Doctor Who_ Father Time - Lance Parkin [65]
The Doctor hadn’t quite worked out yet how he would escape: he was still concentrating on finding Debbie.
There was a door ahead. Two guards, watching him. But the door itself fascinated the Doctor. It was solid metal, the same stuff the Prefect’s saucer had been made from.
The Doctor lifted up his briefcase. ‘The Doctor was carrying this, I’ve brought it for the Deputy to inspect.’
They let him through, both of them having to key a control on their wrists to unlock the door.
This was the original structure of the building, but on the upper floors, things had been altered. They’d renovated the place for their own purposes, built themselves a base of operations. The floors and ceilings were solid metal, the walls were thick plastic. There was no obvious source of light, but there was a harsh glare, like standing out in the desert sun. All around was the familiar electronic pulsing sound that had permeated the saucer, a sound the Doctor had completely forgotten about.
A woman in long grey robes walked past, bowing her head as she did.
A thought struck the Doctor.
‘Excuse me,’ he asked the woman – suddenly worrying he was being too polite – ‘where is the female prisoner?’
‘We’ve just moved her to Room Twelve-Kappa. Fourth door on the left,’ she replied, her voice without emotion. Perhaps she was a robot, he thought as she drifted away.
That would make her easier to kill, wouldn’t it?
The Doctor sighed. He’d let a man die in his place. Not a nice man, in all probability, but just a man doing his job. Perhaps it was the uniform. Wearing this sleek, imposing uniform, with a helmet that hid his face, and a heavy rifle in his hand, the Doctor didn’t feel as accountable. No one would know who he was in this.
Disgusted with himself, the Doctor dropped the rifle, pulled the helmet off, shook his head until his hair was loose.
He had reached the fourth door on the left. There wasn’t even a guard on it. There was a touch control. As he tapped it, a box on his belt buzzed – some sort of electronic key, proving he was authorised? Whatever the case, the door slid open.
The Doctor stepped in, cautious, checking his blind spots.
The room was little more than bare metal. Debbie was lying on the bed, a handcuff on each wrist, splaying her into a Y shape. She had a piece of duct tape over her mouth.
The Doctor hurried over, sat down on the bed, put the briefcase down on the floor and carefully eased the tape off.
‘We must stop meeting like this,’ he told her softly.
Debbie had been crying. ‘They killed Barry,’ she told him.
The Doctor held her. ‘I’m sorry.’ He paused, then, ‘I’ll get you free with the sonic suitcase.’
He pulled the briefcase up on to the bed, opened it up, flicked a switch. There was an ultrasonic screech and the handcuffs fell away.
‘It works,’ Debbie said, grabbing the Doctor, hugging him. She was shaking, and started sobbing.
‘We’ve got to get out of here,’ he told her, doing up the case. He stood, went over to the door and opened it.
The Deputy was standing there, a gun in his hand.
‘I thought you’d want to deal with me personally, not leave it to your guards,’ the Doctor said levelly, taking a step back. ‘You can let Debbie go, you have me now.’
Sallak shot him.
* * *
Chapter Fourteen
The Interrogation Game
Ferran watched, unmoved, as two guards dumped the Doctor on the interrogation table. This was the first time he’d seen his brother’s enemy.
The Time Lord was unconscious, corpselike and blindfolded. They strapped him into the restraints without his so much as stirring.
The interrogation chamber had been grown quickly in one of the rooms on the top floor of the Tower. Its size meant it should be an intimate space, but the white-tiled walls, the stainless-steel