Doctor Who_ The Forgotten Army - Brian Minchin [31]
'What?' asked Oscar incredulously.
'Look at it. They're sweeping everyone off the streets.
Someone wants us to move, Oscar. And I'm not feeling very cooperative today.'
Amy knew she was right. First the Vykoids had killed th e power, and now they were sweeping the streets clear of people. If the same thing was happening across the city, then everyone on the streets was being herded downtown. Amy didn't want to tell Oscar what was going to happen to people when they got there.
They're going to have to do more than this to move us out of the way,' she said.
As the lamp-posts crashed down, Amy pulled Oscar close to her, and the wave of mayhem moved past them.
Told you it would be OK.' Amy grinned from ear to ear.
119
DOCTOR WHO
Oscar was looking at her with a serious expression on his face.
'You said "they". I just reckoned New York had been hit by freak weather conditions. What do you mean "they"?'
Amy hesitated. 'Oscar, there's no easy way to tell you this.
But I knew we wouldn't get hurt. This isn't an accident. It's a plan. Breaking glass, tearing down lamp-posts. It's scary, but look, no one's been hurt. Not many people could do that. And I've seen something today that you're going to find hard to believe. So bite your lip, and just keep thinking of when you were young and saw things that couldn't be true, but they turned out to be the real thing.'
Oscar nodded, keen to hear anything that might still the panic that was rising in him.
Amy continued. "The things doing this aren't people.
They're aliens. They're an alien army. Something that's been hidden on Earth for so long it was forgotten. Now they're awake, and they want New York. There was a lot more than we thought inside that mammoth, and it's got out.'
'I don't get you,' Oscar said, thinking that maybe she was a nutter after all.
'Have you got binoculars?' Amy asked.
'What?'
'Just... Binoculars. Please.'
Oscar went through his pockets, pulling out a pair. Amy looked down the street until she spotted a lamp-post that was still standing. She squinted
120
THE FORGOTTEN ARMY
at the ground around it, then gave a short cry of triumph.
'Yes! That one, there. Focus on that one, that's right -
you'll need to be quick. Right at the base of the post.'
Oscar focused the binoculars on the lamp-post, then gasped with astonishment as he saw a team of ten tiny aliens cutting into its base with a minuscule circular saw, while others tied tiny wires around the pole.
Without binoculars, Amy could barely make out what was happening. It felt like she was watching time-lapse photography, the tiny Vykoids were moving so fast. In only a few seconds, they'd cut away a chunk of metal at the base, and pulled the pole onto the ground.
"That's not possible!' Oscar exclaimed. 'Have you put something in my drink?'
Amy put her hands on his shoulders. 'I know this is a bit crazy, your head is probably spinning like you've had too much coffee, and part of you wants to sit down and give up.
But you're not going to. You've been sent to follow me 'cos you're the best they've got.'
'How did you know that?' Oscar demanded.
Amy smiled. 'Oscar, everyone in New York could tell you were waiting for me.' She continued. 'While we're together, we're safe. We can beat these things.'
121
DOCTOR WHO
Oscar frowned. 'I'll get in touch with Commander Strebbins, and we'll get all the units we need. We have weapons so smart, the tech guys have probably got something perfect for blasting tiny people into even tinier pieces.'
Amy put her hand on his mouth. 'Haven't you been listening to me? We do this without guns, without violence.
Today, no one's going to get hurt. Those are the things that have my friend, and the Doctor is the only person who can stop them. If we can get him back he'll know exactly what to do.'
Oscar was looking at Amy in obvious confusion. 'How can you be so calm about this? This is crazy. It's like Jim Henson's workshop has come to life out there!'
Amy could tell how stressed he was, how much he wanted to fall back on what he'd normally do - pull a gun