Doctor Who_ The King of Terror - Keith Topping [21]
‘Leave him alone!’
‘Excuse me?’ said the LAPD patrol officer currently kneeling on the back of a man in his twenties who was shouting obscenities.
‘I apologise for my companion’s behaviour,’ said the Doctor quickly. ‘How do you do, I’m the Doctor . . . ’ He held out his hand but was ignored by the policeman, who left the struggling man in the custody of three colleagues who were variously handcuffing him and beating him with their batons.
‘Excuse me?’ the officer repeated, coming eyeball to eyeball with Tegan.
Turlough thought about running. He estimated that he could probably make it to the TARDIS before anybody noticed he wasn’t there. No key. Blast.
He looked at the Doctor who had become strangely passive.
If there was one thing that didn’t intimidate Tegan Jovanka, however, it was a bully in a uniform. She had dealt with enough of those when training to be a stewardess.
‘I said, “Leave him alone”, which I believe you heard.’
‘Look,’ interjected the Doctor reasonably, ‘I’m sure we can sort this out very easily if you’ll just . . . ’
Again, the officer ignored the Doctor.
‘You’re aware who this man is,
ma’am?’ he asked Tegan.
‘No, but that doesn’t matter,’ she replied. ‘He’s entitled to basic human rights, and one of those is not being beaten to a pulp in the streets by four Nazi storm-troopers in drag.’
The policeman smiled, his teeth gleaming as brightly as his sunglasses, which the sunlight had just caught. The light momentarily dazzled Tegan.
Ohmigod, she thought, you’ve gone and done it now. She could see the Doctor was trying desperately to think of something to say. He’d talked his way out of confrontations with Cybermen, renegade Time Lords, even the Black Guardian of the universe. But now he had that look on his face that said you’re on your own.
40
‘Shut up, lady!’ said the policeman angrily. ‘This son of a bitch is one of those terrorist freaks that blew up the De Randolph building last week. Five dead. Eighty-three injured. So get the hell out of my way and let us put this piece of shit where he belongs. And, hey, have a nice day!’
And with that, he spun on his heels and returned to his colleagues who were bundling the protesting man into the back of their car.
No one said anything. Turlough had wandered away from the Doctor and Tegan during the confrontation and seemed uncertain as to whether he should get involved now.
Finally Tegan turned to the Doctor. ‘Well?’ she shouted, ‘aren’t you going to say anything?’
‘No,’ said the Doctor. Then he changed his mind. ‘Let’s find a taxi.’
‘Are you English by any chance?’
The Doctor looked up from his copy of The Times. ‘I’ve come from London,’ he said truthfully. ‘How do you do?’ The woman appeared to be in her late forties. She was strikingly lovely, with bobbed blonde hair and a rich complexion. The Doctor recognised the regionality of the accent immediately.
‘Somerset?’
‘Bath, originally,’ she said with a charming smile as she sat down next to him. ‘I live in Hampshire. Do you know Redborough at all? It’s just south of . . . ’
‘Basingstoke. Yes I do, actually,’ said the Doctor. ‘I did some work down there once for . . . ’ He laughed at his inability to break the Official Secrets Act.
‘Well, it was all a bit hush-hush, you know?’ he said, tapping the side of his nose.
‘I understand,’ replied the woman, with a conspiratorial wink.
‘Julia
Franklin.’
‘The Doctor.’
The woman looked nonplussed. ‘Doctor?’
‘ The,’ replied the Doctor. He shook his head apologetically. ‘Smith. What brings you to America?’
‘Turned left at Greenland,’ said Julia. Then she realised the joke hadn’t worked because the wrong question had been asked and blushed furiously.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘You must think me a scatterbrain.’
The Doctor was keen to assure her that he was thinking nothing of the kind. ‘Not at all,’ he replied and folded his newspaper, putting it back on the hotel-lobby table where he’d found it. ‘The question stands, however!’
‘Wedding anniversary.