Part 18 (1/2)

The Doctor saw Qixotl's teeth clench. 'You've met these things before, right?'

'Twice. This is the first time I've seen one in its low-gravity form, though.'

'And, uh... do they like cheesy nibbles, at all?'

The topmost protrusion of the Kroton's body, the geometric crystal that could, loosely, be called its head, swung around to face them. At least, that's what the Doctor a.s.sumed it was doing, although the creature didn't actually have a face, as such. 'The-av-i-an-life-forms-are-dis-turbed.'

Qixotl looked at the Doctor. The Doctor shrugged. 'Er, that's right,' Qixotl mumbled. 'The toucans, yeah? It's your s.h.i.+p. They're reacting to it a bit badly. You know how avian life-forms are. Listen, there's a guest room all laid out for you downstairs, if you want to freshen up. Or whatever it is you do. I mean, if you don't mind the furniture.'

'The-auc-tion-will-proceed-as-soon-as-poss-i-ble,' the Kroton insisted. 'There-will-be-no-de-lays.'

'No, no, of course not. I'm sure you've got a lot of important things to do back in, er, Kroton-s.p.a.ce.'

'My-des-ig-na-tion-is-E-Ko-balt-Prime-of-the-Kro-ton-Ab-sol-ute. Command-un-it-of-the-Kro-ton-Fifth-Latt-ice.'

'Well ' Qixotl began. But the Kroton hadn't finished warbling yet.

'This-vess-el-was-int-er-cept-ed. The-in-vi-ta-tion-was-dis-cov-ered-in-the-poss-ess-ion-of-its-crew. Your-auc-tion-is-of-int-er-est-to-the-Kro-ton-Ab-sol-ute. My-sup-er-i-or-un-its-in-the-Kro-ton-First-Lattice-have-al-read-y-been-no-ti-fied. A-War-spear-has-been-dis-patched-to-this-plan-et. The-War-spear-will-es-cort-the-Rel-ic-back-to-the-First-Latt-ice-once-it-has-been-sec-ured-for-the-Ab-so-lute.'

That sounded like a threat to the Doctor. Qixotl certainly looked a little taken aback. 'That is, y'know, if you make the highest bid,' the man pointed out.

'Yes,' bubbled E-Kobalt-Prime.

'Can I ask a question?' said the Doctor. 'Where's your dynatrope? I know your people never leave home without one.'

E-Kobalt paused before answering. 'I-will-not-re-quire-my-own-vess-el-to-complete-this-miss-ion.'

'Really? How's your power supply?'

'The-Rel-ic-will-be-sec-ured-be-fore-re-en-er-gi-sa-tion-be-comes-ne-cess-ar-y.' There was a bit more head-spinning. The Kroton's legs quivered underneath its torso. 'The-grav-it-y-on-this-plan-et-is-un-suit-a-ble-for-this-bo-dy. I-will-need-to-re-con-struct-my-ex-ter-i-or-form-im-me-di-ate-ly.'

Qixotl cleared his throat. 'Well, yeah, it's like I said. If you want me to show you to your quarters...'

Before he could finish the sentence, the Kroton shattered. Literally, shattered. The legs disintegrated, allowing the torso to drop to the ground. The body exploded into several thousand shards of translucent crystal on impact, and squashed a few more of the floating plants in the process. There was an almighty cracking sound. Qixotl actually shrieked, but the Doctor merely winced.

All that was left of E-Kobalt was his head (its head, the Doctor corrected himself; Krotons were strictly speaking as.e.xual, although they acted in such a loutish fas.h.i.+on it was hard to think of them as anything but male), plus a shapeless lump of white crystal that had once formed the inner core of the torso. It reminded the Doctor of raw clay in a sculptor's studio, ready to be moulded into something more artistic. head, the Doctor corrected himself; Krotons were strictly speaking as.e.xual, although they acted in such a loutish fas.h.i.+on it was hard to think of them as anything but male), plus a shapeless lump of white crystal that had once formed the inner core of the torso. It reminded the Doctor of raw clay in a sculptor's studio, ready to be moulded into something more artistic.

'Oh no,' squealed Qixotl. 'Don't tell me I've lost another one.'

The Doctor peered at the crystal. 'Don't worry. It's just growing itself a new body. Look.' Even as he spoke, delicate cracks were appearing across the surface of the substance. New limbs were forming under the skin, squirming impatiently as they grew. 'Fascinating. I've never seen this process before. I always a.s.sumed it'd be a private moment for them.'

'Can it hear us?'

'Oh, I shouldn't think so. See, the feelers have dropped off. It hasn't developed new sensory systems yet.'

Qixotl looked distinctly uncomfortable all the same. 'OK, Doctor, let's get serious here. You heard what the life-form said. There's a whole Warspear full of these things coming. Whatever a Warspear is.'

'Yes. And they're not going to be too happy if E-Kobalt doesn't get what he wants at the auction.' The Doctor said it in his best I-told-you-so voice, but Qixotl just shrugged.

'Can't say it bothers me much. Once the property's sold, I'm gone. The Krotons can blow up the whole sodding planet if they feel like it. What I'm saying is, things are hotting up around here. You can't hang about any longer. I mean, what happens if the bidders figure out who you are? We're going to have a riot on our hands, y'know?'

'You should have thought of that before!'

'I was kind of expecting you to stay dead,' Qixotl protested. 'OK, OK. Here's the deal. You go away now, and don't get in the way of the auction, yeah? In return, I'll let you have 40 per cent. Can't say fairer than that, right?'

The Doctor was puzzled. '40 per cent of what?'

'The proceeds. 40 per cent of whatever I get for the stiff.'

The Doctor felt his jaw drop. That hadn't happened in centuries.

'I'll give you your cut the next time I see you around,' Qixotl told him. 'Really. Cross my heart. Universe this small, we've got to b.u.mp into each other sooner or later.'

'You're offering me 40 per cent of my own body?' boggled the Doctor.

'Uh-huh. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'd give you 50 per cent, but I've got expenses to cover here.'

'Don't be ridiculous!'

Qixotl sighed extravagantly. 'If you want to play it like that, fine. But look, if you want your body back, there's no way I can just hand it over to you. Not with this lot around. There's only one way you're going to get your hands on it without causing trouble.'

'Which is?'

'You're going to have to bid at the auction. Like everyone else.'

'Over my dead ' the Doctor began.

He was interrupted by a snapping, crackling noise from the body of E-Kobalt. The new limbs had finished growing. The crystal had split open at various strategic points across the torso, making way for four thick, tube-like extensions. Not crystalline, the Doctor noted; the limbs looked more like some form of flexible metal. One ended in a pincer, one ended in an open tube not unlike a flame-thrower, and the other two ended in flat plates that might have been feet. Presumably, thought the Doctor, the Kroton had some kind of malleable metallic core. Impressive, but hardly efficient. No wonder the things had to suck out peoples' neural energies to stay alive.

A low groaning sound issued from E-Kobalt's head, the one part of its body that hadn't changed shape during the metamorphosis. Flakes of crystal fell away from the Kroton's skin, the torso sculpting itself into something smooth and sharp-edged before the Doctor's eyes.

'Wakey wakey,' he muttered, as new sensory systems began to form across E-Kobalt's body.

Sam threw herself at the wall again. The pink stuff stretched under her weight, but it didn't break. The wall was like a membrane, tough enough to hold her back, but thin enough to let her see shapes moving around on the other side. There, at the centre of the vault, Sam could make out the silver glow of the casket, and the tangle of shadows surrounding it. Kathleen was there, somewhere, lost among the silhouettes of the things that had reached up out of the floor.

The wall hadn't been there a minute ago. It had grown from the brickwork, like something organic. Sam could see purple veins running through the membrane, pulsing in time to the shrieking of the walls. The exit tunnel was behind her, but something red and sticky had stretched itself across the corridor in front of the stairway, a web of razor-fine fibres that looked to Sam like one of those retinal patterns you saw in biology textbooks.

The floor trembled under her feet. She stood aside, and watched as two thick-stemmed flowers grew from the cracks between the stone slabs. The blooms turned to look at Sam, tiny black eyes squinting out of their half-formed faces. Sam tried to ignore the fact that they looked just like Kathleen.

The slabs s.h.i.+fted again, as new shoots forced themselves up into the light. Sam kept side-stepping them, until she ran out of floor and found herself pressed up against one of the vault's solid brick walls.

There was no choice, then. She'd have to make a break for it down the corridor, and deal with the retina-web when she came to it. She'd worry about Kathleen later.