Chapter 6 (Fight Them on the Beaches)
Location: Tenta-Tenta-Flix
Date: 23.7.5151
Reports are coming in of a major terrorist attack on Tenta-Tenta-Flix’s capital city. Witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion in the vicinity of the government building causing collateral damage to nearby office blocks. Reports are also coming in that the building has now collapsed.
It is believed that the terrorist responsible has been apprehended. He appears to be local man Shrall Norathin. He has no known criminal record, but it is believed that he was visiting the building with his brother, and he and his brother planet a bomb. The location of his brother, Corbax Norathin, is unknown, but it is believed that he may have died in the explosion.
More news as we get it.
Night had fallen again and Lilly, Holly and Zia were sat in the girls cell. Zia was platting Lilly’s hair and Holly was picking at the bed sheets. She groaned and sat up on the bed, gazing at the setting sun through the window.
“I’ll do yours in a minute,” said Zia.
“Nah, it’s alright,” said Holly.
“Seriously? Wearing it like this is all the rage at the minute.”
“If you’re 12 where I come from then maybe it is.”
“Now who’s being grumpy?” said Lilly.
“I don’t like this plan,” said Holly, shaking her head. “It’s too dangerous. We don’t know what might go wrong.”
“Have a little faith,” said Lilly.
“Yeah,” said Zia.
“But it just seems so…wrong. Poor Shrall.”
“Poor Shrall? You were berating him for being a terrorist earlier on today,” said Lilly with a laugh.
“I know that,” said Holly, “but that was before I knew the truth.”
Zia hopped off the bed and ran to the cell doors. “Just off to get some more hair bands. Don’t move a muscle.”
Lilly turned and smiled at Holly. “Do you always judge people on first appearances?”
Holly looked surprised. “What? No, of course not.”
“You judged me,” said Lilly.
“I’ve tried to get to know you. So far all I’ve seen is a frosty, bitter young woman with a chip on her shoulder.”
“Yeah,” said Lilly. “I can be that way, but that doesn’t mean that that’s all I’m about.”
“I know that,” said Holly.
“We all put up shells - barriers - to protect ourselves.”
Holly crossed over to Lilly’s bed and sat next to her. “Then why don’t you let me in?”
“Why are you even bothered, Dangerfield?” said Lilly.
“Because…because…I don’t know.”
“Because I’m an enigma. Something for you to examine and pull apart, yeah?”
“No,” said Holly, shaking her head. “Not at all. I just…I have to wonder why you are so closed off to everyone.”
“Not to everyone,” said Lilly. “Not to the Doctor.”
“Tell me.”
“I’m not a very good person,” said Lilly, looking away. “I’ve done some terrible, terrible things. The Doctor has tried to help me, but he can’t. No matter how much he wants me to change - how much I want to change - I won’t change. It’s not in my nature.”
“Everyone can change,” said Holly.
“Not me, sweetheart,” said Lilly. “I’ve got bad blood running through me.”
“Lilly-”
“When we’ve got you home, you’ll be better off. Better off without me. And soon the Doctor will find out he’s better off without me.”
Holly was about to reply when Zia came bounding back in.
“Your turn Holly!”
And Holly thought back to the conversation with Shrall earlier on.
“Morning, Zia,” said Holly.
She winked at Holly. “So,” she said in a hushed voice, “how are we breaking out of this joint?”
“Shrall,” said Lilly, looking at her toad-like friend, “the stage is all yours.”
Shrall leaned forward and looked at each of the three girls. “Do you know what a terrorist is?”
Holly looked at Zia and then back to Shrall. “It’s someone who…terrorises.”
Shrall nodded. “Yes.” He leaned back in his chair and looked straight at Holly. “Do you know what classes me as a terrorist?”
Holly looked at Lilly and then back to Shrall. “Something to do with you blowing up a building.”
Shrall threw his head back, laughing at Holly’s bemused face. “Already she accuses.”
“But the proof is there,” said Zia
“Is it?” said Shrall, suddenly leaning forward again. “Is it really?”
“Shrall has explained it all to me. The injustice of it all,” said Lilly, placing an affectionate hand on Shrall’s large right shoulder.
“Then explain it to us,” said Zia.
“I come from a city called Vita-Zeshta Prime. It has a bad crime record. My brother and I came from a…difficult family. We were criminals, yes, but not terrorists.”
“But you blew up a building,” said Holly again. “You killed thousands.”
“No we didn’t. It was an accident.” Shrall took another swig of water and then cracked his knuckles. “My brother, Corbax, had told me that we were wanted for a robbery in the South West Quadrant. We hadn’t done it, and so we went to the police building to clear our name. Instead they arrested us and tortured us.”
“I’m…sorry,” said Holly.
“Don’t be sorry, young lady. They tortured us for information about all of the members of our family, but we were loyal. We didn’t break down. And then they gave my brother water.”
“What?” said Zia, confused.
“My family have an…intolerance to normal, Earth water. It makes our inside boil. It’s excruciating. They started on Corbax first. They made me watch as they pumped him full of it. Gallons and gallons of water, normal to most species, but deadly to us.”
Holly’s eyes flicked down to the jug of water that Shrall had been drinking from.
“They gave him too much. He began to burnt and blister, the chemicals in his stomach reacting against the water. I knew what was going to happen. Corbax nodded for me to go and I reluctantly broke free as the guards tried to restrain him. I ran and ran and ran.”
Zia and Holly sat there with their mouths wide open. Lilly simply sat, looking sad with her arms folded.
“And then there was an almighty explosion. It ripped through the corridors and tore the place apart, incinerating the poor souls that tried to get away.”
“Corbax exploded…” said Zia, running it over in her mind.
Shrall took another gulp of water, his top lip twitching.
“So there wasn’t a bomb?” said Holly.
“There was never a bomb,” said Lilly. “Corbax blew up and Shrall was arrested.”
“I tried to tell them. I tried to explain, but they had me. They had to blame someone and so I took the fall for it. I became their terrorist.”
Holly looked worried. “But you’re drinking water now. Why are they letting you? They must know what it’s doing.”
Shrall laughed. “They think it’s Water X - a distilled version without the chemical.”
“Oh, thank god for that,” said Holly breathing a sigh of relief.
“It’s not though,” said Shrall. “It really is water.”
“WHAT!” said Holly and Zia in unison.
“You see that guard over there?” said Shrall, pointing towards Charlie Banks. Charlie nodded back at them from his position by the elevator. “He’s my friend. He knows the truth. He’s been helping me. He’s been giving me this water because he knows what it will do to me.”
“An inside man,” said Lilly. “You see, Shrall’s been drinking the water very, very slowly.”
“You must be in agony,” said Holly.
“I am. I hide it well.” Shrall managed a smile.
“But why? Why are you doing it?”
“Because when I hit the right amount of chemical inside me, I’m going to throw myself to the bottom of the spire and blow myself up. It’ll cause such an explosion that it will cause a massive power cut.”
“And that’s when we break out” said Holly
“Yes.” He looked back at Banks and then back at the girls. “The cells are locked at night, but the massive power loss will cause them to open up. Built by idiots and run by idiots, you see. I’m never getting out of here alive, but I know you three our innocent. I originally did this for Zia. To find another way to bring justice to this part of the galaxy.”
Zia smiled sadly at him.
“Just be ready. Charlie will help you.”
The Doctor, Ziggy and Nao were back on their fronts on the cliff edge. The Doctor had a pair of binoculars to his eyes and Ziggy was busy checking his watch.
“Any sign of him yet?” said Nao, trying to peer into the darkness.
“No, not yet,” said the Doctor. “Wait a minute…yes!”
Down on the beach, glinting in the moonlight, the silver-coloured T23 appeared. He was walking slowly so as not to trigger the alarms too soon. T23 turned to look up at the trio’s position and gave them a wave.
The Doctor felt sad. Although he was just an android, T23 had wishes and desires too, and the Doctor felt sorry that he was just going to sacrifice those wishes and desires. He had agreed to do it gladly, but it still didn’t feel right. Ziggy had said they would be able to save him, but he doubted it himself.
“We’ve gotta move now,” said Ziggy, as the three of them backed off from the cliff edge.
When they were sure they were away from the sensors they began a sprint around the cliff, careful to stay away from the edge, until they reached a point were the sea met the cliff wall.
“How can we be sure that we won’t just smash our heads onto rocks down there?” said the Doctor, peering over the long drop.
“We don’t,” said Nao, dropping her backpack and pulling out clips and a rope. “That’s why we’re not jumping. We’re gonna abseil down.”
“Well thank goodness for that!” said the Doctor with a sigh of relief.
Back along the beach, T23 stood gazing out at the dark spire in the distance. Then, after checking his internal chronometer, he threw his head back and let out a high, metallic howl. Then he pulled out what appeared to be some sort of sonic canon and began firing down at the beach. Invisible pulses of energy hit the sand, causing it to fly up and create craters in the beach. T23 continued to do this for a few minutes, constantly screaming and shouting.
Back at the cliff edge Nao and Ziggy had just finished fixing the line-clip. They knew they only had a small window.
And then a bright beam of light shone out from the top of the spike, illuminating T23 down on the beach, lighting him up like a beacon.
“We need to move now!” said the Doctor as the sound of engines came from the vicinity of the spike.
To be continued...
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