Doctor Who_ Time Zero Part 11

'Strange how the sound carries in the still air,' George said. His voice was tense with nerves, asking for rea.s.surance.

But Caversham was not about to give it. 'That was close,' he said quietly. 'Perhaps fifty yards behind us.'

'But, that means...' Graul started. He broke off and turned nervously to look down the uneven slope.

'Come on.' Price strode out, beckoning the others to follow. 'Before they get our scent.'

'Our scent?' George gave a short nervous laugh. 'You can't be serious!'

'This is very serious,' Caversham said shortly. They started to run.

'Run' was, Fitz decided, an exaggeration. The best they could manage in their huge backpacks was a slightly faster stagger. But when the animal roar came again from behind them, it sounded more distant and he began to wonder if their panic was justified.

Caversham had dropped back so that he was last in the line, his rifle unslung. Graul was leading the way, Price close behind him. When George slipped with a cry, and crashed to the ground, it was Price who was at once with him, pulling him up.

As he turned back to help his friend adjust his pack and dust the snow off him, Fitz fancied he saw something behind them. Just a hint, a shadow of a shadow a large area of darkness that was moving up the slope after them. A trick of the night, he hoped.

When the roar came again, he felt his whole body tense. It was surprise first. The fear came a moment later. Fitz was still looking back down the slope, so he was looking at Caversham as the explorer turned quickly, swinging the rifle.

'That was ahead of us,' Caversham said.

'I know,' Fitz replied. He seemed to be' rooted to the spot, his feet frozen to the icy ground.

'One of them has circled round and is waiting for us.'

'I know!' Fitz said again, too loudly. 'But what do we do?'

Whatever Caversham's reply was, it was cut off by another howling screech. But this time, the cry of a human.

Graul was at the front now, furthest up the slope. And in front of him, looming out of the dusk, was a nightmare creature. Fitz could barely see it through the gathering gloom. He got an impression of dark, scaly skin, a long head most of which seemed to be mouth. Of deep*set pale eyes glinting in the night, of a creature perhaps eight feet tall rearing back on its hind legs and roaring back at Graul as the man screamed in terror.

Then in a sudden, darting movement that belied its size the monstrous animal fell forwards on to all fours, its head smashing into Graul's shoulder and sending him flying. Graul crashed into the snow at the side of the path, his arms and legs scrabbling as he tried to get up again.

But the creature was already lurching forwards on its hind legs. One of the forelegs lashed out, smacking Graul across the face, coming away stained and darkened.

Caversham was aiming the rifle, shouting at Price to get out of the way as the big man shucked off his heavy pack and ran to help. The creature's head snapped up at the sound of the shot. Caversham worked the bolt, chambered another round.

Fitz was still frozen into immobility, not knowing what to do. He felt George's terrified hand on his arm.

Another shot. The creature ignored it, lowered its head, jaws gaping, saliva dripping.

Graul's scream echoed round the pa.s.s. Cut off as the savage teeth lamped down on his neck. Became a whimper. Was silenced completely.

The creature was rearing up again now, something hanging from its mouth as it chewed, as it roared defiantly, triumphantly, at the bullets that ricocheted around. It was answered by the lumbering shadow further down the pa.s.s.

'We're trapped,' George said. His voice was stretched out like piano wire.

'We have to get past that one. Make for the castle,' Caversham said. He was reloading the rifle, running towards the huge creature as it feasted.

Price, incongruously, was putting his pack back on. Fitz helped him. Perhaps they could edge past the thing while it was busy.

But even as they approached, it stepped away from the broken, bloodied corpse in the red snow and turned towards them.

'I only have one chance at this,' Caversham yelled at them. 'When I fire run like blazes. Don't wait for me.'

'What?' Fitz yelled back. 'Don't be stupid, we can outrun it.'

'I doubt it.' He was taking aim. 'Look at the length of its back legs.

Fitz would rather not look at any part of it. 'You loony, you'll just annoy it!' But his words were drowned out by the roars coming from behind them as more of the creatures caught the scent of death; by the percussive blast from Caversham's rifle; by the screech of pain and anger of the creature.

Then they were running. The creature ignored them, batting at its face with its forepaws. Behind them, Fitz could just see Caversham reloading, walking calmly, slowly towards the creature, taking aim again as he was almost within the thing's reach.

Yet another shot. And this time the roar was cut off. The creature's eye exploded, spattering blood and fluid across its long jaw, and the ma.s.sive beast crashed to the ground.

'I told you to run!' Caversham caught them up easily, led them forward. They staggered as rapidly as they could away from the dead monster, away from Graul's broken remains, away from the roars and howls of the animals behind them.

33: Taking Flight

They were obviously not expecting her to give them any trouble. Thorpe ushered Anji back to the cabin, an amused smile on his face. He still had his shoes off and he padded after her like a huge, predatory cat.

But Anji's mind was racing Despite Hartford's words, they would hardly have tricked her into joining them on this flight if they intended simply to kill her. Which meant she was valuable to them somehow alive. Which in turn meant (if she crossed her fingers) that they would not shoot her. Probably.

She reached this conclusion for the second time, still without finding a flaw in it apart from the fact that there was a man with a gun behind her, just as Hartford pulled open the door and went through. He held it open for Anji to follow. Beyond him she could see the rest of his team watching, waiting. They all had a hungry look about them. They were alert and ready for some sort of action.

Once she was in the cabin, strapped tied? into her seat, there was no escape. She would be going wherever they were taking her and doing whatever it was they wanted her to do. So, now or never, she decided as Thorpe stepped though into the cabin behind her.

Anji smiled at him, stepped aside to let him pa.s.s. He did, moving ahead of her, keeping the gun stead aimed at her chest. He nodded with his head for her to return to her seat, and Anji made to do as he instructed.

But then, still smiling, she stamped as hard as she could on his foot. She could only guess at the pain he felt from the expression on the man's face. She wished she'd been wearing her stilettos rather than the sensible shoes with wide heels. Now was the moment, in that split second as she turned Anji knew that if he was willing to shoot her, he would do it now.

She did not wait to see She was through the doorway and back into the hold, slamming the door shut as violently as she could and feeling it connect with Thorpe. The door clicked into place and she pulled down the locking lever. There was no way she could hold it shut, but there was the piece of wood she had tripped on, lying on the floor nearby. She jammed it behind the lever. The lever was moving now, yanked fiercely from the other side of the door. But the wood held it in place and the door remained closed.

Think, think, think. Anji paced up and down, ma.s.saging her forehead as she struggled to decide what to do. There was a thumping from the other side of the door now. The lever was moving slightly further with each attempt, the wood beginning to splinter. It wouldn't hold them out for long.

Her pacing had brought Anji to the pile of parachutes and she looked down at them. That was no use. There was no way she was prepared to jump out of an aeroplane even with a parachute. She turned to walk on, then stopped. Hang on they wouldn't know that. For all they knew, she hoped, Anji might be the South East England free*fall champion. She grabbed the parachute on the top of the pile and ran towards the back of the plane.

There was a set of controls by the opening ramp. A red b.u.t.ton and a green one on a panel that hung down on a heavy cable. Anji stepped back as far as she could while still holding the control box, and grabbed hold of a metal support stanchion. Then she pressed the red b.u.t.ton. It was stiff, and she needed to use both thumbs, arm wrapped round the stanchion.

With a dull 'thunk' the b.u.t.ton depressed. A moment later there was a grinding sound and the back of the plane started to open. Immediately there was wind a howling gale that ripped through the cargo bay. The nearest palettes shifted uneasily, sliding slowly towards the back of the plane. If it opened much further, Anji would be struggling not to be sucked out.

Somewhere in the distance there were shouts. She could feel the deck vibrating under her feet. The cabin door was open, they were coming for her. Without another thought, Anji flung the parachute out through the widening gap, into the whirlwind outside. Then she struggled back. There was a dark area behind her, in the corner beside the door. Maybe she would be safer there, sheltered from the gale.

It was a little calmer, but not much. Anji curled into a ball, hugging herself and the shadows. Just as she knew she was about to be rolled across the floor, sucked out of the back of the plane, the wind died. The cargo door was slowly closing operated from the flight deck, no doubt. She crawled back into the darkness. There was a dip in the float a lower section just large enough for Anji to drop into, out of sight.

She was just in time. Moments later, Thorpe and several others came running to the back of the plane. There was no pretence now. They were carrying guns big guns. Machine guns or a.s.sault rifles mean*looking.

Hartford marched up to the group by the cargo door. 'Well?' he demanded.

'The palettes are all here, sir,' Thorpe said.

'Well, that's something. What about Miss Kapoor?'

'One parachute's gone,' someone shouted from further back.

'You think she jumped?' Thorpe asked.

Hartford glared at him. 'Wouldn't you?' He raised his arm. Anji could see him adjusting something on his wrist his watch? She remembered how it had bleeped when they shook hands. She could hear the same bleeping now. Hartford swore.

'Problem, sir?'

'The GPS only gives a ground fix,' Hartford said angrily. 'So the signal gives the same position as the plane.'

'But she could be several thousand feet below us by now,' one of the soldiers said.

'Exactly. Options, Major Thorpe?'

Thorpe took a moment to answer. His faced was bathed in red from the emergency lighting. 'We're close to the target zone now. If we drop here, we add maybe a few hours to the schedule but we can pick her up again en route.'

Hartford nodded. 'Do it.'

Thorpe was already moving back along the cargo bay. 'Right, let's get suited up, chutes on. Prepare those palettes we are go for a drop in five minutes. Sergeant Gamblin, tell Sanders to circle over this position till we're ready for a drop run.'

It was a long five minutes. Every second of it, Anji was sure they would realise she was still on the plane and search for her. She could imagine them wrenching her out of her hiding place, dragging her back to the cabin at the point of a gun.

But they were all too busy, attaching cables to the palettes and changing into bulky, white, military clothing.

Before long the troops obviously they were military, how could she ever have thought this lot were accountants? were lined up by the rear doors. Anji counted fourteen of them in all. Hartford and the dozen others she had seen in the cabin, plus another man from somewhere. Thorpe opened the back doors of the plane using the control that Anji had found. He didn't need to use both thumbs, she noticed.

The wind was less severe this time, and she guessed the plane was flying lower. She had felt her ears pop a few minutes before. The metal side of the cargo bay slammed into her back as the plane's nose lifted. Al once the palettes started to roll back towards the opening doors. One by one they reached the edge, tilted, toppled heavily backwards and fell into the white sky outside.

There was another man in white uniform, running to join his fellows. He was sliding and falling towards the open cargo doors, but grabbed by two of the soldiers and helped to find his feet. Then Hartford was giving a thumbs*up and one by one they threw themselves out of the plane.

When the last of them was gone, Anji climbed out of her hiding place, and made her way carefully to the rear door. She held on tight to the stanchion, as before, and leaned forward to see outside. Behind the plane and far below she could see the gently twisting circles of white parachutes dropping lazily towards the ground. Then a swirl of cloud blew across, and they were lost to sight.

The plane was still tilted at an angle, the engines labouring. It seemed to have straightened out just before Hartford and his team jumped. Anji wondered if she should close the cargo door, but decided against. She knew now that there were controls for it in the c.o.c.kpit, and the pilot would see that someone was operating the controls in the cargo bay. She wondered why he had not closed the doors himself as she struggled and staggered towards the front of the bay.

The palettes of equipment were all gone, so there was nowhere she could find a gun even if she was prepared to use it. So Anji picked up the largest piece of the splintered wood she had used to jam the door closed.

The cabin was empty, of course. Most of the lockers had been left open, the kit bags gone. Anji closed the door behind her, and was relieved as the rushing air was stilled. She made her way as quietly as she could towards the c.o.c.kpit, brandishing the heavy piece of wood, ready to clobber whoever appeared.

But n.o.body appeared. The c.o.c.kpit door was swinging open on its hinge, and the c.o.c.kpit was empty.

Two extra people, she thought. Pilot and co*pilot.

Sixteen parachutes. Fifteen people jumped. And Anji had thrown her own parachute out of the plane.

She stood for almost a minute in the doorway, looking round in disbelief. This could not be happening. They must have left someone to fly the plane. Mustn't they? But they hadn't. The plane was expendable in exactly the way that Anji had reasoned she was not.

Except they thought she was on the ground by now. They were looking for her. It wasn't much of a triumph that she had fooled them by staying on the plane.

The plane, Anji realised as she stared out of the front windows, that was now flying at low alt.i.tude towards a range of mountains. Anji rarely swore without a good reason, and hardly ever in public. But as she slumped into the empty pilot's seat and stared at the bank of incomprehensible controls in front of her, she decided that she had a very good reason. And there was n.o.body else on the plane to hear her.

32: The Castle

It was completely dark by the time they reached the castle. Behind him, through the night, they could hear the creatures calling to each other in howls and roars.

'It's almost like they're talking,' Fitz said.

'Yes,' George agreed thoughtfully. 'And did you see the size of the brain cavity?'

'Just the size of the teeth.'

It was apparent even before they reached it that the castle was a ruin. The main entrance was a gaping hole where a door or gate had once been. The walls were largely intact, but there were sections where the battlements had fallen and stone was strewn across the landscape.

'We need to find one building at least that's fairly intact,' Caversham said. The buildings were arranged round the courtyard, their mined walls spilling into it. 'This place is not so easy to defend as I'd hoped.'

'Defend?' George asked. 'What do you mean?'

'Those creatures, whatever they are, have got our scent. They're accomplished hunters, they won't just go home, you know.'

'Accomplished hunters?' Fitz said. 'They're dinosaurs.'

'I don't know or care what they are. But they tracked us up the pa.s.s, and one or more of them circled ahead of us. They were forcing us into a trap. That makes them hunters.'

Fitz frowned. 'But that implies they're intelligent. That they...' He paused as he recalled his brief conversation with George at the castle's entrance. 'They're able to communicate with each other.'

'Could dinosaurs do that?' Price asked.

'Not as far as we know,' George said. 'Their brains were much too small. They hunted, the carnivores, of course. Though not intelligently, not to a plan. But these creatures...' He shook his head. 'Who knows.'

Eventually they found a part of the castle that seemed more or less intact. It was the farthest corner from the entrance, and the part most protected by the overhanging mountain behind. The remains of a heavy wooden door hung off its hinges and Caversham ushered them inside before doing his best to pull it shut. Price helped him jam the door into its rotting frame.