by Doctor Who
‘What?’ Mickey turned up his nose. ‘You mean those fish things are gonna. . . ’
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‘Reproduce.’ Vida pointed at Kelper, hanging back in the passage-way. ‘They want him to arrange ships to carry them and their hatchlings away around the world, to start the whole thing over, again and again.’
‘Hatchlings. From eggs.’ The Doctor stared at him. ‘So that’s why.
You need incubators. Human incubators. I’m right, aren’t I?’
Crayshaw smiled. ‘It is the spawning time.’
‘Yeah, yeah, and the living is easy. How long have you been on Earth, anyway? How many centuries?’
‘We lay dormant for so long, our numbers few, our energy spent from projecting ourselves through space. We recharged, drew energy from the creatures of the sea.’
‘And then you got a taste for drowning humans.’ The Doctor’s eyes were wide and dark. ‘Got your teeth into the dominant species. Saved them from death so you could give t hem something worse.’
‘We learned from them. Learned the possibilities of their world, and how we could walk among them.’ He stroked one of his ruined eyes.
‘Crayshaw was the first. I took his drowning body, his energy and knowledge, made them mine. He became the hive queen.’
‘The navy used to frown on that sort of thing, you know.’
Crayshaw ignored him. ‘Now it is the spawning time.’
‘Lovely. So your biological clock’s gone off and here you are, ready to plant your eggs in the locals – once they’ve been reeled in and turned into suitable carriers, of course.’
‘Humans form strong emotional bonds,’ said Crayshaw calmly.
‘They never stop reaching out to the people they care for, in their thoughts, their dreams. . . ’ Then he smiled. ‘The images of friends and loved ones are so clear in their minds. Sharpened by longing, by despair, by the craving for contact. We simply reach out to those people.’
The Doctor looked at him coldly. ‘I’ve come across some twisted, cynical, brutal schemes in my time. But to get your grubby little flip-pers on love and passion and grief and turn them into fishing hooks. . . ’
‘We require strong emotions and the data they carry. They aid our purpose.’
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‘Oh yeah, your purpose. Let me see if I got that right.’ The Doctor clenched his hands into fists. ‘You make the Thames into a paddock for your underwater cattle. And once the eggs hatch inside them, the newborn devour the flesh from the inside. A right old nosh-up.
Yum-yum, pig’s bum. A proper feast.’
‘The feast of the drowned,’ Mickey whispered. ‘That’s what the ghosts were going on about.’
The Doctor put on a posh voice. ‘Will all loved ones kindly assemble beneath the Thames before the feast – so they can become a part of it.’
‘The hatchlings must feed,’ said Crayshaw. ‘The waterhive must spread.’
‘Not at this cost!’ the Doctor shouted. ‘You’ll be slaughtering millions all over the planet.’
‘Why is he letting us work all this out?’ said Vida sharply. Then she saw the dribbles of water creeping up the tiled wall, almost level with the precipice. ‘Doctor!’
The Doctor whirled round, pointed the screwdriver. With a scream of ultrasonics the wall gave way beside them. The vibration almost knocked Vida off her feet, but Mickey grabbed hold of her, stopped her from falling.
But the water had been climbing on the other side of their hole in the wall too. The Doctor jerked round with his device a fraction too late – Commodore Powers ghosted into existence and smacked it from his grip. Before any of them could react, he had grabbed the Doctor by the throat.
Then, in a blur of movement, the cleaner charged in and kicked Powers in the stomach. He staggered back, dragging The Doctor with him. Both were about to go over the edge, but Mickey grabbed hold of one arm and Vida lunged for the other, pulling the Doctor clear.
Powers let go and hit the rubble-strewn floor with a splash, dissolving into nothing, clothes and all.
The cleaner was fuming. ‘They can stick their job!’
The Doctor righted himself, turned and dropped a kiss on the cleaner’s head. ‘Thank you.’ He leaned back over the precipice and 148
bellowed down to the churning water below, ‘Let me tell you my purpose. I’m going to stop you. Whatever it takes.’ Then he beamed at Mickey and Vida as he picked up his screwdriver and strode backwards away from the ledge, into the gloomy quiet of the tunnel where Jodie North was still waiting.
And once there, his brave face dropped like a ton of bricks. ‘Think they believed me?’
Nobody spoke. The only sound was the water, roaring round the ruined lab like an angry hunter cheated of its kill.
149
Keisha had hold of Jackie’s hand and was pulling her through the thronging streets. They had met the first soldiers some way from the river. The checkpoint blocking the road was one of scores that had brought traffic to a standstill, as drivers were forced to divert down all manner of back streets and one-way systems.
There was more than just annoyance in the eyes of some of these passers-by. She saw despair, anger, determination. How many of them were looking for a way through to the river?
Now they were looking for a new route in, and round the corner one City gent thought he might have found an ally. He was shouting at the driver of a tanker, banging his fist on the door. ‘Take me with you! I need to get to my daughter!’
‘You’re crazy.’
‘Come on, we can smash the roadblocks in that!’
‘I’m not even going to the river!’
Keisha didn’t believe the driver either. Maybe she would have more luck where the man had failed. She was about to go over when she saw Jay, there in the middle of the unseeing crowd. He looked anguished, shaking his head, holding out his hands to her. She couldn’t 151
hear his words this time, but she could imagine them: Why’re you waiting, Keish? Time’s running out.
Even before he had melted away, Keisha pulled Jackie along behind her. ‘Come on.’
She ran over to the other side of the tanker, looked up at the angry, sunburned face of the driver. ‘Hey. Never mind him. Jackie and me, we need a ride.’
The driver hesitated for just a few seconds. ‘All right. But your mum stays in the back –’ Suddenly he shut his eyes, fell forwards. The next thing Keisha knew, the door flew open and he fell to the pavement at her feet.
Jackie was down and fussing straight away. ‘You all right?’ she said, and looked up at Keisha. ‘He’s been hit from behind.’
The City gent swung himself into the driver’s seat. ‘Get in if you want to. They’ll never stop us in this.’
‘You’re going to the river, then?’ Jackie asked.
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to get to my daughter before the feast.’
Keisha rushed straight round to the other side of the cab and yanked open the door. At last, she thought. No more fretting or thinking or arguing. You can do this.
Jay, Rose. I’m coming.
Rose moved slowly through the eerie ranks of the drowned. They milled about in the thick water, the dull gleam of their silvery eyes the only light, their hair drifting lazily in the water like weeds. Anne must be here somewhere, gills cut into her kindly face. Poor old PC Fraser too, together with his mate at last. And how many others had they unwittingly summoned here in turn?
The anger Rose felt was as cold as the rest of her. Don’t think about Mum, she told herself. And whatever you do, don’t think about. . .
Him.
Huntley led her to where six or seven people huddled together in naval uniform. They had to have come from the Ascendant. Then Rose’s heart twitched as she recognised one dark, hunched figure sat 152
with his head in hands. ‘Jay!’ She crouched beside him, took him by the shoulders. ‘Jay, it’s me, Rose.’
He saw her and smiled sadly. ‘I tried so hard not to
bring you here.’
‘You didn’t. I got myself into this.’ She closed her eyes for a minute, feeling dizzy. ‘And we’re the only ones who can get ourselves out of it.’
‘I tried to escape,’ Jay told her. ‘They brought me back.’
‘Then we’ll try again.’
‘They know when we’ve gone.’
‘There are more of us now. Maybe we can fight back.’
Jay clutched at Rose’s arm. ‘I could see Keish this time. Couldn’t make myself heard, but I could see her.’ He looked at her. ‘She’s with your mum – and they’re coming.’
Vida was still huddling with the others in the shattered section of the tunnel when she realised one of their party was missing. ‘What happened to Kelper?’
‘The admiral guy went up there,’ said Jodie, pointing her gun up the shadowy tunnel.
‘How well do you and your boss know him, Vida?’ the Doctor asked.
‘Mainly through phone calls and email.
I’d never met him in
the flesh till today, and Andrew’s only seen him through video-conferencing.’
‘Good. No strong emotional data for the hive to attack him through Andrew. If they want to get him they’ll have to follow him through those conduits. Should buy us some time.’ He rubbed his hands briskly together. ‘Well, chat with the enemy accomplished, anyway.
Big tick. We know a bit more than we did before.’
‘It’s horrible.’ Mickey looked ready to tear his hair out. ‘I mean. . .
eggs? They haven’t just drowned Rose, they’ve turned her into walking caviar!’
Vida chewed her lip. ‘Will they really kill her?’ She paused. ‘And Andrew?’
The Doctor shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. Destroy the eggs inside 153
their bodies out of spite? Not very productive. And productivity’s what hives are all about.’
‘But if those eggs hatch. . . ’ Mickey broke off, shuddering.
‘When they hatch,’ the Doctor corrected him bleakly. ‘The hive will just keep on growing. We’re dealing with a shared hive consciousness that connects through water molecules.’ He shook his head in apparent admiration. ‘What a mind! How incredible is that!’
‘How can they hope to stay hidden if it’s all gonna kick off in the Thames? The rest of the country will see what’s happening, get its act together, wipe them out.’
‘This is only the start,’ Vida told him. ‘Commodore Powers might already have arranged transport of these monsters to other key bases.
And if they get hold of Kelper, they can start hitching rides in the US
navy fleet, conquer America. . . ’
‘Your species might start twigging in the end,’ said the Doctor softly.
‘Once millions have died to become fish food, and millions more from dehydration. But by then they’ll be ready to move on to the next world.’
‘How?’ Vida demanded. ‘Little fishy spaceships?’
‘Water’s their medium. They probably project themselves through space using mental power. Plenty of H2 in space, they could power-fuse it with oxygen. . . ’
‘Wait,’ hissed Jodie North, levelling her gun. ‘Movement. Back there.’
Vida waited expectantly, held her breath.
‘It’s me.’ Kelper appeared out of the shadows. ‘I was. . . scouting out the area.’
The Doctor sighed. ‘You got lost, didn’t you?’
‘I take it these conduits lead back to the surface eventually?’ he asked stonily. ‘I must get to someone in authority. We need to wipe out these things.’
‘How about you shut up a minute?’ the Doctor snapped. ‘What you need to do is to get organising some ships to seal off the Thames.
Countermand any order that’s been given by Commodore Powers –154
he’s one of them. No ship is to leave for open sea under any circum-stances – got it?’
‘But I’m US navy,’ he protested, ‘it’ll take time to arrange –’
‘ Make it happen! ’ the Doctor thundered. ‘Now, move!’
Vida interceded. ‘It’s OK, you can trust him.’
‘Go about 300 feet up this tunnel, then right, left, up a bit, left, straight on at the junction, a right. . . ’ The Doctor paused, frowned at Kelper. ‘You getting this?’
‘I am,’ said the cleaner breathlessly. ‘My boyfriend drives a cab. It rubs off on you.’
The Doctor gave her a rakish smile. ‘You’re just perfect, you are.
So, like I was saying – a right, and then straight on till you reach the hard-hat cupboard at Aldgate station.’ He lowered his voice, nodded confidentially at Kelper. ‘Oh, and look after the bloke in the braid.
Apparently he’s important. You’ll be targets.’ He patted Jodie North on the back. ‘Go with them too.’
She swung her gun on to her shoulder, but she looked uncertain.
‘Protection?’
‘Safety in numbers.’
‘What about you?’
‘Just get going.’
‘No, hang on, she’s got a point,’ said Mickey. ‘What about us, what are we gonna do? And what about Rose? It won’t take those things long to figure out a way of getting up here, will it?’
Jodie hesitated, reached into a pouch in her uniform and pulled out two chunky grenades. ‘Bullets were no good. Maybe I should have tried these.’ She pressed one into each of the Doctor’s hands. He stared at them, bemused, as if it was Christmas and she was handing him Easter eggs.
‘Whoa,’ said Vida. ‘Bit heavy for a security job, aren’t they?’
‘Crayshaw’s orders,’ said Jodie.
‘He believes in being prepared,’ the Doctor observed. ‘Ta, Jodie, but no ta. I could never use these.’
‘I could!’ Mickey gingerly took the grenades himself. ‘Not even you can talk everything to death.’
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‘It’s a five-second fuse. Thumb down on the safety lever, yank out the pin and throw it as far as you can.’
‘What, the pin?’ inquired the Doctor politely.
‘The grenade. The fragments are dangerous up to 150 feet.’
‘That’s if we don’t bring the whole tunnel down on our heads,’ Vida said.
The cleaner was already hauling Kelper away. ‘Come on, then!’
‘Good luck,’ said Jodie, and soon she had vanished down the narrow tunnel.
‘Now, then.’ The Doctor yanked out a thick, heavy-duty cable from the shattered wall of the conduit, and crossed it with another couple of exposed wires.
‘What’re you doing?’ asked Mickey.
‘Most of Secret London’s emergency power supply runs through here, and water’s a brilliant conductor.’ A vivid crackle of electricity sparked from the cable, and the Doctor let go hastily. ‘There. Should give anything that tries to follow the vice admiral and his friends a bit of a shock.’
Vida sucked in her cheeks. ‘Do you think that will stop them for long?’
‘Not really.’ He had already set off further along the tunnel, which sloped downwards at an alarming angle. ‘Let’s just hope that when they get going, they come after us and not Kelper. After all, now that Mickey the untrained civilian’s got a couple of hand grenades in his pockets, hey! We’re safe as houses!’
‘Yes,’ sighed Vida. ‘Aren’t we just.’
‘Oh, Mum. . . ’ Rose felt herself starting to panic at the thought she might bring her here. ‘No. I mustn’t think of her.’ She tried to shut off her thoughts, pictured the TARDIS standing between them (as it usually did), blocking her view. Yes, the TARDIS was a good thing to think about, it was sort of soothing. Patient, strong and blue. . .
‘Better?’ Huntley asked her quietly.
‘Yeah.’ But her new-found anchor threatened to take off again, 156
sharpish, as another thought suddenly hit her. ‘Hang on. Jay, what d’you mean, you’ve seen them?’
‘I tried to warn Keish away, but. . . ’ Jay strained, and she saw
dark blood cloud out from his swollen eyelid. ‘This stuff in me wouldn’t let the words out.’
‘But you could actually see her and my mum? Through the eyes of your image?’
Huntley crouched down beside them, nodding knowledgeably. ‘This interests me hugely. The aquatic intelligence must still be using his mind to track its victims and project an apparition – but now Jay and some of these others report a degree of control over what the apparition says when it arrives. Maybe because they’ve been here longer than the rest of us, their body’s mutating cells are –’
‘Yeah, well, never mind how and why.’ Rose felt so tired suddenly.
‘The point is, if he can do it maybe we all can.’
‘I’m not giving up,’ Jay insisted.
‘And neither will we,’ said Rose. She looked at Huntley. ‘Just imagine if we could do it – we could play these creatures at their own game!
Confuse their message, get our own ones through.’
But even as she said it, Rose doubled up with pain, clutching her temples. It felt as if something was dragging itself out of her head.
Huntley grabbed hold of her, but she could barely focus.
The TARDIS in her head disappeared. But it wasn’t her mum she saw clearly now. . .
Mickey held aside a fat bundle of wires so the Doctor could do his sonic stuff on the tunnel wall. It was supposed to be a safe place to break through, into a kind of basement beneath the labs. Which was cool. So long as you tried not to think about the tons of earth and concrete between you and a sniff of fresh air, or that you were a good half-mile from any idea of safety. . .
And after all Vida had told them on the way about her night in Crayshaw’s company, Mickey couldn’t imagine feeling safe ever again.
He looked at her. ‘What I don’t get is how come you weren’t given the gills and pearls treatment straight away, like Rose and your boss.’
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She shrugged. ‘Cosmetic reasons, I suppose. I was meant to lure Kelper here. None of us realised he’d arrived here under his own steam. Crayshaw was ready to drown us once he had everyone together. If you hadn’t turned up. . . ’
