Doctor Who: Ark in Space by Ian Marter

Author:Ian Marter
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science-Fiction:Doctor Who
ISBN: 9780426116318
Publisher: Target Books
Published: 1983-05-15T10:00:00+00:00

5 The Wirrrn

The Doctor and his companions stood silently as the serene voice of the High Minister flooded the Cryogenic Chamber. Vira had ascended to the second level of pallets, where the multiple humming of the Revivification process was increasing little by little as the occupants were brought gradually back to life. The Doctor had been squatting thoughtfully beside the crumbling remains of the corpse, poking about the exposed viscera of the alien creature. Harry and Sarah had been detailed to search for more of the trails left by the larvae, and to check for any other-empty pallets where the creature may have laid its eggs.

'Sort of pre-match pep talk,' whispered Harry, as the High Minister drew towards the end of her message. Sarah was listening in rapt attention; she had heard the mysterious voice before, but where? Vira gazed slowly round at the ranks of her people. She could not understand what had happened to Noah, why he had ordered Revivification to cease. As she listened to the High Minister, she was filled with a renewed sense of her great mission.

The High Minister's voice was brutally interrupted by a harsh, grating whisper which broke into sudden shrieks and gasps, becoming incoherent and then lucid again. '... Vira... Vira... Hear me... Expedite Revivification... Initiate the Main Phase now...'

Vira looked utterly bewildered. 'Noah... Commander,' she cried, 'I do not understand...'

'We... you are in danger... Take our... your people to Earth before they... before we...' Noah's voice became a distorted roaring. Vira turned from side to side, staring into the dark upper reaches of the chamber as if seeking Noah there. 'They... We are here... in the Terra Nova,' the rasping whisper continued. 'We shall absorb the humans... the new Earth will be ours...'

Vira covered her face, rocking herself to and fro in terrified incomprehension.

'We are in... Wirrrn my mind... no time... Libri is dead... the Wirrrn will absorb... Wirrrn will absorb the humans...' The hoarse whisper of Noah's threat reverberated for some time. Then silence fell over the vast chamber.

It was broken at last by the Doctor. 'The Wirrrn... Wirrrn... endo-parasitism... multi-cellular larvae...' he muttered, as if trying to recall something from the depths of his colossal, encyclopaedic memory.

'Does that mean they'll literally eat us alive?' shuddered Sarah.

The Doctor nodded gravely. He swept his long arm in a broad gesture round the Cryogenic Chamber. 'The Revivification process is much too slow,' he warned. 'If we do not destroy the Wirrrn larvae before they develop into pupae—none of us will survive.' He crossed the chamber to the base of the elevator shaft, where Vira lingered uncertainly. He took her gently by the arm. 'If we can confront Noah in time—while he still retains some vestige of his humanity—we may be able to discover a way of fighting the Wirrrn. Come.'

Vira held back. 'I cannot leave until the last of the Technop Personnel have safely revived,' she protested.

The Doctor looked earnestly into her face. 'You are the only one of us that Noah—or what is left of Noah—will trust.

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