Doctor Who_ Match of the Day - Chris Boucher [113]
The Doctor watched the two young fighters working as a team, zigzagging across the open spaces, distracting their opponents and narrowing the distance inexorably. They were closing for the kill, he realised. The thought was a mixture of resignation, dismay and, if he was honest, a sort of admiration.
„Get down, Doctor!‟ Sita shouted.
Too late the Doctor noticed that one of the shooters had targeted him. He froze. He thought he saw the muzzle flash as the gun fired and then something hit him and knocked him to the ground. He thought he heard a bullet sting past above him. He was winded and struggling for a breath.
„Which part of get down did you not understand?‟ Ronick said rolling off him. „You‟re lucky I don‟t vomit all over you, you stupid scuffler.‟
The Doctor took a deep breath. „That was quick,‟ he gasped.
„If you say: for a fat man, I will vomit all over you,‟ Ronick said.
They left Aerospace Main in a runner Ronick commandeered using his police credentials. After some discussion Keefer and Leela got their way and a detour was made to the launch-and- recovery crash zone to collect the duelling handgun Keefer had buried there. The Doctor was slightly irritated that Leela‟s attachment to her knife was made to seem less irrational because Keefer had a similar attitude to his gun, but under the circumstances it would have been churlish to object too strongly.
„There is no appeal against an open contract,‟ Keefer said.
„We‟re dead as yesterday and you know it.‟ He was walking through the firebreaks while his wrist unit processed and located the pre-set coordinates, but it was taking too much time.
„How much further?‟ the Doctor asked. Sita had given them an estimate of the response times of Aerospace Main Security and he was conscious that they were getting close to the point when the first gun-ship would be scrambled.
„This is it,‟ Keefer said, and knelt down and began to dig.
When he came up with nothing he said, „It should be here.‟
The Doctor wasn‟t really surprised. „Come on,‟ he said. It was as he expected. „Time to go.‟
„This is where I buried it.‟ Keefer dug around more determinedly. „It has to be here.‟
„It won‟t be,‟ the Doctor said.
Keefer waggled his wrist. „This may not be the most expensive on the market but it does the job.‟
„I‟m sure it does,‟ the Doctor said. „I‟m sure this is the right spot. And I‟m sure the gun will turn up. Just not here.‟
Whoever they were, they were more than one step ahead yet again.
Keefer stared up at him. „What is it you know?‟
The Doctor turned and strode away. „I know I don‟t like getting shot at,‟ he said without looking back, „and unless we leave now that is what‟s going to happen.‟
The Doctor‟s New Way training compound looked as deserted as it had the last time, only this time it really was empty. They parked the runner out of sight and while the others were checking everywhere else, the Doctor went to his office. It had been stripped bare. The TARDIS had gone along with everything else. It was really no more than he expected.
Was it just random looting, he wondered? And without money and influence how was he going to find it? He stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed a deep sigh. He had thought there was a short cut out of all this but now it seemed...
„Where is the TARDIS?‟ Leela asked behind him.
„Don‟t tell me you‟re finally ready to leave,‟ he said.
Leela shrugged noncommittally. „How will we find it?‟
For a black moment the Doctor had no idea and was tempted to say so. Instead he smiled and said. „I shall have to talk to some old friends.‟
„You haven‟t got any scuffling friends any more, old or otherwise,‟ Ronick said. They were sitting in what had been the locker rooms. It was the only place left that had seats, possibly because it was the only place