Doctor Who: The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole

Author:Stephen Cole
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: Science-Fiction:Doctor Who
ISBN: 9780563486299
Publisher: BBC Books
Published: 2005-08-24T10:00:00+00:00

* * *

‘We’re out of control,’ shouted Rose, as the shuttle bucked and swung like a fish on the end of a line. She and Dennel were thrown this way and that, but the heavy pounding of the Slitheen fist on the door kept up steadily regardless. The uncertain, protesting climb of the ship’s engines didn’t come close to drowning it out. Not yet.

‘Look!’ yelled Dennel, clinging on to the pilot’s seat. ‘Where did that come from?’

As Rose wedged herself between the console and the wall, she saw an emerald planet had swung into view through the cockpit window, frighteningly close. ‘Maybe we won’t crash into it. Maybe we’ll get tugged into its orbit.’

‘Great. And then our troubles really begin.’ Dennel gulped. Behind them the door had started to buckle inwards. ‘The big bad wolf’s ready to blow our house down.’

‘He may not get the chance,’ muttered Rose. ‘It may not be standing for much longer.’ She saw the scratches of dull cloud on the world’s surface, the vast craggy continents beneath it, rushing closer at sickening speed.

Then finally the door was smashed open. The Slitheen stood framed in the doorway, the great, sticky oval of its head swinging this way and that. It looked like some terrible giant staring round for children to eat.

‘What a lovely stink of adrenalin,’ it declared in its grating, gravelly voice. The black saucer eyes narrowed as it fixed on Dennel, grabbed hold of him in a single claw and slammed him up against the roof.

‘You hit my head, I’ll hit yours,’ the creature hissed.

‘Don’t kill him!’ Rose yelled over the rising roar of the engines. ‘You haven’t got time! We were going to open that door anyway – we’re going to crash and you’re the only one who can stop it!’

The Slitheen stared at the emerald mass on the screen. Then it swore, tossed Dennel aside and bundled itself into the pilot’s seat, its three gruesome fingers flicking over the controls.

‘You hopeless, spineless little human fools,’ it gurgled, sparing Rose a malevolent look. ‘And you’re supposed to be the smart one. I’m not allowed to hurt you.’

Rose frowned. ‘What?’

‘I’m smart too,’ whimpered Dennel.

‘Shut it,’ the Slitheen snarled. The ship had dipped down through the cloud cover. Detail was starting to emerge from the shapeless olive green of the ground far below them. ‘Just hope I can save our skins…’

The engines got louder, the rattling and bucking grew worse. Great, thought Rose. My life depends on a bug-eyed killer alien monster. Who may or may not have passed its driving test.

Dennel scurried over to join Rose, and the two clung together. A wide forest of conical trees had resolved itself below them. If they dipped any lower she could probably lean out and touch them.

‘We’re still losing altitude,’ she shouted.

‘Like I hadn’t noticed.’ The Slitheen was too big to fit in the seat, so its work with the controls was hampered. It lurched between the different systems, breathing heavily, its slimy carapace dripping with foul-smelling sweat.

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