Doctor Who_ Eternity Weeps Part 7

I went cold, frozen, unable to move. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion - yet it all happened at twice the speed I was able to move. People ran away from Ozer. They were yelling at each other and the soldiers.

Kazan had his hand on Ozer's shoulder. Ozer was swinging to face Kazan, his face such a mess of anger and hatred I thought he would kill his colleague as well, just for remonstrating with him.

He didn't need to. Ahadi did that. The farmer walked quickly towards the soldiers and thrust his own knife into Kazan's back.

The soldier fell at once, eyes rolled back in his head, a dying gasp at his lips. Ahadi was reaching for the soldier's gun when Ozer shot him twice in the back.

By now the confusion was almost total. People were running and yelling angrily. Ozer was staring round wildly, his gun pointing at everyone and no one, moving almost with a life of its own, hunting for another target to shoot at.

Candy judged her chances, moved carefully and slowly through the confusion to Kuresh's body. She prised his fingers off the hilt of his knife.

She lifted it slowly.

'Ozer!'

The soldier swung his gun to cover her, arm trembling. Anger, shock, fear, guilt? If he pulled the trigger it wouldn't matter.

Stupidly, I yelled, 'Ozer, don't shoot!'

He turned to face me, then spun back to cover Candy. The moment of indecision provided Candy with the time she needed.

She held out the knife. 'Ozer, look. The blade is serrated. The wound on the major's throat is straight. Kuresh didn't kill him.'

Suddenly everything was still and quiet.

Ozer licked his lips. His face was s.h.i.+ny with sweat. It dribbled into his moustache.

'Kuresh didn't kill Major Raykal,' Candy said again, calmly, slowly.

'Someone else did.'

Ozer seemed to consider her words. He took a step towards her, gun still half levelled.

He nodded, a slight movement but nonetheless a positive one.

I sighed. Thank heavens! He was going to - There was a sound. Two sounds. Like m.u.f.fled punches. Blood puffed out of Ozer's chest. The soldier fell to his knees, toppled on to the ground.

Shots. The sounds were shots. Someone had - Another punch. Candy yelped with surprise, gazing in astonishment at the red stain growing quickly across her jacket.

'Oh for goodness' sake,' she whispered as she fell over. 'Oh Christ! Candy!'

I ran over to her. There was blood on her chest. There was blood on her lips. I touched her. She breathed blood and she died in my arms, her fingers clenched convulsively around the hilt of Kuresh's knife.

'Oh Christ, Candy, oh Christ -'

From behind me a warm, powerful voice said. 'Do not attempt to pickup the knife.'

I tried to turn, couldn't, thought for a moment I was paralysed by shock, then realized I was still holding Candy. I put her down and turned, stood slowly. My hands were lathered with her blood. It was still warm. Everything was blurred. After a moment I realized it was because I was crying.

Four black-garbed figures walked slowly into the firelight. They were unmistakably soldiers. Three of the figures were holding rifles levelled at the other members of the expedition. The fourth, wearing captain's pips, held a pistol. He pointed it at me.

I didn't need to pick up the knife to have the situation go pear-shaped.

Things started to go wrong again almost immediately. s 'Who are you? What are you doing here? What have you done? Who the h.e.l.l are you?' Jules Noorbergen's voice was shrill with hysteria. I glanced sideways without moving, caught a blurry glimpse of the geophysicist standing, fists clenched, whole body quivering with rage and shock. Sam Denton had one hand on his arm. She wasn't talking, but her intention was clear. It didn't matter. Right at that moment Noorbergen probably wouldn't have noticed if she'd cut off the arm she was holding.

'Did you hear me? I said who are you and -'

The officer pointing the gun at me said, 'Be quiet.' He didn't turn and he didn't take his eyes off me. I felt like laughing out loud. He thought I was dangerous! He spoke again, his voice calm, warm, totally controlled. 'I am Captain Imrud Tammuz. This expedition is now under Iranian military -'

Noorbergen cut him off. 'Jesus H. Christ almighty, do you know what you've done here? You've shot American citizens. Candy was sixty-three for Christ's sake! You've shot -'

Tammuz turned now, said calmly, 'The old woman was armed. The soldier was armed. He might have shot you all. Be quiet. If you do as I say n.o.body else will be hurt.'

Noorbergen was having none of it. Shaking off Sam Denton's arm he walked stiffly towards Tammuz. The other soldiers swung to cover him immediately. Noorbergen ignored them, marched up to the officer, his body quivering, his voice maintaining its shrill hysterical pitch.

'- American citizens! I am an American citizen! I have legal status here. We have not done anything wrong. I repeat: Who the h.e.l.l are you and what the h.e.l.l do you think you Ire -'

Tammuz sighed wearily. Another shot punched the air. Noorbergen was cut off in mid-shriek and fell over. He did not move. Blood trickled from a small hole which had appeared in the middle of his forehead.

Tammuz scowled. It was the only such gesture I ever saw him make. 'I said be quiet.' He turned to the other expedition members, looking at each of them in turn: Allen, Denton, Tanner, Schofield, and finally me. 'Does anyone wish to add anything to the conversation?'

n.o.body spoke. Tanner began to sob quietly. Denton nudged her with an elbow. 'Shut up.'

I said, very quietly - and even more stupidly - over Janice Tanner's sobs, 'We have diplomatic -'

Tammuz swung his pistol to cover me so fast I missed the movement. He walked towards me until we were only an arm's length apart. I stared into Tammuz's clear blue eyes and wished to h.e.l.l I'd never chatted up the girl in the Eiffel Tower gift shop.

I stared at Tammuz. I couldn't bring myself to look at the gun.

Tammuz waited just long enough to see me cry and then lowered his weapon. 'Does the zebra invoke diplomatic immunity when attacked by the jaguar?' he asked quietly.

I bit my lip until I drew blood, but said nothing.

Tammuz nodded, satisfied. 'I see you take my point.' He holstered his pistol. The other soldiers didn't.

Tammuz a.s.sumed a brisk air of efficiency. 'I require your data. Radar scans. Personal notebooks. Tapes. Sketchpads. Computer disks. All information will be surrendered.'

n.o.body moved. n.o.body spoke. Tanner sobbed and this time was comforted by Denton.

Tammuz made an abrupt hand signal. I jumped. One of the soldiers quickly began searching the camp. He emptied boxes, rifled through personal belongings, removed disks from computers, gathering everything that could conceivably hold information and putting it all into a black holdall.

As the soldier worked, Tammuz spoke. 'This expedition is now in my charge. You will obey my orders promptly and fully. I am sure I do not need to remind you of the consequences for non-compliance. If it makes it any easier for you, just think of the whole thing as one of your harmless Western boy-scout adventures. In a few days, if everyone does as they are told, you will have collected your survival badges and be back at the hotel in Dogubayazit, drinking warm Pepsis and looking forward to meeting your loved ones again.'

n.o.body said anything.

I licked a trickle of blood from my bitten lip and thought about Candy.

Tammuz indicated that we should all sit on the ground near the fire. I hadn't realized how cold I was until the flames were warming my hands and face. I stared at Denton. She was looking at Noorbergen, still motionless where he had fallen. She caught my eye but said nothing.

The soldier on roundup duty brought the frequency scanner printout to Tammuz, who read it quickly and began issuing orders.

One of the soldiers covered us. The other two unpacked small, hand-held devices and began to walk slowly up the hillside, waving them back and forth across the ground as they went. The boxes produced a harsh rattling sound which I recognized as the unique signature of a Geiger counter. The rattling noise got louder and faster until one of the soldiers gave a triumphant shout. He, called out some numbers to Tammuz. The captain checked them against the printout and smiled. At once he began to issue more orders. I could make out only one phrase, but that was enough to scare me witless: gamma rays.

The soldiers began to gather our equipment together into an orderly pile, beginning with the three laptop computers. Tammuz watched the soldiers for a moment, then said to us, 'You may put up your tents. I fear the night may be somewhat cold.'

Janice Tanner said, between sobs, 'Aren't you even going to attend to the ... oh G.o.d ... we should bury our ... friends.'

I was surprised to hear sympathy in Tammuz's voice. 'I understand. The ground will not easily take a shovel. You may build a cairn in the morning.'

'But -'

Tammuz's voice hardened. 'The dead do not feel the cold. You do. Sleep now.'

Leaving a soldier to oversee the raising of the tents, Tammuz collected the computers, took them a little way away and settled down on a rock to examine the files.

I struggled to put up one of the tents. Gathering darkness and numb fingers and the sight of Candy's face floating in front of me made it hard. Allen helped. When both tents were up and Denton, Schofield and Tanner had unrolled their sleeping bags, Allen and I crawled into our tent.

The soldier remained on guard outside.

I lay on my sleeping bag. I stared up at the blank cloth of the tent flapping as the wind shook it gently. I bit my lip and felt no pain. I didn't feel anything; not the stony ground under me, nor the cold mountain air biting my throat and lungs.

My mind spun with the same questions which had killed Jules Noorbergen.

Who were these soldiers? What were they doing here? Why had they killed Candy and Ozer and Noorbergen? What did they want with our data? Why did they have Geiger counters?

What the h.e.l.l had we stumbled on to here on G.o.d's mountain?

I lay there on my sleeping bag, beside a deeply silent Allen, and thought of Candy. I thought of her painting and her sons and the blood on her lips and the last warm breath coming out of her against my cheek as she died.

There was no way on G.o.d's green Earth I was going to sleep.

I awoke to the uncomfortable sensation of dried tears on my face and dried blood on my hands.

Somewhere men were shouting.

'Jim,' I whispered. 'Jim. What's going on?'

There was no answer. I rolled over and poked the sleeping bag. _ Jim Allen was gone.

I stuck my, head cautiously out of the tent. It was night time, the sky full of thundery clouds through which poked the occasional lonely star. The bulk of Ararat loomed close by, a threatening black silhouette against the dark clouds.

From the other tent I could hear the sound of Tanner still crying fitfully in her sleep. Sam Denton muttered something in an annoyed whisper. She was awake then.

I looked around. The soldier who had been on guard was nowhere to be seen. Nor were any of the others.

Voices rang distantly. What was going on?

I crawled slowly out of the tent. I made d.a.m.n sure I kept close to the ground. I listened carefully to the voices as they were blown across the rocks by cold gusts of wind. I couldn't make out any words, but I recognized Tammuz's voice, calling confidently into the night. The wind changed and his voice became clearer.

'Mister Allen. You cannot get far. You have no water. You have no food.

Bring the files back now and we will say no more of the matter.'

There was no response except from the wind.

I thought hard. It was obvious just from that one sentence what had happened. Allen had crept out of the tent, somehow dodged the guard and made off into the night with the information Tammuz had collected. His way of saying' sod you, I suppose. b.l.o.o.d.y idiot. These were soldiers he was dealing with. That bit of bravado could cost him his life.

I tried to decide what to do. Common sense told me now was the perfect opportunity to slip away, try to make my own escape and fetch help for everyone. The alternative was that I could try to find Allen and help him.

Indecision held me. I wanted to help; really I did. But ... well, you know. I bit my lip. This time it hurt so much I almost cried out.

A shout and the sound of a m.u.f.fled shot made my decision for me. Dad always told me a leopard can't change his spots. Well sod you, Dad. I'm a coward and I'm stupid - but I'm coming to understand people a lot better than I once did. Keeping low to the ground, I began to move towards the sound of voices.

I crawled on to a low ridge and peered over the top. At that moment the clouds parted sufficiently to allow a glimmer of moonlight. My eyes were used to the darkness; I had no difficulty making out the scene being played out a hundred yards away.

There was Allen, limping silently away across the rocks. Why was he limping? Had he already been shot? He must've been. Christ. Tammuz and his soldiers were away to the left, visible only because of the moonlight glinting dimly from their guns.

Tammuz's voice rang clearly in the cold air. 'Mister Allen. I must ask you to stop.'

Allen said nothing, continued limping away. He held a sheaf of papers and what looked like a small collection of floppy disks clutched in one hand. The other was pressed to his leg. Trying to stop it bleeding?

Tammuz took a rifle from the nearest soldier, raised it to his shoulder and took aim. 'You have one chance. I do not want to shoot a man who has walked on the Moon.'

Allen said nothing, kept moving. He was limping hard now, his movements painfully slow.

Tammuz said, 'You leave me no choice.' Allen said nothing. He kept moving.

I felt like screaming out for the astronaut to stop, because I could see they were going to kill him. Would it have done any good? With Tammuz as trigger happy as ever I am sure it would have resulted only in my own discovery and death as well.

He fired.

Allen winced but kept moving.

A warning shot. Tammuz had fired a warning shot.

I began to move, creeping slowly around the rocks towards Allen. I tried to make as little noise as possible._ I must have succeeded, because no one noticed me.

Tammuz fired again.

Still Allen kept moving, This time he didn't jump. I did, though.

I moved closer.

Tammuz fired a third time. Allen fell over.

I was moving at once. Common sense told me to stay put, crawl back to the tent, run away and hide - any of these would do. But something kicked me up the a.r.s.e and I ran in the stupidest direction possible. Towards Allen.

Tammuz saw me straight away, of course, but I was several hundred yards closer to Allen than the soldiers by now. Dimly I was aware of Tammuz shouting at me. How did he know my name? I ignored the voice, as I ignored the sound of c.o.c.king guns and the rush of footsteps behind me. I was angry now. I found myself muttering something under my breath, over and over like a prayer. Sod you, Dad. That's what I said.