The Deviant Strain
Page 18
Any reply was lost in the shouts from the doorway, as Captain Jack exploded into the control room and hurtled towards the scientists holding Valeria.
Klebanov was shaking. He needed both hands to hold the gun. Behind him the other scientists were shaking too. But not with anger. Slowly, they sank to their knees, as if the energy was being drained from them. Only Klebanov stayed upright. His finger tightened on the trigger. Fired.
Just as Jack smashed the gun out of the man’s hands and sent it spinning across the room.
‘What is happening to us?’ Klebanov hissed as he too sank to his knees.
‘Your time’s up,’ the Doctor said. ‘It’s over.’
‘But . . . how?’
‘I led the ship’s remotes back to the lab,’ Jack said. ‘To your transmitter.’
The last of the flares impacted on the glutinous hide of the creature. Levin could see it burrowing its way into the jelly-like mass. A line of fire scorching through the thing – the skin and flesh melting and dripping away. The flare exploded deep within and fire burned its way out again, sending chunks of glowing blue spattering across the roadway.
But behind the stricken creature another was moving forwards, pushing its fellow out of the way as it hungrily slithered towards the people at the end of the dock.
‘I guess this is it, then,’ Catherine said.
‘I guess so.’ Levin turned to his men. He cleared his throat. He wasn’t sure quite what he was going to say, but he was going to say something – something about honour and privilege and determination and camaraderie and fallen comrades.
But before he could speak, Lieutenant Krylek was grabbing his shoulder and turning him back. ‘Look, sir – look!’
The creature at the front of the line had stopped. It seemed to be sinking into the ground – collapsing in on itself. Melting away. Viscous blue liquid was running across the roadway and dripping over into the icy harbour. The glow faded, pulsing more weakly with every second. The other creatures were the same – melting, fading, dying.
‘What’s happening?’ Catherine said quietly.
Levin could only shake his head. ‘I’ve no idea. But let’s not complain.’
‘The transmitter is the single greatest power source in the area,’ the Doctor told them. ‘Has to be. All the power the creatures find and send back to the ship, you fixed to channel to that transmitter and out to you.’
‘So now the blobs have got it,’ Rose realised, ‘they can’t get their power any more.’
‘That’s right. More than that, though. It’s a loop. The blobs get the power from the transmitter and send it back to the ship.’
Klebanov was trying to speak. But while his jaw was moving, the only sound was a cracked coughing. He was shaking, on his knees, pitching forwards. All around him the others were crumbling to dust – bones disintegrating, bodies collapsing in on themselves.
‘Then the ship sends it to the transmitter,’ Jack went on. ‘And the blobs send it back to the ship.’ He was standing with Valeria. The girl’s face was wet – water from the leaking pipes, or perspiration.
‘And with each loop, each cycle,’ the Doctor said, ‘a little bit of power gets lost. Because it’s all happening incredibly fast, it drains away fairly quickly. Pretty soon, the ship will be safely powered down.’
‘What will happen then?’ Rose asked, unable to look away as Klebanov pitched forwards onto his face. His hands were dry bone, then powder. His lab coat was stained and torn and empty.
‘You’re looking at it.’
SEVENTEEN
‘I WAS WORRIED about you,’ Jack said to her. They were standing in the stone circle.
Levin and Krylek and the soldiers were waiting nearby for the helicopters. Now the radio interference was gone they had called for back-up – there was rebuilding to do and Levin had bullied his superiors into funding it. He had pointed out that Catherine was willing and able to detail the illegal and dangerous work that Klebanov had been carrying out. Even though no one in the Kremlin had any idea what it might be, the implications were enough given that the institute had been set up to research biological weapons and that Levin had given them a rough estimate of the military and civilian death toll.
‘I had to come back,’ Jack went on. ‘To make sure you were all right.’
‘I was fine, thanks,’ Rose said from behind him.
‘You can take care of yourself,’ he replied, without turning. He was still facing Valeria, still holding her limp, lifeless hand. ‘She doesn’t even know I’m here, does she?’ he said quietly.
‘I shall look after her,’ Mamentov said. ‘I see now that it is my duty.’
Fedor Vahlen clapped his hand on the man’s shoulder. ‘I will help you, my friend,’ he said. ‘It is what Pavel would have wanted. We will all help.’
‘Thank you,’ Mamentov said. He reached out and took his daughter’s hand from Jack. ‘And thank you, Captain. You have taught an old man something he should already have known.’
Jack nodded sadly. ‘I’m sorry I can’t do more.’ He looked into Valeria’s expressionless, wrinkled face. He stroked her fine blonde hair with the back of his hand. Then he turned away.
‘Time we were on our way,’ the Doctor said. ‘If you’re done with the goodbyes.’
Rose nudged Jack with her shoulder. ‘Hey,’ she said. ‘We did good.’
‘Did we?’
‘Oh yeah,’ the Doctor said. ‘Would have happened sooner or later. And we defeated the villains. Saved the world.’
Jack nodded. ‘But sometimes, you know, that just doesn’t seem to be enough.’
‘It’s a good start,’ Rose said.
It was beginning to snow. Large, lazy flakes were twisting down from the sky and settling on the smooth stones of the circle. Jack paused, sighed and turned back towards the little group of villagers who had gathered to see them off. They couldn’t know where they were going or how they intended to travel, but they seemed to know that it was goodbye.
The Doctor and Rose stopped too. The Doctor waved. ‘Cheerio, then,’ he called.
‘Come on,’ Rose said. ‘It’s freezing.’
‘I’ll catch you up.’ Jack was running back through the thickening snow. He stopped in front of Valeria and looked again into her glassy, unfocused eyes. ‘I forgot to say goodbye.’ He leaned forwards and kissed her gently on the cheek.
And slowly, with no change of expression, she reached her arms around Jack and held him tight. Just for a few moments. In the cold, cold snow.
Acknowledgements
As ever, I am indebted to the usual suspects – my editor, Steve Cole, the creative team at the Doctor Who production office in Cardiff, especially Helen Raynor and Simon Winstone, who keep us honest, and Russell T Davies, who keeps us enthused and inspired.
One of the main design elements on our Doctor Who book covers – and the DVDs and other merchandise – is the distinctive typeface used for the titles. It’s a terrific ‘distressed’ design created by the talented Lloyd Springer and available from the TypeArt Foundry – at www.TypeArt.com. I mention this not just so everyone can rush off and produce nice-looking Doctor Who-style lettering, but because the name of the font is Deviant Strain. When I discovered that, I just knew it must be not only the Doctor’s own typeface but also one of his adventures. So my thanks to Lloyd and the team for the great design, the inspiring title and their kind permission to use it for this book. I hope I’ve done them justice.
Also available from BBC Books
Monsters and Villains
By Justin Richards
For over forty years, the Doctor has battled against the most dangerous monsters and villains in the universe. This book brings together the best – or rather the worst – of his enemies.
Discover why the Daleks were so deadly; how the Yeti invaded London; the secret of the Loch Ness Monster; and how the Cybermen have survived. Learn who the Master was, and – above all – how the Doctor defeated them all.
Whether you read it on or behind the sofa, this book provides a wealth of information about the monsters and villains that have made Doctor Who the tremendous success it has been over the years, and the galactic phenomenon that it is today.
Only Human
By Gareth Roberts
Somebody’s interfering with time. The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack arrive on modern-day Earth to find the culprit – and discover a Neanderthal Man, twenty-eight thousand years after his race became extinct. Only a trip back to the primeval dawn of humanity can solve the mystery.
Who are the mysterious humans from the distant future now living in that distant past? What hideous monsters are trying to escape from behind the Grey Door? Is Rose going to end up married to a caveman?
Caught between three very different types of human being – past, present and future – the Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack must learn the truth behind the Osterberg experiment before the monstrous Hy-Bractors escape to change humanity’s history for ever ...
The Stealers of Dreams
By Steve Lyons
In the far future, the Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack find a world on which fiction has been outlawed. A world where it’s a crime to tell stories, a crime to lie, a crime to hope, and a crime to dream.
But now somebody is challenging the status quo. A pirate TV station urges people to fight back. And the Doctor wants to help – until he sees how easily dreams can turn into nightmares.
With one of his companions stalked by shadows and the other committed to an asylum, the Doctor is forced to admit that fiction can be dangerous after all. Though perhaps it is not as deadly as the truth ...
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Published in 2005 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing
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© Justin Richards 2005
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ISBN 9780563486374
Commissioning Editors: Shirley Patton/Stuart Cooper
Creative Director: Justin Richards
Editor: Stephen Cole
Doctor Who is a BBC Wales production for BBC ONE
Executive Producers: Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Mal Young
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.