Read Online Doctor Who: The Zarbi by Bill Strutton - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Bill Strutton
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fantastic!’
‘It happens on your own planet, remember.’
‘Among tiny forms of life, maybe,’ Ian retorted. ‘But not like this! This... building, whatever you call it, why – it’s enormous! Bigger, even, than it looked from the ridge!’
‘Quite. And... stretching out across the planet. How long has it taken to reach this size, I wonder? Mm? A hundred years? Two hundred? More ?’
‘But why? What for? These Zarbi creatures can obviously live outside of it. What use is a web to them? It doesn’t seem built to catch anything, does it?’
Doctor Who sighed. ‘My dear boy, I wish I could answer all your questions. Unfortunately I’m as puzzled as you are.’
Now the Zarbi began heckling them with angry, impatient chirrupings, and those nearest roughly shoved the Doctor forward again. He turned testily, but as always kept his dignity.
‘Yes, all right – don’t push!’ Nevertheless, he stared with some misgiving inward, along the mysterious tunnel which seemed to taper to infinity. He summoned a jaunty cheerfulness.
‘Well, the key to it all is undoubtedly inside...
somewhere. Lead on, my boy.’
‘Tell me what else I can do!’ Ian growled. He gestured dismally ahead of them. ‘Come into my parlour – said the spider to the fly.’
Doctor Who stared and pondered that quotation grimly.
He braced himself and stepped forward into the tunnel.
Inside Tardis it was now absolutely still. Vicki remained frozen for a long time, gripping the control table, staring at the scanner screen. It was blank. She could not hear a sound.
Finally she ventured to turn.
She saw the exit doors were opened. She had not heard them. She could no longer stand the silence, the utter quiet after her turbulent, terrifying journey. She had at least to see where they now were. Cautiously she approached the door, and looked out.
She could see part of a huge webbed ceiling, the flat floor. The rest was screened by a partition wall.
As far as she could see the place was empty. Vicki took a timid step out of the ship, and halted. Only a silence answered her. She walked carefully forward, past the wall.
The police-box shape of Tardis stood in a huge room under a great webbed vault of a roof. A vast panel on one wall shone with strange controls. There were dials, buttons and flashing light patterns like nothing an earthly eye would recognize or understand.
Dominating these controls were two patterns.
The first was a completely circular web composed entirely of minute buttons of light. Only a portion of this web was illuminated.
Beside it was an enlarged segment of the same web – a wedge-shaped thirty-degree slice of it, similarly illuminated. Near its pointed apex a tiny cluster of lights blazed and twinkled. They were moving, converging on the pointed tip of the web segment.
Their movement was repeated on the smaller, complete web. There, a small single light inched slowly in along one segment of’the web towards the centre.
Vicki halted and gaped at it. The pattern of lights, converging on the centre of the web-plan, was the only thing which moved in the entire room. It drew her, fascinated, her fear forgotten, and she walked on into the centre of the huge room.
As she did so, a sound erupted suddenly and shattered the stillness – a piercing, concerted chirruping.
She turned in horror, her hands flying to her ears – and saw the Zarbi everywhere. Several of them scuttled out from behind Tardis and waited there, cutting off any chance of her running back into the ship.
Other Zarbi had appeared through webbed tunnel doors leading off from this room and now converged on her. At a few paces away they halted – and only one advanced, rearing on its hind legs, its eyes glowing down upon her.
Vicki screamed. She cowered and backed – but there was no retreat, for she was surrounded by these nightmarish creatures, whose faces she had first seen through the scanner.
She saw that the Zarbi now towering over her
‘It happens on your own planet, remember.’
‘Among tiny forms of life, maybe,’ Ian retorted. ‘But not like this! This... building, whatever you call it, why – it’s enormous! Bigger, even, than it looked from the ridge!’
‘Quite. And... stretching out across the planet. How long has it taken to reach this size, I wonder? Mm? A hundred years? Two hundred? More ?’
‘But why? What for? These Zarbi creatures can obviously live outside of it. What use is a web to them? It doesn’t seem built to catch anything, does it?’
Doctor Who sighed. ‘My dear boy, I wish I could answer all your questions. Unfortunately I’m as puzzled as you are.’
Now the Zarbi began heckling them with angry, impatient chirrupings, and those nearest roughly shoved the Doctor forward again. He turned testily, but as always kept his dignity.
‘Yes, all right – don’t push!’ Nevertheless, he stared with some misgiving inward, along the mysterious tunnel which seemed to taper to infinity. He summoned a jaunty cheerfulness.
‘Well, the key to it all is undoubtedly inside...
somewhere. Lead on, my boy.’
‘Tell me what else I can do!’ Ian growled. He gestured dismally ahead of them. ‘Come into my parlour – said the spider to the fly.’
Doctor Who stared and pondered that quotation grimly.
He braced himself and stepped forward into the tunnel.
Inside Tardis it was now absolutely still. Vicki remained frozen for a long time, gripping the control table, staring at the scanner screen. It was blank. She could not hear a sound.
Finally she ventured to turn.
She saw the exit doors were opened. She had not heard them. She could no longer stand the silence, the utter quiet after her turbulent, terrifying journey. She had at least to see where they now were. Cautiously she approached the door, and looked out.
She could see part of a huge webbed ceiling, the flat floor. The rest was screened by a partition wall.
As far as she could see the place was empty. Vicki took a timid step out of the ship, and halted. Only a silence answered her. She walked carefully forward, past the wall.
The police-box shape of Tardis stood in a huge room under a great webbed vault of a roof. A vast panel on one wall shone with strange controls. There were dials, buttons and flashing light patterns like nothing an earthly eye would recognize or understand.
Dominating these controls were two patterns.
The first was a completely circular web composed entirely of minute buttons of light. Only a portion of this web was illuminated.
Beside it was an enlarged segment of the same web – a wedge-shaped thirty-degree slice of it, similarly illuminated. Near its pointed apex a tiny cluster of lights blazed and twinkled. They were moving, converging on the pointed tip of the web segment.
Their movement was repeated on the smaller, complete web. There, a small single light inched slowly in along one segment of’the web towards the centre.
Vicki halted and gaped at it. The pattern of lights, converging on the centre of the web-plan, was the only thing which moved in the entire room. It drew her, fascinated, her fear forgotten, and she walked on into the centre of the huge room.
As she did so, a sound erupted suddenly and shattered the stillness – a piercing, concerted chirruping.
She turned in horror, her hands flying to her ears – and saw the Zarbi everywhere. Several of them scuttled out from behind Tardis and waited there, cutting off any chance of her running back into the ship.
Other Zarbi had appeared through webbed tunnel doors leading off from this room and now converged on her. At a few paces away they halted – and only one advanced, rearing on its hind legs, its eyes glowing down upon her.
Vicki screamed. She cowered and backed – but there was no retreat, for she was surrounded by these nightmarish creatures, whose faces she had first seen through the scanner.
She saw that the Zarbi now towering over her
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