Doctor Who_ Return of the Living Dad - Kate Orman [23]
‘Yeah,’ said Joel. ‘You can’t be in this business and not know about the Doctor. I really want to get a chance to talk to him.’
‘He’s really cool,’ beamed Chris. ‘Hey, do you feel like coming with us? For a while, anyway?’
‘Are you kidding?’ said Joel. ‘I don’t want my arse exterminated.’
After a hundred adventures, you start to know when you’re being watched.
Benny hadn’t been able to shake the feeling for an hour; the back of her neck prickling as she and her father counted books and typed titles into the PC. While he was waiting for the database program to update, she tiptoed over to the door opposite the staircase, and pushed it open.
‘Aha!’ she said. ‘I thought so.’
There was an elderly cat sitting in the hallway, its single eye wide with surprise. It sniffed her proffered hand, decided she was acceptable, and rubbed itself on her legs.
‘We inherited that cat,’ said Isaac. ‘Everyone has a different name for him.’ Benny knelt, stroking the animal’s tattered fur.
‘And the Lacaillan is called Myn Jareshth.’
Benny froze in mid-pat. The blue humanoid was watching her from a doorway along the hall, slender fingers clasping the wall. ‘Hello,’ she said, standing up slowly. ‘My name’s Bernice.’
The Lacaillan stepped into the dimly lit hallway. He moved like a ballet dancer, fine white hair floating around his head. ‘Hello.’
‘Myn Jareshth and one other Lacaillan were caught breaking into the National Hurricane Center in Florida,’ said Isaac. Or rather, they were almost caught. We managed to get them away before they ended up in the laps of the FBI.’
He switched off the PC. ‘Myn, are you and Ia planning on coming downstairs this evening? It’ll be your last chance before you go.’
The Lacaillan considered for a moment, then shook his delicate head, carefully imitating the human gesture. ‘I cannot
— I can’t find Ia Jareshth,’ he breathed. ‘She is not in our room.’
Isaac was instantly on his feet. ‘You didn’t plan to split up?’
The Lacaillan shook his head again. ‘She has left no message. I don’t know where she has gone.’
‘Damn,’ said Isaac softly. He glanced at Benny with those cool grey eyes. ‘Myn. Stay here. We’ll search for her.’
‘We didn’t have anything to do with this,’ said Benny.
‘Of course not.’ Her father pulled his communicator out of a pocket. His expression was unreadable. ‘See if you can find the Doctor,’ he said. ‘We’ll need everyone.’
8 One of our extraterrestrials
‘Our timing’s marvellous as usual,’ said Roz, stomping through a puddle.
Chris looked down at his muttering partner, hidden beneath her brolly like an annoyed mushroom. It had started to rain in earnest an hour ago, just as they’d set out from the village. The TARDIS’s ever-changing wardrobe had noticed the weather, it seemed; big waterproof coats and a couple of strong umbrellas had been waiting for them.
‘We turn up,’ grumbled Roz, ‘and immediately, pow, there’s a crisis.’
Chris peered through the rain. They were coming up to a crossroads. ‘That’s usually because we create one.’
‘Not this time,’ said Roz. ‘Despite what Admiral Summerfield seems to think.’
‘Does he really think we kidnapped the Lacaillan?’
Roz shrugged. At least, Chris assumed that she shrugged. Her umbrella moved up and down. ‘Us, no. The Doctor, maybe. For all we know, he’s gone mad and decided to collect blue humanoids.’
‘What do you think about all of this? Little Caldwell, I mean.’
Roz’s umbrella moved up and down again. ‘They make up in experience what they lack in formal organization,’ she said. ‘And Isaac’s crew trusts him implicitly.’
‘But?’ said Chris.
‘But they’re amateurs.’
‘What are we, then?’
‘Trained.’ Roz harrumphed. ‘You’d think that after all this time they could manage not to lose their aliens.’
Chris recalled the meeting they’d had at the Pyramid.
Benny had phoned them at the cottage. Five minutes later they were at the Pyramid, ignoring the CLOSED sign hanging on the door. The crew had already gathered around a table where Isaac had spread out a map of the area.
Isaac was marking an irregular shape