"Yeah, well, it sounds a sweet little story, Joiks," said Tovel.
"But maybe we"ll view the sets anyway. Just in case they picked up something something, right?"
"Reckon Denni was lucky she got offed when she did,"
muttered Roba.
Joiks turned and stamped off the way they"d come without another word. He teetered on the edge of the indigo abyss for a moment, as if surprised to find it there. Then, with a last glare back at Tovel and the others, he set off across the divide. The rolling blue swell of light swept over and around him. Still it hissed and rustled like the sea.
"We"d better get after him," sighed Tovel as he secured the two websets to his belt. But Roba was already slouching off, leaving the others behind.
"If you"re going to lead us," said Creben, indicating the two bowed figures as they strode through the blue, "you"d better lead us." us."
"Yes, after you, Tovel," agreed the Doctor absently. He pottered off along the force bridge after Creben and Tovel.
Ben followed on behind, trying not to look too hard through the eddying light and down into the depths of the ravine. If whatever was holding them up chose to let go...
They were halfway over when Ben heard the noise of heavy wings flapping, like distant bellows drawing in air and hissing it back out.
He swore. "Do any of you hear...?"
Tovel and his merry men ignored him and grabbed for their weapons. They"d heard it all right.
Moments later a flight of the fat stone cherubim breezed through the gaping mouth of the tunnel, some six or seven of them.
"They found us," Joiks screamed.
The apparitions fanned out into the room. Their chubby arms were wide open. The sharp hooks of their fingers flexed and wriggled.
"For all our ignorance," said the Doctor, glaring haughtily at the creatures as they spun through the blinding blue air, "I fear we may still have learned too much."
Joiks opened fire. The others quickly followed suit.
The cherubim bobbed down unharmed through the opening volley of laser blasts. As Ben fired his crummy pistol, he saw the statues" serene smiles growing broader at the sight of the humans huddled beneath them.
"Just meat," Joiks muttered, as his gun spat bolt after useless bolt.
Chapter Twelve.
Murder is Easy
I.
Tovel was right, Polly realised. Shade"s injuries were healing with incredible speed. The splits and gouges in his face, all puckered by endless lines of tiny plastic sutures, had now practically smoothed themselves out, and he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. It still looked like someone had cut a map of the London Underground into his face, but all things considered, his wounds should"ve been a good deal worse.
She thought about what he"d said about being a jinx, tried to tell herself it was self-pitying, stupid talk. But what if it was true?
Polly took out the palmscreen from her s.p.a.cesuit, and studied it. "Oh no!" she hissed. The screen was blank. She must"ve knocked the OK b.u.t.ton when she hid the stupid thing away. That must mean all Shade"s incriminating files were deleted.
Well, good, she told herself. It showed that Shade had some good luck after all, so he couldn"t be a jinx. They would all be fine.
Frog"s scream nearly punctured Polly"s eardrums.
She spun round, and her hand flew to her mouth in shock.
Frog was propped up on one elbow, her combat suit unzipped. She was digging a knife into her shiny pink stomach. There seemed to be blood everywhere.
"What are you doing?" Polly squeaked.
"When you got poison inside you," panted Frog, her pale staring eyes bulging out of her red face, "you gotta cut it out."
"But you can"t just... cut out..." Polly wondered if she would faint. "Cut out all that flesh."
Frog flashed her a manic grin. "Wanna watch me try?"
"Put down the knife, Frog," Polly pleaded. "You"ll kill yourself."
"Ha!" Frog"s mad smile relaxed a little. "Now why didn"t I think of that." She gritted her teeth and slid the knife along.
But another bloodcurdling scream escaped her.
"Frog, you"re mad, you"re sick," Polly told her. "Stop that now, or I"ll -"
"You"ll burst into tears, sweetie?" Frog"s face crumpled in mock-sympathy. "Look, just turn around and gaze into Shadow"s dreamy green eyes or something, OK?"
Polly"s resolve hardened. "Give me the knife."
"Or you"ll do what? Kill me? Go right ahead, honey."
"Frog!" Shade"s husky voice behind her made Polly jump.
She supposed it wasn"t a surprise he"d woken up. If the first scream hadn"t got to him, the second one would"ve done the trick.
He advanced on her, a little shakily.
"Great, I got an audience," Frog said. She kept her red-rimmed eyes open. Slid the knifepoint easily into the sticky skin on her stomach.
She slipped the blade along.
The eyes shut, the mouth opened.
Joiks screamed.
Ben saw that two of the stone angels had gripped the soldier by the arms. They fluttered just above him, dwarfing him as he ran in panic through the searing blue light that swirled and buffeted all about. Then they lifted him off the invisible ground.
"Concentrate your fire on those ones!" shouted Tovel.
Creben and Roba did as they were told. Bolt after white-hot bolt shot through the sizzling air. But the huge, squat bodies of the other cherubim spinning in the whirling sky got in the way. None of them seemed to feel the fire in any case. Joiks was carried further and further up into the blue haze.
One of the giants swooped and landed close to Ben. He fired the pistol into its placid sculpted eyes, its pitying smile.
It trotted towards him, like a puppy wanting to play. "Doctor!"
Ben yelled helplessly, still firing.
The Doctor stormed over, a look of helpless outrage on his face.
"Tovel, help us!" he cried as the statue bore down on them both.
But Tovel had problems of his own. Two of the hideous, outsized angels were sweeping about him. One kicked out with a huge stone foot, and his rifle went flying through the air. The other kicked him in the ribs. Tovel yelled out as he fell backwards. Creben and Roba fired at his attackers, but the angels didn"t seem to notice.
Ben"s pistol was out of ammo. The statue"s smile became broader.
"Drop, Ben!" the Doctor shouted as the creature rushed for them. Ben threw himself down, rolled on to his back. But the squat cherub just sailed lazily over them, beat its great stone wings and took to the air again. Stone, for G.o.d"s sake. How could these things be flying like they were light as a feather?
Tovel helped him back up. The angels persecuting him had flown off too. Roba hauled the Doctor back to his feet. Creben stood a few feet away, panting, staring up into the haze.
The stone angels circled slowly. Only the two that clutched on to Joiks"s arms stayed still, hovering like malevolent ghosts, high above the humans. One of them ripped Joiks"s backpack away, and let it tumble to the ground. Ben ran for it, scooped it up. He discarded his pistol in favour of the rifle, and tied what was left of the harness and its gear round his waist. But by the time he was aiming back up at the huge stone creatures, he saw he was too late to make any difference to the light. They had tugged Joiks, teased him, like two cats playing with a mouse, over towards the gla.s.s cylinder.
Joiks screamed again, the noise echoing horribly all around. "They"re tearing me apart!"
Ben could see the pain on Joiks"s face. The angels were ma.s.sive, their arms shaped like a plump baby"s only fifty times bigger. Their huge hands were digging in to the skin, blood was soaking the dark grey of his combat suit.
"Wait!" shouted the Doctor.
Ben blinked. Everything stopped, even Joiks"s screams.
Though the frantic sobs that succeeded them weren"t a lot better.
The cherubim that held Joiks looked down at him, as if suddenly confused.
Frog"s scream died away, and she looked down at the b.l.o.o.d.y blade embedded in her skin as if puzzled by it. Dark blood pumped from the gash she"d carved into herself. Now her hand trembled on the knife hilt. Polly sensed she was about to thrust down on it, push it right the way in, to finish this for good.
"Shade, do something!" hissed Polly.
He stepped forward, uncertainly.
The knife twisted a fraction in Frog"s hand.
Joiks was still dangling helplessly from the huge stone hands of the angels.
"We can"t help him," Roba shouted. "Come on!"
Ben saw him and Creben edging for the jutting lip of rock that led on to the tunnel. He glanced at Tovel to see if he would follow suit. But he just stared helplessly up at Joiks.
"Listen to me," the Doctor called up to the huge angels, his voice booming, unafraid. The creatures floated back towards him, still holding Joiks between them, while their fellows circled with disinterest. "We mean you no harm. We ask that you release our companion."
The gruesome cherubim looked blankly at each other. Then they bobbed a little closer to ground level.
"Thank you," the Doctor said. "All we wish to do is talk with you in peace."
"You know her better than me, Shade." Polly willed herself not to pa.s.s out at the sight of so much blood. "Talk to her!"
But Shade only stood and stared in silence, his mouth flapping open and shut.
"It don"t hurt so bad," Frog whispered. She began to shake.
Her grip clearly tightened still harder on the knife.