Doctor Who_ Interference_ Book Two - Lawrence Miles [53]
‘Do you know, I don’t think I’ve ever been here before?’ the Doctor said, sweeping his arms around the room. ‘I seem to remember hearing you’d moved away from London.’
‘I did,’ Sarah said. She was sitting huddled up on a beanbag, K9 by her side. ‘But I got fed up, so I moved back again. You always end up going back to your roots in the end, don’t you?’
‘So I’m told,’ said the Doctor.
Sarah leaned over to whisper in K9’s ‘ear’. ‘It’s really him, you know,’ she told the dog.
‘Affirmative,’ said K9. ‘Subject’s anatomy falls within accepted parameters of Doctor-normal. However, extraneous non-Gallifreyan DNA suggests –’
‘Yes, yes,’ the Doctor cut in. ‘We know. Not having any trouble with him, are you, Sarah Jane?’
‘Who, K9? No. But my cousin wants to know how you managed to build an artificial intelligence out of ZX81 parts.’
‘Oh, that’s nothing. You should see the mark-four version.’
Kode prodded himself in the face, hard. Just to make a point. ‘We have to go,’ he said, nodding towards the TARDIS.
The TARDIS was parked rather neatly between the speakers of Sarah’s stereo system, and looked somehow at home among all the twentieth-century hardware. The Doctor shot Kode another little smile. ‘Yes. It was nice seeing you again, Sarah Jane. If everything turns out all right, I’ll pop by again in a day or two. And don’t forget, there are still a few loose ends to be sorted out here on Earth. I’ll leave that up to you and the UN, I think.’
‘Loose ends?’ Sarah asked.
‘The Saudis are using alien technology, remember. Too complex for them to learn anything from, I’d say, but it still might cause a few problems.’
‘And they’ve got an Ogron,’ Sarah noted.
‘And that. But it isn’t the first one to get stranded on Earth, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.’
Sarah nodded glumly. ‘I suppose I should get to work on the new book. Or article. Or whatever it’s going to be. By the way, there are two Saudi soldiers on board the TARDIS. I locked them in a cupboard near the billiard room.’
The Doctor frowned at her. ‘A cupboard? Isn’t that against the Geneva convention?’
‘It was the best I could do,’ Sarah retorted.
K9 shuffled slightly, his motors carrying him a few inches backward, then a few inches to the right. The Doctor realised what he was doing. Getting himself in a good enough position for his defensive systems to lock on to Kode.
‘K9?’ said the Doctor, softly.
‘Master?’
‘Bad dog.’
K9 lowered his head. ‘Apologies, master.’
‘We’re wasting time,’ said Kode.
* * *
Trip Six: Croydon–Anathema
The Doctor looked up at the sky, and sniffed. It looked as if the entire sky had been set alight, as if the city had been burning for so long that there was nothing left of the air but dust and smoke. He didn’t smell smoke, though. He wondered what kind of atmospheric disturbance might cause a thing like that.
‘I don’t like it,’ he said.
Lost Boy stepped out of the TARDIS behind him, and grumbled in agreement. Kode was the last one out. The Doctor watched him as he walked away from the ship and looked around, at the smooth black ground and the supporting pylons. Then the boy raised his head, to stare through the great crack in the city foundations above his head.
‘This isn’t the main transmitter,’ he said.
‘The TARDIS can be a little erratic,’ the Doctor lied. ‘We may have landed a few hundred yards out. We’re here, though. You can put down the gun.’
Kode’s hand kept shaking. ‘Not yet,’ he decided. ‘Wait until we find Guest.’
The Doctor sighed. ‘All right. Why don’t we go and see if those people over there have seen him?’
Before Kode could reply, the Doctor swept past him, heading across the slippery black surface between the pylons, Lost Boy following his lead. Not far away he could see three figures huddled together in a tight group. Two of them were tall, dressed in what he assumed were traditional Remote uniforms. The third was crouching, looking at something on the ground.
‘Llewis,’ rumbled Lost Boy.
‘Llewis?’ said the Doctor. ‘You mean, the man from