Read Online Doctor Who: The Zarbi by Bill Strutton - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Bill Strutton
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grub of sorts. But huge...’
‘And we thought this planet was deserted! It’s swarming with life! All of it horrible!’
Doctor Who was frowning, racking his mind to identify this new creature more precisely. ‘Larva... he muttered to himself. He looked again towards the grub-like creature and saw that, each time the Zarbi on the rock gestured, it changed its direction in obedience to the sign. Ian saw it too.
‘It’s that Zarbi that’s moving it about! Has he got it on some sort of string...?’
Doctor Who was looking intently. In his fascination he had halted.
‘No,’ he said. No... but you’re right. It’s being...
controlled.’
An angry chirrup rose from his Zarbi captor. With a wrench of a steely foreclaw it hustled the Doctor along so that the old man stumbled and nearly fell.
He marched on, looking backward, deep in thought.
‘There’s another!’ Ian said, pointing.
Another grub, its long sharp snout pointed directly down at them, moved faintly on a rock ledge above them.
Behind it was poised the feeler of a Zarbi. The foreclaw moved faintly against the sky, and as it did so the grub turned slightly, following Ian and Doctor Who with its snout as they passed on down the slope.
Doctor Who exclaimed suddenly, ‘I have it!’
‘What?’
‘Venom grubs! Let me see... — yes! That would fit.
But...’ The doctor wagged his head, puzzled.
‘.. venom?... you mean, those things are poisonous?’
‘I mean they lived on venom...’
‘Ugh!’ Ian said. ‘Charming!’
‘Well, as I recollect from my studies of the Isop Galaxy, they used to serve a very useful purpose. You saw that long proboscis?’
‘That snout, you mean. Wicked isn’t it? I shouldn’t like to get a jab from that!’
‘Neither did their enemies. You see, their hard shell made them impervious to attack themselves. If a poisonous creature attacked them, it couldn’t penetrate the shell. But with that snout, the venom grubs could pierce anything.
They would seek out their attacker’s poison sac, and impale it.’
‘You mean, disembowel them?’
‘No. Puncture them. Disarm them. By – drawing out their poison.’
‘Oh!’ Ian stared back with rather more interest.
‘But there’s something which puzzles me,’ Doctor Who said. He walked a few paces, submitting tamely to the hustling of his Zarbi captors.
‘I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s puzzled,’ Ian said savagely, glaring around him.
‘Well, it’s this,’ the Doctor said sombrely. ‘The venom grubs have changed their habits too.’
‘How?’
‘The Zarbi were once their natural enemies. Now they appear to have... tamed them. The question is – how the Zarbi tamed them... and what for?’
‘Not for household pets, I shouldn’t think,’ Ian said. ‘Venom grubs, eh? I’d rather keep a pet cobra.’
‘No,’ agreed Doctor Who. ‘Not for household pets.’
Now the glowing building with its writhing tentacles stretching far out over the land, loomed ahead of them with the great wheeling light at its apex. More chirruping broke out among the Zarbi as they shoved the two men towards an opening in the enormous web. The opening glowed more brightly than the mass of interlaced strands which almost covered it, and as they came closer, Ian and Doctor Who saw that the opening was in fact the mouth of a tunnel leading far inside.
They paused instinctively, awed by all this strangeness, and were shoved on into the tunnel. Ian stared around him. Even the concave walls of the tunnel were made of web, and as he looked, he saw it move, faintly but clearly.
Small globules swelled at the entrance to the tunnel. The globules expanded, broke into web patterns, and stretched outward, then solidified, extending the tunnel minutely as they did so.
‘Doctor – see that? That stuff is growing...!’
Doctor Who looked more closely. ‘Mm... yes – so I see.
Organic matter, I imagine – reproducing itself.’
‘But that’s
‘And we thought this planet was deserted! It’s swarming with life! All of it horrible!’
Doctor Who was frowning, racking his mind to identify this new creature more precisely. ‘Larva... he muttered to himself. He looked again towards the grub-like creature and saw that, each time the Zarbi on the rock gestured, it changed its direction in obedience to the sign. Ian saw it too.
‘It’s that Zarbi that’s moving it about! Has he got it on some sort of string...?’
Doctor Who was looking intently. In his fascination he had halted.
‘No,’ he said. No... but you’re right. It’s being...
controlled.’
An angry chirrup rose from his Zarbi captor. With a wrench of a steely foreclaw it hustled the Doctor along so that the old man stumbled and nearly fell.
He marched on, looking backward, deep in thought.
‘There’s another!’ Ian said, pointing.
Another grub, its long sharp snout pointed directly down at them, moved faintly on a rock ledge above them.
Behind it was poised the feeler of a Zarbi. The foreclaw moved faintly against the sky, and as it did so the grub turned slightly, following Ian and Doctor Who with its snout as they passed on down the slope.
Doctor Who exclaimed suddenly, ‘I have it!’
‘What?’
‘Venom grubs! Let me see... — yes! That would fit.
But...’ The doctor wagged his head, puzzled.
‘.. venom?... you mean, those things are poisonous?’
‘I mean they lived on venom...’
‘Ugh!’ Ian said. ‘Charming!’
‘Well, as I recollect from my studies of the Isop Galaxy, they used to serve a very useful purpose. You saw that long proboscis?’
‘That snout, you mean. Wicked isn’t it? I shouldn’t like to get a jab from that!’
‘Neither did their enemies. You see, their hard shell made them impervious to attack themselves. If a poisonous creature attacked them, it couldn’t penetrate the shell. But with that snout, the venom grubs could pierce anything.
They would seek out their attacker’s poison sac, and impale it.’
‘You mean, disembowel them?’
‘No. Puncture them. Disarm them. By – drawing out their poison.’
‘Oh!’ Ian stared back with rather more interest.
‘But there’s something which puzzles me,’ Doctor Who said. He walked a few paces, submitting tamely to the hustling of his Zarbi captors.
‘I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s puzzled,’ Ian said savagely, glaring around him.
‘Well, it’s this,’ the Doctor said sombrely. ‘The venom grubs have changed their habits too.’
‘How?’
‘The Zarbi were once their natural enemies. Now they appear to have... tamed them. The question is – how the Zarbi tamed them... and what for?’
‘Not for household pets, I shouldn’t think,’ Ian said. ‘Venom grubs, eh? I’d rather keep a pet cobra.’
‘No,’ agreed Doctor Who. ‘Not for household pets.’
Now the glowing building with its writhing tentacles stretching far out over the land, loomed ahead of them with the great wheeling light at its apex. More chirruping broke out among the Zarbi as they shoved the two men towards an opening in the enormous web. The opening glowed more brightly than the mass of interlaced strands which almost covered it, and as they came closer, Ian and Doctor Who saw that the opening was in fact the mouth of a tunnel leading far inside.
They paused instinctively, awed by all this strangeness, and were shoved on into the tunnel. Ian stared around him. Even the concave walls of the tunnel were made of web, and as he looked, he saw it move, faintly but clearly.
Small globules swelled at the entrance to the tunnel. The globules expanded, broke into web patterns, and stretched outward, then solidified, extending the tunnel minutely as they did so.
‘Doctor – see that? That stuff is growing...!’
Doctor Who looked more closely. ‘Mm... yes – so I see.
Organic matter, I imagine – reproducing itself.’
‘But that’s
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