Doctor Who_ Return of the Living Dad - Kate Orman [16]
‘Everyone needs a hobby.’ He drained the cup.
The sky was lightening and the mist was beginning to clear.
Tony reached up and put a hand on the TARDIS. Its paint was rough and warm under his palm, tingling with life.
After a moment he stepped back, feeling the weight of the Doctor’s eyes on him. ‘Sorry,’ he said.
The Doctor took a key from inside his hat and unlocked the door. Tony trailed after him into the console room. It wasn’t much like the descriptions he’d heard, but then those were probably speculation.
There were three humans inside. ‘Chris, Roz, Jason,’
said the Doctor, ‘this is Tony.’
He looked at the trio. Chris was a tall blond in a T-shirt, jeans and black overcoat, Roz a short black woman in a maroon pullover, black trousers and riding boots.
Jason’s clothes were anachronistic, especially the synthetic jacket with orange stripes. He was hovering anxiously.
‘What’s the deal?’
‘Benny’s father is alive and well and running a small coffee shop,’ said the Doctor, rummaging in his toolkit
‘Everything seems to be what it seems to be, with one exception.’ He pulled out a stubby, copper-coloured device.
The Doctor turned and tapped Tony on the nose with the metal rod. The holographic disguise burst like a bubble, revealing a short, pale-skinned alien with an oversized head and huge, slanted black eyes.
‘Your hologram generator’s batteries need a recharge,’
said the Doctor, replacing the tool in his kit.
The alien looked down at himself, then up at the three humans staring at him from across the console.
‘Sorry,’ he said.
The Doctor tapped at the scanner controls. ‘There are eight other alien life forms in Little Caldwell.’
‘You’ve left her out there, then?’ said Jason.
The Doctor looked at the Tzun. ‘Do you want to tell me all about it?’
Benny turned in her seat as the bells tied to the door jingled.
But it wasn’t the Doctor, it was a man in his late teens or early twenties, with red hair and round glasses. ‘Good morning, Joel,’ said her father.
Joel looked between the two of them. ‘Hi.’
‘This is Bernice,’ said Isaac. ‘She’s my daughter.’
‘So I hear.’ Joel took off his thick coat. He was thin, fearing a green King Thunder T-shirt and jeans. His accent was — American? Canadian? just wanted to see if everything was okay in here.’
‘Good. You can heat up three croissants for us.’ The corner of Joel’s mouth tugged up, and he went behind the counter. ‘I’ve just been telling Bernice about the railroad.’
‘Time travellers and aliens,’ said Benny.
‘Heck,’ said Joel, as he took the croissants out of the display, ‘we get all kinds. ETs, mutants, strays, greys, LGMs, BEMs, UNIT deserters, Striebs, dweebs, Stepford Wives, Midwich Cuckoos, missing persons, faraway people, peepers, buzzers, hoppers, hitchers, Leapers, Sliders...’
‘We have contacts all over the world,’ said Isaac. ‘We find them, bring them here, and make sure they get home.
Damage control. It’s safer for them and for Earth if they quietly go home.’
‘That’s why you’ve been expecting the Doctor.’
‘We’ve been tidying up his messes for twenty years,’ said Isaac. ‘Pm surprised he hasn’t got around to us before now.’
Woodworth was starting to wonder whether she hadn’t
‘missed’ Little Caldwell after all. She’d been driving in circles around Newbury for half an hour. She pulled over. The radio was murmuring something about cruise missiles.
It wasn’t anything supernatural, she’d just missed the turnoff, twice. She folded up the map and shoved it back in the glovebox.
After a moment, she pulled out the gun and put it in her bag, Pushing it to the bottom under the jars and bags and books.
‘Breathing’ started on the car radio as she pulled out onto the road. ‘Third time lucky,’ she muttered.
Benny closed her eyes for a moment, breathing the breakfast smells. This ought to be a barren plain on some far-flung moon, or an alien graveyard with human names scattered amongst the headstones, or the shattered shell of the Tisiphone suspended in space.
She opened her eyes. Tony, his hologram restored, was cooking