7.
Zoe searched the area around the pit but could only find one or two small vines and even they snapped when she tested their strength by tugging on them. With disgust and frustration, she threw them to the ground and made her way back to the edge of the pit.
She peered over the edge and into the darkness below but could see no movement. "Doctor," she shouted, "no such luck; I'm going to have to go and get some rope from the shuttle."
There was no reply from the pit.
Zoe bit her lip. She was a Federation security officer and always prided herself in her calm and efficient manner. To panic was completely alien to Zoe, but even she felt her pulse quicken. "Damn," she whispered.
She was about to shout down again when suddenly there was a rustle from the foliage behind her.
The Doctor and Katherine had completed a check around the perimeter of the ravine. It was far longer than it was broad, but clearly not artificial after all. Something may have gouged the rock and earth out of the ground, but that would have been centuries ago. Now, alien bushes and creepers, and what looked to Katherine like large sticky cobwebs had grown all about and inside it, disguising the edges.
As the Doctor flashed the torch over to one corner Katherine thought she could see something. "Doctor," she called, "come and take a look at this."
The Doctor walked over to her. "What is it?" he asked.
"Over there, it looks like a tunnel."
They walked closer. It was a tunnel, around eight feet high and covered in more creepers and a mass of sticky webs. The Doctor pulled a few of the webs aside, rubbing them onto the trunks of nearby trees. He flashed the torch inside to reveal rough, damp, rocky walls and more webs, leading into darkness.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Fancy a walk?"
"What about Zoe?"
"Oh, we'll only be a minute or so – just to see where it leads." He nodded towards the tunnel. "Besides, if Zoe doesn't find enough vines, that could be our only way out."
Katherine swallowed, pursing her lips nervously. "Alright then, just a minute or two….."
The Doctor grinned then leant over to Katherine. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he whispered.
"What do you mean?"
"Come into my parlour…..."
Katherine stopped him with a look. "Don't!"
The Doctor took her hand and gave her a reassuring smile as they ventured into the tunnel.
8.
Katherine kept a tight grip on the Doctor's hand as they slowly explored the dark tunnel. It seemed the further they went, the walls were getting smoother, but there were more of the sticky web deposits all over the walls and ground. She also got the impression that the tunnel was sloping down
"What do you think they are Doctor?" she asked quietly.
"Hmm?" The Doctor made a cursory glance upwards but just shrugged. "I don't know, but this is more interesting. Take a look." The Doctor pointed the torch in front of him.
Katherine gasped in surprise. Embedded in the wall was a large metal hatch. "It's a doorway!"
The Doctor grinned. "I know! Here hold this." He passed her the torch and grasped hold of the hatch
"What about Zoe? She could be waiting for us?" Katherine warned.
"Oh come on, we can't let this up! Zoe can take care of herself for a bit. Aha!"
The Doctor smiled in victory as he tugged on the hatch and with the groan of rusted metal on rock, it slid slowly upwards. Dim amber light from a chamber beyond spilt outwards onto the tunnel, making the web deposits glitter eerily.
Taking hold of Katherine's hand, the Doctor stepped carefully through the hatch. Katherine looked behind her, expecting the hatch to crash down behind them any second, but it remained reassuringly raised. The passage they walked along was narrow at the ground, but then widened at shoulder level, only to start narrowing again. It had a high ceiling and even when the Doctor shone the torch directly up, Katherine couldn't really see where it ended.
Much to her disgust, the deposits of sticky webs had increased and now there were both bundles and stretched webs as big as a man. As she walked past a particularly big one, she plucked up the courage and reached out her hand to touch it, but the Doctor grasped her hand back and shook his head in warning.
Katherine looked upwards at a sudden noise from above. She thought she'd heard something scuttling along the wall, but could see nothing there. Still, she felt uneasy, and there was something else as well. A stench that was growing steadily stronger that made her stomach churn. She put her hand to her mouth and gagged.
"Can you smell that Doctor? It's disgusting!"
The Doctor started to reply, when suddenly, something dropped to the ground in front of them.
Katherine stifled a scream, not only in surprise but also at the hideous appearance of the creature. It was slightly larger than a man, perhaps six or seven feet tall, with a reddish-brown spider-like body and eight multi-jointed legs. The front two legs ended in sharp spear points. The head consisted of several black, glassy eyes that surveyed them balefully and it had a mouth full of sharp teeth that looked like they could bite through anything.
The Doctor gasped in shock. "It's a Racnoss!"
9.
Zoe reached slowly for the blaster at her belt. She had dropped the one she was carrying when she had to grab on the vine to stop herself from falling into the pit, but she always carried a spare. The rustling behind her had stopped as she gently eased the blaster from the holster. She took a deep breath, her muscles tensing before she sprang backwards, pulled the blaster out and pointed it at the bushes.
"Show yourself or I shoot," she ordered.
A figure stepped from the foliage, its hands raised. It was a young male Cheem with the shoots from its head and hands a vibrant green. It was dressed in a black and copper tunic that was spattered with mud. The Cheem looked nervously at Zoe. "Don't hurt me please!"
"Who are you?" Zoe lowered her blaster and stepped towards the frightened Cheem.
"My name is Kloon."
"Are you from the colony?"
Kloon nodded silently, slowly bringing his hands down.
"Then what are you doing out here?"
The bark-like skin on the Cheem grew darker and his eyes flashed with anger. "I'm looking for my brother, but………I think," his voice dropped to a whisper, "they killed him!"
Zoe looked at Kloon carefully. "Who killed him?"
"The spiders!"
Breathing heavily, Ian Taylor wiped the sweat from his brow as he sat on the fallen log. So much for his first command expedition on an alien world he reflected bitterly. He looked up at Carver who stood next to him and seemed in far better shape - still alert and scanning the jungle around them for any further hostile life.
"It looks like we lost it sir," said Carver.
Taylor nodded. "We lost Michaels too."
"I know sir." Carver paused. "Part of the job sir, Michaels knew that."
Taylor got to his feet and put his hand on Carver's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I know he was your friend."
"We graduated from the academy the same year," Carver replied and then hurriedly changed the subject. "We'd better be getting back to where we lost the Lt. Peters and the others sir."
Despite the oppressive heat, Taylor went cold as he suddenly realised that he could be responsible for three other deaths. "Yes you're right. Hang on," Taylor was struck by an idea and pulled his communicator out. "Lt. Peters, do you copy?" There was only static as a reply and Taylor glanced worriedly at Carver before putting the device back on his belt. "Come on," he ordered grimly.
10.
The Racnoss gave an angry hiss and started towards the Doctor and Katherine who screamed in terror.
The Doctor grabbed Katherine's hand and backed away. He turned to run but stopped short as another Racnoss dropped from the tunnel ceiling and reared up in front of them, blocking their escape.
"Okay, not good," muttered the Doctor, weighing up his chances. "Racnoss ay? I thought you lot died out, ooh, long ago? And I mean, really, really long ago! What are you doing here?"
Now that the Doctor could look at the Racnoss properly, he saw that the creatures either side of them were a lot smaller than the Racnoss Empress he had encountered on Earth at Christmas. These were about half the height and about the size of a horse.
One of the Racnoss raised a speared front leg towards the Doctor. "You know our species?"
The Doctor nodded, holding a still terrified Katherine close to him. "Yup. Wasn't a pleasure I can tell you. Although I have to admit that your Web-star ship was impressive, I'll give you that."
The other Racnoss scuttled around the Doctor and Katherine to stand by the first. It tilted its' head and hissed. "It may know our technology. It can help!"
The first Racnoss nodded quickly and smiled furtively, showing sharp fangs. "The Countess will reward us. We must bring them." It reared up again and advanced forwards, nudging the Doctor and Katherine back. "You are our prisoners, now walk!"
Realising they had no alternative, the Doctor smiled reassuringly at Katherine before turning and walking further and deeper into the Racnoss lair.
The two Racnoss hissed and chattered excitedly as they followed their two prisoners through the cobwebbed tunnels.
After a few minutes they reached a thick mass of webs that blocked the tunnel completely. The Doctor and Katherine came to a halt as one of the Racnoss scuttled around the wall of the tunnel and using its' body, seemed to lift up the veil of webs like a curtain.
The Doctor and Katherine stepped through the hole created by the Racnoss and into a huge underground chamber that was strewn with webs and glittered with huge crystal deposits. Dozens of Racnoss scurried over the floor and walls of the chamber.
The Doctor looked around him with fascination and put on his glasses for a closer inspection of some of the crystals. "Oh, now this is impressive," he smiled as he realised where they were. "It's another Web-star ship isn't it?"
11.
Zoe raised her eyebrows at Kloon. "Spiders? What spiders?"
The Cheem nodded quickly, looking around the dark jungle with nervous eyes, as if expecting something to jump out at them at any moment. "They're huge," he held out his bark-like hands to demonstrate, "this big, with a torso on the front of the legs, all red and bloated." He shuddered with fear, still reliving something in his mind. "They just appeared out of nowhere and attacked us. We got separated."
"Your brother?" Zoe asked.
Kloon nodded and pointed downwards. "They live in tunnels under the ground," he croaked.
"Tunnels?" Zoe suddenly realised the danger she had left the Doctor and Katherine to face and bit her lip with determination. "Come on," she ordered briskly, striding up to Kloon and grabbing his arm. "You're coming with me. We've got to get back to the shuttle and get some rope before it's too late!"
Pulling a still confused Kloon after her, Zoe set off at a jog through the shadowy jungle.
The Doctor wheeled around examining the crystal circuits that were embedded in the walls of the chamber whilst Katherine stood close to him, still terrified of the Racnoss that scuttled and hissed around them.
"Oh, this is really lovely, I mean really, really lovely," smiled the Doctor. "I haven't seen crystal matrices like this for, ooh, centuries." He turned and grinned at a nearby Racnoss. "Still using empathic control? Ah, sweet!" He reached out and touched one of the circuits in the crystal and snatched his finger back as the crystal emitted a small blue spark. "Ouch; oh, that's not good is it," he continued, clicking his teeth, "you've got a nasty positive feedback loop there." He examined the next crystal, and the next few that radiated from it. "And here too. Blimey, connect yourself up to this lot and you'd get a heck of a headache, let alone lift off!"
"Exactly Doctor!"
The voice, sibilant, sensual and cruel, came from above.
The Doctor and Katherine looked upwards to the high vaulted roof of the chamber to see a Racnoss female, much larger than the rest and a deep blood red, descending towards them gracefully on a silken thread. As she descended, the other Racnoss warriors scuttled back respectfully.
The Racnoss smiled showing a mouth full of large, sharp fangs. "I am the Countess Widarra of the Racnoss," she hissed. "Welcome to my Web-star and our salvation!"
12.
The Doctor regarded the Racnoss Countess coolly. She was a little smaller than the Empress that he had encountered the previous Christmas, but still formidable. He blew out his cheeks. "Hardly salvation is it. Try and get this thing off the ground and you'd fry all your brains!" He gestured to the fractured crystal circuits in the wall. "That's the problem with empathic control y'see – malfunctions are literally a real killer!"
Widarra landed gracefully on the floor of the chamber and reared up on her back legs over the Doctor and a now terrified Katherine who stepped backwards, stifling a scream. "Oh, but you're wrong Doctor," she cooed, touching him surprisingly delicately on the cheek with a sharp spear-like front leg. "Now that you're here……"
Carver suddenly pulled Taylor down behind some bushes as he heard movement from ahead of them in the jungle. Both men froze, expecting an attack from another hostile creature, but after a second, Taylor smiled in relief and got to his feet as he recognised the figure coming towards them. "Lt. Peters, over here!"
Zoe whipped her blaster around in Taylor's direction at the sudden sound, but then let out a breath and lowered it as she recognised her commanding officer. "Good to see you sir." She nodded towards Carver who returned the gesture with a grim smile.
Taylor's smile was replaced with a worried frown. "Where are the Doctor and Katherine?"
"They fell down a pit as we ran away from that creature sir," Zoe reported, "but they're both alive and unhurt. I was going back to the shuttle to get some rope to pull them out."
Taylor nodded. "Good idea." Then he caught sight of a nervous Kloon and looked enquiringly at Zoe.
"This is Kloon sir," said Zoe. "I found him on his own in the jungle; said he was looking for his brother."
"You're from the Cheem colony?" asked Taylor cautiously.
Kloon nodded. "Yes." He looked around them and licked his dark lips. "We must keep moving."
"Yes we know," said Taylor, "we were attacked by one of those creatures earlier."
Kloon's brown eyes widened with fear. "You've been attacked by the spiders?"
Taylor looked at Kloon with confusion. "Spiders?"
"Apparently another alien species sir," said Zoe. "Hostile and living underground."
Taylor ran his hand through his hair. It was damp with sweat. "Then we'd better get back to the shuttle and get that rope!"
13.
The Doctor backed slowly away from the Racnoss Countess, being careful to keep Katherine behind him. "Salvation? Who me? Nah, you've got the wrong guy, sorry."
Katherine watched the alien in silent horror, her mouth dry with fear. She had always hated spiders and confronting these bloated creatures in their lair was like a living nightmare. Out of all the monsters and aliens she had encountered since being with the Doctor, she couldn't think of one that terrified her more than the Racnoss
Widarra drew back her black lips revealing her pointed fangs again. "Prattle all you want little Doctor. I can see you for what you really are."
"What, all that 'empathic control' rubbish?" The Doctor took off on his glasses and sniffed. "Just a bit of guesswork really, I mean you need an expert, not an amateur like me."
Widarra chuckled maliciously. "You speak nonsense my little Doctor-man." She met his gaze. "But your eyes are as old as the stars."
"Oh, really? Perhaps I should have my laughter lines done?" The Doctor reached out surreptitiously and grasped Katherine's hand. "Anyway," he continued, "it's not my eyes you need to watch Countess."
Widarra tilted her head questioningly.
"It's my feet! Run!"
The Doctor dashed madly through the underground chamber with Katherine next to him, their coats flying out behind them.
Countess Widarra bared her fangs in anger. "Get him my children!" she shouted.
Dozens of Racnoss stopped what they were doing and scuttled across the chamber after the Doctor and Katherine.
Zoe glanced behind her as another animal cry shattered the jungle night. Carver swung around, pointing his rifle behind them as he walked backwards scanning the vegetation calmly. Kloon just stared silently into the blackness, trying to keep close as possible to Zoe.
Taylor licked his dry lips. "That sounds like one of the creatures that attacked us earlier."
Zoe nodded and raised her blaster higher. "I can't see anything. We should be at the shuttle just through this thicket here." She pushed her way through a tangle of thick alien foliage with dark, fleshy leaves and a pungent aroma that reminded her of rotten meat. Then abruptly she stopped and stared. "Oh no!"
Taylor came to stand next to her. "What is it?"
"The shuttle," Zoe pointed ahead, "look!"
The Darwin shuttle ahead of them was completely covered in sticky, glutinous webs as thick as ropes that glistened in the night.
"The spiders," breathed Kloon, "it was the spiders!"
