Doctor Who_ Interference_ Book One - Lawrence Miles [84]
Lost Boy proudly puffed out his chest. ‘Prize tracker. Won many skins, for following. Never been seen.’
‘But you’re an Ogron! And this is London, for heaven’s sake!’
‘Prize tracker.’
The woman was shaking her head, for no good reason. ‘Wait a minute. If you tracked me back to my house, why didn’t you come for me earlier? When I was at home?’
Lost Boy was surprised by that. What kind of animal did she think he was? ‘Your home is your home,’ he said, trying not to sound too offended. ‘Not intrude. Bad. Wait until you come here. Come to human meeting place.’
‘This isn’t a meeting place! This is just someone else’s house, you idiot!’
‘Who are you people?’ the man on the floor wheezed.
He was still clutching his broken arm, and rolling around on his back as if he had some kind of fever. When he spoke, the woman seemed to remember he was there, so she took a step towards him, then knelt down by his side.
‘You’re Mr Jones?’ she asked him. ‘Sam’s father?’
The man stared up at her. Lost Boy knew the look on his face. He was a man who didn’t want to tell anybody anything.
‘Of course you are,’ the woman went on. ‘Sorry. Listen. It’s very important Sam doesn’t find out about this. It’s not time. I mean… look. Sam’s upstairs. I think she’s on drugs, so she’s probably quite vulnerable right now. Er… please don’t be too cross with her.’
‘Who are you?’ the man asked. His voice was weak, even by human standards.
‘Shh. Just listen. If anyone asks what happened here, tell them… I don’t know. Tell them there was an accident. Tell them you were standing on the table, and it broke, and you fell and hurt your arm. Anything. Just don’t let anyone know the truth. I know, everything must seem strange to you, but –’
‘Government,’ croaked the man.
‘What?’ The woman stared at him for a moment. ‘You think we’re… no, it’s not like that. Look. It doesn’t really matter who we are. As long as Sam doesn’t get involved, that’s the main thing. Trust me.’ Then the woman seemed to go all limp and rubbery, and she sighed pitifully. ‘What am I saying?’ she mumbled. ‘There’s a gorilla in your kitchen. Or guerrilla. Why should you trust me?’
Lost Boy was starting to get impatient. ‘Come,’ he said. ‘Now.’
The woman shot him a look that, had it come from a male, Lost Boy would have interpreted as a death challenge. ‘Don’t you understand anything? We’re changing history just by being here. Whatever orders the Remote have given you, they can’t want you to –’
‘Not Remote.’ Lost Boy poked himself in the chest with one thumb. ‘No orders. Came here myself.’
The woman did that jaw‐dropping thing again, and got to her feet. ‘You came here… off your own bat? I mean, you decided to come after me?’ She stuck out her bottom lip. ‘I thought Ogrons weren’t supposed to have minds of their own.’
‘Want talk. With you. Now.’
‘Oh, this gets better. You came here just to talk to me?’
‘Not here.’ Lost Boy motioned towards the outer door, now dropping off its hinges. ‘People. Big settlement. We go to quiet place. Then we talk.’
‘Get out of my house,’ the man on the floor was muttering. ‘Please. Get out of my house.’
The woman sighed again. ‘I’ll call you an ambulance from the car, all right?’ she told the sick man. ‘I promise.’
And with that she left the house, keeping as far away from Lost Boy as she could when she crossed the floor.
* * *
There was an Ogron in Sarah’s kitchen. Furthermore, he seemed to be trying to figure out how the toaster worked. There were many things Sarah had believed she’d never see in her lifetime, but – had she ever thought of it – this would have been somewhere close to the top of the list.
The creature had turned out to own a car, which it had parked just up the road from Sarah’s, around the corner from Sam’s house. When Sarah had returned to her own vehicle, K9’s ears had been spinning like mad things, and he’d told her in no uncertain terms that there was an alien life form somewhere in the vicinity. To which Sarah had responded that, yes, there was indeed an alien life form somewhere in the