Doctor Who_ Atom Bomb Blues - Andrew Cartmel [100]
‘Five twenty-eight,’ said Imperial Lee. Then the room was silent except for the sound of the wind sighing through it. The first light of dawn was beginning to show in the dark east. The oak trees outside the window creaked and shifted in the wind, moving their branches against a sky full of retreating storm clouds.
‘Five twenty-nine,’ said Imperial Lee tensely. He began his countdown in a strained, cracked voice. To Butcher’s eye he looked like he was on the verge of a complete breakdown. It was a pity he’d handed the gun to Lady Silk. The girl was a much cooler customer. Butcher couldn’t sense any weakness in her.
‘Twenty,’ said Imperial Lee. ‘Nineteen. Eighteen.’ His voice was like two stones grinding together.
‘Wait a minute, man,’ said Ray suddenly.
‘ What? ’
‘Do I do it on zero or one?’
‘On zero!’ spat Imperial Lee. ‘Zero! You do it on zero, you fool!’ Lady Silk laughed. Lee frantically checked his watch.
‘Four. Three. Two. One. Zero.’
Ray hunched forward and wrote briefly on the piece of paper in his lap.
Everyone stared at the window. The sky was growing imperceptibly lighter with the approach of dawn. The branches of the oak tree stirred. A restless breeze circulated into the room, bringing chill air with it.
‘Well?’ said Lady Silk, her eyebrows high.
‘Wait,’ said Imperial Lee tensely. Sweat was dripping from his brow, down his face, off his chin. ‘Wait, wait, wait. It’s happening.’
‘If it’s happening then shouldn’t we get going? I mean, Ray and me?’ There was a note of nascent scepticism in Lady Silk’s voice.
‘Wait!’ said Lee.
‘But maybe it’s not safe to wait, darling,’ said Silk. ‘We were all expecting fireworks but maybe there won’t be any. Maybe we won’t notice anything before it’s too late. So Ray and I had best go now. Better safe than sorry.
Ready, Ray?’
Ray didn’t reply. Instead – strangely, thought Butcher – he turned to look at the Doctor, as if expecting something from him. ‘There’s no need to go anywhere,’ said the Doctor calmly.
Lady Silk snorted. ‘Come now. I for one am not hanging about to find out what the end of this universe looks like. It’s already a couple of minutes after Trinity and. . . ’
175
‘No it’s not,’ said the Doctor with a shade of what Butcher thought was smugness in his tone.
Both Lady Silk and Imperial Lee were now staring at the Doctor. ‘It’s not what?’ said Silk, virtually spitting out the words.
‘It’s not Trinity,’ said the Doctor. ‘The Trinity blast isn’t scheduled until tomorrow.’
‘Monday July sixteenth,’ said Imperial Lee, like an automaton with a recorded message. ‘Five twenty-nine and forty-five seconds.’
‘Not in this universe,’ said the Doctor. ‘Here Trinity is scheduled for detonation on Tuesday July seventeenth at five am precisely.’
‘What?’ said Imperial Lee, his face glazed with sweat, his mouth hanging open.
‘Details, Lee, details,’ said the Doctor, smiling. ‘The devil is in the details.’
‘Oh, for God’s sake,’ said Lady Silk. ‘I can’t believe you’ve screwed this up.’
She turned to Lee, her face tight with rage. ‘ Can’t you get anything right? ’
‘We can always try again tomorrow,’ said Imperial Lee feebly.
‘I think not,’ said the Doctor. He lifted his umbrella from between his knees and pointed it at Lady Silk. There was a sharp puff of compressed air and Silk suddenly went limp and dropped the gun. Ace had already leapt to her feet and, in what looked to Butcher like a carefully rehearsed move, scooped up the weapon and pointed it at Lee.
‘It’s all over, Lee,’ said the Doctor.
Butcher had to admit that it was neatly done. Whatever the business with the umbrella signified – Butcher suspected it had shot some kind of poisoned dart – Lady Silk was now standing frozen like a statue. Maybe it was curare or something, thought Butcher. A paralysing agent. The only part of Silk that moved was her eyes, desperately searching the room. Imperial Lee, however, still had the power