Read Online Doctor Who: Sontaran Experiment by Ian Marter - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ian Marter
Ads: Link
care not to touch them.
His face hardened with resolution, the Doctor stared at the two discs flanking the opening. ‘There’s no other way,’
he murmured. ‘I’ll just have to increase the feedback and hope that the field gives way before I do...’ Taking a few deep breaths, the Doctor stretched out both arms and approached the barrier, bringing his hands closer and closer to the discs.
He fixed his eyes upon Sarah and tried to clear everything from his mind in preparation for the ordeal ahead. As his palms came nearer and nearer to the discs, his body began to tremble with the energy surging through them.
At last they touched. The Doctor roared with pain as stunning bolts of shock drove through his arms. His body was whipped back and forth like a sheet flapping in a gale.
He fought to keep his mind clear, knowing that he must be able to judge the exact instant to break through the barrier before he was disintegrated. As he pressed his head against the wobbling, invisible wall, he felt the geon field weaken slightly, but the pulsing hammer-blows, racking his whole body, threatened to overwhelm him before the moment to penetrate the barrier was reached.
His hands were glued to the red-hot terminals and he felt as if his brain were being shaken rapidly to a jelly. At any moment he could be torn apart like a piece of rag. The Doctor strained desperately against the reduced geon field.
Gradually it yielded until it had almost disappeared, but he could not free his hands from the searing metal discs. He seemed to be hopelessly trapped...
The Scavenger hovered patiently in front of the Sontaran spacecraft in the hollow landing area. Vural, Krans and Erak sank to their knees, exhausted by the terrible ordeal of being dragged across the rough terrain, tethered to the merciless machine. Since their capture, Vural had been strangely silent. Krans and Erak kept their eyes fixed on the open hatch in the side of the huge dimpled sphere, dreading to think what fate was in store for them.
‘You’ll see...’ growled Krans, nodding towards the gleaming spacecraft, ‘... that crazy joker will turn up again with more of his tricks. We shoulda finished him when we had the chance.’
‘If you two hadn’t been so keen to chase after Roth, we wouldn’t be in this mess,’ Erak retorted.
The dispute died on their lips as the huge figure of Styr suddenly filled the open hatch.
‘The Scout Unit would have found you in the end,’ Styr hissed, his nostrils flaring as he stumped down the ramp towards them. ‘Meanwhile, it has been most valuable to observe your curious behaviour patterns...’ he gasped as he loomed over the three kneeling crewmen. Vural began to tremble violently as he cowered between Krans and Erak.
‘Not me... not... not me...’ he gibbered, raising his numbed white hands in supplication.
‘All of you,’ Styr hissed, reaching down and tearing the miniature scanning device from round the Galsec Crew Leader’s neck.
‘But I helped you,’ Vural whimpered. ‘I did everything you wanted.’
‘You failed to produce the unknown stranger from the circle,’ Styr rasped. ‘You lost him.’
Vural tried to shuffle forward on his knees, as if to attack the towering figure of the Sontaran with his helplessly pinioned arms. Styr thrust him back with a contemptuous kick.
‘You promised... you promised to spare me...’ Vural went on.
Styr’s squat features squeezed into a ghastly, ironic smile. ‘A simple test of human gullibility,’ he gasped. ‘Why should you be spared—a traitor to your own miserable species?’
Krans and Erak stared incredulously at one another as their leader’s treachery was revealed. Krans clenched his big fists. ‘Lousy swine,’ he spat. ‘So you tried to fix yourself a deal with this thing.’
Vural flinched away from Krans who was straining to get at him, despite the Scavenger’s tentacle wound tightly round his neck. ‘There was no other way, Krans,’
murmured
His face hardened with resolution, the Doctor stared at the two discs flanking the opening. ‘There’s no other way,’
he murmured. ‘I’ll just have to increase the feedback and hope that the field gives way before I do...’ Taking a few deep breaths, the Doctor stretched out both arms and approached the barrier, bringing his hands closer and closer to the discs.
He fixed his eyes upon Sarah and tried to clear everything from his mind in preparation for the ordeal ahead. As his palms came nearer and nearer to the discs, his body began to tremble with the energy surging through them.
At last they touched. The Doctor roared with pain as stunning bolts of shock drove through his arms. His body was whipped back and forth like a sheet flapping in a gale.
He fought to keep his mind clear, knowing that he must be able to judge the exact instant to break through the barrier before he was disintegrated. As he pressed his head against the wobbling, invisible wall, he felt the geon field weaken slightly, but the pulsing hammer-blows, racking his whole body, threatened to overwhelm him before the moment to penetrate the barrier was reached.
His hands were glued to the red-hot terminals and he felt as if his brain were being shaken rapidly to a jelly. At any moment he could be torn apart like a piece of rag. The Doctor strained desperately against the reduced geon field.
Gradually it yielded until it had almost disappeared, but he could not free his hands from the searing metal discs. He seemed to be hopelessly trapped...
The Scavenger hovered patiently in front of the Sontaran spacecraft in the hollow landing area. Vural, Krans and Erak sank to their knees, exhausted by the terrible ordeal of being dragged across the rough terrain, tethered to the merciless machine. Since their capture, Vural had been strangely silent. Krans and Erak kept their eyes fixed on the open hatch in the side of the huge dimpled sphere, dreading to think what fate was in store for them.
‘You’ll see...’ growled Krans, nodding towards the gleaming spacecraft, ‘... that crazy joker will turn up again with more of his tricks. We shoulda finished him when we had the chance.’
‘If you two hadn’t been so keen to chase after Roth, we wouldn’t be in this mess,’ Erak retorted.
The dispute died on their lips as the huge figure of Styr suddenly filled the open hatch.
‘The Scout Unit would have found you in the end,’ Styr hissed, his nostrils flaring as he stumped down the ramp towards them. ‘Meanwhile, it has been most valuable to observe your curious behaviour patterns...’ he gasped as he loomed over the three kneeling crewmen. Vural began to tremble violently as he cowered between Krans and Erak.
‘Not me... not... not me...’ he gibbered, raising his numbed white hands in supplication.
‘All of you,’ Styr hissed, reaching down and tearing the miniature scanning device from round the Galsec Crew Leader’s neck.
‘But I helped you,’ Vural whimpered. ‘I did everything you wanted.’
‘You failed to produce the unknown stranger from the circle,’ Styr rasped. ‘You lost him.’
Vural tried to shuffle forward on his knees, as if to attack the towering figure of the Sontaran with his helplessly pinioned arms. Styr thrust him back with a contemptuous kick.
‘You promised... you promised to spare me...’ Vural went on.
Styr’s squat features squeezed into a ghastly, ironic smile. ‘A simple test of human gullibility,’ he gasped. ‘Why should you be spared—a traitor to your own miserable species?’
Krans and Erak stared incredulously at one another as their leader’s treachery was revealed. Krans clenched his big fists. ‘Lousy swine,’ he spat. ‘So you tried to fix yourself a deal with this thing.’
Vural flinched away from Krans who was straining to get at him, despite the Scavenger’s tentacle wound tightly round his neck. ‘There was no other way, Krans,’
murmured
Similar Books
