Doctor Who_ The Dying Days - Lance Parkin [85]
'There was a General Lethbridge-Stewart at Naseby and at Waterloo. My father died in the Sahara, fighting Mussolini alongside Montgomery. A dozen generations of fighting men.'
‘And there wil be a dozen more,' the Doctor said.
Alistair's expression flickered. 'No, I don't think so. My daughter may be talking to me now, but I don't think she'll ever let Gordy join up.' He paused, looking down at Bernice, so peaceful in sleep. 'Thank God.'
The Doctor didn't say anything.
Alistair sighed. 'The world has changed. My father could remember reading about the Wright Brothers' first flight. I remember him bringing home a piece of Bakelite to show us. It was like moonrock. You know what Bakelite is, don't you?'
'Plastic,' the Doctor replied.
The Brigadier nodded. 'Forty years ago, I was a lieutenant in Africa. I got lost in the jungle, and stumbled across a Themne village called Rokoye where most people had never seen a white man before. For a while I lived there, in a place where half of the women died in childbirth and where you were considered a traveller if you walked for more than a day. They were good people, but were probably less advanced than the Britons when Julius Caesar invaded.' He paused. 'It's a long time since I thought about my time there. There are great chunks of my life that I don't - or can't - talk about. I've made a career from keeping a lid on my memories.'
The Doctor's eyes narrowed. 'So what made you think of Sierra Leone now?'
'Because last week I watched the Channel Four News and learnt that the Themne are wiping out their neighbours with attack helicopters over oil rights.'
'You blame yourself for that?'
The Brigadier looked into the fire. 'I don't know. When I was back in Britain, I used to read about all those groups who were trying to free Nelson Mandela and think that they were wrong, that he was a communist terrorist and that the world would be a better place without people like him running around. Apartheid was wrong, I knew that, but that didn't make everyone who opposed it right.' He hesitated before changing the subject. 'Do you remember Crichton?'
78
'Colonel Crichton, the head of UNIT in the eighties. I only met him a couple of times.' The Doctor's expression remained neutral, but Alistair sensed disapproval in his voice.
The Brigadier nodded. 'He was promoted to general two years ago, after a fracas involving the Yeti. It was only the third time he'd led men into battle against extraterrestrial forces. They promoted him, but they never promoted me.'
He paused for a moment before knocking back the vodka.
The doorbel rang, startling them both.
They looked at each other sheepishly - both thinking about the hordes of monsters they'd fought over the decades, only to end up here being frightened of doorbells.
Lethbridge-Stewart had already reached for his gun. The Doctor shook his head. 'Ice Warriors don't knock,' he assured his friend.
The Brigadier nodded, but kept the pistol close to him. 'I'm coming with you.'
The Doctor extricated himself from the dozing Benny and made his way through to the hal . The Brigadier stayed behind him, far enough back to get a clear shot if that proved necessary.
The Doctor reached the front door. He glanced back at the Brigadier, who was standing by the grandfather clock. It provided him with partial cover, and with something to conceal his gun behind.
The door opened to reveal a pretty blonde thing standing on the step. She didn't have a hair out of place, she wore a haute-couture dress and a gold necklace that would break the bank for most people. A hairy chap behind her looked a little more nervous. He was carrying a big bag with a shoulder