Doctor Who_ Psi-Ence Fiction - Chris Boucher [51]
Something to do with dodging tax and VAT I shouldn't wonder,' the man said, and he looked at the Doctor with a sudden unease. 'You're not from Customs and Excise are you?'
The Doctor's mind was still on the water. I'm from Gallifrey,' he said without thinking.
The man seemed relieved. 'What line are they in? Don't tell me it's bottled water.'
'No, no. Nothing like that.' The Doctor smiled reassuringly. Travel.'
'Excellent,' the man said. 'Any danger of a holiday package discount?
Cheap flights that sort of stuff?'
Leela had decided not to wait with the TARDIS. She had decided it would make more sense to go and look for the Doctor. She had put some of the salve she carried in her equipment pouch on to the most severe of the cuts on her legs and arms. She had done this slowly and deliberately and then slowly and deliberately she had walked out of the wood.
Basically she knew that it was sensible to find the Doctor quickly and tell him what had happened. Basically she knew that waiting for him to come back to the TARDIS would not be the most sensible way to do it. Basically she knew the decision was sensible and right. But she also knew that part of her was frightened and she wanted to get away from the wood as fast as she could. She moved slowly and deliberately to try and keep that part of herself controlled and small. Only when she was clear of the trees did she allow herself to start running.
She slowed to a casual walk once she reached the grounds of the university. She was aware that her appearance attracted unwelcome attention and that she must do her best to ensure that her behaviour did not make things worse. She approached the first of the towering buildings and hesitated. She knew the Doctor planned to go to the man who called himself Doctor Ghostbuster Bazzer Hitchins and talk to him about his experiments in parapsychology. That would be a good place to look for the Doctor she thought, if she could just find out which of these huge shelters this Doctor Ghostbuster Bazzer Hitchins lived in.
She looked towards the other equally large buildings. He could be in any one of them. He could be anywhere in any one of them. She could search for hours and not find him. In the meantime the Doctor would be long gone: probably back to the TARDIS where she should have stayed and waited for him. Coming here was a mistake which she had made because she was afraid to stay in the wood. You can think and be afraid at the same time, as the Doctor, kept telling her; you simply cannot think rationally. Coming here was a mistake and she would put it right by going back to the TARDIS and waiting as she had originally planned. Still she hesitated. She could hear the Doctor's voice lecturing her: When you make a mistake you cannot go back and correct it. You can only go forward and make up for it. Was that the Doctor or was it her warrior-trainers? There had been so many instructions and orders, so much advice, she wondered if she would ever be allowed to think for herself.
Suppose she did search, how would she do it? The last time she was in one of these buildings she had seen that the doors to the rooms were usually numbered and some of them had little sliding signs with the name of the person inside the room. Leela could read and, with practice and the Doctor's help, she was getting better at it all the time. But she was not confident that she would be able to decipher the signs quickly enough for it to be a useful way to search. There was nothing for it she decided, she would have to ask someone for directions and that would draw attention to her again. Who could she ask without causing a problem?
She glanced around and found that several students waiting by the entrance to the building were watching her. This time, she told herself, whatever the provocation she must remain calm. She caught the eye of one of the students and smiled at him.
When the young man approached she could see that