Doctor Who_ Battlefield - Marc Platt [24]
Out of her bag, Ace produced two canisters of something called nitro-nine. Shou Yuing would have laughed it off, but she and her brother had helped out on the local Guy Fawkes night displays. The fireworks there were supervized by experts, but Shou Yuing could tell just by sense of smell that these little bombshells were twice as potent and real.
Ace could only be categorized as an embryonic anarchist, yet Shou Yuing was certain there was not an ounce of malice in her. ‘I started with homemade jelly,’
Ace said. ‘That’s gelignite. I used to put it together in the art lessons, right?’
‘Right.’ Shou Yuing giggled warily.
‘So Mrs Parkinson, the art teacher, catches me and asks what it is. So I told her it was plasticine. Well, I couldn’t tell her what it really was...’
‘The gelignite... ’
‘That’s right. So we’re in the corridor by now, and she tells me to put what she thinks is plasticine back in the art room.’
Shou Yuing was revelling in this story even though she could see exactly where it was going. ‘So what did you do?’
‘I chucked it over my shoulder.’ Ace screwed up the crisp packet and threw it. ‘Like that! It landed right in the middle of 1C’s prizewinning pottery pig collection and,’
she flung her arms wide, ‘... boom!’
The sky momentarily flickered white towards the lake.
‘Boom?’ shouted Shou Yuing.
‘Boom!’ yelled the anarchist.
The distant crump of an explosion rattled the windows of the hotel. Ace and Shou Yuing stared at the sky as something like a suit of armour whistled overhead and hit the roof of Pat Rowlinson’s brewery.
‘I’d better get the Doctor,’ shouted Ace.
The door opened. ‘Good idea,’ said the Doctor as he stepped outside. ‘Did you see it?’
‘Yes.’ they chorused.
‘And?’
‘It looked like a man,’ said Ace.
The Doctor frowned. ‘A man flying through the air?’
‘And then through the roof,’ added Shou Yuing.
He regarded the brewery roof where it was punctured by a large hole. ‘I think you should stay here,’ he said, setting off.
‘Be serious, Professor,’ yelled Ace.
Shou Yuing grabbed at her arm. ‘What’s going on?’
‘The business.’ Ace started to run after the Doctor, who had already reached the brewery. ‘You’ll have to ask the Professor.’
They caught up with the Doctor as he leaned an ear against the wooden door.
‘What’s going on?’ insisted Shou Yuing.
The Doctor shushed her and slowly pushed the door inwards. Inside, he grappled about in the dark and finally found a switch.
Cold fluorescence lit the tall fermentation vats. A haze of dust was still settling on the bricks and broken tiles that littered the floor. The place reeked of beer.
One of the vats was dented. At its foot lay a figure in black armour, his suit battered and the mirrorshade visor cracked.
The suit’s arm rose weakly and fell back again. A man’s voice groaned and muttered, ‘Excalibur. Darkness must not prevail.’
‘Is it an android?’ asked Ace.
Shou Yuing stared at Ace and the Doctor and then back at the broken figure. This was crazy. These two weirdos were behaving as if this was an everyday occurrence. Who the hell were they? She forgot that she had promised to be back home by teatime.
The Doctor knelt by the knight. ‘No Ace, it’s a man in powered armour.’ He felt around the edges of the helmet, found the clips and pulled it away.
The Black Knight looked up at them with ice blue eyes.
Long yellow hair framed his classically handsome features.
‘Oh, very Teutonic,’ observed the Doctor. ‘How do you do? This is Ace and I am... ’
‘Merlin!’ cried the Black Knight. His smile broadened in wonder and recognition. ‘Merlin, against all hope!’
Part 2
Scenario: Broken Arrow
‘....Merlin, who knew the range of all their arts, Had built the King his havens,