Night of the Humans by David Llewellyn

Author:David Llewellyn [Llewellyn, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781846079696
Publisher: BBC BOOKS
Published: 2010-04-22T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter

14

The dazzling light from Schuler-Khan reflected off the crystal

surface of the great salt plains, making it look almost like an

ocean on a summer's day. The human city was far behind them

now, as they made their way west.

From a distance, at the edges of the swamp, they would have

appeared as a shimmering mirage; the dark line of humans,

some marching and some riding great clunking, wheezing

contraptions, powered by steam or by levers, like handcars

from the distant, Earth-bound past. It would have been silent at

first, this shimmering apparition on the horizon, framed

between the twinkling white desert and the dark black

silhouette of the tower. Then, slowly, the sound of the humans'

progress

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DOCTOR WHO

would grow louder: the crunching of a hundred pairs of feet

on salt crystals; the rusty whine of turning wheels and the

mechanical thump and hiss of the engines.

Sat on top of the largest vehicle was Django, his throne

transplanted from its chamber onto a machine that propelled

itself along on eight mechanical legs. His long, scraggly hair

and bedraggled robes rippled in the breeze behind him, giving

him the appearance of a human flagpole or a mascot.

His face was caked in thick make-up. His skin was a

deathly shade of white, his mouth framed with a garish

crimson smile and his eyes with bright blue hoops. Dark black

lines like sickles arched up on his forehead.

His gaze was fixed firmly on the horizon, beyond the

swaying plastic tubes of the swamp. Django smiled

maniacally and gnashed his teeth. He looked skywards, to the

burning light of the star that grew ever bigger above him,

staring into its light until it hurt his eyes, and tears were

streaming down his cheeks. The tears drew jagged streaks of

blue and red across his face as they fell.

If there was only some way he could send a warning. Something

that might alert the Sittuun...

The Doctor hadn't spoken for some time. The five of them -

Tuco, Sancho, Manco, Slipstream and the

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NIGHT OF THE HUMANS

Doctor - had passed through numerous passages, climbing

flights of stairs and metal ladders. In one room they had found

nothing but glass sleep pods, each one containing a skeleton.

The higher they climbed, the more they heard the wind

howling through the rusting hulk. Sometimes the howling

would stop, and there would be an eerie silence but for their

footsteps. Then, every once in a while, they would hear the

sound of something crashing in the distance, and the ground

beneath them would shake.

The Doctor paid little attention to any of these sights and

sounds. His mind was working overtime. Amy was out there,

somewhere. Amy Pond from Leadworth. What was a girl from

Leadworth doing in a place like this? If she was with the Sittuun,

then she was in danger. He had to warn them. He had to get out

of the human city and back to the TARDIS. He had to at least

try and convince the humans to save themselves, or allow him

to save them. So many things to consider, and so little time.

'Say, Slipstream...' he said, stomping up to the front of the

group. "This thing... that you need my assistance with?'

'Yes?' Slipstream looked at him with one eyebrow arched.

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