Doctor Who_ Father Time - Lance Parkin [41]
The Volkswagen had become a robot. It was around twelve feet tall, and was a bulky, solid thing.
‘Cease and desist,’ it ordered in a megaphone voice.
The Doctor stepped in front of Barry. ‘Of course. Which would you like me to do first?’
The giant robot bent down, peering at the man he so easily dwarfed.
The Doctor smiled. ‘Good evening. You, I presume, are the elusive Mr Gibson.
‘Indeed. Greetings.’
‘Eh?’ said Barry, thoroughly confused.
‘Barry Castle, Mr Gibson; Mr Gibson, Barry Castle. Your wife ran over a UFO spotter who was running away from this chap.’
‘He’s a robot.’
The Doctor had a big grin on his face. ‘Well, yes.’
* * *
Mr Dawkins looked over at his wife, although he wasn’t really Mr Dawkins, and they weren’t married.
Kim smiled at him, an encouraging smile, one to disguise what they both knew she was really thinking. She had been so brave.
Mr Dawkins laid the time detector down on the table. ‘I didn’t check. For the first week in ten years, I didn’t check.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ Kim told him.
‘A time corridor. Four nanoseconds’ duration, ten thousand miles directly above our heads. It opened on Saturday. A saucer came through it. A small one, but...’
He couldn’t see Miranda. She was in the front room, drinking her cocoa.
‘I’ll get a sleeping draught ready,’ Kim said. ‘Miranda will sleep through this, whatever.’ She squeezed his arm. ‘We knew this could happen. We’ve done what we could for her. This isn’t over yet.’
He nodded, and started to head for the garage.
* * *
Debbie couldn’t move. It felt as if her feet had got stuck in the ice.
The woman – girl – Barry had had with him didn’t have the same problem. She was already halfway to her Mini.
The robot towered over them all. It was enormous. It looked vicious and practical, the way military equipment often did. It looked like a tank or an armoured car.
‘Doctor?’ it asked. ‘You don’t recognise me?’
The Doctor shook his head. ‘Does everyone in the universe know me?’ he asked, sounding more than a little exasperated.
‘Don’t you remember?’ Debbie hissed.
The robot made a noise somewhere between a growl and an engine revving. ‘You don’t, do you? You merely add insult to injury.’
The Doctor stepped forward, holding his hands out in a conciliatory gesture. ‘If I’ve ever done anything to insult you, then I –’
‘Insult me!’ the robot bellowed. ‘You destroyed my world.’
The Doctor stopped in his tracks.
‘You let my palace fall, killing my queen.’ The robot hesitated, and there was a burst of electronic squealing. ‘The most exquisite mechanism in the cosmos. Helpless, I watched my cities burn, one after the other. All because of you.’
The Doctor hesitated. ‘Me?’
The robot raised its arm, and some sort of weapon popped from a compartment on its wrist.
Debbie grabbed his sleeve. ‘Come on!’
The Doctor was jerked from his reverie.
‘Run!’ Debbie told him.
The Doctor was heading for the Cortina.
‘Here!’ Barry objected. ‘What are you doing?’
The Doctor was in the car, and he’d somehow got the engine going without the key.
Debbie pulled open the passenger door and got in beside him.
‘Debbie, this isn’t your fight,’ the Doctor insisted.
Barry had got into the back. ‘It’s my car,’ Barry grunted. ‘Drive it carefully.’
The Doctor slammed his foot down, and the Cortina pitched forwards with a squeal of tyres.
* * *
Mr Dawkins was ready for them as they came.
Hoverdiscs, flying low over the houses, barely high enough