Doctor Who_ City At World's End Part 5

A list of her injuries was displayed: Concussion. Minor depression fracture to anterior of left parietal bone causing pressure on brain. Major bone parietal bone causing pressure on brain. Major bone fractures: clavicle, right side (compound); third and fourth fractures: clavicle, right side (compound); third and fourth ribs, right side; radius, left side; ulna (two places) left side; ribs, right side; radius, left side; ulna (two places) left side; tibia, left side (compound). Minor damage to thoracic tibia, left side (compound). Minor damage to thoracic vertebrae. Various puncture injuries and lacerations to trunk vertebrae. Various puncture injuries and lacerations to trunk and left leg. Blood loss. Shock. and left leg. Blood loss. Shock.

Treatment: Parietal pressure relieved and bone fragment set. Spinal column re-aligned and nerve regeneration set. Spinal column re-aligned and nerve regeneration initiated. Major bone fractures aligned and set, bone initiated. Major bone fractures aligned and set, bone regeneration fields established. Wounds cleaned and tissue regeneration fields established. Wounds cleaned and tissue bonded, external derma dressings applied. Intravenous fluids bonded, external derma dressings applied. Intravenous fluids and blood transfusion to replace traumatic losses and and blood transfusion to replace traumatic losses and alleviate shock. Standard antibacterial and antiviral agents alleviate shock. Standard antibacterial and antiviral agents administered. administered.

Ongoing treatment: Deep-scanning brain, spine and internal organs. Elevating body temperature to counter internal organs. Elevating body temperature to counter hypothermic fall. hypothermic fall.

The girl's core body temperature had been unusually low, Nyra noticed, which was quite common in shock cases. But it was not responding to the standard treatment of intravenous fluids and gradual external warming. Her pulse rate had also been very low, though steady, with surprisingly good blood volume in the circ.u.mstances. Now Nyra saw it too was not responding to the normal stimulation.

She consulted the cardiac display, noticing a curious double peak.

'Re-tune heart monitor to remove echo,' she ordered.

A message flashed up: Monitor operating within optimum Monitor operating within optimum parameters. No echo detected. parameters. No echo detected.

Nyra frowned. What was the matter with it?

Now she saw that the encephalograph was also displaying a strange pattern. It was not dangerous, so it had triggered no alarms, but it was, well, odd.

A message flashed up to show that the results of the blood and biopsy a.n.a.lysis were ready. Nyra examined them with a growing sense of disbelief. They made no sense whatsoever.

'Run self-diagnostic on sample a.n.a.lysis unit,' Nyra ordered. If the unit was faulty she wanted it replaced at once.

After a minute the message appeared: Self-diagnostic Self-diagnostic confirms unit is operating within optimum parameters. confirms unit is operating within optimum parameters.

That was ridiculous, Nyra thought. n.o.body had body chemistry like that. Except that it seemed at least one person did, and she was lying right in front of her.

Well, whatever the girl's peculiarities, she was still a patient in her care. Was the synthetic blood they were supplying her with compatible? It was multi-spectrum and non type-specific. But in any case they had nothing better. What else could she do? Nyra wondered. For a start, check for any other abnormalities.

She called up the results of the deep scan, only to stare in disbelief at the images on the screen. There were no internal organ injuries so the system had not initiated further treatment, thereby ignoring, with mechanical indifference, something very strange indeed.

What was that... or rather, what were those?

Susan's consciousness flickered in the depths of her mind.

She knew she had been badly injured. She sensed there was damage to portions of her brain and spine that had to be attended to at once, otherwise she would be forced to take the final option, which would be dangerously premature at her age. There was a way she could treat herself, but it was a skill she had never used before except in practice. She only wished her grandfather was there to guide her. Still, there had to be a first time for everything.

Warning lights lit up all over the tank's display panels as urgent messages trailed across the screens.

Brainwave activity diminis.h.i.+ng. Body temperature decreasing. Pulse and respiration falling. decreasing. Pulse and respiration falling.

Nyra stared at them in horror. For no reason at all, it seemed her patient was suddenly dying. And no form of stimulation the tank could apply was halting the decline.

Inexorably Susan's pulse and respiration dropped below measurable values. Her brainwave activity was reduced to shallow flickering lines.

Nyra knew there was only one option left.

She hit a b.u.t.ton initiating terminal emergency stasis.

The interior of the tank filled with chill white vapour, was.h.i.+ng over Susan's still form and obscuring her from view.

The body monitor readings abruptly fell to zero.

Nyra gave a little sigh of relief.

Death had, once again, been put on hold. The system had bought them a little time in which to find out what had almost killed her most unusual patient.

Chapter Six.

Break-Out A restless but unnaturally mild wind blew out of the night, tearing the overcast sky into racing tatters of cloud and revealing fleeting glimpses of the stars. There was no rain yet but Ian sensed it was building to a storm.

His mood darkened with the weather. Surely they should have heard some news from the rescuers at the tower by now.

Always a.s.suming the mayor's instructions had been pa.s.sed along properly. He clenched his fists. He couldn't stand much more waiting. Another hour and he would go to the camp office and demand they find out how the work was progressing.

He glanced across at the Doctor, who was sitting on his bed staring at the city through the half-open door of their shelter. There was little else to do in the camp. Gelvert had been the most garrulous person they'd met. Others had responded to their inquiries in monosyllables or else ignored them completely, as though they had already given up on life and were merely marking time before the inevitable end. A few had hurled abuse in their faces. There had been a wild look in their eyes which showed how close they were to breaking point.

Ian understood now why the mayor had humoured the Doctor and himself. And he also knew that he would find it difficult to maintain an equilibrium if he had to live under effective sentence of death for months.

Yet he could not take in the full implications of the situation. The city around him, the very land on which it rested, was going to be destroyed by a cataclysmic event of such magnitude that it was beyond his comprehension. The death of an individual he could understand, but not the death of a world. He accepted the concept intellectually but not in his heart. Perhaps that was for the best. Otherwise he might end up like those poor wretches around them.

He thought of the handful of young children they had seen playing about the shelters and briefly his thoughts turned from Barbara. The children had seemed unaware of their fate and their play had brought forth the few smiles they had seen in the camp. It was heart-wrenching whatever their parents might have done, they were innocents. Surely the city rulers could find room for them, at least, inside the vast escape s.h.i.+p, the illuminated spire of which was clearly visible from the camp.

The Doctor suddenly spoke up, intruding on Ian's reverie.

He was pointing at the city across the waste ground.

'Chesterton. Tell me what you see.'

Ian couldn't understand the point of the question, but he gave a straight enough response.

'Lights... Windows and street lights, illuminated tube trains, a few moving cars. That's what you expect in a city at night.'

'Exactly,' said the Doctor. 'But can you see any people?'

'No, of course not.'

'Then how do you know they're there?'

'Well, we know they are.'

'Really. How many people have we seen so far, outside this camp? A dozen, twenty perhaps?'

'About that.'

'Then why do you presume there are any more of them?'

'Look, a city this size must hold millions of people.'

'Wrong, Chesterton. A city this size might might hold millions of people. But all we see are lights. For instance, observe the windows of those buildings closest to us, as I have been doing for the past hour. Wouldn't you expect to see them turned off or on, or twinkle occasionally as curtains or blinds were drawn?' hold millions of people. But all we see are lights. For instance, observe the windows of those buildings closest to us, as I have been doing for the past hour. Wouldn't you expect to see them turned off or on, or twinkle occasionally as curtains or blinds were drawn?'

'Yes, I suppose so.'

'Well, I have seen nothing of the sort. And recall the lights strung up inside the hollow sh.e.l.l of the building we landed on.

They were designed to illuminate the windows to make the building appear appear inhabited. And what about the dummy driver we found in the car? What if all the cars we had seen were similarly arranged?' inhabited. And what about the dummy driver we found in the car? What if all the cars we had seen were similarly arranged?'

Ian pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling his head throbbing. He wasn't really up to contemplating such puzzles at the moment. 'But why? What on earth would be the point of such a deception?'

'A few possibilities suggest themselves,' the Doctor said.

'But they will keep until the morning. You look tired, my dear boy. This day has been a terrible strain on both of us. We should try to get a little sleep.'

Ian knew the Doctor was right. 'Perhaps just for an hour or so. I want to check with the camp office later, to see if there's any more news.'

He turned off the dim, battery-powered light in the ceiling of the shelter and they lay down on their beds. He couldn't sleep, but it made sense to rest.

Ian must have dozed despite his anxiety, because when he was jerked back into wakefulness there was rain splattering on the roof. But it was not that which had woken him. There was somebody else inside the shelter with them.

He heard the Doctor give a shout of alarm even as a hand closed about his own mouth. He lashed out by reflex, felt his fist connect with a cheekbone and heard a stifled grunt of pain.

Some blunt heavy object smashed into the side of his bed, missing his head by a fraction of an inch. In desperation he kicked out into the darkness, his foot catching one of his a.s.sailants in the stomach. He struggled to his feet, swinging punches at shadows.

Suddenly a pale grey rectangle of light appeared as the shelter door burst open. For a moment three figures were silhouetted against it, then they were gone.

He plunged through the doorway after them and ran a few steps beyond, but the rain-lashed night had already swallowed the intruders. Shaking his head angrily he splashed back into the shelter and switched on the light. The Doctor was sitting on the side of his bed, his clothing in disarray, cradling his right arm and flexing his fingers gingerly.

'Doctor... are you all right?'

'Thank you, Chesterton... yes.' The Doctor wheezed slightly. 'I think they were after my ring. Fortunately they did not succeed in removing it.'

'Was one of them Gelvert? Or friends of his, perhaps? He had his eye on your ring earlier.'

'I thought the voice of one of those you struck sounded familiar, but I could not swear it was Gelvert.'

'I bet it was. But as all they got were b.l.o.o.d.y noses I suppose it's not worth reporting.'

Ian righted his bed, which had been tipped over in the struggle, and sat down, brus.h.i.+ng back his damp hair.

'But why bother stealing trinkets when the world, quite literally, is coming to an end soon? The only thing of real value left would be a ticket on that s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, and I don't suppose that can be bought with any amount of money or precious rings.'

'Not a ticket itself, perhaps,' mused the Doctor, 'but perhaps a step towards '

He faltered, patting his pockets with a growing sense of urgency. Now he looked at Ian in concern. 'Search the floor, Chesterton. I think they tore the TARDIS key from me in the struggle.'

They examined the floor and then turned the bedding inside out. There was no sign of the key.

'Well there's no point in looking outside in this weather,'

said Ian. 'We'll have to wait until morning.'

'You understand we cannot get back inside the TARDIS without it,' the Doctor reminded him gravely.

They probably s.n.a.t.c.hed it thinking it was valuable,' Ian said. 'When they have a chance to examine it no doubt they'll simply throw it away. It can't be any use to them. We might still find it. If not, Susan's got one, hasn't she? It will be with her things at the hospital...' He trailed off as he saw the expression on the Doctor's face.

'Chesterton, do you recall seeing Susan's key when we rescued her?'

'Well... no. But I was hardly paying attention to a detail like that.'

'No, neither was I, more's the pity. But I do not think she was wearing it around her neck as usual. She must have lost it in the nuns of the tower. If that key is missing as well, then even when the TARDIS is recovered, we'll never be able to leave this world!'

For a moment they could only stare at each other hopelessly. Then the Doctor rose, his chin set at a determined angle.

'We must make every effort to track down our attackers.

First let us alert the guards. They must search Gelvert's shelter... if it's not already too late.'

Holding the waterproof liners of their beds over them like capes, they left their tent and walked briskly towards the administration block.

'I can't blame Gelvert for wanting to escape from here,'

Ian said. 'I don't like the idea of informing on him. We promised we'd keep quiet.'

'Any understanding we had with him is over,' the Doctor said sharply. 'We must make the most of the situation. Now it has become even more urgent to convince the authorities that we are not common refugees.'

They reached the guardhouse only to find that the sentry in the outer office was half-asleep before a bank of monitor screens. No wonder people are planning escapes if their guards are as slack as this, Ian thought.

'We have been attacked and robbed,' the Doctor told the man sharply, jerking him into resentful alertness. 'An item of some value has been stolen. I believe one of the thieves was a man called Harlo Gelvert. I demand that you check his quarters immediately.'

'You NC2s are always stealing from each other,' the guard replied irritably. 'Come back in the morning, make your complaint, we'll look into it then.'

A determined glint entered the Doctor's eye. 'You might be interested to know that Gelvert is planning an escape. In fact he may have already accomplished it. Now, what will your commanding officer say if he learns that you waited several hours before acting on our information?'