

Lombardo started down the corridor. The Doctor followed. ushering Naomi and Thom after him. Soon they arrived at a circular access hatch. Lombardo tapped in a combination and the hatch swung open.