Doctor Who_ Relative Dementias - Mark Michalowski [119]
The Doctor checked Ace’s watch and shushed them all, pointing out to sea with his umbrella. The flat, grey ocean, glinting with sun-speckled highlights, spread out all around them. Suddenly, the water began bubbling a few hundred yards away, a mound of white froth, rising, like some vast kraken awakening.
And then, just as undramatically, it subsided.
‘Well, that was exciting, wasn’t it?’ John said, deadpan and clearly unimpressed.
‘You are sure we got everyone out of the ship, aren’t you?’
Ace said worriedly. The Doctor threw her a ‘trust me’ look. ‘I notice you made sure we left before we got swamped with awkward questions,’ she said wryly as the others started wandering away. ‘Although that woman that Joyce called Matron would have been enough to scare me away.’ She stared out at the sea for a few moments, remembering the looks on the faces of the sleepers as they’d been awakened and the Doctor had removed their implants. Joyce had helped by telling the residents on the ship that it had all been part of their treatment, whilst the Doctor had been saying goodness only knows what to the ex-staff. It gave the term ‘brain drain’ a whole new meaning. ‘So our work here is done, then?’ she said finally, wondering if there were any other loose ends to tie up.
‘Almost, Ace. Almost. Just the small matter of finding a certain someone a new family.’ He glanced down at the cardboard box which sat by his chair. A miaowly squeak came from it.
‘How’d you do that?’ Ace asked. ‘Turn that dog thing into...
well, into a pussycat?’
‘Landines are programmed – genetically and chemically conditioned to be loyal to their owners, as well as being shapeshifters. And with the Arinarene gone, I was – obviously –
the natural choice. And cats are so much nicer than dogs, don’t you think?’ He reached down and wiggled his fingers through the gap in the box lid. Ace winced and raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘If you think I’m sharing the TARDIS with that...’
‘No, no, no. It’s harmless now.’ He smiled at her. ‘I had a little word with it. Told it to forget its bad old ways. And I think I know just the new home for it.’
‘Well as long as I never see it again, that’s fine.’
‘No, Ace. You’l never see it again. And talking of again – the trick with the postcard. ?’ He gave her a long look. ‘I think once is quite enough for that particular get-out-of-jail-free card, don’t you?’
Ace grinned. ‘Good though, wasn’t it?’
He raised an eyebrow as he reached down to gather up the cardboard box. ‘Come along, Ace. Time to be off, I think.’
Ace followed his gaze down the length of the deck: John and Alexander were trying their best to be civil to each other; Michael was gazing out to sea. She hoped she’d remember to tell him to call and say goodbye to Claire before he left – but she wasn’t making any promises to herself. They were consenting adults after all, old enough to sort their own love lives out; she didn’t always have to play Cupid.
‘What about Doctor Menzies and the treatments, and Norma and everything?’ she asked as they headed for the stairs down to where the TARDIS awaited them.
‘Oh, I’ve had a word with Doctor Menzies – told him that here and now isn’t the place or the time for a cure for Alzheimer’s. I think he understands. Actually, I think he’s quite relieved. I put all the stuff from the treatment room on board the ship – so apart from what he’s got in his head, I don’t think the web of time has much to worry about.’
‘And Norma?’
He sighed. ‘She’s much better. Not cured, but much better. I think Joyce accepts that. She’s staying on in Muirbridge for a couple of weeks before she takes her back down to London.’
There was an awkward pause.
‘And what about us?’ Ace asked.
He cocked his head on one side and gave her a wink. ‘Butch and Sundance, Ace. Butch and Sundance.’
She slapped him playfully on the back of his head and his hat fell over his eyes. ‘Call me Butch again, and you’re dead.’
The Doctor played with the TARDIS’s controls as Ace said proper goodbyes to everyone. Not really his sort of thing, he