Doctor Who_ The Forgotten Army - Brian Minchin [33]
Strebbins called a cadet over. 'Run to the Mayor's 126
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office, and give him the following message.'
The cadet scrambled for his pad.
'Under protocol 578, I am initiating a period of intense policing under the Night Storm strategy.’ Strebbins said rapidly. 'In short, I'm closing down the streets. He better tell the President that there'll be pictures of tanks on Broadway in the papers tomorrow. He'll give you a list of objections.
Listen carefully to him, write down everything he says, then throw it in the garbage on the way out.'
Strebbins realised that the cadet was still taking notes.
'You do understand that the last things I said weren't part of the message?'
The cadet blushed and hastily scribbled out the last few lines.
'Then,' Strebbins continued, 'after he's objected for five minutes exactly, give him this next message: "As far as I'm concerned, there is no other course of action open to us." Is that understood?' Strebbins paused. She felt a bit like an old-style general dictating orders like this. And she had to admit she liked it.
'Yes, ma'am.’ the cadet replied.
'Good.' Strebbins knew it wasn't going to be easy. She'd be explaining her decision for a long time to come. Yet, as she looked out of her window at the city below, she knew it was a place worth saving. Some people would squawk away, attempting to
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deny the facts of a situation, or pretend it was about something else entirely. But Strebbins knew what was needed was control. She needed to get the city running again, and nothing and no one was going to stop her.
Amy and Oscar chased after Bismarck the tracker dog, as he led them down Fifth Avenue. As they reached the Arch, Bismarck skidded to a halt and started to growl at something.
Amy could immediately tell that something was very wrong. The debris around this crossroads was worse than the other streets, with three of the roads blocked. Yet one roadway had been left clear. It was far too much of a coincidence for this not to be a trap.
Almost on cue, six blacked-out vehicles screeched up the road and swung into the crossroads. The police vans had blockaded the only passable road, and police officers piled out of the vans. In their full riot gear, they looked like modern-day gladiators, advancing their line towards the scene of the most debris.
One of the police officers lifted his visor and shouted to the street, 'This is now a police-controlled area. Make your way to your homes. The streets are now under police control.'
As they moved down the street, the officers started to wince. The first six riot police suddenly 128
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found that their shields had been replaced with an umbrella, a body-board, a poster of President Obama, a baseball glove, and a traffic cone.
They stared in disbelief, raising their guns, only to see those guns taken from their hands. The soldiers squinted in disbelief. On the ground, waving the guns around were groups of red-faced, angry trolls.
Now unarmed, the riot police clung together, watching with horror as their rifles danced around on the floor, being controlled by miniature soldiers.
Amy could see the Vykoids were laughing, and one of them was firing stones from a catapult at incredible speed.
Barely bigger than gravel, the stones stung the faces and hands of the troops. Every time they tried to move, more of their riot gear was taken from them.
Amy gestured for Oscar to duck out of sight behind a tree.
'Vykoids...' she whispered. 'There's an army of them out there.'
Oscar's jaw was set. 'Are they gonna shoot?'
Amy shook her head. 'They don't want to kill anyone. But they're going to do something far worse. We've got to stop them.'
Oscar stood bolt upright. 'I'll go tell the riot squad about them!'
Amy yanked him back by his belt. 'No! I meant we've got