Doctor Who_ Cat's Cradle_ Times Crucible - Marc Platt [65]
"So?"
"I thought it was destroyed. But it can't have been. It must be round here somewhere. Once we find the TARDIS, we'll find the Doctor, I know we will."
There was a flash of light overhead, followed by a barrage of crackles. One of the stars had exploded in a cascade of plumed mauve sparks.
The ground thundered again. The buildings around them creaked and swayed. The broken dome of the atrium rose nearby. They were close to the place that the dark phantom had guarded.
"It's time, Ace. We have to find the TARDIS now or it's too late."
"But how? I don't know how!"
"He said, the Doctor told me, that the answer would come to find us."
"In a dream?" she said in disbelief.
Another tremor. Her hand jerked up and the fingers opened themselves. In Ace's palm sat the TARDIS key. She must've pulled it out of her pocket. Or caught it as it jumped out.
Shonnzi seemed to understand. "You stay here. I'll send for help from the grumblies." He started to run up the street.
"What?"
"The other Phazels. They have to be fetched. Don't you understand, Ace? It's deliverance!"
He was gone before she could argue. Typical! You could tell who'd taught him a few things, like leaving stupid girls behind!
The key fizzed in her hand. It had started to glow with a cold, pale blue light. When she pointed it in a different direction, it glowed brighter.
She started to follow the track, using the key like a metal detector. The glow grew stronger as she moved down an alley and out into a small deserted street.
The tremors were increasing. Outlets had appeared along the street, streamering off steam like New York sewer vents.
She came to a halt at a dead end. Nowhere to go, even though the key was glowing fiercely. At first she looked for a bleached grey police box, and then just a keyhole. But there was nothing.
Only when she looked up the building did she see the trapdoor — halfway up the wall and out of reach. Across it lay the ladder, horizontal and strapped to the wall. She was sure it was part of the TARDIS. It was the attic, somehow jettisoned or deleted from the ship. Impossible to get at.
Lightning from the clear sky accompanied the latest tremor. The buildings creaked. At the end of the street, she saw Shonnzi, the light flickering off his red hair. He was facing away from her. She ran towards him and he turned to meet her. He grabbed viciously at her arms. It was Vael.
"Got you again, you little troublemaker."
She bit him on the wrist and pulled free.
Up the shaking street she ran with him right behind her. She felt his grip yank on her jacket. The key flew out of her hand. He sent her spinning across the street and lunged for the fallen key.
With a flying tackle, Shonnzi burst out of the shadows. He caught Vael off balance, their heads cracking together as they met.
They threw up a cloud of dust, rolling across the ground in a knot of hatred. Above them, the buildings rocked in the tremor. With a roar, the steam vents erupted round them. Columns of steam forced up hundreds of feet into the atmosphere like blasts from volcanic funnels.
Ace scooped up the glowing key. She looked up and yelled as the wall with the attic teetered and toppled down on them.
A crash and a shower of loose stone were drowned by the roar of the steam. The upper wall had fallen forward as if hinged. It lay resting like a new ceiling overhead, balanced on the building opposite. But the trapdoor and ladder were still out of reach.
Vael made a lunge at Ace. She felt his eyes burning hatred into her. Shonnzi's arm wrenched him back. "Go on, Ace!" he yelled in a frenzy. "It's time!"
One end of the ladder clattered down to the street. Ace ran up the steps, leaving them brawling in the dust and steam. She started to force against the trapdoor. Dust trickled down around her. The door wouldn't move.
There was a keyhole set at the door's edge. She had hardly fitted the glowing key into place