Doctor Who_ The Dying Days - Lance Parkin [89]
Alan looked puzzled. ‘If the Martians can build spaceships and they’re hostile, then why haven’t they tried to invade Earth before?’
The Doctor peered up at the two Americans through his fringe. ‘Believe me, they tried.’
'Do you have any evidence for any of what you are saying?' It was clear that Eve knew that the Doctor was tel ing the truth, but that she found it almost impossible to cope with what he was saying.
The Brigadier knew as wel as anyone what Eve must be feeling at the moment. Nearly a quarter of a century ago, back when he was a Colonel, he'd met the Doctor for the first time. In less than an hour everything that Lethbridge-Stewart knew to be true, his entire world-view, had been challenged. Friends were enemies, there were monsters, demons and things that existed out in space that man couldn't comprehend. From that moment until his retirement, Lethbridge-Stewart only knew two things for certain: the world depended on him, and he could trust the Doctor.
'No,' the Brigadier said, 'We have no proof. That's why we cal ed you here. Together we can travel the country and collect the evidence.'
'You can send it back to America, show the world what is happening here,' the Doctor said, a gleam in his eye.
Eve was defensive. 'What is happening is that Britain has formed a mutually beneficial alliance with an advanced alien race. I’m telling you that if that ship had appeared over Washington, the President would have done just the same.'
'This isn't the bold new future, it's chaos,' the Doctor shouted.
81
Lethbridge-Stewart tried to remain calm. 'I used to work with the United Nations, as you know. I still attend reunions, I talk to this generation of soldiers. Have you ever talked to anyone who was a peacekeeper in the former Yugoslavia? Do you know what frightened them most? It wasn't the bombing, the snipers, the shelling or the piles of dead children. It was the fact that they were patrolling towns that looked like English towns.'
The Doctor was staring into the distance, as though he was looking into the thoughts of each and every soldier.
'They walked through the rows of semi-detached houses, all the burnt-out Volvos and petrol stations and primary schools, and they saw how fragile it al was. Yugoslavia used to be where they went for their holidays, but only six months later there were minefields on the beaches, and blood down the white concrete walls of al those big seafront hotels.'
'The Martians are here,' Eve insisted, 'But nothing else has changed. The Archers is still on twice a day, the milkman still brings you bottles of milk, the BBC is still funded by the licence fee. People are quite capable of turning Britain into Bosnia without any help from aliens.'
The Doctor was trying to communicate his urgency to her, while also remaining patient. 'It's calm in London. Too calm. The streets are deserted, because no-one dares to come out. But have you noticed how the television and radio is keeping very quiet about the rest of the country? From what we can gather, whole regiments and police forces are refusing to co-operate with the Provisional Government. It doesn't matter - there are quite enough who will do the Government's work for them. In a week's time, if we don't stop it, this country will have slid into chaos and civil war.'
Eve was shaking her head again. 'Look, some people find it difficult to deal with the Martians. I'm freaked out, and it isn't even my country. But they aren't an army of occupation - they haven't left their ship yet. In a week's time people wil be used to having the Martians around. Edward says that they are here in peace, and there's proof of that: if the Martians were