Doctor Who_ Blue Box - Kate Orman [94]
We only need to isolate him. I may even be able to reverse some of the brain damage. The Eridani never intended to invade this world. They’ll be keen to avoid an interplanetary incident.’
Behind the Doctor, Peri and Bob were wincing. But Swan took him at his word.
‘Give me one good reason I should trust you,’ she said.
‘Good grief, woman,’ shouted the Doctor, ‘Haven’t I made the picture clear enough for you? Do I have to describe in detail an entire world of zombies? A whole human race turned into dummy terminals for an alien power?’
‘Just give me one reason why I should trust you,’ said Swan desperately
‘I can’t; said the Doctot ‘That’s a leap you’re going to have to make yourself.’
Swan hung up.
This time, Washington’s notorious traffic was on our side. As Swan was driving south to her home in Virginia, she became part of a queue of backed-up cars waiting to cross the Cabin John Bridge7. This was quite normal, but for a woman who’s just robbed a bank, it was more than a little annoying. She didn’t want any trouble, she just wanted to get home and get on with her new and satisfying life.
She switched on her police scanner, twiddling the dial up and down, hoping for news on the delay. And amongst the chatter, she heard her numberplate being read out.
She slammed on the brakes, causing the car behind her to kiss her bumper, and tuned back in.
There it was again. One officer telling another to keep an eye out for her vehicle, believed to be heading south on the Beltway. The other officer said they were stopping cars at the Cabin John Bridge.
She had slipped up somewhere. She had been so confident about her perfect crime that she had left some fingerprint behind, left some witness to tell the tale.
Chick Peters. That little faggot. Or hulldyke, or whatever it was. Swan had scared the man-woman thing so badly that she just about pissed in her pants. But she or he or it hadn’t taken the hint. Peters had told the Doctor where Swan was and what she was doing, and one of them had told the police.
Swan would use Luis to kill both of them. Mash their brains between her fingers like a handful of mince.
That would have to keep. For now, she had two problems: the police, and the Doctor, who was out there somewhere in the traffic jam, looking for her. He was the real threat. She just needed a few minutes’ peace, out of the pressure, to decide what to do.
Swan took exit 15 onto the George Washington Parkway, safely on the Maryland side of the bridge. The Parkway is divided, with no turnoffs, just exits. She already had a plan: take the ramp to Carderock, double back onto the parkway, heading south-east past the Beltway towards DC. She could get across the river on the Chain Bridge and be safely home in under an hour.
The Travco was waiting for her at the top of the Carderock ramp.
7 Later renamed the American Legion Memorial Bridge Her first urge was to ram it. Just aim the car at the side of the campervan and smash into it in a white blaze. She took a deep breath and let the station wagon roll to a stop on the side of the parkway, maybe fifty yards behind it.
What’s your range, Doctor?’ she growled. She had the handgun in the pocket of her jacket and the shotgun in the back seat. And she had Luis. The Doctor must have expected her to fly past him on the parkway; giving him a few instants in which to activate his device and deactivate Luis. He had hoped to surprise her, because without that, he was hopelessly outweaponed.
He knew it. The Travco climbed out into the thin stream of traffic, running for it.
Swan had two choices at this point: she could stick to her original plan and head back to the south-east, or she could follow the Doctor and press her advantage.
It had to be now. As long as he was out there, she and Luis would never be safe. He was the only thing that could put a dent in her new life. The only obstacle left to overcome.
Swan pulled out and accelerated. She savoured the mental image of what would happen when they caught him up – the Travco suddenly losing control,