Doctor Who_ Attack of the Cybermen - Eric Saward [22]
But Russell wasn’t interested in her excuses. ‘I’m asking for the last name...’ he levelled the Beretta. ‘WHAT IS
YOUR NAME?’
It was at that moment he noticed he was holding the same make of gun Lytton had given to Payne. Whereas he knew there were many Beretta 92s in the world, they were not common enough for the coincidental presence of two in the same London sewer – not even, thought Russell, on a day as bizarre as this. ‘Where did you get this?’
Surprised by the sudden change of tack, the Time Lord glanced over his shoulder. ‘Er, we found it nearby,’ he said.
Russell cocked the gun and pressed it into the small of his back. ‘The last time I saw this, it wasn’t lost.’
The Doctor grimaced as the muzzle bit into his skin even through his thick coat. ‘Well, to be honest,’ he said, nervously, ‘as the owner was dead, I felt he didn’t have any further use for it.’
‘Did you kill him?’
He was incredulous. ‘For his gun? ’
‘Don’t get smart.’ Russell’s tone was almost vicious. ‘I don’t like murderers.’
‘We found him dead!’ insisted Peri.
‘I don’t believe you.’
Grabbing the back of the Time Lord’s collar, he pressed the gun even harder into his spine. ‘Now tell me the truth!’
But this was the chance the Doctor had been waiting for. Quickly he jerked his body in a quarter turn, knocking the gun clear of his back, while simultaneously back-kicking Russell’s knee. As pain tore through his leg, the policeman released his grip on the Doctor’s collar and collapsed.
‘Sorry about that,’ said the Doctor, crouching to the agonised heap that was Russell, ‘but we weren’t getting very far with me playing pat-a-cake with the wall.’
‘Who are you?’ groaned Russell.
‘I’ve already told you: I’m the Doctor. I’m also a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.’
‘A Time Lord?’ he repeated, incredulously, wondering how a damaged leg could affect his hearing. ‘From another planet?’
The Doctor nodded.
‘Then one of us is bonkers!’
That was debatable, he thought. ‘But I’m telling the truth.’ He stood up and offered a helping hand to Russell.
‘The thing is,’ he continued, ‘are you?’
Grasping the hand, Russell slowly pulled himself to his feet. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I am a policeman.’
Peri still wasn’t convinced. ‘If you are,’ she said ‘what are you doing down here?’
He smiled: it was a good question, especially as he had been unable to make any sense of the last couple of hours.
Russell recalled how conventionally the day had begun. A simple robbery had been planned, yet instead of diamonds he had found huge men dressed in silver suits wandering around the sewers. He had seen Griffiths shoot one of them to pieces, yet no one had cared. Even more curious was that Lytton had known who the silver men were. Although Russell had found the Doctor’s story a bizarre invention, he had decided, on reflection, his own hardly sounded any more credible. On the other hand, he considered, there was little to lose by telling them what had occurred. It would prove a useful practice before facing his superiors at Scotland Yard.
Carefully Russell hobbled to the sewer wall and propped himself against it. ‘What would you like to know first?’ he said, once he was settled.
‘Do you know anyone who changed from a grey suit, black shoes, a white shirt and silk tie before entering the sewers?’
He had expected an unusual question but not one as odd as this. ‘Well...’ he stammered, ‘as a matter of fact I do. It was Mr Lytton.’
‘Lytton?’ the Docor repeated, rolling the word around his mouth as though it were a hard sweet. ‘Would that be Gustave Lytton?’
Russell shrugged. ‘We’ve always called him Mr Lytton.
He was –’
‘Wait a minute,’ interrupted Peri, ‘how did you know his first name was Gustave?’
The Doctor pondered for a moment. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘The Gustave seemed to fit the Lytton quite neatly.’
‘Do you know who Gustave Lytton is?’
The Time Lord shook his head.
‘Think,’ she insisted. ‘Somewhere you have information about this man.’
‘So what? He may have nothing to do with this.’
‘That