Doctor Who_ Just War - Lance Parkin [21]
she liked to say that you were as old as you felt. Flying around saving the universe she felt a decade younger than she did scrubbing floors in a hotel.
They had reached the stile. Benny could see over it into the field. A ring of German troops surrounded the cove, an armoured car sat in the middle of the field. More unarmed troops were bent down collecting debris, placing it in large paper sacks. From this angle, it was impossible to see down into the cove itself. They were safe where they were, though, for the moment. She ducked out of sight, but the Doctor popped up his head.
‘There are a lot of them,’ he remarked. ‘Too many. Three dozen? That’s just what I can see.’
‘Is there another way down?’
‘The ones on the cliff will see us if we get down that far, and they’d have the high ground. We’d be sitting ducks.’
The Doctor was crouched, leaning on his umbrella, his eyes closed. Benny looked around. No one had seen them, but it was hardly the time or place to go into a trance.
The Doctor’s eyes snapped open. ‘Could you arrange a diversion?’
‘Bernice Summerfield versus the massed Nazi hordes.
Oh yes, an even match there.’ The Doctor looked disappointed, so she continued. ‘I’ll do my best to outwit them. After all, I’m old enough to be their mother.’
‘Sign you’re getting old that, when the Nazis start to look young.’
Benny winced.
‘I’ll need to get down onto the beach. Even I can’t slip past so many people, not when they’re alert.’ The Doctor was already sizing up the situation.
Benny nodded thoughtfully as she pushed her travel bag into the hedge. She pulled the holowig from her head and stuffed the filament into her pocket. Her hair dark again, she vaulted over the stile.
‘Hello, everyone. Have you seen my coat? I left it here yesterday.’
Some of the troops stepped forward. A couple of them had raised their machine pistols, but not many of them considered her a threat. All of them were looking at Benny, though, and she was right — they were all younger than her.
There didn’t seem to be a commanding officer. She didn’t recognize any of them. One of the troops had come up to her.
‘This is restricted place,’ he announced in a very thick accent.
‘Oh, sorry, I was looking for my coat. Big blue thing.’
Before he could reply, Benny had yanked the rifle from his hand and pulled him in front of her, shielding herself from the rest of the troops. It all happened too fast for the other Germans. Just as they were realizing what was going on, Benny had fired above their heads. But not that far above.
They fell to the ground for protective cover, pulling their guns up. Benny leapt for the armoured car.
The Doctor was stepping carefully across the beach when he heard the crackling of gunfire. It mustn’t distract him. There was heavy lifting machinery down here, and something huge had been dragged from the sea. Whatever it was had been covered by a large black tarpaulin. The handful of troops on the beach were scrambling up the narrow path to assist their comrades.
The Doctor rapidly moved towards the tarpaulin. It covered an object the size of a tank, or small shuttlecraft. The Doctor poked at it experimentally with his umbrella. There was a satisfying clank. Whatever it was, it was made of thick metal. The Doctor moved forwards cautiously and lifted the sheeting. A grenade detonated above him with a soft crump.
Thankfully, as Benny had hoped, there was no one inside the German vehicle. She slammed shut the hatch, bolting it, and slid over to the driver’s seat. It was dark and reeked of sweat.
The only light came from a couple of slits at the front.
Through those, Benny could see troops running towards her.
As they reached her, she discovered how to start the engine. The armoured car roared into life, lurching forward, and the troops scattered. Just as Benny was working out how to change the gears, a rifle bullet richocheted off the roof.
She had better start thinking about