Doctor Who: BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures [036] - The Ancestor Cell by Peter Anghelides & Stephen Cole

Author:Peter Anghelides & Stephen Cole
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science-Fiction - Doctor Who
ISBN: 9780563538097
Publisher: BBC Books
Published: 2000-07-02T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-five

Memories of a blue planet

The staser was useless. The bolts of energy pulsing from the weapon simply scattered and dissipated on the gross, contorted, ivory bodies of the huge spiders. The Doctor watched the gun’s power slowly failing, and finally Mali hurled the ineffectual weapon at the nearest spider in a final futile gesture. It bounced off the creature’s carapace.

As though sensing their prey’s desperation, the spiders skittered closer. The sharp ends of their legs scraped and tapped on the solid bone of the floor.

They came around the edge of the deformed bone console, scratching at its edges as they investigated where the Doctor and Mali were cowering. Their gross bodies cast huge shadows across the twisted shape of the console room.

There was no escape.

The Doctor pulled Mali away towards the rear wall, and they clung to each other in a final, defiant stand against the monsters.

They were not advancing any further. The Doctor pointed towards the exit. ‘See if you can get around and out while I distract them.’

But as soon as Mali made a move towards the door, the spiders lunged for her immediately.

She staggered back to where the Doctor had remained, and the spiders once again held their distance.

‘They seem afraid of something,’ Mali said.

The Doctor gave her an odd look. ‘You seem remarkably well informed about the behaviour of oversized arachnids.’

‘This is no time for sarcasm, Doctor. Look at them.’

He had to admit, they were rattling their legs, and strings of thick saliva were hanging from their chittering mouth parts. But they were not advancing on them any further.

At which point, a gaunt figure appeared in the exit doorway behind the spiders. For a moment, the Doctor could hardly believe his eyes. Shortly afterwards, he shouted out a warning.

‘Compassion! Be careful!’

She was staggering around the perimeter of the console room, staring blankly ahead as if she’d only just learned to walk, her legs stiff, and her arms swinging awkwardly by her sides.

The nearest of the spiders spotted her at once, and flicked at her with its leg. Compassion was flung abruptly across the room, connected with the corner of the console, and tumbled to the uneven floor with a thump.

‘Oops,’ she said. ‘Damn.’ And then for good measure she went, ‘Ouch.’

The nearest spider bent its legs, so that it could seize her in its mouth.

‘Oh, get off,’ said Compassion, batting at it with one flapping arm. The spider flicked out another leg, and Compassion rolled over and over until she struck the far wall beside the Doctor and Mali. There, she sat up in a somewhat dishevelled heap, her ginger hair wildly awry and her clothes all tousled. She had the same glassy look in her eyes, but otherwise she seemed unharmed.

‘That hurt,’ said Compassion.

‘You’re…’ Mali hesitated, looking to the Doctor for an explanation. ‘You’re that statue. The one we found out on the heath:

‘Yes,’ said the Doctor thoughtfully, ‘Compassion.’

‘You thought she was dead.’

‘I feel like I’m dead,’ said Compassion through gritted teeth. One of

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