Doctor Who_ Remembrance of the Daleks - Ben Aaronovitch [4]
Gilmore rounded on Jensen. ‘Is he with you?’
Mike watched while Rachel hesitated for a moment, her eyes locked on the Doctor’s.
‘Yes,’ she answered, ‘he’s with me.’
Gilmore snorted and caught sight of Ace. ‘Sergeant,’ he snapped at Mike. ‘Take the girl and set up a position at Red Six.’
Mike quickly saluted and, gesturing to Ace, took off for Red Six, the other detector van. He was grateful that the group captain had been too busy to ask who Ace was and just what she had been doing in the back of the van –
questions that Mike would like answered himself.
Was that wise? Rachel asked herself as she knelt by the body with the Doctor and Gilmore. She watched as the Doctor pulled back the blanket. Matthews’ dead face stared up at her: his skin was pale and clammy, webbed with broken capillaries. Now what caused that I wonder?
thought Rachel.
The Doctor opened the dead man’s shirt and carefully pressed down with his hands.
‘No visible tissue damage,’ he said. Something gave under his hands. ‘Ah,’ he pressed down in new pattern,
‘massive internal displacement.’
‘What?’ asked Gilmore.
‘His insides were scrambled,’ said the Doctor, ‘very nasty.’
There’s an understatement, thought Rachel.
‘Concussion effect?’ she asked.
‘No, a projected energy weapon.’
A what? Rachel was puzzled.
‘A projected what?’ demanded Gilmore.
‘A death ray?’ demanded Rachel.
‘Exactly,’ said the Doctor. ‘I hope you have reinforcements coming.’
‘Any minute now. But this is preposterous,’ protested Gilmore. ‘A death ray – it’s unbelievable.’
Allison Williams stared at Mike. ‘Dead? Are you sure?’ she asked for the third time.
Mike nodded. He noticed Ace staring back to where the group captain, Professor Jensen and the Doctor were examining the body. He’d liked Matthews, and now Matthews was dead. It had happened like that before in Malaya.
The Doctor crouched behind the remains of a boiler, flakes of red paint rough under his hands. He looked towards the lean-to. ‘Whatever fired the weapon is trapped in there.
There’s no way out.’
Gilmore, his doubts about death rays notwithstanding, kept down and followed the Doctor’s gaze. ‘How can you be sure?’
‘I’ve been here before.’
Rachel heard the roar of a large engine behind her.
Turning she saw the big khaki Bedford draw into the yard.
‘Good,’ said Gilrnore with evident satisfaction, ‘we’ll have him out in a jiffy.’
Private Abbot snapped out of sleep as he felt a sharp pain in his left shin. Amery, opposite, grinned at him. The truck had stopped. He nudged Bellos, beside him.
‘Where are we?’ he asked.
The big Yorkshireman shrugged. ‘London.’
‘Clever.’
Somebody banged hard on the truck’s side board. ‘All right boys, let’s be having you,’ yelled Sergeant Embery from outside.
Grabbing their guns the squad scrambled out of the truck. Abbot heard Bellos swear and the crunch of grit as his feet hit concrete. Out of habit he scanned the area: it was a rectangular yard with rusty scrap for cover. He didn’t like cover as it could hide snipers, especially in the buildings that framed two sides of the yard.
Abbot felt an odd tension in his gut as Embery ordered them into parade formation. Special duties, easy posting –
this is London ain’t it? he thought. Smoke rose from a lean-to in the far corner. That suggested a bomb.
‘It’s Chunky,’ said Bellos as the group captain came forward. On the command, Abbot came to attention with the rest of the squad.
Gilmore ran a practised eye over the squad as he outlined the position. Detailing Sergeant Embery to take two men and clear the onlookers from around the gate, he called Mike over. ‘Take two men and get Matthews away from there.’
Mike picked two men and led them away.
‘I’m not sure you know what you’re dealing with,’ said the Doctor.
‘I assure you, Doctor,’ anger made his voice clipped,
‘these are picked men; they can deal with anything.’ He looked again at the veil of smoke obscuring the lean-to.
‘Providing they can see it.’
The warrior had been dormant for a while. Delicate sensors passed information through a spun