Doctor Who_ Prime Time - Mike Tucker [56]
He waved expansively at the audience.
‘Another exclusive for you lucky people! The time machine of the Time Lords – a TARDIS.’
Cheering and clapping erupted from the audience again as a set of glittery curtains slid open and the familiar police-box shell of the Doctor’s TARDIS trundled sedately on to the stage.
Saarl tore the TARDIS’s key from Ace’s neck. She struggled weakly, but it was no good. They held all the cards.
The Doctor, her and now the TARDIS. She had nowhere left to run. Saarl led her across the stage to an armchair lit by blazing spotlights. Ace slumped into it.
‘That’s right, Ace, you have a rest.’
Saarl leered at the audience. ‘She’s had a busy day, hasn’t she folks?’
He patted her arm. ‘Well never mind, you just sit there and relax, because, Dorothy Gale, better known as Ace, one-time waitress on Iceworld, traveller in time and space, and now companion of the Doctor, This Was Your Life!’
Gatti crept stealthily up the stairwell, Breame hovering behind her. It had taken a while, but by carefully listening to all of Breame’s cryptic clues, and slowly working her way through all the possible routes, she had finally found the correct stairwell. If Breame was right then this one led directly to the audience entrance of Studio Two.
She gripped the piton gun and took a deep breath. ‘Your fifteen minutes of fame, girl. Let’s just hope it isn’t your last.’
She started at the sound of voices ahead of her. Breame shrank back, shaking his head.
‘What’s wrong?’ Gatti hissed.
‘Never a great one for crowds, I’m afraid, and Mr Lukos doesn’t like me being seen.’ He was starting to back down the stairs.
Gatti caught hold of his arm. Breame winced. ‘Please don’t.’
Gatti released him. He was terrified. God knows what Lukos must have done to him to keep him in this state.
‘All right, I’ll find her myself. Go back to your office, Gartrold. I’ll come and find you if I need you.’
Breame scurried back into the gloom of the basement.
Gatti hoisted the gun to her chest and clambered up the last few stairs.
She emerged into chaos. In front of her were the studio doors hut the corridor was packed with hundreds of people, jostling and pushing, waving their tickets in the air, all trying to get in.
Commissionaires were desperately trying to keep the peace, attempting to hold the frenzied crowd at bay.
The bright red sign that indicated live transmission blinked steadily outside the studio. Gatti’s heart sank. Whatever Lukos had in store for Ace, it was already under way.
The thing that had once been Greg Ashby sat huddled in the depths of the forest, its robes pulled tight around it. Shivers and spasms shook its body as turmoil raged inside it.
The memories the Fleshsmiths had sought to remove were boiling to the surface, revived by the sight of the woman that he hated, the woman he had once loved.
He pulled out the picture of Trasker and stared at it. His mind was a whirl of pain and memories. He could see fragments of his life, his career. His time with Rennie. The work that they had done together. He could feel the emptiness when she walked out on him, putting her career first, ignoring his pleas for her to stay. He could see Eeji Tek’s mournful face peering at him through the crowds of the gig on Brinhilla, see the same face terrified and agonised as the Zzinbriizi tore him apart.
He tore the picture into fragments, holding out the ragged flesh that had once been his, staring at the unfamiliar skin. He ran a hand over the gleaming lens that jutted from his skull.
‘What have they done to me? What kind of monster have they turned me into?’
With a sob of rage and helplessness, Greg shambled into the depths of the forest.
Chapter Fifteen
Ace sat motionless in the chair, trying to shut out the laughter, trying to shut out the jeers from the audience. Saarl danced around her,