Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man

by Richards, Justin

  'We should not pretend to be what we are not,' she agreed. And Melissa Heart removed her mask.

  Wyse froze at the sight of her face. Not horrified, but startled. Melissa ignored him and turned to the mechanism attached to the hammer. The Doctor launched himself across the platform, under the quarter bell, crashing into Wyse's midriff.

  The gun clattered to the floor – bounced and tumbled across to come to rest close to one of the arched openings.

  The Doctor wrapped his arms round Wyse's legs, bringing him down. A foot broke free and kicked savagely at the Doctor's face. He winced under the impact. 'I'll keep him busy,' he gasped to Melissa. He let go with one arm, and fumbled in his pocket while trying to keep hold of Wyse with the other arm. 'Here, you'll need this!' He managed to draw out the sonic screwdriver, and tossed it across to Melissa.

  She caught it easily, and set to work.

  The bandage was painfully tight round the top of his leg, but Freddie thought it was helping. There seemed to be less bleeding, though the scratch was still dripping blood into the growing pool beside him.

  'I was a hero, wasn't I?' he asked weakly.

  Repple nodded. 'Yes.'

  'I never knew I was a king. I thought I was just an ordinary person.'

  'Yes.' Repple looked away. Freddie thought he was going to say something more, but he was silent.

  'That's all I wanted, really. But it's good to be a hero,' Freddie said when Repple said nothing more.

  Repple got to his feet. 'I never knew it,' he said, 'but I just wanted to be an ordinary person too. Now it seems we all get to be heroes.' He looked down at Freddie, his expression as blank and unreadable as a mask. 'I have to go now. You'll be all right. I promise.'

  'Please – I don't want to be alone. You will come back?'

  Repple paused in the doorway. He turned slowly to look at Freddie. 'I will come back,' he said. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but it seemed to Freddie that the man was smiling.

  The Mechanical had methodically checked each of the galleries behind the four clock faces. But it had not found its target. It paused at the end of the final gallery, examining the shape in the shadows beside the door.

  just a cat, limping slowly and painfully back towards the stairs. The Mechanical stepped over it and out into the stairwell. It caught a glimpse of a figure moving quickly down to the lower levels of the tower. It clicked through the possibilities and options, then started down the stairs in pursuit.

  Too late, the Doctor realised what was happening. Wyse was dragging him along, crawling across the floor. They had clattered and bumped down the steps from the bridge, and the Doctor was still holding tight to the man's leg. Wyse was stretching out across towards one of the archways. Towards the gun.

  The Doctor hauled him away. But Wyse managed to claw back a few inches. His fingers were brushing against the gun. Another few seconds and he would have it.

  A face appeared close to the Doctor's – right beside him on the floor. Rose, kneeling down and staring at him urgently.

  'I need the sonic screwdriver,' she said. She was snapping her fingers. 'I need it now!'

  The Doctor stared back at her. He glanced at Wyse, at the hand closing on the gun. 'Rose!' he said in annoyed astonishment.

  What?' She glanced where the Doctor had been looking. 'Oh. Hang on.' With a sigh, she stood up, stepped over the two struggling bodies, and kicked hard at Wyse's hand as he managed to get hold of the gun.

  The gun skidded across the floor, through the archway and out of sight.

  'Right.' She was kneeling beside him again. 'Sonic screwdriver.'

  'Melissa's got it,' the Doctor managed through clenched teeth. Wyse's fist cracked into his jaw, snapping the Doctor's face round. When he looked back, Rose was gone.

  'I need it,' Rose pleaded.

  'You'll have to wait.'

  'I can't. Freddie's dying.'

  'We'll all die if I don't finish this,' Melissa said.

  Rose swallowed, trying not to look at Melissa's face. She could grab the sonic screwdriver, wrench it away from the woman and then leg it. But Melissa was right, that wouldn't help. But if she waited. . .

  'Hurry, then!'

  Melissa glanced at her. For once, Rose could read every nuance of her expression.

  The huge main cogwheel glistened with oil and grease. Repple walked all round it, examining every aspect. Easy enough to jam some of the smaller components. But if this main wheel turned, it would break through everything else. This was where he needed to do the damage. Stop this wheel and everything else would grind to a halt.

  But there was nothing he could see that he could be sure would stop the wheel. Nothing that would withstand the enormous force once it started to move. Above him he heard the first chimes of the quarter bells as ten o'clock arrived. With a mechanical groan, the cogwheel began slowly to move, teeth biting into the gears and levers it was designed to operate.

  The noise inside the belfry was deafening. Rose could not begin to imagine what it would be like when Big Ben itself struck in a few seconds.

  Melissa handed Rose the sonic screwdriver without comment.

  'You've finished?' Rose gasped in elation between the chimes.

  'No.' Melissa shouted back. 'It is too late.'

  The air itself seemed to shudder as Big Ben struck the first chime of the hour.

  Rose ran. She jumped over the struggling forms of the Doctor and Wyse. She ignored Wyse's laughter. Her thoughts were only of Freddie. It didn't matter that everyone else was about to die, that the world around her was coming to an end. Only that she save Freddie. For a few precious seconds at least.

  'Rose!' the Doctor's voice screamed at her between the chimes. 'Tell Repple to stop the mechanism. Stop the main wheel. Stop it now!'

  There was excitement and anticipation in her steps as she hurtled down the stairs full pelt. Not too late then, not yet. She had to get to Repple. Save Freddie, and the world. Simple.

  The Doctor was now struggling to escape from Wyse, not to hold on to him. With a shout of anger and determination, he wrenched himself free, rolled over, leaped to his feet. He spared Melissa a glance. She was still working at the mechanism attached to the hammer, scrabbling at it with her long fingers in the split second the hammer was still before crashing into the side of the bell as it struck the hour. Hoping to disable Wyse's device so that if they survived this time it didn't just start again when the clock next struck.

  Maybe she was doing it because there was nothing else she could do. Or maybe she was confident that the Doctor could still save them. That possibility of her returned trust galvanised him, and with a final angry kick at Wyse the Doctor raced for the stairs.

  Rose clattered past the clock room. 'I'm coming, Freddie,' she shouted, as she kept going, down to the prisoner's room and the main mechanism.

  The huge cogwheel was already beginning to turn. Repple and the Mechanical had torn apart a separate piece of the mechanism and had a metal bar thrust in between the cog's teeth. But even as Rose watched, the bar snapped, the broken end disappearing behind the cog as if being eaten by some industrial monster.

  'You have to stop it!' she shouted.

  Behind her, another figure ran into the room. The Doctor.

  'Oh, about time!' Rose said. Clutching the sonic screwdriver tightly like a talisman, she turned to run back out, to go to Freddie, her heart pounding.

  But Wyse was running down the stairs. His eyes burned with anger. Instinctively, Rose thrust the sonic screwdriver at him, hoping to drive him backwards, out of her way. Instead, he held his ground. He grabbed the sonic screwdriver, tore it from her hand and threw it across the room.

  It clattered along the floor, rolling and bouncing – into the heart of the mechanism. Rose ran back, her legs about to give way, feeling sick as she saw it – the sonic screwdriver, resting on a ledge that was one of the teeth of the huge cogwheel. Rising slowly but inexorably towards the teeth of a small wheel. Smaller, but still capable of
crushing the screwdriver to pieces.

  Without thought, Rose hurled herself after it. She landed on a rotating platform in the middle of the machinery. Lying on her stomach, being slowly swung towards the teeth of the cog, reaching out for the sonic screwdriver, hoping to pluck it from the cogwheel before it was crushed.

  Knowing she would be too late.

  Her arm caught on the ragged edge of the cog, her hand closing on the sonic screwdriver but unable to pull back. Wrenched painfully upwards, towards the descending metal that would crush her hand and wrist.

  And the platform turned, bringing her under the teeth of the cog on the other side. Teeth about to bite through her as the final sequence clicked into motion and the last chimes of Big Ben faded into the night.

  EIGHTEEN

  The Mechanical raised its arm. A blade sliced through the air, but missed Wyse as he dived back up the stairs outside the room. The Mechanical reached the door, and turned to fire again. But there was a dull click from its arm as the spring activated and found no blades left.

  Wyse leaped to his feet. The Mechanical was on the stairs now, cutting off Wyse's escape to his ship and forcing him upwards again – back towards the top of the tower.

  'Wait,' the Doctor shouted to the Mechanical. 'Help me get Rose! Find something to jam the wheel.'

  Repple was standing beside the machinery. He watched the cogwheel click upwards, the teeth meshing together, Rose being dragged into the closing mouth of iron. 'Too late, Doctor.'

  He stepped forward as the gap began to close round Rose's trapped hand and the sonic screwdriver. He leaned as far as he could into the mechanism. In a single fluid motion, Repple pushed his hand and arm between the biting teeth, in the slot above where Rose's hand was trapped.

  The machinery groaned and shuddered. Repple screamed. Rose managed to get to her feet as the platform slowed and stopped. It clicked forward slightly, making her stagger. But her hand was free, and she had the sonic screwdriver.

  Reaching in past Repple, the Doctor grabbed Rose round the waist and heaved her out. He looked at Repple, nodded in thanks, then ran after Wyse. 'Help him,' he said to the waiting Mechanical as he passed. 'Stop the wheel from turning.'

  Rose was pale and weak. 'Thank you,' she managed to say to Repple.

  'Help Freddie,' Repple gasped in reply. The wheel was struggling to turn. Repple was dragged further into the mechanism as the teeth bit deeper into his arm. 'He shouldn't be alone.'

  She hesitated a moment, watching as Repple was pulled another step into the machinery. Wondering why there was no blood, why instead of the crunch of bone she could hear the tearing of metal. Then the Mechanical gently moved her aside. The spell broken, she turned and ran.

  Repple looked at the Mechanical. 'Do it,' he said, and closed his eyes against the pain.

  The Mechanical stepped forward. It gripped Repple's shoulder firmly with one gauntlet, and the top of his trapped arm with the other.

  Rose stood in the doorway of the room above, sonic screwdriver clutched so hard in her hand that it hurt. She stared dumbly at the trail of blood across the floor, from the corner out through the doorway and on to the stairs. The clock ticked away the seconds she stood there. She knew he could not have moved on his own.

  But the room was empty. Freddie was gone.

  The Doctor exploded into the belfry. He threw himself under the bells, rolling across the wooden platform.

  'Over here.' The voice was calm. Melissa was standing beside Big Ben. She was holding the remains of the device Wyse had attached to the hammer. She was not looking at the Doctor, but staring at the back wall of the tower, at the shadows between one of the arched openings.

  Where, at the edge of the tower, stood Wyse. He had retrieved the gun. He was holding it in front of the frightened face of Freddie. The boy could hardly stand. The Doctor saw the tourniquet round his upper thigh, the blood ebbing slowly from his scratched leg. Drip, drip, drip. Second by second. Like the tick of a clock. He remembered Rose's face close to his, her urgency. He felt suddenly dead inside.

  'You've lost, Wyse,' the Doctor said. He hoped the tremors he felt were not echoed in his voice.

  'I don't think so, old chap.' Wyse seemed to have reverted to his previous gentlemanly manner. 'Those dolts downstairs won't be able to stop the mechanism. Oh, they might slow it down. Give it something to chew on, as it were. But I do fancy I can hear it starting up again, don't you?'

  The Doctor could. There was a whine of power, of wheels and gears grinding into motion, echoing up from the ventilation shaft. Had Melissa disarmed it? Would that be enough if she had? 'Let the boy go,' he said.

  'Oh no. I need this little chappie to get me out of here. Past your mechanical friend on the stairs.'

  'And if we don't let you leave?' Melissa asked.

  Wyse shook his head in apparent disappointment. 'You really don't have any imagination at all, do you?' he said sadly. His face twisted abruptly into a savage mask, and he dragged Freddie back, to the very edge of the clock tower, leaning him over. The boy's eyes were wide with fear, his face pale as paper.

  'I'd rather not waste any more bullets,' Wyse said. 'After all, I might need them for you.' He pulled Freddie back to safety, though still perilously close to the edge. 'Can you hear it?' he whispered. 'The wheels are turning once more. The process begins.'

  The massive cogwheel lurched round again. The remains of Repple's arm – outwardly human, still in the sleeve of his jacket, but spilling brass screws and flywheels – crunched under the weight. Another lurch, and the machinery whirred into more healthy life.

  'It's starting again,' Repple said. 'We need something more substantial' He stepped towards the wheel, closing his eyes and stretching out his remaining arm.

  A hand closed heavily on his good shoulder, turning him round. Repple opened his eyes and saw the blank gunmetal face of the Mechanical close to his own. Then the world seemed to turn upside down as he was hurled across the room, away from the machinery.

  The Mechanical watched Repple slam into the wall and slide to the floor. It waited just long enough to see that he was not damaged, but stunned enough not to interfere. Then it turned back to the mass of machinery. It stepped forward and reached inside the wheels and gears as they began to turn freely. Its voice was a mechanical rasp, barely audible above the straining mechanism.

  'Even machines. . .' it said.

  Then the squealing sound of tearing metal, of straining gears, of machinery slamming to a halt and wrenching itself apart drowned out the rest of its words. If they ever came.

  The cog rocked slightly, straining to move. Then with a final explosion of breaking iron, its huge spindle snapped and the wheel toppled sideways. It crashed down towards Repple, the top of it smacking into the wall above him. Metal teeth biting into the stonework.

  Silence.

  Except for a sound like the ticking of a clock.

  There was a smell of burning. In the seconds of silence following the wrenching, tearing sound from below, Wyse had stood open-mouthed and astonished. Now he was livid. He aimed the gun straight at the Doctor.

  'No!' Rose ran into the belfry and leaped across the bridge over the platform.

  Wyse turned, and fired at her in one movement. But Freddie shoved his arm upwards and the shot missed. The bullet clanged into the inside of one of the quarter bells, rattling and ricocheting. The noise was deafening. Rose clapped her hands over her ears.

  Startled and deafened, Wyse let go of Freddie. But instead of trying to escape, the boy grabbed hold of Wyse – pushing him back towards the edge of the tower.

  'Freddie!' the Doctor shouted as the sound died away.

  'I'm dead anyway,' Freddie said, his voice strained, weak, but determined. Another step towards the edge.

  'No, Freddie!' Rose screamed at him. She ran to grab him, to pull him back.

  Wyse teetered on the very edge of the tower, then managed to push Freddie roughly away. Rose caught the boy as he staggered and fell. She
fell with him.

  'You've lost, Wyse,' the Doctor said.

  'It's finished,' Melissa agreed. 'Too many people have died for you, even here on Earth.'

  But Wyse seemed to have recovered his composure. 'It was you who killed them.'

  'An accident,' she snapped back. 'I thought it was worth it. But I was wrong. You're not worth anyone's life. This is the end.'

  'For now, perhaps,' Wyse conceded. He had the gun aimed at Rose as she nursed Freddie on the floor in front of him. 'But I can still walk out of here.'

  Rose barely heard him. She was holding the sonic screwdriver over Freddie's wounded leg. 'What do I do?' she shouted. The boy's eyes were closed. 'Doctor, what do 1 do?'

  'You come with me,' Wyse told her. A far more robust and useful hostage, don't you think, Doctor?' He gave a short laugh. 'I take your queen. Checkmate.'

  The Doctor did not answer. He was looking down at the floor, as if depressed, as if ready to accept the inevitable. But Rose could see what he was looking at. She realised what he was thinking, what he was planning to do. And ducked.

  It had limped slowly and silently across the platform under the bells, slipping between the Doctor's feet. Now the cat was staring at Wyse, its green eyes gleaming. The Doctor's kick propelled it through the air, straight at Wyse. Straight at the man's head – claws out, hissing with anger.

  Wyse gave a startled cry. He took a step backwards and threw up his arms to protect himself as the cat's eyes glowed weakly. The claws raked down his hand and the gun fell forgotten at his feet.

  The cat snarled – mouth open wide, sharp teeth bared. It clawed and tore at Wyse, latching on to his collar and ripping at his face. He had the cat round the neck, dragging it clear, trying to avoid the flailing paws.

  But too late. Already off balance, the cat's renewed attack drove him back, to the edge of the tower. He was caught for the briefest instant, one tick of the clock, on the brink. Then he was toppling backwards, screaming, falling. The cat's face was close to his own. The air rushing past them, tearing the breath from him.