The Undertakers Gift (24 page)

And then something huge and heavy hit Jack on the back of his head and he sprawled forward, stars exploding everywhere in his vision. He felt himself go down on his hands and knees, hard against the concrete, totally stunned.

Something – someone – had hit him from behind. He hadn’t even known they were there. His vision was blurred and he thought he probably had a fractured skull. He could feel blood oozing out of his scalp into his hair.

‘Got you now, human,’ said a familiar, sneering voice.

Jack forced his eyes open, blinked to clear them, looked up at his assailant.

The leering Blowfish face spat at him. ‘You’re so gonna die now, bastard!’

Kerko launched a kick and there was a dull crack as one of Jack’s ribs broke.

The foot was pulled back again, ready for another powerful kick.

Jack reached out instinctively, catching Kerko’s foot on the next swing, yanking it sideways. There was a crash as the Blowfish hit the deck, but he was fast, rolling clear and jumping to his feet without hesitation.

Jack hauled himself up the wall. ‘I really don’t have time for this,’ he growled.

‘You don’t have any choice.’ Kerko’s wide mouth twisted into a fishy grin. ‘It’s payback time, Harkness!’ In the Blowfish’s right hand was a small but lethal-looking knife.

‘Listen, Kerko,’ Jack began. It was painful to speak with a broken rib but he had to ignore it. ‘There’s more important things going on here than you and me. You can see the state of the place. It’s havoc up there—’ he jerked a thumb towards the ceiling ‘—but I’m trying to do something about it.’

‘Yeah? Do something about
this
!’ Kerko lunged forward, slashing wildly with the knife.

Jack jerked backwards as the blade whistled by, but Kerko had already started his back swing and before Jack could move again he felt the blade slit the skin of his left hand.

He pushed backwards, up the steps towards the Hub. Kerko slashed again and Jack felt the tug of the steel through his greatcoat as he stumbled away.

The Blowfish was on him in an instant as they crashed into the main section of the Hub, switching his grip on the knife and shoving it up towards Jack’s stomach as if he was trying to fillet him.

Which would be quite funny, Jack thought, if the situation wasn’t so dire.

He kicked out, knocking Kerko sideways, and they circled each other carefully through the wreckage.

‘The whole world’s starting to burn up there,’ Jack told him. ‘I’ve got to stop it, Kerko. I
can
stop it. Just let me go now – and we’ll settle this later.’

‘Huh!’ The Blowfish spat heavily at him. ‘Don’t think there’s gonna be a later, Harkness. This scumball planet’s going down and I really don’t give a shit. But before it all goes, I’m gonna take you down first. For my brother!’

He lunged again, making lightning-fast swipes with the knife and Jack was suddenly dodging and ducking and feeling the blade biting again, but he ignored it, wrapping his own arm around Kerko’s and twisting savagely. The Blowfish cried out and dropped the knife as Jack swung him around, smashing him into Ianto’s workstation.

Kerko tried to climb free but Jack grabbed him with an angry snarl and slammed him into the coffee machine, sending cups and beans flying. They exchanged punches, fast, crunching jabs and rolled clear of the machine in a shower of spoons and serviettes. They rolled across the floor, each desperately searching for a grip on the other. Jack’s fingers closed around a tea spoon and he plunged it deep into Kerko’s head, but the handle missed anything vital and the fish didn’t even seem to notice. He staggered backwards, throwing Jack away, the spoon protruding ludicrously from the top of his skull.

Jack was panting. ‘Give it up, Kerko. I ain’t got the time!’

Flames were crackling fiercely all around the Hub, computer screens burning and popping in great sparking flashes. There were power cables dangling from the roof, the ends fizzing with electricity.

‘Look at this place,’ jeered Kerko. ‘What a bloody mess!’ He let out a harsh laugh. ‘I couldn’t believe it when the quake came and my cell door bust open. It’s destiny, Harkness, that’s what it is. Destiny!’

‘Says the guy with a spoon sticking out of his head.’

Kerko picked up a burning chair, hurling it at Jack. He ducked underneath and sprang, driving his head into the fish’s solar plexus. They crashed over a desk and skidded across a carpet of broken glass. Jack scrambled to his feet, slipping and sliding on the glass, and then climbed up the railing to the next level.

Kerko raced after him, a burning, murderous light in his tiny black eyes.

FIFTY-THREE

Gwen and Ianto huddled together beneath the lowering sky. Black clouds were scudding around the shining, open wound above, and lightning crackled constantly around the edges. Long, wavering lines of light poured down from the edges like golden blood, spattering on the ground in brilliant sparks.

‘If I wasn’t so scared,’ said Gwen, ‘I might think this was quite beautiful.’

Ianto agreed. ‘It’s one hell of a light show for the end of the world.’

He was in a bad way. The wounds were still very raw, the pain had really begun to kick in now that the Xilobytes were gone and there was no anaesthetic. Gwen had tried to patch up the wounds as best she could with the remains of his shirt and jacket, but it was only a temporary job. He needed a hospital.

She watched his eyes close as his head sank back against the concrete. ‘You OK?’

‘Fine.’ He was pale, he’d lost a lot of blood, and they were starting to get seriously cold. The perspiration from their fight with the pitbullfrog had long since evaporated, reducing their body temperature still further. Now the rain was starting to get heavier as the dark clouds circled lower and lower. Cold grey puddles of water were forming all around them.

‘We need to get under cover,’ Gwen said.

‘I can’t move,’ Ianto told her. His voice sounded weak. ‘It hurts too much.’

Gwen swore and looked around. There was no cover anywhere. The church was no more than a heap of rubble. They were crouched in the lee of a broken wall, but apart from that they were completely exposed.

Ianto was beginning to shiver, so Gwen took off her leather jacket and draped it over him. His hand gripped hers, and his skin felt horribly cold. She squeezed his hand and his eyes opened a fraction. They looked red and sore. He started to say something and Gwen had to lean in close to hear him.

‘He will come back, won’t he?’

‘Of course he will.’

He was still looking at her. ‘How do you know?’

‘Because,’ Gwen said in a small voice, ‘he’s Captain Jack.’

They lay together in silence then, as the rain water seeped through their clothes and the lightning crashed all around them, holding on to each other like frightened children in a storm.

FIFTY-FOUR

Jack and Kerko crashed into the hospital gurney, sending it spinning across the Autopsy Room. Caught in each other’s murderous grip, they twisted and turned, wrestling for any kind of advantage. Trays of medical equipment clattered across the floor as they flung each other around the circular chamber like gladiators in a fighting pit.

For half a second, Kerko lost his footing and Jack used the Blowfish’s own momentum to hurl him across the room. The alien careened into a glass cabinet, shattering it, sending the surgical instruments it contained flying everywhere. Quick as a flash, Kerko snatched up a scalpel and slashed wildly. Jack’s fist connected solidly with Kerko’s midriff, and the fish responded by plunging the scalpel deep into his opponent’s shoulder.

Jack roared, pulling away, and Kerko scrambled up the steps towards the exit. He was bleeding profusely from the head and mouth, and although Jack wasn’t in much better shape himself, he wasn’t about to call a truce.

He wrenched the scalpel out of his shoulder and flung it after the Blowfish, but the blade missed and clattered harmlessly away. Seething, Jack raced after him, bounding up the steps and vaulting the rail that separated the upper Hub level from the lower. He dived for Kerko, succeeded in getting a hand to his ankle and tripped him over. Kerko sprawled and Jack was on him then.

‘I have
so
had enough of you,’ Jack snarled. His fingers scrabbled for the scaly throat, but Kerko batted them away, kicking and struggling all the time. Eventually Jack caught one of the flailing hands and pulled it aside, kneeling on top of the alien. Jack had the weight advantage and this was his best chance so far of finishing the fight.

But Kerko wasn’t going to make it easy. ‘Scum!’ he roared, and then spat a mouthful of blood-stained phlegm straight into Jack’s face. Jack wasn’t sure if it was just a lucky shot or a Blowfish’s natural defence, but the stuff
stung
. With a hiss of anger he let go and rolled away, half-blinded.

Kerko climbed to his feet, breathing hard but ready to fight again. He advanced on Jack, fists balled, inviting him to try it. They circled each other warily, treading carefully because there were live electric cables snaking across the floor, discharging sparks every now and again with sharp, burning crackles.

Kerko moved first, feinting, coming up with a left hook that Jack knocked to one side and repaid with a series of hard jabs. They exchanged blows, sometimes missing because they were too tired to aim properly now, but sometimes connecting. And when they did connect, the punches rocked. Kerko’s top fin, running back over the top of his mottled head, had long since been broken and the webbed spindles flapped from side to side with every blow. Eventually, Jack managed to land a massive right cross that dislocated the fish’s jaw and sent him spinning backwards. He landed face down with a huge splash in the shallow water that collected in the ditch at the base of the tower.

Jack leapt on the Blowfish and drove his knee into the back of his neck, forcing his head beneath the water. There was a sharp release of bubbles as Kerko started to gag and, teeth gritted, Jack kept his knee in position, his full weight bearing down on the fish’s neck. If he could just keep his face under the water long enough. . .

But Kerko continued to struggle, and far from growing weaker, he seemed to be getting stronger.

And then Jack realised. Water. Fish. Good combination.

Kerko surged out of the water, twisting around and catching hold of Jack by the throat. The Blowfish’s leering red face filled Jack’s vision and for a moment he knew that the gleeful, homicidal light in those tiny little eyes was the last thing he would see for a while; perhaps for ever.

Kerko’s fingers bit deep into Jack’s throat, repeating the process he had begun so long ago in the interrogation room. His other handed curled into a fist and drove hard into Jack’s gut, knocking the wind right out of him in a last, explosive
whoosh
of air. Jack’s knees gave way and he sagged in the alien’s grip, allowing him to turn Jack right around and hook one arm around his neck. Jack clawed weakly at the arm as it fastened around his throat and began to squeeze.

And squeeze.

Kerko was laughing now, laughing right in his ear. He could smell the guy’s breath. At that moment Jack had never hated anyone so much in his life as this Blowfish. And he guessed the feeling was mutual.

He had to do something – fast.

Then his eyes found the electrical cable.

It was just out of reach, lying across the decking. The exposed wires at the end kept erupting in bright, promising sparks. There was enough voltage running through that to kill Kerko on the spot, if only Jack could use it.

He reached out with his foot, trying to hook the heel of his boot around the end and drag it towards him, into the water. It was a brilliant conductor after all. He’d seen Sean Connery do that in a film – he’d killed a guy in the bath with an electric heater. And, later on, he’d finished Oddjob in the same way – using a live cable to electrify the bars in Fort Knox.

C’mon, Jack. Stretch. You can do it. If Connery could manage it then you sure as hell can.

His heel knocked the cable once, twice. He strained every sinew in his leg and tried again, but Kerko had seen what he was doing and was dragging him back, away from the edge. Out of reach.

No good. Jack’s hands let go of Kerko’s arm and reached back, over his own head, trying to grab hold of the fish’s head. His fingers brushed the broken spines on his skull, touched the spoon still protruding from the fleshy part. Found the webbed flaps of skin that branched out of the Blowfish’s jaw line like rubbery sideburns.

And, more by luck than judgement, his fingers found their way into one of the hidden gills beneath. He felt Kerko react, clearly pained, and he dug his fingers deeper.

With a howl, Kerko let him go and Jack spun away, splashing across the pool on all fours until he could drag himself out the other side. He turned to see Kerko bearing down on him with a ferocious scream.

And then watched as the scream turned into blood-curdling shriek of pure agony.

The Blowfish straightened, stiffening, arms and fingers splayed. His head and neck went rigid and his eyes opened so wide that Jack could see the whites. His mouth gaped, the shrill scream rising in pitch as the red flesh began to bubble and blister. He began to shake violently and sparks jumped out of his mouth and anus as if he’d swallowed a firework.