Doctor Who_ Bunker Soldiers - Martin Day [30]
As if a certain protocol had to be inaintained Mykola unsheathed his sword, which he wafted in my general direction.
‘Tell me why we cannot open the doors on your blue box,’ he said, completely ignoring Olexander who, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, was now cowering by his makeshift bed.
‘I take it you’ve tried?’ I asked. I thought of Dmitri’s plan to guard the TARDIS, which was intended not only to preclude our access to it, but also to limit the unwelcome attention of his own people. ‘Did you bribe the guards?’
Mykola shook his head against the distractions I was placing in his way. ‘It does not matter how we gained access... Tell me how to open the box.’
‘Why?’ I queried. ‘It’s just a box. It’s full of clothing, one or two bottles of fine wine, nothing more.’
‘It is said that it is a means of transportation,’ Mykola stated.
‘Who told you that?’ I asked with a grin. ‘That’s ridiculous! I mean, where are the wheels?’
‘Wheels?’ Doubt flooded Mykola’s features, furrowing his brow.
‘How else could a chest of that size be expected to move around? Think about it.’ I took a step towards the man, trying to defuse the situation.
Mykola immediately raised his sword, angling the blade in my direction. (I didn’t like the look of the weapon at all. It was not a thing of subtlety, a polished scimitar or beautiful Samurai sword, the triumph of its maker’s art. It was a rough-hewn thing, almost too heavy to hold, lacking any semblance of a sharpened tip; in grace and form, it was a match for only a butcher’s cleaver. And, whatever the stains along the blade implied, they were enough to make me avert my eyes and look at its owner.)
‘I could kill you here,’ said the soldier simply. ‘I would say you were trying to escape. Away from the governor’s residence no one would be on hand to disprove my story.’ He flicked a glance in the direction of Olexander, who seemed to be studying the fine detail of the blocks that formed the ceiling over our heads.
‘That’s why you wanted me away from there,’ I said. ‘Down here I imagine you can get away with murder.’
‘I do not want to kill you,’ said Mykola.
‘Who are you working for?’ I asked, despite the sword that hovered close to my face. ‘Adviser Yevhen?’
The soldier refused to be distracted. ‘I have been sent to find a key. We have noticed some sort of lock on the side of the box.You must carry a key.’
‘I don’t have one,’ I said. ‘If I did, don’t you think I might have used it by now?’
Mykola conceded a little ground, stepping backwards, though his words remained bitter with assumed bravado. ‘I can kill you and search your clothing if you wish. Or you can give me the key.’
I took another step, forcing him back again. ‘Don’t you get it? The Doctor’s the only one who can open the box. Even if I had a key, and I gave it to you, you’d not be able to open the TARDIS, let alone do anything constructive with it.’ I risked another half-step, and Mykola moved back again. ‘I suppose you could ask my friend Dodo whether she has a key,’ I suggested lightly. ‘She’s right behind you.’
Mykola began to turn as Dodo brought a huge earthenware water jug down on his head. He grunted once, then slid to the floor with all the grace of a tranquillised bull.
I jumped over his body to embrace Dodo. ‘Well done,’ I exclaimed. ‘Perfect timing!’
Dodo grinned, indicating Lesia who stood at her side. ‘We thought we’d come along and see if you needed a hand.’
I grinned. ‘I don’t think I could have survived another hour.’
‘You would have found a way,’ observed Olexander from the far end of the cell. ‘I did.’
I introduced Olexander to Dodo, but the old man seemed more interested in Lesia.
‘Is that you, Lesia? My, how you have grown! And in just a year, as well.’
Lesia curtsied demurely ‘You have been away from us for more than a year,’ she said
‘Really?