Cold Fusion - Lance Parkin [20]
The Doctor hoisted himself out of the runway, pulling himself upright. Within seconds he had jogged past the woman and whirled to face her.
‘Hello again.’ This time, the Doctor caught her wrist before she had a chance to draw her stun pistol.
‘Oh, get out of my way,’ she scowled, bringing her knee up hard between the Doctor’s legs. He gawped at her for a moment before sinking to the floor. Adric stepped forward, blocking her way. Before he could react she had tossed him over her shoulder. He landed heavily on his companion.
Adric scrabbled to his feet. ‘Are you all right?’
‘No,’ the Doctor groaned. Adric moved to help him up.
‘Where’s she gone?’ the Doctor demanded.
Adric spun around. ‘She’s vanished.’
‘People don’t just... unless!’ The Doctor pulled himself up and raced over to the transmat pagoda, losing his footing a little on the ice. The rat-faced man was beckoning the woman. She was moving as fast as a sprinter, and she jumped the last six feet, right into the transmat cubicle.
The Doctor was close behind her. He narrowly avoided trapping his fingers in the door as it slid shut. There was a high-pitched whine from inside the booth. The Doctor beat a fist at the door with frustration. Adric reached the pagoda just as the dematerialization cycle completed and the door slid open again.
The Doctor stepped into the tiny cubicle and rapidly located the control panel. A plastic box the size of a packet of cigarettes had been attached to it. The Doctor tapped it.
‘A security override, he said, unplugging the box and turning it over in his hands.
‘What does it do?’
‘It gives whoever has it priority clearance on the transmat network. Adjudicators and maintenance engineers use them in emergencies.’
‘So where did that woman get it?’
‘I have no idea,’ the Doctor said, slipping the box into his pocket. ‘I imagine she stole it from an Adjudicator.’
And where is she?’
‘The device was set to delete the co-ordinates when she’d gone. I imagine it’s wiped the whole log. She could be anywhere on the planet, or even on a ship in low orbit.
‘So what can we do?’
The Doctor looked around. ‘Nothing. For the moment.’
He stepped out of the cubicle, shaking the dust from his shoes.
‘Gah!’
The Doctor felt a sudden stabbing pain in one of his stomachs. Another attack? No, the only person around was...
Adric loomed over him. ‘What’s the matter?’
The Doctor couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t speak. An insistent bleeping started up.
‘What’s that sound?’
The time sensor on my wrist going haywire, the Doctor didn’t say.
The Doctor was on his knees, trying to force air into his lungs.
Three men in stiff black robes were surrounding them.
They moved slowly, carefully. One raised his hand. The Doctor could see the city lights in the distance, shining through the apparitions.
‘Can you see them?’ the Doctor rasped at Adric. They were looking down at him curiously, regarding him with disdain. They seemed oblivious to everything else, including his companion. There was cruelty in their faces, but something else, too. Concern?
‘See who? Doctor! Who?’ Adric asked. His voice seemed to be echoing. The signals from the time sensor were coming so close together now that they merged into a continuous tone. It seemed to be getting louder, but the Doctor knew that the device was set at a constant volume and pitch.
It drowned out the sounds of the wind, the city, the voice of his companion, the beating of his hearts, his thoughts, his and others’ memories.
‘Blood, blood on my hands,’ the Doctor bawled. He could see it, thick red blood dripping from his fingers, soaking into the sleeves of his overcoat. But whose blood?
His own? His companions’?
‘Doctor, please say something!’ Adric shrieked.
They had gone. The Doctor screwed his eyes closed, summoning all his mental resources, trying to shut out the pain. Only then did he realize that