Cold Fusion - Lance Parkin [115]
‘For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,’ the other Doctor supplied, rather redundantly, considering who he was addressing.
‘Indeed,’ the younger one continued, ‘he was thrown backwards by the force, and he’s probably got a nasty bruise on his stomach, but other than that he’ll be fine.
Now, perhaps we could get on.’
‘Not before you explain exactly what is happening here,’
Whitfield announced, trying to keep a lid on her feelings of relief. ‘You are both the same Time Lord? You have crossed your own timestream?’
The younger one set the gun down. ‘Yes, Chief Scientist, I am the fifth incarnation and this chap is...’
‘The seventh,’ the other replied, ‘and don’t let anyone tell you anything different. Are you all right, old chap?’ He produced a silk handkerchief from his pocket and proceeded to dust his former self down.
‘You could have been killed, provoking the Provost-General like that,’ the fifth Doctor said accusingly.
The little man smiled thinly. ‘Yes, I could. But then again, from a certain perspective, we’ve already died: me, you, Roz and Adric. From another, we never really existed, we don’t count and this isn’t happening.’
‘Thanks for that cheery thought,’ Forrester said, stepping forwards. She introduced herself to the younger Doctor. ‘I hate it when he goes all melancholy.’
‘We’ve met,’ the Doctor said, shaking her hand, ‘at the ski train station.’
‘Yeah, sorry about that. If I’d known you were the Doctor, I’d have...’ she broke into a grin, ‘thought twice before doing it.’ Whitfield wasn’t sure what had happened, but Forrester had just admitted being the terrorist who had attacked the skitrain carrying the Patient’s cryotube as it was being transported from here to the pyramid. The Chief Scientist looked down at the bloody rag that was all that remained of the female Gallifreyan. The fifth Doctor caught her eye, and a sad smile flickered across his face.
The Chief Scientist looked away.
Adric was tapping Bob, the drone that sat in the corner, as if it was the first time he’d ever seen a robot. Bob was the only automaton at the research dome, and did much of the handiwork. Unlike a couple of her colleagues, the Chief Scientist had never been emotionally attached to it.
Forrester’s Doctor was examining the Time Control apparatus. He prodded it experimentally with his umbrella.
‘Be careful with that,’ the fifth Doctor said irritable, ‘it’s a very delicate piece of equipment.’
‘We don’t really need it now though, do we? The Machine is now on course for Gallifrey, temporal fusion is working and the bombs have been defused. You’ve done very well, all things considered.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘Well you didn’t really plan it this way, did you?’
Adric nodded. ‘The Doctor’s right, er, Doctor...’ his voice faded away as the young man stared at him.
‘The other thing, of course ‘ the seventh Doctor began,
‘is that in all the fuss you’ve forgotten about –’
‘– Adam!’ the fifth Doctor blurted. ‘He must have the other bomb. Chief Scientist, you must listen to me. Adam will already be on his way to the Scientifica with a fusion device. You must find a way to warn them.’
Whitfield shook her head, her mind racing. The terrorist leader had one of the fusion bombs. He’d be able to detonate it anywhere on the planet, potentially killing millions. ‘Not possible. All the communication links are down: there’s some kind of atmospheric effect interfering with stuff up there.’
‘We must find a way,’ the Doctor declared.
‘We’ve told you everything we know, we’ve told you it three times.’
Tegan’s anger was slowly dissipating into a weary acceptance that the questions would continue regardless of the answers she gave. Cwej stood by more stoically, but he was also becoming restless. Nyssa – who had kept quiet, unable to add anything – had watched the officer questioning them become more aggressive, challenging the details