Doctor Who_ The Last Dodo - Jacqueline Rayner [46]
I did so, not quite sure what he wanted it for.
‘So, this is what’s going to happen. You’re going back to the museum, you’re going to get help for Tommy, and you’re going to find out what’s going on while I deal with these wee beasties down here. OK?’ He began to programme numbers into the pendant’s keypad.
Hang on a minute…
Before I really knew what was happening, the Doctor had shoved the shopping trolley towards me and, as I grabbed at it instinctively, he flung the pendant’s cord back over my head. Then with a twisty‐turny move that would impress any yoga guru, he bent over to push the big blue buttons on both mine and Tommy’s pendants and suddenly…
I was back in the Earth section of MOTLO, Tommy at my feet and the Dorothea‐containing trolley by my side, knowing that the Doctor was light years away, still surrounded by deadly prehistoric creatures.
I wasn’t happy. But he’d given me a job to do, so I was going to do it. I’d pretty much figured out by now that that was how this whole deal worked.
THE ISPYDER BOOK OF EARTH CREATURES
DROMAEOSAURUS
Dromaeosaurus albertensis
Location: North America
Dromaeosaurus is a carnivorous theropod dinosaur of just under two metres in length. It walks on its hind legs, which are relatively short, but powerful. The centre toe on each of its three‐toed feet has a long, sickle‐shaped claw. Its body is covered with structures that resemble feathers.
Addendum:
Last reported sighting: late Cretaceous period.
Cause of extinction: environmental change.
ISpyder points value: 200
THIRTEEN
The vast Earth section was still empty of creatures as far as the eye could see – Dorothea the dodo aside – and devoid now of visitors too. ‘Hello?’ Martha called, quietly at first, slightly intimidated by the space and the silence, and then louder and louder as no response was forthcoming. Yes, she supposed she was a fugitive, but Tommy’s safety was more important right now. She self‐consciously did a little jog around just in case the movement sensors had been switched on, but no alarm sounded.
Having given Tommy a quick check – he was still stable, if not exactly in the best of health – she set off to look for help. It was harder to navigate without the animal landmarks, but signs still stood at most junctions, pointing hopelessly towards a non‐existent parrot or panda, and that helped.
Suddenly – whether it was seeing a sign indicating the Black Rhino, or whether she would have remembered anyway – her memory was jogged. The pendants – they could be used to communicate too! Her first instinct was to make her way back to Tommy and then call for help, but she realised that actually it suited her purpose more to be somewhere else, keep out of the clutches of the security guards and remain a free agent. Or Agent. She’d become Agent Jones again because, after all, she had some detecting to do.
She examined the pendant around her neck and found the appropriate switch. ‘Medical assistance required,’ she hissed into it. ‘Earther down, Earther down! Earth section, er…’ She tried to remember what signs she’d seen by their arrival point, and checked her pocket for the ISpyder guide to see if she’d got the name right – but of course the Doctor still had that. Which meant that she couldn’t update it. Not that that mattered – the vast emptiness surrounding her meant her accumulation of points had just come to an abrupt halt. ‘Near where the Kosher Cake was,’ she attempted.
‘The Kosrae Crake?’ came a voice in return, possibly Rix’s, Then, in a more perturbed tone, ‘Hang on, who is this?’
‘Never mind that. Just help Tommy.’ Then she firmly pushed the switch into its ‘off’ position.
She crept through the deserted halls, pushing the supermarket trolley in front of her, trying to ignore its squeaky wheel, trying to ignore thoughts of the Doctor