CAPE OF GOOD HOPE
The explosion made Jo's entire body vibrate, the inside of her skull felt like it had split open but bad though this was she steeled herself for the stink of the gas. She'd taken a deep breath but how long could she hold it, and how long after that would it take the gas to kill her?
But when she looked over at the cylinder she found it was punctured, the bullet had failed to hit it being held between the thumb and forefinger of a tall, elegantly dressed man with a shock of white hair and long Edwardian cape. In rich, slightly amused tones he said.
"Chan Yieh 1902, he could catch a bullet between his teeth." Licking his own superb set of teeth the man added, "I prefer mine unchipped." Tossing the bullet he caught it with the same hand, closed this into a fist and shook it when he opened the hand there was no sign of the bullet. "You don't really want to release this deadly gas do you," he asked Clegg who gazed at him wide-eyed. "You see you'd kill my friend Jo over there and I'm rather fond of her, you'd also kill the Sekma and I think they deserve a chance to scuttle off back to their dark, dreary little world with its two ice moons."
Clegg was about to ask this strange apparition who he was when the man strode up to him and relieved him of his gun, plucking it from his fingers with the greatest of ease and removing its magazine as though he detested such weapons.
"You've been very foolish," the Doctor admonished in a low but serious tone of voice. "What you've done here could have unleashed a catastrophe upon the world," the bright blue eyes glinted with inner steel, "Not a good idea old chap not on a world I've grown rather fond of."
Backing away stricken Clegg had to grip a stool for support as though both his legs had turned gammy, Luran was not so overwhelmed she gave a sharp command and her two male colleagues turned from the glass case to advance on the Doctor their right hands raised ominously. Remembering what had happened to the robot spider Jo called out a warning but the time lord's eyes said I know what I'm doing.
"Aren't you interested to know how I found my companion," he asked, "Then I'll tell you it was that pen it serves a number of useful purposes."
Instinctively Luran touched the pocket she'd put the broken pen into, "It is destroyed," she said but the lean, angular face beamed at her as much as to say no it isn't.
"I'm afraid it can only destroy itself," said the Doctor, "When I send it a telepathic signal, like this." Closing both eyes he touched his left temple with a finger at once Luran flew back away from Jo with a gasp, her pocket was glowing as though on fire and smoke was billowing from it. The two male aliens looked at their leader unsure what to do now; did they kill this odd man?
Luran reached down with both hands but soon snatched them away from the fiery pocket, faced with no choice she moved her coat and thrust it away from her. Jo was stunned by what she saw next, she had thought that Luran was a woman albeit an alien one with a solid female body but she wasn't; she didn't have a body at all. When the coat was discarded all that was left was a head and two arms attached to a slim frame of silver wires.
On the ground her coat glowed and vanished in a burst of odd silvery fire but that wasn't the end of it because the glow from the pen remained and continued to expand.
"Oh no," said the Doctor, "It isn't as easy as that, now it has your signal it will pursue you as long as you're on earth and killing me will do no good."
Luran turned her head towards Jo, "Then kill her instead," she instructed. The two men reaimed their hands, not real hands Jo guessed but weapons of some kind and weapons of immense destructive potential.
Quick as a flash the Doctor removed his long cape and threw it at the male aliens like a net, caught completely by surprise they were too slow to respond and the cape covered them both seeming to expand in mid-flight to twice its previous size. This was indeed a day for surprises where nothing was what it seemed – a woman who wasn't a woman, a pen that was more than a pen and now this.
Jo couldn't see the point of what the Doctor had done, surely the men would just prize free of his cape or burn through it after all it was just fabric surely. But this didn't happen because as soon as it touched them the cape wrapped itself around them and drew itself tight smothering them totally, it was as if the thing were alive.
Turning the smoke jacketed Doctor eyed Luran, but she pressed both her palms together and vanished in a vertical column of twinkling lights in the same instant the huge cape fell empty to the floor its prisoners had also dematerialised, transmatted back to their car or ship Jo thought.
She ran to the Doctor and hugged him, over his shoulder able to see a distance blue shape instead a storage room.
"It's over," she sighed but it wasn't there was still Clegg and he had run over to the glass case with a small metal hammer. It was clear what he intended to do and if he succeeded the deadly spores of the fungus would be unleashed.
"You haven't won," he cried desperately; a sheen of madness on his face because he would be the first to die.
"No Professor," the Doctor warned an edge to his voice.
"Yes I know I'm finished but so is the human race, and if the Sekma can't eradicate them then I will."
Quickly the time lord eased Jo to one side she didn't see the reason for this at first, then something flashed from the glowing pen on the floor a beam or ray of intense light, highly-focused and aimed at Clegg. As he raised his hammer the ray hit him in the back and he was gone, just wiped out in the blink of an eye Jo couldn't believe it. Poor man she thought able to feel a shred of pity for him despite what he'd been planning to do.
"Why didn't he listen to me," even the Doctor sounded anguished. "Oh well come on Jo help me get that fungus into the TARDIS, we must take it away from earth and dump it in space where it will die naturally."
The glass case was heavier than Jo realised and it took a serious effort to carry it the two hundred meters or so into the police box, she had to stop several times to get her wind but the Doctor was most tolerant. Once they were safely inside the space-time craft and the doors were closing Jo asked, "What about Luran and her people?"
Busily working controls the Doctor set coordinates, "I saw their ship in orbit as I was returning to earth, fortunately they couldn't detect me. Without this fungus I don't think they represent much of a threat."
Jo wasn't so sure having met Luran, "They could attack earth with their ship couldn't they?"
Hitting the dematerialisation control the Doctor set his craft in motion, "Overt violence isn't the Sekma way, they prefer stealth and trickery it's my belief they'll give this up as a bad lot."
On the main viewer Jo saw her home planet earth growing smaller and smaller, but something else in orbit around it was getting bigger and bigger, it was a three-sided black triangle of impressive size. "They're following us," she warned. The Doctor glanced up as if to deny it but when he saw the black craft a frown creased his features.
"They can't register the TARDIS," he said in puzzlement coming around the console to stand hands on hips beside her. Oh can't they thought Jo well they're making some pretty good guesses.
"I think they can," she said.
"Sekma technology isn't that advanced Jo," he objected.
"Doctor they're closing in on us," the black triangle had increased speed and was approaching rapidly.
Suddenly the man beside her gave a gasp and slapped his own forehead, "Of course," he said, "How foolish of me," he turned to the glass case resting on a metal trolley. "It's the fungus they can detect; somehow they can scan it even in here."
Fine thought Jo then let's dump it as soon as we can.
But the image on the main viewer had changed upon it now was the face of Luran and she was looking down on her opponents with a degree of smug satisfaction she said, "Earth may be safe for now but you two aren't."
Jo didn't fully understand the importance of this threat until the glass case suddenly cracked down one entire side then it shattered and the heavy, toxic thing inside began to ooze and spill out of it.
Next episode…..CONSUMPTION