Doctor Who_ Prime Time - Mike Tucker [16]
His attention snapped back to the Doctor. The little man was clambering into a hovercab. Barrock nodded at his pack.
‘We follow, Find where he goes. Then – we eat.’
The pack of Zzinbriizi began to lope through the woods, lithe shadows flitting through the trees. Barrock bared his teeth in satisfaction. Tonight he would let them kill. Kill like Zzinbriizi should. Throwing his head back, Barrock howled at the moon.
Ace glanced at her watch and then stared out at the rain-lashed streets. They were almost empty now, the crowds of commuters all safely back home, and probably in front of a television set. Flickering neon lights had turned the wet streets into a kaleidoscope of pink and blue and there was a constant babble from the hundreds of monitor screens that clustered at every street corner.
There was still no sign of the Doctor. He had been gone for hours.
Ace sighed. After he had vanished into the rain she had settled into a corner and watched people go past as she had eaten her sandwich. Blinni-Gaar was home to a bewildering array of life forms and Ace had stared in fascination at the multitude of different shapes that hurried past on feet or flippers or tentacles.
When the streets had begun to bore her she had turned her attention to one of the television monitors, trying to make sense of the local programming. Much of it revolved around the unpleasant red-faced man whose show she had seen in the TARDIS control room, but in amongst the adverts and game shows there was a smattering of news bulletins. Ace had noticed with interest that Coralee featured in several of the stories. That had made her smile. The last time that she had made the news had been back in Perivale, and it hadn’t been for saving everyone from voracious alien monsters.
The memory had started her down a long mournful chain of thought, remembering things about home, remembering similar wet afternoons where she and the gang would just hang out in a cafe or pub, trying to make their drinks last so that they wouldn’t be turfed out into the rain. Perivale had never been the most exciting place in the universe when it was wet...
She had been lost in the past when the man who had caught her eye earlier had come back in and sat across the table from her.
‘Are you sure that you’re not Monteekan?’ he had said.
‘Because you’re giving Eeji Tek here a run for his money as the most miserable bastard on the planet.’
Greg and Eeji had continued to entertain Ace for the rest of the afternoon. Greg seemed to be fascinated by where she and the Doctor had been, where they were going. At first Ace had thought that he was just trying his best to chat her up, but there was more to it than that. The questions were a little too specific, a little too intense.
She had been suspicious at first, but Greg was very easy-going, and his constant ribbing of his Monteekan companion had made her laugh out loud. He wasn’t her type, but it was better than spending an afternoon in an alien café on her own.
Greg was over at the counter at the moment, buying them another round of that disgusting coffee, whilst Eeji had nipped out to get some cigarettes before the shops shut. Ace could see his gangly form dodging through the traffic.
Greg slid back into his chair and pushed a steaming mug across the table. ‘I got him to stick some of the local rum in it this time. Should help disguise the taste a bit.’
‘Thanks.’
Ace took a sip and grimaced. ‘God, that’s meant to be an improvement?’
Greg shrugged. ‘Eeji seems to like it.’
Ace put down her coffee cup. ‘Have you ever got him to laugh?’
Greg shook his head. ‘Nah, physically impossible for them. The closest you ever get to Monteekan laughter is the spines behind their ears quivering. You should see him when he gets scared though.’
Ace raised her eyebrows. ‘Really? What happens?’
‘He goes almost