Doctor Who_ Illegal Alien - Mike Tucker [35]
But the little man was gone.
CHAPTER 9
High Regency period, probably Nash, some slight evidence of neglect and disrepair. Nothing like the grime and corrosion of the end of this century. Deserted. Evacuated.
Possibly an unexploded bomb: typical of Ace. Her talent for walking into danger sometimes seemed to rival his own. A hasty telephone call to Mullen had revealed that she too had been seen at the Peddler factory. McBride had been arrested; she had vanished. The Doctor's hopes of finding her were not high. Still...
He walked briskly up to George Limb's front door and rapped on it, hard. He waited impatiently as soft footsteps behind the door shuffled slowly towards him. Only when the door creaked open a few inches did his face break into its most charming smile. He doffed his hat and stretched out his hand in greeting.
'Good evening. Am I to take it that you're the gentleman known as the
Professor?'
'Well... yes... George Limb is my name. How may I help you?'
'Excellent. I'm sometimes called the Professor too. By an insolent young girl who should know better. Her name's Ace, and I'm looking for her. Can you help me?'
Limb smiled his warm, weak smile. 'Ah, yes. Ace.
Perhaps I can help you. Would you like to come inside?'
The Doctor followed Limb down the long, high hall, stopping to pull his redhandled umbrella from the elephant'sfoot stand. He was led inside an airy room into which light flooded from two huge, streetfacing windows.
'So should I refer to you as Professor?' the old man asked. 'Doctor will do,' the Time Lord replied. 'Very well then, Doctor. Yes, I received a visit yesterday from the young lady in question, accompanied by a rather brusque American gentleman named Cody McBide. They came here seeking...
information. Do you play chess?’
Dominating the room was a large oak dining table, bare except for a simple wooden chessboard, the pieces large, classic Staunton shapes.
'As a matter of fact I do,' replied the Doctor. 'I'm rather good. Had I the luxury of time...'
'Time... Ah, yes. That is indeed a luxury...' That faraway smile once again suffused the old man's face. 'But you must forgive me I presume you would like to know exactly what I told your young friend and her companion.'
'If you please,' replied the Doctor, gazing at the chessboard.
'I'm rather embarrassed,' replied Limb. 'I'm afraid the information I gave them was technically in contravention of the Official Secrets Act. I revealed the location of a highly secret government research complex.'
'Don't feel too bad.' the Doctor replied. 'I sent them looking for that information. Stupidly, I failed to anticipate that they would take it upon themselves to act upon it.' Limb blinked his strange, slow blink. 'They broke into that highly secret government research complex.'
'Oh dear,' said Limb. 'Oh dear, oh dear. I did try to stress to them that such a course of action would be extremely foolish.'
The Doctor was still staring at the chessboard. 'Mr Limb, might I ask how you knew about the Peddler factory?'
'Before my... retirement, I was a civil servant.'
'Would you happen to know what sort of research they were conducting there?'
'All I know is that they were conducting experiments into the battleeffectiveness of the British foot soldier. It was all pretty fantastic. The intention was to give the individual soldier the speed and strength of many men. The strength of the Lurker, no less.'
'Lurker...' The Doctor was still staring at the wooden warriors ranked before him.
'The Limehouse Lurker. The East End Fiend, Doctor.'
'You seem to have a most remarkable situation here.'
The Doctor tapped the black king lightly. 'The most complete stalemate I have ever seen. Who was your opponent?'
'Oh, I was playing against myself, Doctor.'
Limb reached down and moved his white queen directly into the path of a black bishop.
'Sacrificing the queen...'
'As Mr Conan Doyle's famous consulting detective