[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.He looked so unconcerned that Veek had to fight down a bark of laughter.Kikker swung round with a hiss.„Give me one good reason why I should spare the life of this heretic!‟„One good reason,‟ said the Doctor brightly, his eyes glittering, „is that I will refuse to show you how to operate the TARDIS if you harm Veek.There‟s also the question of Peri and Aline,‟ said the Doctor, looking round.„Where are they?You haven‟t killed them, have you? Because if you have we‟re going nowhere.‟While the Doctor spoke a growl had been building up within Kikker‟s chest, his whole body trembling with anger.He let out a screech of rage and raised his blaster.„I will work out how to operate the TARDIS myself! Give me the key!‟With a look of resignation, the Doctor held out the key.With a triumphant sneer Kikker snatched it from his hands and turned towards the TARDIS, which was only a short run away at the edge of the cavern.At that moment a ball of white energy crackled from a tunnel mouth on the far side of the cavern.The size of a short-range skirmisher, it was like a miniature sun, and it hurt Veek‟s eyes to look at it.The whole cavern was lit silver-white,thegreenphosphorescencetotallyoverwhelmed.Everyone turned to look at the manifestation, and many hunters screamed, falling to their knees in terror, shrieking that the Gods had arrived to destroy them.The mini-sun paused at the edge of the cavern as if watching them, and then it swooped forwards, crackling and hissing, on to the hunters nearby.Veek could see them twist and burn, their death-screeches echoing round the cavern.Another ball of energy followed it.And then another.Veek realised that no one had hold of her any more.The terrified hunters were fleeing for their lives.Veek dived for the floor as the ball of energy crackled above her, landing by the Doctor.Sounds of incineration and the screeches of the dying were everywhere.The Doctor was injured: blood poured from a wound on his forehead.He was shouting something but she could hear nothing, her ears full of the sizzling roar of the mini-suns.Booted feet stumbled into her as blinded hunters tried desperately to escape.The Doctor put his mouth to her ear and yelled.„Don‟t look at it.Stay low.Make for the TARDIS!‟He scrambled to his feet and shoved his way through the hunters, Veek following close behind.Despite the Doctor‟s words she wanted to look behind her but kept her eyes front, on the silver-lit walls of the cavern, on the TARDIS, dwarfed by the stalactites -And Vale Commander Kikker standing in front of it, key in the lock, gun aimed straight at the Doctor.Veek slid to a halt and ducked down behind an outcrop of rock, hoping that Kikker hadn‟t seen her.She risked a quick look behind; the mini-suns were streaking about the cavern like trapped meteors, bouncing off the walls and roof, causing great chunks of rock to break off.Those that weren‟t incinerated by the white-hot energy were crushed beneath the falling slabs.She looked back at Kikker and the Doctor.It wouldn‟t be long before the mini-suns ricocheted into their corner, and that would be it.Fortunately, Kikker hadn‟t seen her and was screaming at the Doctor, his voice inaudible.Veek calculated the distance between them and leapt, propelling her body at the Vale Commander.Kikker saw her at the last moment and turned, eyes widening in surprise.He swung his blaster round - too late.Veek slammed into him and they both fell.He still had the blaster in one hand and the golden TARDIS key-chain in the other.A flash of energy to her left.She didn‟t have time for an honourable kill.As Kikker struggled beneath her, she drew his own spike-knife from his belt and thrust it into the soft flesh beneath his jaw, up through the roof of his mouth and into his brain.The Vale Commander died instantly.Veek smelled and tasted his final breath, his body arched into a bow-shape and she tumbled off.She reached for the key-chain - but it had gone -in their struggle Kikker had flung it into the cavern.It lay several metres away, directly in the path of a speeding ball of energy.There was no time to reach it.She heard a yell from behind her, stood and turned - to see the Doctor at the TARDIS door, face a mask of blood - and the TARDIS door was open!Not understanding how this was possible, Veek leapt at the Doctor and bore him and herself into the bright, white interior of the TARDIS.Chapter Twenty-FiveFinal DestinyVeek and the Doctor fell together in a heap on the floor of the console room.The doors closed behind them, cutting out the sounds of screaming and the sizzling of the mini-suns.They extricated themselves from each other, both panting heavily.Their eyes met.„You saved my life,‟ said Veek, at the same moment the Doctor said the exact same words.She helped the Doctor to his feet and he all but fell on to the console.„That has to be the closest escape yet.‟ he gasped.„How did you open the door without the key?‟„I didn‟t.‟ He held up the small golden object, smiling triumphantly.„You intervened just in time - it was already in the lock; must have snapped off the chain.‟ He operated a control and the scanner screen came to life.It showed a cavern full of fleeing hunters, pursued by blinding white spheres of energy.The Doctor‟s face was a mask of pain.„I do hope Peri and Aline are well out of the way of that lot.‟ He moved around the console, operating more controls.„Now I wonder where it‟s coming from?‟Veek stared at the screen.She saw Trenex running towards the TARDIS, and was about to ask the Doctor to open the doors when a ball of energy descended upon him, frying him in an instant.Now she‟d never know if he was on her side.Never have the chance to mate with him.All the hunters were dying, and there was nothing she could do about it.„Can‟t we help them?‟ she said.„What is that strange energy?‟„The last defences of the Garden?‟ muttered the Doctor.„There‟s nothing we can do.The only safe place is here in the TARDIS.‟ Veek looked helplessly at the screen.Few hunters remained alive.Was this the price they paid for the folly of the Great Mission? Was her survival her reward for staying true to her nature?The Doctor operated a lever and the column in the centre of the console began to rise and fall.„Where are we going?‟The Doctor mopped his forehead with the once-white cloth.„To the source.‟ He frowned as he looked at the cloth, his own red blood mingling with the dried stains of the blood of the insect Veek had killed.„I‟ve got a disturbing idea about what‟s causing all this.‟Peri curled into a ball, trying to block out the screaming maelstrom of light.Whatever Aline had planned, it had gone horribly wrong.Peri expected at any second to be fried by the whirling spheres of energy [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]