Doctor Who_ Blue Box - Kate Orman [73]
80
Robert Salmon Snr was not impressed.
He drove from the centre of Washington to meet us in a parking lot in Crystal City, close to TLA. The Doctor, looking serious in his dark suit, shook hands with Salmon Senior. ‘It’s good to meet you face to face at last. I only wish the circumstances were better.’
Bob’s father was a scowl above a moustache, keeping his temper under control while he dealt with the crisis in good military fashion. When the Doctor introduced Peri and I, he dismissed us with a glance. ‘Maybe you can explain why my boy is in trouble with the police. He was mighty vague about it.’
‘Mr Salmon,’ said the Doctor, ‘Bob has been helping me to investigate a serious threat to your nation’s security.’ He was choosing his words carefully ‘He rose to a similar challenge as a very young man.’
‘Yes, he did. But everything we did five years ago was authorised. There was never any reason for the police to be phoning me about my son.’
‘I can’t say too much,’ said the Doctor, ‘but the stakes are much higher this time.’ Mr Salmon’s eyebrows lifted; last time the stakes had been nuclear blackmail.
‘You can say a whole lot more, Doctor. You can explain why it’s necessary to involve a vulnerable young man in your mission. You can explain just what threat makes that a responsible thing to do.’
The Doctor said, ‘For one thing, Mr Salmon, your son is an adult capable of making his own choices. And for another –
’
Peri said, ‘Shouldn’t we go and get Bob out of jail?’
The Doctor and Mr Salmon both glanced at her. Peri’s voice dropped, but she stood her ground. ‘He is waiting for us.’
‘You’re right, of course,’ said the Doctor. ‘Mr Salmon, I’m quite prepared to pay for Bob’s release from custody.’
Robert Senior wanted to say ‘Don’t be ridiculous; but instead he said, ‘That won’t be necessary.’
And so young Bob was extracted from the clutches of the law, having spent an educational night in the tank, and driven back to his parents’ house in the ’burbs. Father and son didn’t say a word to one another in the car, but Bob asked,’Is Mom here?’
as Salmon Snr rattled the keys in the lock.
‘No. I didn’t call het’ Bob sagged with relief into a kitchen chair, but his father said, ‘It’s up to you to tell her yourself.’
‘Oh.’
Mr Salmon pulled out a chair, then stood for a few long moments, his hand on the back of it, stroking the wood.
Finally he sat down.
‘As soon as you moved out of this house,’ he began, ‘your life was your own. If you want to skip work and run around the countryside chasing UFOs, it’s none of our business.’ Bob knew better than to interrupt. ‘But as soon as your mother and I become involved, it’s our business too.’
Pause. ‘Dad,’ said Bob, ‘I have never bullshitted you in my life. Have I?’ Mr Salmon’s mouth flattened beneath his moustache in a look of irritation. Bob rushed on, ‘You know I would never do anything like that without a meaningful reason. I wish you could have been with us when we visited Ritchie.’
‘Who’s this Richie?’
‘It’s a place,’ said Bob. ‘A little town. A piece of technology got loose there and it’s done a lot of damage.
We’re trying to stop it doing any more damage.’
‘When you broke into that building,’ said his father, ‘did you understand what you were putting on the line?’
‘I didn’t break in. I just walked in. All she’s got on me is trespassing.’
‘That could be a lot if you’re trying to convince a computer company to hire you,’ said his father.
‘I know. Swan has got me by the prairie oysters. She can make a lot out of that little charge. I knew when I went in there that she could wreck my career or my chances of college.
A couple of days ago I wouldn’t have dared to get anywhere near her. But she’s got something that’s at least as dangerous as what Professor Xerxes tried to put in your program when I was fifteen.
‘Convince me,’ said Robert Senior.
‘Xerxes was only aiming to corrupt one program. Imagine if he had been able to install a trapdoor in every machine. The