Doctor Who_ The Algebra of Ice - Lloyd Rose [69]
‘Good.’ Molecross was enthusiastic. ‘I want a proper meal.’
‘Am I the only one here with any brains?’ Ethan asked, though he was pretty certain he knew the answer. ‘What can you do in the village, except possibly run into Brett?’
‘We don’t even know he’s here.’
‘Right. He’s left England, the entry point is here – what’s he done, gone to Cancun?’
‘We must have got here ahead,’ she insisted, running from the room. Her voice echoed back, ‘He doesn’t have a time machine!’
‘No,’ Ethan muttered. ‘Only jet travel.’
Molecross was beginning to look doubtful. ‘He’s never seen me.’
‘You’re not bloody going, Molecross. That’s all she’d need.’
Ace ran back in, carrying an armful of coats. She tossed one to each of the men. Neither looked as if it would fit. Ethan was also provided with a soft, wide-brimmed hat that looked to have gone a few rounds in its day.
‘Ace, do you happen to have a plan?’
Chapter Seventeen
143
‘He’s taken the car. We might see it on the street and find him that way. It’s not a big place.’
‘What in hell would he even be doing there?’
‘Sniffing out information. Who knows? I’m not hanging about doing nothing.’
‘Maybe he doesn’t want you interfering, did you think of that?’
She glared at him. ‘You’re just afraid! Right, don’t come. Don’t either of you come. The last thing I want is to have to take care of a pair of nerds.’ She slammed down the door lever. Snow blew in. ‘Bugger.’
For just a second she was nonplussed, then she charged out the door.
‘Oh hell.’ Ethan struggled into the smaller of the two coats. ‘I have to go after her.’
‘No you don’t,’ Molecross objected. ‘She can take care of herself. She’s damn tough.’
Ethan jammed on the hat. It was too big. ‘And you bloody stay here, Molecross. Do you hear me? Stay. Here. If you touch anything, I’ll murder you.’
And he ran after Ace.
The snow was heavier, but it wasn’t yet sticking to the ground. Ahead of him he could see Ace’s leather jacket and bouncing ponytail. He yelled her name, but she didn’t stop. Stuff this, he thought, and sped up. If he couldn’t catch a girl running downhill, he might as well go home and jump out the window.
When she heard him approaching, she glanced over her shoulder.
‘Go away!’
‘Not bloody likely. You child!’ he shouted as she turned away. ‘You stupid, stubborn child! You’re still in the playground! You think this is a game and you’re going to win.’
She spun on him. ‘What do you know about it? You don’t know anything.
You don’t know the things I’ve seen, the things I’ve got clear of, things I haven’t got clear of in time. All you know is bleeding numbers and pills.’
‘I know you’re a fool.’ He caught up to her, panting and angry. ‘You don’t have any idea what you’re doing. You’ve just panicked and run off. Find him by his car! What’s he going to be doing, then – having a drink in some quaint Swiss inn?’ He bent over, hands on knees, trying to catch his breath. ‘All you want is to smash things, Ace.’
‘All you want is to hide.’ But she was sullen rather than shouting.
‘Not having much luck, am I?’
She shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. ‘Some things need smashing.
A lot of things.’
144
The Algebra of Ice
‘There’s a philosophy. Do they need blowing up too? Have you still got that Nineteen Nine?’
‘Nitro Nine,’ she said scornfully. ‘You really are a nerd.’
He straightened, wiping the snow from his face. ‘I can’t begin to estimate the number of non-nerds on this planet who have never heard of Nitro Nine. I imagine a great many of them have never blown anything up, either.’
‘It’s not like I blow up buildings,’ she sulked. She kicked a tree, but not very hard. ‘You’re talking like I’m Guy Fawkes or something. I only blow up small things, like Daleks.’
Ethan didn’t want to know what Daleks were. ‘Sometimes you act like you’re 13, Ace. You’re not 13.’
‘I hated my life,’ she said in a small voice, ‘before I met him. I lived in this lifeless bloody suburb and I was going to grow up and marry some local prat and have kids and yell at