Doctor Who_ Return of the Living Dad - Kate Orman [49]
The Doctor slowed as they were coming up to the petrol station just outside Little Caldwell. Isaac, Joel, Albinex and Tony were gathered at the entrance to the garage. The Time Lord pulled up to one of the petrol pumps. ‘What are they up to?’ said Roz, craning her neck to see.
There was a roar from inside the garage, the sound of an engine that hadn’t been used for a long time. Isaac and Tony stood back.
Out of the garage rolled a van. Its many-coloured paint was faded, and one of its windows had been smashed, a big piece of cobwebbed plastic taped in place over the frame.
Joel rolled down the driver’s side window and said, ‘It needs gas. And we’d better bring the toolkit along.’
Albinex came out of the garage, clutching a big metal box as the Doctor and Roz walked up. ‘Got it.’
‘What’s up?’ said Roz, as Joel rolled the van down to the petrol pumps.
Isaac glanced at the Doctor. ‘Graeme stowed away in Ms Woodworth’s bag,’ he said. ‘She took him to some sort of military base, fifty or sixty miles from here. Chris is being held there.’
‘Ellen?’ said the Doctor.
‘Graeme?’ said Roz.
‘The spatula,’ said the Doctor. ‘He’s an Auton, isn’t he?’
‘Just a shred of Auton matter,’ said Isaac. ‘He was left behind after the last invasion. He and Tony have a sort of rapport. We can follow Graeme’s signal to the base.’
‘Outwitted by a spatula,’ said Roz.
‘What about Myn Jareshth?’ said the Doctor.
‘I’ve got one of our volunteer hosts to take him on until tonight,’ said Isaac. ‘We’ve evacuated all of our guests. It’s entirely possible we won’t be able to come back here.’
‘What’s the plan?’ said the Doctor, clasping his hands behind his back.
Joel said, ‘Simple. Schlep over to the base, bust in, and rescue Chris and anyone else who needs rescuing.’
The Doctor smiled at Isaac. ‘Will you be wanting any help?’
‘All hands on deck,’ said the Admiral.
Benny stood outside the Pyramid, hands in the pockets of her denim jacket. The sun was just going down.
It was possible they wouldn’t be able to come back here.
Ever. Her father had asked her to lock up the shop, and bring a big cardboard box downstairs that contained their important records.
Little Caldwell stood sad and quiet in the sunset, evacuated.
Suddenly, a psychedelically painted van drove up the main street.
Benny grinned madly at the Doctor, who was leaning out of the driver’s window, waving at her. ‘What’s this?’ she said.
‘A relic of the seventies!’ said Joel, slamming open the side door. ‘I always wanted to see this thing come out of mothballs!’
Benny hefted the cardboard box and jumped in. ‘So we’re going incognito, are we?’
* * *
The Doctor drove the van along the M4 about twice as fast as a human being could safely manage. Roz sat in the passenger seat, gaping out of the window, as they passed yet another police car too quickly for them to read the van’s plates.
And she’d thought Chris’s driving was a nightmare.
Roz half turned in her seat. In the back, Isaac’s crew were sitting cross-legged on the floor, quietly preparing themselves.
‘Hologram projector,’ said Isaac. Albinex, Joel, Jacqui and Ms Randrianasolo all made the same gesture, tapping themselves on the shoulder to check their projector was in place. ‘Handscan.’ Attached to their belts. ‘Communicator.’ In jacket or jean pockets.
Benny was sitting at the back of the van. She glanced at Roz over the top of the ritual preparations. ‘Glasses.’ Joel and Isaac both had a pair, looking like ordinary sunglasses, but with heads-up displays and X-ray and IR scanners built in. ‘We probably won’t need these, but keep them handy.’
Only Tony wasn’t taking part in the equipment check, sitting very still. He had switched off his hologram generator to conserve power. His big, slanted black eyes were blank with concentration as he ‘listened’ for messages from Graeme.
Roz hefted the bag they’d brought from Greenham Common. Jacqui and Ms Randrianasolo had borrowed three pairs of bolt-cutters, strong enough to