Doctor Who_ Return of the Living Dad - Kate Orman [14]
The Doctor sat down opposite her. She could tell by the way he was studiously ignoring her that he was very concerned.
He pulled a small tracking thingummy from his pocket’
pretended to fuss with it. It obstinately refused to beep. ‘That transponder is here somewhere,’ he said.
He pulled a map out of his pocket, struggled with it, flattened it out on the table. ‘We’re quite close to a military base,’ he said, tapping the map with his fingers.
‘Hey, maybe they’re Hanger Eighteen-ing the ship. You said there might be some temporal deflection. How much?’
‘It’s difficult to — Benny, look at me.’
She frowned. ‘I am looking at you.’
‘All right,’ he said. ‘When I say “now”, I want you to look to your left, and then straight back at me. Do you understand?’
‘What is it?’ she hissed, paralysed.
‘Now,’ said the Doctor.
Benny looked. Her father was standing behind the counter, talking to the bearded man.
‘Grief,’ she said.
‘Take another look,’ said the Doctor.
Benny did. He hadn’t seen her yet. He was older. She couldn’t tell how much. Fifteen years? Twenty-five?
They were late.
‘How do we know he isn’t a robot replica or a Sloathe or something?’ she whispered. ‘What do we do?’
‘We have a caffé latte and two buttered croissants each,’
said the Doctor, ‘as insurance against the shock.’
‘Right,’ said Benny faintly. She looked into the mirror next to her.
He’d seen her — he was staring right at her. She couldn’t help it. She turned to look. Their eyes met.
‘Grief,’ said Isaac.
In the TARDIS, Roz looked at her watch for the third time.
‘How much longer do you think we should give them?’
said Jason.
The Doctor knows what he’s doing,’ said Chris.
Jason drummed his fingers on the console, trying to avoid any obvious self-destruct switches. ‘I wish we knew what he was up to.’
‘The eternal lament,’ said Roz. ‘Let’s hope the natives are friendly.’
‘Do you think there are any more of them?’
Joel peeked over the top of the hedge. It was bloody freezing. Thank God, he thought, for thermal socks. ‘Probably not,’ he told the communicator. ‘He usually travels with one passenger.
Almost always human and female.’
His boots squelched in the soggy grass as he tried to get a better view of the police box. It sat there, dark and quiet, like a bogeyman in the mist. Or like a badly photocopied picture in a UFO ‘zine.
‘Can you see what’s going on in the shop?’ Ms Randrianasolo wanted to know. ‘Do you want me to come out there?’
‘No and no,’ said Joel. ‘You’d better stay next to the phone. The Admiral will call us in his own good time.’
He tugged at the hood of his anorak, wondering if he could have a smoke without blowing his cover. ‘Let’s hope they’re friendly,’ he muttered.
Isaac stepped out from behind the counter. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a black cardigan. His face was neutral, everything held back.
An hour ago he’d been uniformed and twenty years younger.
Benny stood up, cautiously, aware of the Doctor’s eyes.
Her father came closer, until he was within a few feet of her. Still far enough away to dodge back from an attack, she thought. He studied her face carefully. ‘You’re not Claire.’
‘No,’ she said, the lump in her throat rising. ‘I’m Bernice.’
His mouth opened, a little. But he nodded.
She started to cry. She reached out and wrapped her arms around him. He stood there, awkwardly, while she sobbed, ‘It’s me, Daddy. It’s me. It’s Bernice.’
At last he untangled himself, looked at her. ‘How old are you?’
‘I’m... I’m about thirty-five.’ She looked at the Doctor for confirmation, but he had nothing to say, quietly watching.
Isaac looked from her to the Doctor and back. ‘How did you find me?’
Benny rubbed at her eyes. ‘I’ve been looking for you for years. That is, I... when did you get here?’
‘This is our twentieth anniversary,’ he said. ‘We arrived just in time for Kennedy’s assassination.’
‘The Doctor said there’d been a temporal tangent ...
There’s so much to tell you, there’s so much... My husband’s in the TARDIS!’
‘Your husband.’
The Doctor was sliding his legs out from