by Jacqueline Rayner, Mike Tucker, Paul Magrs, et al (retail) (epub)
‘Look, who are you?’ demanded the captain. ‘You’re not part of my crew. Are you a passenger? We don’t want news of these deaths getting out and causing panic on the ship –’
‘Aha! So this isn’t the first murder then?’
Captain Letts glared at him.
‘You look like a man who knows he has a serial killer on his hands, Captain,’ the Doctor said. ‘Let me help. Who else has died this week?’
The captain passed a weary hand over his face. ‘One of the entertainment troupe.’
The Doctor asked, ‘Who?’
‘The young woman’s name was Tamsin.’
‘I’ll need to examine both bodies for clues. Do they have the same markings?’ he said, hurrying along the deck, with the captain struggling to keep up. ‘Don’t let panic spread throughout the passengers, or you’ll have a mutiny on your hands … Now I must find Marie!’ Then he was haring off, and the captain was left staring at his green coat tails.
Who the devil is he? the captain wondered. There was a rumour that there was a secret-service man aboard. Perhaps that’s who this eccentric fellow was?
Marie emerged from the staff quarters and was shocked to come immediately face-to-face with the Doctor.
‘I’m so glad you are safe, Marie. I just heard about Tamsin.’
‘Do you know where she is?’ Marie asked anxiously. ‘No one’s seen her since yesterday morning. She missed last night’s shows and the matinee.’
‘Ah. I’m afraid there’s some bad news.’ The Doctor gently took her arm and led her up to Deck Six, where they could talk privately.
Marie tried to take in what the Doctor was telling her. ‘But I sang with her just two nights ago! We did our Bananarama medley. And now she’s dead? But who would murder Tamsin? And why?’
‘She was the first, and there’s been a second victim already. They found a dead man in the hot tub this morning.’
Marie looked ill.
‘There’s a savage maniac on board killing indiscriminately,’ said the Doctor, with steel in his voice. ‘No one is safe.’ Then he smiled reassuringly. ‘Luckily I’m here to unmask the killer!’
Marie stared at him. ‘Unmask?’
‘I’ve a very good idea who’s behind this.’
‘Right …’ Marie was giving him a funny look. A terrible thought had just gone through her mind. Who was this man, really?
‘Wait, Marie! Where are you going?’
‘I’ve … I’ve got to get back to work.’
‘You don’t suspect me, do you?’
‘No, of course not!’ Now she was running back the way they had come, her slippers slapping on the wet deck.
‘Just because I showed up right when dead bodies started appearing. It’s a coincidence, Marie!’ he called after her, attracting the attention of other deck strollers. Then he remembered his promise not to let the news slip. ‘Marie?’ he called once more, but she was gone.
Later that morning the Doctor stole into a dingy storage area deep in the hold of the ship. Here among the packing crates hid the solidly reassuring shape of the TARDIS. He nipped inside to collect the bits and pieces of electronic equipment he needed in order to build the device he had in mind.
He was humming to himself as he emerged from the blue box balancing a pile of parts in his arms. I’ll call it my … De-mesmerisor, he was thinking happily when all at once he realised that he wasn’t alone in the hold.
A hulking, jagged silhouette stood in a shaft of murky light before him.
‘Aha!’ said the Doctor, staring hard at the creature.
It hissed at him menacingly.
‘It is you, isn’t it?’ the Doctor called out in challenge. ‘There’s no use denying it. You’re the little old lady they fished out of the sea.’
The creature slithered closer, inching further into the light and revealing a jumble of suckered tentacles and a mass of bulbous eyes.
‘You know my true form,’ said the creature from the sea. Its voice was a hideous gurgle. ‘You are the only one who can see me as I truly am.’
‘I know that you are responsible for two murders,’ said the Doctor.
‘I need to kill. I need to eat,’ the creature said as it slithered closer. ‘I have been programmed to kill.’
‘Who by?’ The Doctor frowned. ‘Who programmed you?’
The tentacles quivered, as if the creature was distressed by the Doctor’s question. ‘No, no … leave me …’
‘Perhaps I can help you?’
‘No one can help me. I was made to be like this – to hide my true nature and to kill!’
‘You’re somebody’s unfortunate experiment, are you?’ the Doctor asked.
Froth was forming on the fleshy folds and scales of the creature’s hide. ‘I can’t help killing … but I wouldn’t stop myself, even if I could! I can live among humans looking just like an innocent old lady, while taking my pick of which brains to eat. I find I love the taste.’ Each of the creature’s yellow eyes fixed on him at once. ‘You will do nothing to stop me. Not if I make you my next victim! Those brains of yours would make a particularly delicious meal …’
The Doctor gasped and took a step backwards, as the creature burst forward with a surprising turn of speed. A single tentacle lashed out and paused for a second in mid-air, just in front of the Doctor’s face.
‘Doctor?’ a female voice called out.
The creature hissed with fury and retracted its tentacle.
‘Marie?’ the Doctor replied. ‘Marie, is that you?’
She walked hesitantly into the dimly lit room. ‘Are you there, Doctor? I followed you down here and got lost. Who are you talking to?’ She was squinting into the dark.
‘Oh, it’s Miss X!’ Marie said, spotting the elderly passenger. ‘Hello! What are you doing down here?’
The old lady composed herself and smoothed down the silk ruffles of her blouse. She smiled simperingly at Marie. ‘Why, I was just having a little chat with the Doctor here. We had a minor … misunderstanding.’
The Doctor wasn’t putting up with her lies. ‘Rubbish! She was just about to attack me with her razor-sharp tentacles and poisonous suckers!’
‘What?’ cried Miss X. ‘Oh, very amusing! What a strange sense of humour you have, Doctor.’
Then she turned and smiled at Marie once more. ‘I must not dawdle. Colonel Hulke has asked me to dine with him as his guest at the captain’s table, and I need to go and get ready.’ With that, the old lady tottered away.
Marie turned to look at the Doctor, who was still clutching his armful of parts for the De-mesmerisor.
‘I came looking for you to apologise for earlier,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry I doubted your sanity and ran away.’
The Doctor shrugged. ‘That often happens. No hard feelings.’
‘Do you still maintain that Miss X is a monster?’
‘Yes. You can’t see it, but she’s really a ravenous, tentacled creature that’s acquired a taste for human brains.’
Marie looked pale but determined. ‘To my eyes she still looks like a nice old dear. But I heard her, Doctor. When she was talking to you and she thought you were alone. I heard the terrible things she was saying!’
He grinned broadly. ‘So you do believe me now?’
Marie nodded. ‘I think I have to. It’s the most bizarre thing that’s ever happened to me, but I know it’s true.’
‘Excellent!’
‘But what can we do about it?’
‘Well,’ the Doctor said, ‘help me carry all these bits up to the bridge. I have a very brilliant plan to carry out!’
The grand dining room was splendidly decorated in gaudy shades of orange and purple for Hallowe’en. Miss X seemed at first surprised by the profusion of fake cobwebs and paper bats, but as he escorted her to the captain’s table Colonel Hulke assured her it was all quite customary. ‘Don’t you have Hallowe’en where you come from?’
She smiled. ‘My memory is still on the blink.’
Miss X ate hers in one bite.
‘Hungry, my dear?’ the colonel enquired, raising an eyebrow.
‘Ravenous,’ she replied.
A string quartet played classical music while champagne was served to all the guests. The captain held up his crystal flute and the whole table toasted their new guest of honour.
‘To our mysterious Miss X!’ they chorused.
I could quite get to like this life, thought Organism 96. The creature’s true name came back to it all at once: the name – hardly a real name at all – that had been bestowed upon it by the Soviet scientists who had genetically engineered it for warfare. I am Organism 96, it thought. I was created in a Petri dish and lived for seventy years in an underground lake. Dark, cold and all alone.
‘Are you all right, my dear?’ asked Colonel Hulke, looking concerned by Miss X’s far-away expression.
At that very moment the ship’s tannoy speakers whined harshly with feedback, gaining everyone’s attention.
‘Good evening!’ came an amplified voice. ‘This isn’t your captain speaking. This is the Doctor. I’ve tied up the purser and taken over the tannoy system, all for a very good reason!’
Captain Letts was on his feet, looking furious and barking orders at members of his crew. Diners at other tables were looking confused, trying to work out if this was some form of bizarre entertainment.
‘You’re all being hypnotised and you don’t even know it! A genetically modified, mutated murderer has scrambled your senses in order to disguise itself,’ continued the Doctor. ‘And, because I am amazing, I have built a machine that will unhypnotise the lot of you!’
His voice was immediately drowned out by a rising cacophony that came crackling over the airwaves.
‘W-what’s that noise?’ cried Miss X, looking alarmed. She grasped the colonel’s arm. ‘What is that man talking about?’
‘I’m afraid I don’t know.’
Miss X stood up, swaying, feeling as if the air and light around her were turning into quivering jelly. That horrible sick-making noise; why couldn’t they just shut it off?
Then she realised that everyone in the dining room was staring at her.
People were getting up out of their seats.
Ghastly looks upon their faces.
There were even screams.
‘What’s the matter?’ she bellowed at them.
Captain Letts shouted and now sailors were running towards her.
All at once Miss X knew what was happening. They were seeing through her disguise. They were seeing Organism 96. The Doctor had managed to do exactly what he had threatened.
Organism 96 swung round to face the colonel. He looked disgusted, but not as fearful as the rest of them.
‘I am sorry,’ the creature gasped, and turned to flee. It slithered from the room, paying no heed at all to where it was going. Passengers screamed at it wherever it went. Its tentacles flailed and its suckers flinched, spitting hot venom as it went. Its hybrid heart beat falteringly inside its chest. Where to go? What to do? Just moments ago it had been enjoying the toast to its new life! To being human! Now it was all ruined. All of it.
More screams rang out as Organism 96 emerged on to the deck. The sun was going down and many passengers were enjoying an evening stroll. Most scattered at the sight of the creature. Some cowered as it swept past, and others remained frozen to the spot in mute horror. It slobbered along the railings and howled its rage and frustration at all it met. Bloodlust filled its thoughts.
‘Oh my god!’ said Marie in disbelief.
She had been running from the bridge towards the dining room. In the golden Mediterranean light, the creature swung round and Marie saw at last what the Doctor had been seeing the whole time. The organism was truly terrifying, like a squid standing on two sturdy legs, glistening with fetid slime. It quivered with spite and rage, showering the deck with droplets of stinking ichor.
‘You pretended to be a poor old lady, and this is what you really were?’
‘Who’s to say,’ gasped Organism 96, ‘that underneath this monstrous shell my true self isn’t like Miss X after all?’ It wheedled and inched closer to Marie. ‘Being among humans, I could have learned to become more human and fit in!’
Marie gagged. The closer the monster came, the worse it looked. She stared at the greasy slime dripping off each shining scale and the quivering suckers on every swaying protuberance.
Organism 96 was close enough to make a grab for the singer. A single tentacle wrapped itself neatly about Marie’s throat, before she had the chance to scream.
As he hurtled into the dining room, the Doctor was intercepted by Colonel Hulke.
‘What have you done?’ exclaimed the former spy.
‘I revealed its true appearance, didn’t I? Where has it gone?’
The elderly man looked furious. ‘You blundering idiot! I had the whole situation under control!’
‘Steady on,’ said the Doctor. He was tuning out and listening to the sounds of pandemonium from the deck, attempting to pinpoint their source. ‘I fear she’s running amok!’
‘There’ll be a massacre,’ said Hulke, hurrying to keep up with the Doctor’s purposeful strides. ‘The captain’s gone ballistic. He’s arming the whole crew. Shoot on sight!’
‘Oh dear. I thought I was doing the right thing bringing everything out into the open.’
‘You did, did you?’ the old man snarled. ‘I was working on her so carefully, gaining her trust.’
The Doctor stopped and stared at him. ‘You mean you knew she was a monster?’
‘Of course!’
‘Marie and I thought you were having a holiday romance!’
‘Don’t be disgusting. I knew what she was all along. MI5 have been tracking that creature for weeks. We knew it was still in this area, following its escape from the subterranean Soviet base. There are agents all over the Mediterranean looking for it, on board every vessel from here to Majorca.’
At that very moment there came a much louder burst of screaming from the deck outside. Screaming from healthy, well-trained lungs.
‘She’s got Marie!’ gasped the Doctor.
News of Miss X’s terrifying transformation spread quickly throughout the ship. Warnings were broadcast advising all passengers and crew to avoid contact with the monstrous being that was now holding Marie Blenkinsop hostage on Deck Six.
It was a very dicey situation.
The Doctor stood several yards away, trying to appear jaunty and unconcerned. ‘Do you prefer to be addressed as Miss X or by your official Soviet-designated name?’
The creature produced rancid blue froth from both its mouths. ‘I’d rather you didn’t address me at all!’
Colonel Hulke stepped smoothly forward. ‘My dear, allow me to apologise for my reaction to your … erm … altered appearance at the dinner table. My manners were dreadful.’
The creature tightened its grip on Marie. ‘You’re being kind to me. Trying to trick me, I suppose?’
‘Not at all. I know you’re a civilised person, despite outward appearances. In the past week I believe I have been getting to know a very special lady.’
Each veiny, globular eye swivelled to study the old man. ‘Do you really mean that?’
‘I do.’
‘Marie,’ said the Doctor in a stage whisper. ‘You know that high note you do at the climax of the Whitney Houston song? The one from the nineties show?’
‘What about it?’ she hissed back.
‘Do it now,’ he suggested. ‘I’ve had some experience in dealing with deep-sea monsters. Trust me. Sing like Whitney!’
Luckily the colonel and Miss X were paying this exchange no heed whatsoever. The creature’s atte
ntion was entirely on the old man, as he took a cautious step towards her. It watched him reach into a pocket of his blazer and produce a small padded-velvet box.
Organism 96 gasped. A jewellery box! Its mind dared to imagine what might be inside.
‘Now, Marie!’ cried the Doctor.
Marie looked up to see that every deck above her was crammed with faces staring intently at her. Something inside her snapped to attention. The potent force that had possessed her all her life was the need to sing, and right now – with slimy tentacles slowly squeezing her – she needed that talent more than ever.
Marie opened her mouth and sang like Whitney with all her might.
The effect was immediate and remarkable.
Organism 96 shrieked in pain and loosened its shining coils at once. It shoved the noisy young woman away from it with a gurgling cry of rage.
Marie was sent sprawling to safety, and the Doctor caught her.
‘Make her stop!’ gibbered Organism 96.
The Doctor said, ‘I guessed its delicate ears wouldn’t be able to take that!’
‘What?’ Marie was dazed and vaguely insulted.
Colonel Hulke was still holding the jewellery box out to the creature on the deck. Everything was quiet again. ‘Take it. Open it,’ he commanded.
‘Is it … a ring?’ asked Organism 96, picking up the box with the tip of a tentacle.
The old colonel sighed. ‘I have my orders, I’m afraid. You are a rather dangerous organism. Much too deadly to be around human beings, no matter how much you’d like to be.’
‘Oh no,’ murmured the Doctor.
‘What is it?’ asked Marie.
‘We need to move now, Marie,’ the Doctor insisted. ‘We haven’t got much time.’
Suddenly Marie was being dragged backwards along the deck and the Doctor was yelling at the top of his voice, ‘Everyone, get back!’
Organism 96 stared at its elderly gentleman friend with confusion in all of its bulbous, bloodshot eyes. ‘I don’t understand. If it isn’t a ring, then what is this ticking, bleeping, glowing device you’ve handed me?’
Colonel Hulke replied gently, ‘It’s a small bomb, my dear. I’m afraid our time together is over.’
Organism 96 looked in disbelief at the velveteen box. ‘Why? Why have you done this thing?’