Doctor Who_ The Forgotten Army - Brian Minchin [56]
Amy pressed forward down the wide Fifth Avenue, and the mammoth started to pick up speed. Past the Bank of America and Tiffany's the mammoth galloped, so fast the buildings became a blur. Clutching the pretzel-wheel, Amy stayed focused on the road ahead. From the left eye she could see security guards turning in her direction, but they moved so slowly that they didn't even see her before the beast had sprinted past.
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'Remember they can't actually move out of the way.’ the Doctor said. He pointed ahead at a group of people crossing the road so slowly they looked like the cover of the Beatles'
Abbey Road album.
'Got it covered, Doctor.’ Amy assured him. She leaned back in her seat, and the mammoth reared up and leapt over the people's heads, spraying them with muddy water.
Racing past Macy's, Amy had arrived at the junction with Broadway when the Doctor yelled 'Stop!'
He pointed to the left. Madison Square was filled with NYPD troops, and Strebbins was marching up and down, barking out orders.
Hundreds of Vykoid soldiers were gathering, setting up for the next stage of the operation. Their tiny jeeps were parked up on the curb, and they seemed to be synchronising their watches. For the first time since the Time Freeze had started, Amy could see the Vykoids moving at normal speed.
The little aliens started to run over as soon as they saw the mammoth, and she tensed up.
'It's OK.’ the Doctor reassured her. 'They're no faster than us now.'
The Vykoids were looking very alarmed, and started making calls on their tiny walkie-talkies.
'On we go!' the Doctor said, and Amy steered the mammoth away from the Vykoids and down Broadway.
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A breathless Sam stuck his head up into the mammoth's neck and asked: 'Shouldn't we have hidden from them?'
Amy and the Doctor burst out laughing.
'We're in a mammoth on Broadway.’ Amy pointed out. 'I don't think subtlety and camouflage are among our strengths!'
As they headed into downtown New York, Amy gazed at the vast city around her. There were NYPD officers at the corner of each block. To a girl from Leadworth, the casual display of guns was shocking. And Amy knew what they were going to use them for. Passing City Hall, she saw a crowd of people waiting on the steps.
'The Vykoids are sealing all the doors to keep everyone out in the open,' the Doctor said.
'Talk about mean streets... How long do we have?'
The Doctor looked around. 'They'll wait until they get it at the busiest time. Everyone in Manhattan will go to work and end up as a mining slave...'
High above Manhattan, General Erik gazed out of the crown of the Statue of Liberty and saw the city waking up. Pretty soon, he would instruct his men to use the police on the streets to lead everyone in New York onto Broadway.
General Erik's Vykoid soldiers had worked through the night to lay teleport signal amplifiers 212
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along its length and, when the tarmac was packed to bursting, he would send the first shipment back. If the NYPD
did their work as planned, they would slowly empty the city, forcing everyone to march onto Broadway and go to his hometown.
At moments like this, General Erik wondered if he'd aimed too low. He was already confident in his success, and was seriously considering extending the campaign to round up the entire East Coast of America. He'd get promoted for this operation, he was sure.
More than anything, General Erik loved that he'd been able to do all this, with none of the humans suspecting anything was happening until the very last minute. With any luck, he would take Manhattan without a single loss of life.
A nervous private interrupted General Erik's thoughts.
'Sir, the mammoth is on the move. And Sector 9 is reporting the non-human we encountered called the Doctor was not part of the Puppet Programming Operation.'
General Erik dismissed the private, and turned back to the window. He felt unshakeable. There was nothing one man and a mammoth could do now.
With the children safe at Polly Vernon's, Oscar stepped back into his squad