Doctor Who: BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures [037] - The Burning by Justin Richards

Author:Justin Richards
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science-Fiction - Doctor Who
ISBN: 9780563538127
Publisher: BBC Books
Published: 2001-06-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Lines of Inquiry

Once back in his room, the Doctor shrugged off his crumpled velvet jacket. The back of it was still steaming slightly and there was a smell of burnt cloth. He lifted it up to inspect the damage, sighed, gave it a quick shake and then put it back on. He thrust his hands into the jacket pockets as he stared into the distance.

Immediately he whipped his right hand out again with a cry, and sucked at his fingers. More carefully, almost gingerly, he reached back into the pocket and pulled out the glossy black cube. It was hot. So hot that it was glowing with an inner brilliance. So hot that he dropped it at once. It fell to the floor, bounced once, and came to rest.

If he screwed up his eyes he could see that one side of the cube was brighter – and presumably hotter – than the others. He knelt down on the floor and rested his head on the boards close to the cube. He could feel its heat on his face as he turned slightly to see where the hottest face of the cube was pointing.

There was nothing there. Just a blank wall where the sink was mounted. The sink.

Slowly, cautiously, the Doctor got to his feet. He went to the sink and looked down into the soapy water. Inside, beneath the scummed surface he could see something else glowing, giving out a faint light. Pushing back his sleeve, he reached in and retrieved the sample of the substance that Nepath had given him. It was warm.

As it came clear of the water, he felt it get hotter, felt it tremble with inner life. Quickly, the Doctor set it down on a low table close to the basin. The material was a shapeless mass now. He could see the shape changing, bulging, the top coming to a point almost like…

… a volcano.

With a stifled cry of realisation, the Doctor leaped backwards – just as the top of the thing erupted. Fiery, viscous liquid bubbled up from inside, forced out of the mass. Impossibly, it kept coming, a glowing orange trail of the stuff poured to the floor, started to run across the boards towards where the Doctor was standing. The surface of the liquefied material was crusted as the air cooled it. The crust seemed to burst with every surge of fresh material forced out of the small volcano. A rolling, steaming, scorching river of liquid fire inched its way towards the Doctor leaving a blackened trail in its wake.

He took another step backwards. The lava, whatever it was, blocked his escape. It was between him and the door. He stumbled, almost fell. At his feet, the cube he had carried for so very long, was glowing white hot. And he realised that it was not himself that the liquid was drawn towards at all. Heat to heat, like to like. The cube was somehow attracting the substance. Was this what had

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.