Doctor Who BBCN14 - The Last Dodo Read online

  ‘You could maybe rewire the “murderous scheming cow” circuit, though,’ I suggested. But you couldn’t really blame Hr’oln for what Eve had become, any more than you could blame Eve herself. After all that Hr’oln had lost. . .

  And now the museum had gone too. ‘No one will ever see an aye-aye again,’ I said. ‘Or a passenger pigeon, or a three-striped box turtle.

  No one without a time machine, anyway.’

  ‘Nothing lasts forever,’ the Doctor said, gazing into the distance.

  And then he focused again, and grinned. ‘Well, except the dodo. . . ’

  Something struck me. ‘Hang on, I know about cloning. You only get an exact copy, you can’t propagate a species by it. Eve only had one of each kind. There won’t be any boy Dorotheas.’

  True,’ the Doctor agreed, sighing. He drew something out of his pocket, which I recognised as the feather from Dorothea he’d used to track us to the lab. Then he drew something out of his other pocket.

  180

  The original dodo feather that had brought the TARDIS to the museum in the first place. ‘Looks like it belongs to a boy to me,’ he said.

  Woo! I gave him a hug. Then I thought back to all those genetics lectures again and let go. ‘Oi, you are talking to a medical student here, and I know you can’t clone from a feather. You’re just trying to make me feel better.’

  ‘Martha, this is the future! Just accept that they can do things.’ He looked suddenly serious. ‘I don’t do white lies.’

  I believed him. ‘Sorry,’ I said, and hugged him again. ‘And who knows how many other samples might just happen to drop out of my pockets. . . ’ he said, as he unlocked the TARDIS door. ‘Hang on, pockets, that reminds me. . . ’

  He reached into his jacket and pulled out the I-Spyder guide, but I didn’t hold out a hand for it. ‘All the stuff I’ve seen,’ I said, ‘and I haven’t got anywhere near enough points for a certificate. I think it’s impossible.’

  The Doctor grinned. ‘Oh, I think there’s one elusive specimen that you might be able to track down. . . ’ He scrolled through the index and pointed out an entry.

  I laughed. ‘Are they joking?’

  He shook his head. ‘No, just leaping to the wrong conclusion from the evidence.’

  I did the sums. And couldn’t believe it, because I was still a point short.

  So the Doctor pointed out another entry, and I smiled. ‘Of course!’

  And then I smiled again, because this really was the end of the story.

  Well, apart from one last goodbye. . .

  The Doctor was inside the TARDIS. Martha stood in the doorway, holding Dorothea. ‘So. . . you must have had pets on board the TARDIS

  before, right?’ she said hopefully.

  The Doctor thought for a moment. ‘You never met Mickey, did you?’

  Then he smiled and shook his head. ‘Being apart from your own kind for ever – that’s quite a burden to bear, you know.’ He looked straight at her. ‘However much you’re loved.’

  181

  Martha held his gaze for a few moments, then dropped her eyes to Dorothea. ‘Right,’ she said reluctantly. She walked over to the pen, and lowered the bird inside. Without a backward glance, it trotted off to join its fellows. After a few moments, it was lost among the crowd. Martha, staring wistfully at the dodo throng, tried to pretend she knew which one was Dorothea. But, really, she didn’t. So she thought instead of the future, of the planet where a dead species would live again. Then she thought of the past, of the last dodo that had been, to her, the first dodo; no longer doomed to a choice between a lonely life or a lonely death – and hoped that it was happy, wherever it was.

  182

  THE I-SPYDER BOOK OF EARTH CREATURES

  TIME LORD

  Dominus temporis

  Location: worldwide

  The Time Lord is a rare bipedal, bicardial mammal. It frequently mingles with herds of Homo sapiens, but can be distinguished from them by its unique physiology and distinctive fearless behaviour. It is between approximately 1.5 and 2 metres in height, and can have white, black, brown or blond hair. It is most commonly found in Europe, especially the United Kingdom.

  Addendum:

  It has been suggested that the Time Lord is of non-terrestrial origin.

  However, sightings spanning several millennia indicate that, even if it did not originate on Earth, it should now be classified as an immigrant species.

  I-Spyder points value: 8963400

  THE I-SPYDER BOOK OF EARTH CREATURES

  Creature

  Points

  Dodo

  800

  Megatherium

  500

  Paradise parrot

  500

  Velociraptor

  250

  Mountain gorilla

  500

  Aye-aye

  900

  Siberian tiger

  600

  Kakapo

  900

  Indefatigable Galapagos mouse

  1500

  Stegosaurus

  500

  Triceratops

  550

  Diplodocus

  600

  Ankylosaurus

  650

  Dimetrodon

  600

  Passenger pigeon

  100

  Thylacine

  250

  Black rhinoceros

  300

  Mervin the missing link

  23500

  Tau duck

  5

  Dong tao chicken

  4

  Red-eared slider

  40

  Chinese three-striped box turtle

  350

  Forest dragonfly

  150

  Phorusrhacos

  450

  Steller’s sea cow

  1000

  Sabre-toothed tiger

  500

  Megalosaurus

  600

  Time Lord

  8963400

  Subtotal

  8999999

  She was tired, so tired, and scared, and hopeless, but still she tried to run. It was no good. The leaf-animals were both calm and fast, and seemed to be in front of her whatever way she turned. Suddenly she felt pressure round her waist, and she was raised from the ground.

  This was it; this was when she went the same way as her babies and her mate – but she didn’t give up, she desperately tried to turn her head, knowing her giant beak, hooked and sharp, was her greatest weapon against these soft, fleshy creatures.

  Had she been less scared, she might have realised the difference between the gentle, soothing noises these creatures made and the harsh, cruel cries of the death-dealers. But fear had consumed her now.

  One creature said: There’s no need to be scared.

  The other creature said: We’re not going to hurt you.

  The first said: I’m sorry. I’m so sorry about what’s happened. But at least we can save you.

  He lifted a small, square device that was like nothing she had ever seen before, and held it before her. . . And suddenly she was in the same place, but it was different, so different. She was no longer being held, she was back on the ground, and she stumbled backwards in shock as some of the trees flashed out of existence and others shot up in the air, instantaneously tall. She had an impression of creatures like the leaf-animals lying down on the sands, with dark, flat objects covering their eyes, or raising containers of brightly coloured water to their minuscule fleshy beaks. Beyond them were bizarre structures, wider than a hundred trees smooth and flat and shooting high into the sky, with tall creatures walking out of holes in their bases.

  And then, in an instant, it all changed again.

  The fleshy creatures had gone. So had the flat structures, and the too-tall trees. Now the trees looked even shorter than before. . .

  185

  This was all too much for her to take. Somewhere inside she felt relief that she was free from the clutch
es of the frightening creatures, but she was still suffering from the shock of seeing her fellows killed, and the exhaustion of the chase. Temporarily safe she may have been, but she was still alone, and still scared.

  There were bushes nearby, not ones that she remembered, but that hardly mattered. She backed into them, hiding herself from the outside world. For a while she held herself upright, alert for any threat, then gradually she sank down to the floor and, finally, her eyes shut.

  Tired and alone, she slept.

  When she awoke, she was no longer tired.

  And she was no longer alone.

  She pushed her way out of the bushes, her tiny wings flapping in delight. They had returned! Escaped, somehow! Then she stopped, puzzled. They were of her kind, but they were not her own people, they were strangers.

  Slower, but still cautiously happy, she carried on towards them. She got a few curious glances, but they seemed pleased to meet her, greeting her as a new friend. One in particular gave an enthusiastic squawk of welcome, and she returned it with gusto. She was not yet ready to consider a new mate, but maybe one day. . . Maybe one day she would even have a baby again. There were no signs of the grunting things –her baby could grow up in safety.

  But the most important thing was, she was no longer alone.

  The last dodo waddled forwards, towards the future.

  186

  THE I-SPYDER BOOK OF EARTH CREATURES

  HUMAN

  Homo sapiens

  Location: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia

  The human is a bipedal mammal that walks upright. It is mainly hairless with only a few patches of hair, the main one being on its head. Its smooth skin ranges from a pale pinky-white to a deep black. The male human is on average taller and heavier than the female. It is the only species on Earth to voluntarily clothe itself.

  As of publication, the human is still abundant on Earth.

  I-Spyder points value: 2

  THE I-SPYDER BOOK OF EARTH CREATURES

  Creature

  Points

  Dodo

  800

  Megatherium

  500

  Paradise parrot

  500

  Velociraptor

  250

  Mountain gorilla

  500

  Aye-aye

  900

  Siberian tiger

  600

  Kakapo

  900

  Indefatigable Galapagos mouse

  1500

  Stegosaurus

  500

  Triceratops

  550

  Diplodocus

  600

  Ankylosaurus

  650

  Dimetrodon

  600

  Passenger pigeon

  100

  Thylacine

  250

  Black rhinoceros

  300

  Mervin the missing link

  23500

  Tau duck

  5

  Dong tao chicken

  4

  Red-eared slider

  40

  Chinese three-striped box turtle

  350

  Forest dragonfly

  150

  Phorusrhacos

  450

  Steller’s sea cow

  1000

  Sabre-toothed tiger

  500

  Megalosaurus

  600

  Time Lord

  8963400

  Human

  2

  Subtotal

  9000001

  This is to certify that

  MARTHA JONES

  has obtained the rank of

  ARACHNID FIRST CLASS

  with an I-Spyder points total of

  9,000,001

  signed

  Big Chief I Spyder

  Certificate no. 00000001

  Document Outline

  Front Cover

  Contents

  Prologue

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  Epilogue

  Back Cover