Doctor Who_ Match of the Day - Chris Boucher [78]
The elaborately casual stroll was bringing the ill-matched pair gradually closer to the perimeter markers of the lock-up security zone. The Doctor was surprised that, as far as he could see, Sita was still wearing her wrist and ankle bands. It was a detail that Ronick had been reluctant to talk about when they discussed the plan for the break-out. „I‟ve got that covered,‟ was all he would say about it, and the Doctor had thought it best not to press him, now he was not so sure.
They must make a run for it soon, he thought, or they would draw attention to themselves simply by walking too close to the boundary.
He rechecked the settings on the runner‟s computer and rested his hand on the door control switch. On the couple dawdled across the close-cropped grass. He wondered if something had gone wrong with the plan. Perhaps Ronick‟s friend had let him down. Maybe the runner had been spotted and they were trying to warn him off. Should he reset the computer to move the runner and take it round the block and bring it back? Problem was he had no idea how big the block might be and how long it would take to go round it, and, anyway, resetting the computer was time-consuming in itself. What would an undercover senior officer in state security do in these circumstances, he thought?
And now Ronick and Sita had stopped walking altogether and were standing looking back at the lock-up buildings.
What could they be expecting? Was it a trap? Slowly they turned and looked for the first time in the direction of the runner, and then abruptly they were across the perimeter and sprinting towards him. He resisted a sudden urge to open the doors immediately. The plan was that nothing should be more obvious than was necessary and a parked runner with its doors standing open was more noticeable than one with its doors closed. So he waited and waited until they had almost reached him, and waited, and then he opened the doors and closed them again behind the fugitives in one smooth almost uninterrupted movement. At the same time he released the brake, and the runner jerked into life and rolled forward and on into the motorway traffic.
The Doctor turned round in his seat to look at his passengers. Ronick was the less out of breath of the two. It was probably fear that was making Sita breathless he realised. „Was there a problem?‟ he asked.
„Ask the major,‟ Ronick grunted, pulling a toolbox from under the seat.
„Was there a problem?‟
Sita brandished her wrist bands. „I paid for these things to be deactivated.‟
„And they have been,‟ Ronick said. „Are you bleeding yet?‟
He opened the toolbox and took out a small rotary cutter.
„Could happen any time,‟ she said. „All it‟ll take is the flick of a switch.‟
„We‟ve got an hour,‟ he said. „At least we did have until you started scuffling about.‟
She said through gritted teeth, „I could feel them tightening up.‟
„No you couldn‟t.‟ He started the cutter and began working on one of the wrist bands. „You just thought you could.‟
The Doctor checked the timer on the runner‟s computer control panel. „It can be the same thing,‟ he said.
„Don‟t patronise me, Doctor,‟ she snapped. „He might think you‟re state security but you don‟t fool me.‟
Ronick pressed the cutter harder into the band. „I told her what you were and that I‟d brought you along as a guarantee of good faith. Didn‟t seem to work.‟
„What do you think I am?‟ the Doctor asked cheerfully.
The cutter‟s high-pitched whine deepened slightly as it bit.
„One more variant of the same old crooks and con men,‟ Sita said, concentrating hard and staring into the Doctor‟s face,
„who latched onto the noble contest and turned it into a money-making circus.‟ She flinched and grimaced as the cutter touched the skin of her wrist and drew blood.
„Sorry,‟ Ronick muttered.
„Just get on with it,‟ she urged.
„You think I‟m