Doctor Who_ Storm Harvest - Mike Tucker [15]
Ace was about to point out that he’d never seen her with a hotel mini-bar before, then decided against it. She shrugged and dumped her rucksack on the back of the other hovering robot. The two spiders scuttled up the stairs at speed. The Doctor watched them go.
‘I think we’ll take the lift, don’t you?’
‘Monsters in the service tunnels? Really, Brenda, are you taking this seriously?’
Brenda shrugged and lit up another cigarette. ‘The girl’s pretty shaken up, Phillip. Claims that she got a good look at it. I’ve got the security detail doing a sweep.’
Garrett threw his arms up in disgust. ‘I don’t believe this! Monsters for God’s sake...’
‘Well at least I feel as though I’m doing something, damn it!’
Garrett stared at her in surprise. Brenda wasn’t the fiery type. She turned away. ‘I’m sorry, Phillip. It’s been a long day.’
‘Still no news about Holly?’
Brenda shook her head and stared out of her office window over the sea. ‘The flyer is still out, but they’re running low on fuel, they’re going to have to come back in the next hour or so. I’ve put out a general bulletin asking all incoming freighters to run a sensor sweep, and I’ve put NavSat Nine on continuous alert. If she’s out there...’
‘Then they’ll find her.’ There was an awkward pause. Garrett shuffled uneasily. ‘I’m off shift now, if you fancy a drink later...’
Brenda smiled at him. ‘Thanks, Phillip, but I think I’ll turn in early.
I’ll see you in the morning.’
Garrett nodded and opened the office door. He paused in the doorway. ‘I’ll ask my teams to keep a look out for anything...
suspicious in the service corridors. A monster head would look good on your office wall, wouldn’t it?’
With a wry smile he closed the door.
Brenda blew a cloud of blue smoke into the room, then turned her attention back to the sea.
Ace placed her pebble on the chest of drawers and then hurled herself on to a bed that was practically the size of a football pitch. Her room was huge; the bathroom alone was bigger than her mum’s old flat.
28
Plush rugs were scattered over the pale wooden floor amid tall, lush plants. A complex entertainment console was set into one wall, elegant curved wardrobes lined another.
She clambered to her feet and bounced on the bed a couple of times, giggling, then sprung off and stepped out through the picture window on to the balcony. Her room overlooked the bay. She could see the beach where they had landed. She tried to pick out the tree where the TARDIS was – she’d have to borrow the Doctor’s opera glasses again.
A breeze brought the smell of the sea across the bay. She breathed in deeply. This was fabulous.
Turning back into the room, she hauled her rucksack on to the bed and began pulling her clothes out. They seemed dwarfed once they were hung in the wardrobes and she was suddenly aware that everything she owned was getting tatty. She was meant to be meeting the Doctor for dinner at eight – the restaurant had looked quite posh.
Suddenly she made a decision and, snatching up her keycard, she stepped out into the corridor.
The Doctor had the room next door. She rapped on the door.
‘It’s open.’
The Doctor’s Scottish-sounding lilt drifted from inside. Ace pressed her palm on the entry panel and the door slid open with a soft whoosh.
The Doctor was sitting on his balcony, watching the activity in the harbour. Ace crossed the room. Somehow the hat stand from the TARDIS was standing in a corner, and a small electric train set wound its way round the bed and into the bathroom. The wardrobe was full of identical sets of clothes, jackets, checked trousers; there were at least six of those blasted question-mark pullovers. She shook her head.
She’d been right – that bloody bag was bigger on the inside. Stepping over a speeding Eurostar she joined the Doctor on the balcony.
‘You’ve made yourself at home, I see.’
‘A few creature comforts. Everything all right next door?’
Ace nodded. ‘Fantastic, but I wanted