Doctor Who: Target - Novelisations [008] - The Carnival of Monsters by Terrance Dicks & Robert Holmes

Author:Terrance Dicks & Robert Holmes
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science-Fiction - Doctor Who
ISBN: 9780426110255
Publisher: Target Books
Published: 1993-09-14T22:00:00+00:00

7

‘Nothing escapes the Drashigs’

Jo thought she had never seen anything more terrifying in her life. The creature was something between a dinosaur and a dragon with squat body, powerful clawed legs, a sinuous neck and a mouth that seemed to contain not two but at least a dozen rows of enormous razor-edged teeth. The eyes were small and blinking, the nostrils huge and flared.

The monster launched itself across the mud like an express train, hurtling straight towards them. The Doctor raised his flare-pistol in a futile gesture of defiance… and the monster shot past in a shower of mud, like an express train that wasn’t due to stop.

Jo could hardly believe they were still alive. ‘Why didn’t it attack us, Doctor?’

‘I don’t think it saw us, Jo. You saw those eyes, and those nostrils. Visibility’s poor here and those things have adapted. They must hunt purely by scent. It’s still following our outward trail…’

There were more bellowings, distant, but getting nearer.

‘Sounds as if there’s more than one of them,’ said the Doctor. ‘Come on, Jo. We’ve got to beat that monster back to the cave.’

Shirna looked up from the Scope. ‘It’s all right, Vorg. They’re escaping.’

Vorg shook his head mournfully. ‘Nothing escapes the Drashigs. Even miniaturised they terrify me.’

Pletrac looked up, shaken by what he had seen. ‘How many of these – Drashigs are there?’

‘Oh, just a small colony – twenty or so!’

‘And where do they come from?’

‘One of the satellites of Grundle.’ Vorg lowered his voice impressively. ‘It is said that many years ago a battle-thruster was forced to land there for emergency repairs. It had a crew of fifty, all the latest armament. They thought they could stand off the Drashigs while they fixed the ship.’

‘What happened?’ asked Pletrac, fascinated despite himself.

‘Nothing more was heard of them, so a spy-orbiter was sent to scan the planet. The pictures showed almost nothing left of the battle-thruster. It had been eaten. And as for the crew…’

Even Kalik was impressed. ‘Eaten? They ate a spaceship?’

‘Apart from a few scraps of the reactor ventricle. The Drashigs are omnivores, you see. Their digestions can cope with anything. Mind you,’ added Vorg, ‘they prefer flesh when they can get it.’

Jo and the Doctor were running through the swamp. The bellowing of the Drashigs came from all around, and it was getting closer. They were being encircled…

A roaring Drashig burst out of the swamp ahead of them. Then another… and another!

Jo and the Doctor stood quite still. The Drashigs waved their heads to and fro, searching, peering with their little eyes, sniffing with their huge nostrils.

‘Doctor, they’ll see us in a minute,’ whispered Jo. ‘That or pick up our scent. If they all charge at once…’

The Doctor knew she was right. They might hope to dodge one of the short-sighted monsters, but never three…

The Doctor felt the weight of the flare-pistol in his hand. A puny weapon against three such terrors – and yet…

There was another eruption beneath the swamp, another whiff of stinking marsh-gas. The Doctor sniffed, analysing the contents of that smell.

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.