Doctor Who_ The Awakening Part 12

'Brave heart, Tegan.' The Doctor held her arm for comfort.

Jane was staring down the church in astonishment.

Apart from the trooper lying on the ground, it was empty now. 'How could that happen?' she gasped.

'They've gone!' Turlough's voice mingled relief and amazement in equal amounts.

The Doctor nodded. 'That fight cost a lot of psychic energy,' he explained. 'The Malus needs to rest. Let's go before it recovers.'

Anxiously he herded them towards the door. They were all looking warily at the Malus: it was quiet for the moment, and seemed to he brooding, deciding on its next move. They proceeded carefully and silently, working their way down the aisle. But before they reached the door it burst open and Sir George Hutchinson came cras.h.i.+ng through, brandis.h.i.+ng a pistol in each hand.

His arms were outstretched and his face was twisted into a snarl. He swayed on his feet, and looked straight at the Doctor and the others.

'It is time at last!' he shouted. 'I am here, Master!'

He had not even seen them. With glazed eyes he stared up at the Malus now, a look that was almost adoration.

This was the moment the Malus had been waiting for. It throbbed. With a vast, bellowing roar of triumph it shuddered and thrust forward, pus.h.i.+ng out of the wall to greet its servant, who now stood inside the door looking bemused and dazed as if he was uncertain what to do next.

Ben Wolsey looked at the man who had used and betrayed his village, and frowned. Then, making up his mind, he said in a quiet, unwavering voice, 'Let me deal with him.'

'He'll kill you,' Tegan said. She was looking up the dark barrels of the pistols in Sir George's hands.

But Wolsey was a man who, once he had come to a decision, was not to be put off easily. He pushed through the group and advanced slowly towards Sir George. 'Sir George used to be a man of honour,' he said, 'He played the war games in the way they were intended.'

'Forget any codes of honour Sir George might have once held,' the Doctor, at his shoulder, advised him. 'He's now completely under the influence of the Malus.'

'He's still mortal,' Wolsey said stubbornly. He fingered the hilt of his dagger.

Jane pushed through to be at his side. 'Don't be a fool, Ben.'

Wolsey turned towards her. His eyes were sad, but determined. 'I have to try,' he explained. 'I feel partly responsible for what has happened here.' He turned and stepped forward again to meet Sir George.

'Ben!' Jane cried out, but her voice was drowned by the bellowing of the Malus.

Now, man to man, Ben Wolsey faced Sir George Hutchinson. An area of quiet seemed to settle around them and keep all the disturbance at bay, as though they were standing in the eye of a hurricane.

'Sir George?' Ben Wolsey said gently.

The Squire swayed uncertainly. He heard Wolsey's voice, but was unable to focus on it and decipher the jumbled sounds. He could not even find their source, because something terrible was in the way. Yet a voice had addressed him, and he had to answer. He tried, but the words would not come; his eyes bulged and he swayed on his feet.

But the pistols still pointed at Wolsey.

Will Chandler had not taken his eyes off them since the moment Sir George had entered the church. He felt nothing but hatred for this man, and now that the phantoms had gone and his old truculence had returned, the hatred was making him aggressive -- even courageous.

He tugged at the Doctor's sleeve. 'Be it better Sir George be dead?' he asked.

'Not if there's another way,' the Doctor replied.

Will was not convinced. He watched Ben Wolsey trying to talk sense to a madman, and shook his head. That, surely, wasn't the way.

'Sir George?' Wolsey was trying again, and endeavouring to ignore the pistols waving in front of his face. 'Do you understand me?'

The voice came to Sir George as through a dense fog. He tried again to focus on the speaker. 'Who are you?' he asked in a confused voice.

For a moment Ben Wolsey felt almost sorry for him.

'Colonel Wolsey,' he said gently. 'Ben Wolsey. Your friend.'

Finding a flaw in the determination of its servant, the Malus roared and jerked Sir George back to full attendon.

He pointed the guns firmly at Wolsey's head. 'Get back!'

he warned. Now, impelled by the Malus, he moved steadily forward.

Wolsey was forced to retreat. Yet despite this setback he was determined to take care of Sir George himself. 'We've something to settle,' he insisted.

Sir George did not even hear him this time, because the Malus was inside his head again.

'Sir George,' the Doctor said urgently. He came forward to stand at Wolsey's shoulder. 'It's vital that you should listen.'

But Sir George kept moving forward, pressing them back. At the same time he was edging round towards his master.

The Malus roared.

The noise thundered down the crypt and reached out to Joseph Willow, who lay sprawled where he had fallen. It entered his mind like a lightning stroke.

Willow sat bolt upright, as if someone had dashed cold water over him. He drew his pistol hurriedly, then hesitated, trying to remember where he was. His head ached and he felt shaken; when he saw the gun in his hand he felt puzzled. Then the noise echoed in his ears again. It filled his head, drew him to his feet and led him across the crypt to the steps.

Sir George Hutchinson had worked round to stand in front of the Malus. The monstrous head loomed above him, jerking, shuddering, roaring constantly now and billowing dense smoke.

They had to shout to be heard above the noise. 'Listen to Colonel Wolsey!' the Doctor cried. 'Concentrate your thoughts you must break free of the Malus!'

'Free?' Sir George stabbed the pistols forward. 'Why?

I'm his willing servant.'

'You're his slave,' the Doctor argued. 'He only wants you for one thing.'

The Malus roared; the noise buffeted Sir George and he staggered and swayed, utterly disorientated. 'You're mistaken,' he cried. 'He has offered me enormous power!'

He tried to smile, but the pressure in his head was monstrous and his face twisted with pain.

'No!' the Doctor tried again. How could he explain?

'The Malus is here for one reason to destroy. It's the only thing it knows how to do.'

Ben Wolsey saw the confusion on Sir George's face. The Doctor seemed to be getting through to him. 'Now listen to the Doctor,' he pleaded.

Sir George was being torn apart. He tried to hear the Doctor's words but the Malus lashed his brain and he cried out in agony. He put a hand to his head to contain the noise; he felt as if his skull was breaking open. He waved the other hand, and the pistol it still held, at the Doctor. 'I don't believe you,' he moaned.

The noise of the Malus was beginning to vibrate the whole fabric of the church. The Doctor doubled his efforts.

He shouted above the raging sound: 'Without you the Malus is helpless ... through you it feeds on the fear and anger generated by the war games. Once it is strong enough it will destroy you!'

Sir George stared wildly at the Doctor. But as his uncertainty returned, the Malus began to sheer the mind clean out of him. His face moved into a paroxysm of pain.

'No!' he screamed. He staggered, but used all his strength to recover his balance, and levelled the pistols again.

Wolsey's hand grasped the hilt of his dagger. The Doctor stepped forward to make one last effort, But as he did so, Joseph Willow appeared in the archway and crept up behind them. He had exchanged his pistol for a knife.

'Sir George,' the Doctor pleaded, 'your village is in turmoil and you're pointing your gun at a man who is a friend. That's the true influence of the Malus. Cant you feel the rage and hate inside your head? Think, man!'

The Malus roared and Sir George staggered and clutched his head again. He was grunting and moaning, and beginning to buckle under the weight of pain. 'Did you have any such feelings before you activated that thing?' the Doctor insisted.

Sir George gasped. He reeled; he was losing control of his limbs. 'I ... don't ...' He could find no words to express what he was feeling. The pain took him up into its web and enmeshed him. 'I ... don't ...' he tried again, but he could make no progress against the searing lights which blocked and burned his mind. The heavy pistol dropped out of his hand. He toppled to his knees, clutching his head with both hands.

That was the opportunity Ben Wolsey had been waiting for. He raised his dagger and moved forward for the kill.

'No!' the Doctor shouted. He dived at the big man and grasped his arm to hold him back. At the same moment Willow made his move, charging the group from behind.

He took them by surprise and broke through easily, then he too, knife in hand, launched himself at Wolsey.

Although Wolsey was stronger than Willow he was hampered by the Doctor, so the two men were evenly balanced and for long moments grappled for supremacy.

They gripped each other's knife arm at the wrist and the knives hung poised in the air; their arms strained and their faces trembled with effort. The Mattes roared, Jane screamed, Tegan shouted; the Doctor tried to drag the struggling men away from Sir George, who was moaning and pus.h.i.+ng himself to his feet.

It was Turlough who ended the impa.s.se. He leaped on Willow from behind and dragged him backwards. Taking his chance, the Doctor finally overpowered Ben Wolsey and pulled him away too.

All the time they had been fighting, Will Chandler had taken no notice of them. Instead, he had been staring at Sir George, watching his struggle as he groped to his feet, watching him now as he stood dazed and swaying just in front of the gaping mouth of the Malus. In his mind, Will was seeing not Sir George but his ancestor of centuries ago, the evil man who had pressed Will into service and forced him into the battle of the church and the worst moments of his life. Will hated him for that.

And now, when Turlough dragged Willow unexpectedly in one direction and the Doctor pushed Wolsey in another, Will saw a clear pathway between them to Sir George, and something snapped inside him.

The Malus, screaming at the frustration of its plans, belched clouds of smoke and set the whole nave shaking with its noise. The roof timbers started to quiver. Pieces of plaster, shaken from their anchorage by the rumbling vibration, fell to the floor with a clattering sound. And Will, freed from the anchorage of his fear, shot out of the group like an arrow released from a bow and scuttled into the smoke billowing around the Malus and Sir George.

Verney and Jane saw him run and sensed instantly what he was about. 'No!' Verney cried. Jane shouted, 'Will, don't!' But Will did not hear them. He was running blind, possessed by a single idea -- to destroy the man who had destroyed him.

Sir George could offer no resistance. His mind had been blown and he was totally confused and disoriented. Will grabbed hold of him, and as he looked up into the mad face there were tears in his eyes. 'You gonna be dead!' he yelled and pushed him backwards with all his strength.

Sir George cried out as he stumbled, tripped and full back into the wide open mouth of the roaring Malus. He disappeared from sight. There was a momentary silence and then a long, gurgling scream, suddenly cut off. Black smoke belched from the Malus, and then it fell silent, and still.

Sweating and breathing heavily, Will leaned wildeyed against the pulpit for support. Wolsey and Willow ceased struggling; stunned by this latest event, they all looked on quietly as the Doctor approached him.

Will's fear had returned. He was appalled by what he had done. Yet he knew it was justified, and to forestall the Doctor before he could speak he looked him in the eye and shouted, 'It is better he be dead!'

The Doctor held out his hands to placate him. 'It's all right, Will,' he said quietly. 'It's all right.'

The church was heavy with smoke. Wreaths of it hung like fog around the silent pews. The Malus looked like a dead thing, as hideously ugly in death as it had been in life.

Jane Hampden ran to the Doctor. 'We must seal up the church,' she said.

Following her, Andrew Verney added, 'And we must inform the authorities. That thing has to be destroyed.'

But the Malus was not dead, or defeated yet. At Verney's words it opened its eyes wide and glared at them. And then, from deep inside its being, from far back in the wall and centuries back in time, a new noise began.

It moved rapidly towards the surface. They could hear if rolling forward and upward, gathering momentum and increasing in volume as it came, building and rus.h.i.+ng like a wind, like a hurricane, like a banshee shrieking and wailing, like the end of the world ... And still the noise came on. They were transfixed by the overwhelming power of it, struck dumb and frozen to the spot as the tumult grew deafening and rolled on and on, and the church began to shake before its coming like a tree bending before a great wind.

Suddenly a ma.s.sive beam was dislodged from the roof timbers and crashed into the nave behind them. Blocks of stone tumbled down in clouds of dust.

That broke the spell. Their silence became uproar as the women screamed and the men cried out in fear. 'Now what?' Turlough yelled, watching the eyes of the Malus flash and roll, seeing that great head shudder. Smoke billowed from it and filled the nave with a pungent fog, so that they could scarcely see the rubble and stones and beams which toppled down around them.

And the noise was still coming.

'The Malus knows it has lost!' the Doctor shouted at the top of his voice. 'It's going to fulfil its programming and clear the ground, destroy everything it can! Come on!'

He started to run for the crypt. One by one they followed him, each dodging an avalanche of falling masonry as the Malus shook the church to its foundations.

It bellowed in its death agony, writhing and twisting about as if, like Sir George, it had turned insane.

It shook and s.h.i.+vered, tearing itself out of the wall at last.

With the others hard on his heels the Doctor careered down the steps and across the crypt to the TARDIS. The crypt itself was shaking like the church above and pieces of the roof were breaking away.

The Doctor waited at the door of the TARDIS to count them through. One by one they ran past him Will Chandler, Joseph Willow, Jane Hampden, Ben Wolsey, Tegan and old Andrew Verney. Turlough stayed back with the Doctor for a moment. 'Does the Malus still have the power?' he asked.

'Enough to keep Will here and level the church,' the Doctor shouted through the turmoil. 'Come along!'

Now they too ran inside the TARDIS and followed the others into the console room. The Doctor raced to the console and immediately began to hit switches, set coordinates and adjust slide controls. The TARDIS was shaking too, with the church and the crypt; at any moment they could all go up together.

'Close the door, would you?' the Doctor asked Jane. As she obeyed he slammed the master power control. Motors roared into life, the time rotor began to oscillate, and the TARDIS dematerialised, just as the roof of the crypt began to cave in. Tons of stone and timber crashed down on the spot where it had been.

Inside the church whole sections of the roof were falling down. The noise was beyond human belief as the Malus choked and pulsed and screamed, bent on the destruction of everything around it. Pillars cracked across. Now the walls of the church tower split asunder, and the tower collapsed with a roaring of its own.

The walls of the nave caved in. The wall containing the Malus crashed down upon it and in a dry, nameless explosion the Malus blew up, shooting whole sections of the church high into the air and scattering debris far and wide, even into the streets of the village.

When the last piece of rubble had clattered to the ground, when the dust had settled, when the final echo had died away then, at last, there was silence in Little Hodcombe.

Inside the TARDIS, the motors hummed quietly.

The Doctor put his hands into his pockets and announced: 'The Malus has destroyed itself.' His voice was quiet, exhausted.

There was a general sigh of relief, although each of them was too shattered to he visibly excited by the news. A softly spoken 'Thank goodness' from Ben Wolsey summed up all their feelings.

Jane, though, still had the strength to be curious. 'Well, now that it's gone, was it a beast or a machine?' she asked.