Doctor Who_ Blue Box - Kate Orman [26]
Bob stared at him for about thirty seconds. Before he could say anything, the Doctor said, ‘Do you remember that thing I told you could happen?’ Bob nodded mutely. ‘Well, it happened.
‘No, man,’ said Bob. ‘I mean, your suit.’
Peri exploded. ‘Where have you been all this time? Why all the secrecy? Why’d you rush off like that? I didn’t know if you were alive or dead!’
‘Desperate expediency, I’m afraid.’
‘Oh, what’s that supposed to mean?’
The Doctor said, ‘I’m sure that even you noticed the restaurant we visited was more than it seemed to be. It acts as a meeting place and message drop for... unusual people.’
‘You could’ve at least left me a note,’ whinged Peri.
‘The people I’m working with barely gave me enough time to catch my breath!’ retorted the Doctor. ‘They’ve objected all along to my involving anyone else – even trusted friends’ That seemed to mollify Peri, and Bob grew in height by about two inches.
I had the persistent feeling, listening to the conversations between the three of them, that I was constantly being carefully shut out of certain areas. It wasn’t just that I’m a journalist, or that they had shady dealings with shadier characters. I had a real sense that there were things that Man Was Not Meant To Know – at least, man outside their small group. It wasn’t quite the same feeling I’d once had talking to a group of UFO enthusiasts, who were keen to impress upon me that they had secret knowledge that they couldn’t risk sharing, and so constantly dropped hints and fragments of that arcane lore. It was more like the feeling I had during a conversation with two desperately shy gay friends who were out to each other, but not out to me, and were frantic not to let me know.
Bob quickly recovered his poise. ‘We’ve got what you wanted right here,’ he said, tapping the short cabinet with his foot. Peri looked nervous. Maybe Swan had been checking her blackmail photos or her Strawberry Shortcake collection.
‘Pop it up on the table, there’s a good chap,’ said the Doctor.
Bob and Peri manhandled the cabinet onto his paper-strewn dining table while the Doctor took off his jacket. He extracted a small burglar’s kit from the pocket and went to work on the cabinet’s lock. A few more moments, and he quietly pulled the door open.
By now we were all standing around him, craning for a view. There was a thick envelope on the bottom shell; and on the top shelf, a bulky, colourful object. The Doctor reached inside and pulled it out.
It looked like a toy or a puzzle. It was all orange, purple and green plastic loops, forming a misshapen, hollow ball. The Doctor slipped his hand inside the space, but it didn’t fit well.
‘What the heck is that thing?’ asked Bob.
‘This is an extraordinarily dangerous piece of technology,’
pronounced the Doctor, turning it over in his hands.
‘Fortunately, Sarah Swan has no way of discovering its secrets.’
While they were marvelling at this bit of nonsense, I reached into the cabinet and took out the fat envelope. It was packed with computer printouts and hand-written notes, an entire composition book full of what looked like phone numbers, net addresses, odd remarks like “Easy”, “Back door”; and “Test???”. Every page had an assortment of random words. I was looking at computer passwords, dozens of them.
‘If Swan couldn’t do anything with that gizmo,’ said Bob,
‘why’d she bother hanging onto it?’
‘Hope springs eternal.’ said the Doctor. He took a wad of tissue paper out of his pocket, and started carefully wrapping the thing. ‘Which means she must have some idea of its significance.’
‘So now we’ve got it – I guess you hand it over to the, uh, people you’re working with?’ said Peri. The Doctor nodded.
‘So we did it, she said. ‘The good guys win again.’
‘Alas,’ said the Doctor. ‘I’m afraid we’re not quite finished yet.’ Peri didn’t look at all surprised. ‘There’s one more of these... components out there somewhere. Swan doesn’t have it; nor does she know where it is. Her email is full of exchanges with other collectors, her efforts to track it down. It was one of those collectors