Doctor Who_ Silver Nemesis - Kevin Clarke [8]
‘Now we have but to take the statue,’ she said. ‘The peasants will be much excited and we can pass among them unnoticed and find our opportunity to seize it. Hurry, there’s no time to lose.’
The door, however, refused to yield. Outside there was another of the roars which had disturbed Richard previously. He watched in wonder as a police car sped past, its blue light flashing on the roof. Sensing its purpose, Lady Peinforte could wait no longer. ‘Hurry!’ she yelled.
‘The rogue will have the Nemesis.’
The lock, however, still refused to move. ‘I have not seen the like of it, my lady,’ Richard admitted nervously.
Lady Peinforte gave a screech of frustration. ‘Am I to be a prisoner in my own house while world dominion waits beyond the door?’ she screamed. ‘I’d have got married if I’d wanted that.’
Richard was secretly not altogether unhappy that they were, at least temporarily, forced to remain in the relative safety of the building. Who could tell how many more of the roaring carriages there were outside? ‘Such light without fire,’ he breathed. ‘And the noise. We must take care, my lady.’
‘Fie!’ Lady Peinforte picked up a plastic child’s chair and hurled it through the window, shattering the garish lettering which read ‘Come right in!’ Immediately the continuous electric bell of the burglar alarm tore into the quiet of the night. Lady Peinforte and Richard stared at each other open-mouthed. Lady Peinforte was the first to recover. She leapt through the shattered window into the street outside. Terrified, Richard followed.
Down the strange-scented street they ran, headlong into the twentieth century. Rounding a corner they saw the police car, now motionless, and a man standing-next to it looking through a wire fence into what seemed to be a partly completed metal building. Lady Peinforte and Richard ducked into a doorway and watched the man carefully. He had not seen them.
‘What means yon blue fellow?’ whispered Richard.
‘Why speaks he to his hand?’
Lady Peinforte was again instinctive about the activities of the police. ‘He summons guards,’ she said angrily. ‘Oh, this cannot be.’ There was silence for a moment, disturbed only by the distant crackle of traffic on the policeman’s radio as his call was answered.
‘Why so upset, my lady?’ said Richard.
Lady Peinforte flared. ‘Must I always be surrounded by fools?’ she cried, loudly enough to give Richard palpitations. ‘Because, fool, they will protect the Nemesis, and we know not their strength and weapons.’
‘But, my lady,’ Richard spoke gently, ‘they know not what the comet is. And without the arrow it is nothing. We have but to watch and wait our chance to seize it.’
There was a pause as this sank in. Lady Peinforte turned to him, considering. ‘Thou art not in all wise so useless, Richard.’
Richard bowed. ‘My lady is too kind.’
Lady Peinforte became decisive once again. ‘We’ll go outside the town and hide until morning.’
Crossing in front of the statue of Queen Victoria, they made their way past the railway station and towards open country.
In a street on the opposite side of the building site in which the meteor had come to ground, the van was stationary outside a multi-storey car park. In the passenger seat, the glowing bow illuminated the outside of the flight case, even though it was locked inside. De Flores gazed raptly at the site. ‘In the new era,’ his voice trembled with emotion, ‘this place will be a shrine.’
Karl waited diplomatically, but presumed to speak when no more was forthcoming. ‘We await only your order,’ he said politely. De Flores smiled gently at him.
‘Good!’ he replied. He settled back comfortably. ‘Then let us drive to the best hotel and enjoy a good night’s sleep.’
Behind him the young paramilitaries looked at each other in astonishment. De Flores glanced round, and smiled indulgently. ‘You young people,’ he admonished.
‘Always in such a hurry. Well, we were the same. The statue is inside a meteor which has just travelled through space. Have you any idea how