Doctor Who_ The Dying Days - Lance Parkin [31]
'No sudden moves,' one of the men warned.
The Doctor snatched another glance at the screen. The astronauts were still in the tunnel, there was more static now than picture. His head snapped back to look at Bambera and her antagonist.
'I'm reaching for my ID,' Bambera said sternly. 'Believe me, son, if you want to play Top Trumps with our security clearances you'll lose unless you're the Secretary-General herself.' When Bambera held up her security card, the guard recoiled like a vampire at the sign of the cross.
The Doctor and Bernice weren't so lucky. They were now being dragged across the room to the door, and both had found it impossible to break their captor's grip. The guard clasping the Doctor was paying particularly little attention to how he held his charge, choosing to dig in his nails and shake him as he moved.
'Stop this!' the Doctor yel ed. Everyone in the room stopped and faced him.
'Winifred, I am the Doctor and this is my friend Bernice. We have to get down there, to Mission Control. There might still be time to save those astronauts.'
'The Doctor? Ancelyn and Lethbridge-Stewart both said that you could change your - '
'Come on! We haven't time for this now!' he shouted.
'These people are with me,' Bambera informed the guards firmly. The one in charge shrugged, and let all three out of the observation bay.
'Through here for mission control,' he ordered, opening up a door for them. Al three piled through.
The door slammed shut and to their acute embarrassment the Doctor, Bernice and Bambera found themselves standing in an empty alleyway on the wrong side of a fire door.
They quickly determined that it had been barricaded from the inside and that nothing short of an ATR would open it.
'I can't believe we just fell for that,' the Doctor groaned.
'I need to get in touch with UNIT HQ,' Bambera snarled, plucking her radio from her breast pocket. 'Seabird to HQ.
Seabird to HQ. Hey! Where are you going?'
The Doctor and Bernice were already running off.
***
Staines found Lord Greyhaven as he stepped out of the Gents.
'That al went rather wel didn't it, Teddy?'
Greyhaven smiled. 'Of course it did, dear boy. A marvel ous speech, by the way.'
The Home Secretary grinned. When Lord Greyhaven praised you it was like getting a special mention from the Headmaster at morning assembly. Staines decided to try for another positive response. 'It was no more than you deserve, Teddy.'
This time he was rewarded with only a faint tic at the corner of the mouth. Walking side by side like this, Staines was surprised to notice how short the former Minister for Science was.
'Are you well, Lord Greyhaven?'
'Everything is wonderful, Staines. There's an Englishman on Mars, the FT index is up ten percent on the day and I've just been interviewed by a lovely American girl younger than my granddaughter who gave me her telephone number.'
'Gol y. What did you do?'
'I gave her my card and told her that I would be happy to help in any way that I could.'
'How do we top that? Lunch at the club?'
'No, Staines, I think that now I should get down to Mission Control and see if I can be of any help down there. By all means come with me.'
***
Lethbridge-Stewart hadn't taken his eyes of Alexander Christian since he'd first seen him. They'd walked down the footpath to the railway station in silence, and all the time the Brigadier had kept him covered with his pistol.
Christian was nervous of being spotted, but the streets were deserted: everyone was inside watching the Mars Landing on television. About ten minutes ago there had been a rowdy cheer from inside the pub on the corner.
There was an Englishman on Mars again. The Brigadier couldn't let that distract him. Much as he wanted to hear that the mission was a success, much as he wanted to hear the first words of the astronauts as they were spoken, he couldn't predict what Christian's reaction would be if he watched the coverage, so they couldn't risk a cafe or a pub.
They