Doctor Who_ Prime Time - Mike Tucker [39]
She threw herself to on side, rolling as the spinner screeched to a halt ahead of her. The door swung open. Ace could see someone beckoning them frantically.
‘Come on!’ Gatti was pulling her up. She could hear the commissionaires bellowing.
Ace scrambled to her feet and she and Gatti raced over to the stationary vehicle. They scrambled into the back and the spinner roared away. Ace peered through the rear window at the astonished faces of the guards and stuck two fingers up at them. ‘Tossers!’
She slumped back into the seat, next to the exhausted Gatti.
‘Well, now that I’ve saved your arses, perhaps you’d like to tell me exactly what I’ve saved them from.’ The driver, an attractive dark-haired woman, was peering at them in the rear-view mirror.
Ace leant forward.
‘That could be a long story, but if you can drop us at somewhere that’s got a television I’ll explain everything.’
The driver smiled. ‘On this planet that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.’
‘Thanks.’ Ace settled back into her seat, fumbling for the seat belt. ‘The name’s Ace, this is Gatti.’
The driver nodded. ‘I’m Rennie. Rennie Trasker.’
The two Time Lords crept through the lengthening shadows between the towering buildings. The sun was low in the metal sky now, turning everything a deep orange. Even though the Doctor knew they were in a TARDIS-created environment, it was difficult to shake off the feeling that they were outside.
Already he was feeling uneasy. Dusk was going to put them at a disadvantage. The Zzinbriizi were used to the twilight. In many ways the TARDIS interior was a perfect environment for them, the jungle and plain not dissimilar from the conditions on their home world.
The Doctor frowned. That was another mystery. Intelligent Zzinbriizi. As a species they were savage and animalistic, no technology to speak of, and certainly no space-travelling ability. Some races tended to use them as shock troops but these ones seemed to be acting on their own, which meant that someone had augmented them – and that was an appallingly dangerous thing to do.
He glanced over to where the Master was struggling with the door of one of the towering copper-hued buildings. They had been friends for so long, and enemies for even longer.
Usually he had some idea what his old adversary was up to, but this time there were too many parts to the puzzle.
The Doctor sighed. He was used to being the one making the complicated plans. It was an unusual feeling to be completely in the dark.
The Master glanced over at him.
‘Are you just going to stand there admiring the scenery, or are you going to help me?’
The Doctor smiled at him. ‘Didn’t want to get in your way.’ He crossed over to the Master’s side. The door was the same strange blend of material as the rest of the building, a peculiar copper colour. It had a large, old-fashioned lock set into it. The Doctor delved into his pocket, pulled out a paper clip and knelt down in front of the door.
The Master snorted in derision. ‘Always at the cutting edge of technology, Doctor.’
The Doctor didn’t look up. ‘Well, you know me, always a great one for good old-fashioned solutions.’
The copper door creaked open. The Doctor looked up and beamed. The Master glowered at him and pushed his way inside.
The inside of the building was a tangled mess of anachronistic architecture. Curling pillars wound their way towards the ceiling, and chairs and tables lay scattered in piles.
Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs.
The Doctor ran his finger across a surface.
‘Someone has got a very theatrical taste in decoration.’
‘What are you babbling about now?’ The Master was studying his control device again.
The Doctor waved expansively. ‘All this. It doesn’t seem random, doesn’t seem like a malfunction in the infrastructure matrix at all. It’s more like...’
‘What?’ The Master was staring at him, his eyes blazing.
‘Like it’s been designed.’ The Doctor pulled one of the chairs into the centre of the room and sat in it. ‘I think it’s about time you let me know exactly what’s going on.