Doctor Who_ Atom Bomb Blues - Andrew Cartmel [7]
‘But very good for the brain,’ said the Doctor.
The winding road took them up onto the mesa above the broken shadows of Los Alamos Canyon. The MPs at the checkpoint recognised Butcher at the wheel of the car and waved them through. ‘Well, here we are,’ said the Doctor.
The Hill was a dusty, uninspiring place with the makeshift look of a civilian resort that had been requisitioned for military use.
‘We’re on the Parajito Plateau, are we not, Major?’ said the Doctor. Butcher just grunted. He was getting sick of playing chauffeur and tour guide, even if it was a role he’d volunteered himself for.
‘Why would anyone want to come here?’ said Ace.
‘Well, this project is the brainchild of Robert Oppenheimer, and Oppenheimer has fond memories of this place. This mesa.’
‘We call it the Hill,’ said Butcher.
‘Indeed. Anyway, Oppenheimer came here to convalesce when he was a teenager. His parents thought the New Mexico air would do him good.’
Butcher squinted suspiciously at the Doctor. ‘How do you know all this?’
‘Oppy and I have corresponded a number of times over the years,’ said the Doctor. ‘Although we’ve never actually had the pleasure of meeting face to face. An omission I’m hoping to correct today.’
‘You and him wrote letters to each other?’ said Butcher.
‘Yes.’
‘This was before the war?’
‘Yes.’ The Doctor turned to Ace. ‘As a young man Oppy often enjoyed riding in this rugged country.’
‘I’ll bet he did,’ said the girl somewhat ambiguously.
They passed the glinting water of what looked like a miniature lake. ‘That’s Ashley Pond,’ the Doctor informed her. ‘Named after the founder of the school.’
‘Whose name was Ashley.’
‘Whose name was Ashley Pond,’ said the Doctor.
‘Marvellous,’ said Ace. ‘I’m glad somebody has a sense of humour. What is that school you mentioned?’
‘The Los Alamos Ranch School. That’s what this place used to be.’
13
‘What, like a dude ranch?’
‘Indeed,’ said the Doctor. Ace brightened somewhat. ‘Maybe I won’t look like such a total clown after all. Do I have to watch out to not step in any horse crap?’
‘Sadly the horses are largely gone now. Though there are plenty of other things around here we’d be well advised to avoid stepping into,’ the Doctor’s eyes grew bleak for a moment. ‘All of them considerably less safe than horse droppings.’
They passed a large, handsome wooden building with log walls. A small second storey to the building was tucked in under the sloping shingled roof.
‘That’s the Fuller Lodge,’ said Butcher. ‘That used to be the main building of the ranch school. Now it’s the hotel and main dining room. It’s where you’ll be billeted. Or at least you will,’ he glanced at the Doctor. ‘The girl goes in the women’s dormitory.’
‘Oh great. The girl goes in the women’s dormitory,’ said Ace.
‘Should we perhaps get out of the car and unpack?’ said the Doctor tentatively. Butcher shook his head.
‘Oppenheimer wants to see you right away. Matter of fact, he’s throwing a party in your honour.’
‘A party?’ said Ace, her mood improving.
‘They’re probably hitting the booze already,’ said Butcher.
The Oppenheimers’ house was at the end of a dusty road known affectionately as Bathtub Row. The house looked like a log cabin with a boxlike veranda built onto one side of it, surrounded by sparse grass, crazy paving, trees and flowerbeds. Ace and the Doctor walked up the crazy paving as Butcher drove back down Bathtub Row to park the car. There was a subdued buzz of voices coming from the open door of the house. They paused a few yards from the threshold, in the shade of a poplar tree.
‘Well, he was a bundle of laughs,’ said Ace.
‘Don’t underestimate Major Butcher.’
‘Did he really write all those books you were banging on about?’
‘Of course.’ The Doctor smiled. ‘Do you doubt my word?’
‘No, but he doesn’t look like he could manage the quick crossword puzzle in the Sun let alone write an entire book.’
‘Looks can be deceiving.’
‘You’re telling me.’
‘His novels are actually very good. I wasn’t being insincere or disingenuous when I praised them. He really is a very talented