Doctor Who_ The Room With No Doors - Kate Orman [18]
She knelt beside the Doctor and sliced easily through the rope. ‘Thank you,’
he said, gathering up his belongings from where Kiiro had dropped them.
‘Have we met, Miss Gate?’
The woman was peering at him through a pair of round spectacles. ‘I don’t believe so,’ she said. ‘Are you a member of the Royal Society?’
The Doctor grinned broadly. ‘I am indeed,’ he said. ‘And, since it won’t be founded for another century, I’ll be very interested to know how you came to join it.’
The man cleared his throat. ‘That’s all very well, Doctor,’ he said, ‘but I think we’d better get out of here before they decide retreating wasn’t honourable.
Or something.’
‘Joel Mintz!’ said Chris.
‘Yeah,’ said the redhead. ‘Hi, Chris.’
Penelope looked back and forth between them. ‘The plot thickens,’ she said.
‘Explanations and exchanges of pleasantries can wait until we’re safely away.’
She helped the Doctor to his feet. The Time Lord shook Joel’s hand, beam-ing. ‘You’ve grown,’ he said.
‘’Tis to laugh,’ said Joel. ‘This is too strange. We must have achieved infinite improbability, or something.’
‘Um,’ said Chris. ‘Could someone please untie me?’
Aoi bowed to his father. ‘May I ask you a question?’
They sat beside the fire. Kiiro was snoring, his back to a tree. The horses were still restless after their fright, snorting and stamping in the dark. They had ridden for almost an hour before Aoi’s father felt certain the demons were not pursuing them.
Father said, ‘You want to know why we ran away.’ Aoi bowed again. ‘The superior man does not needlessly expose himself to peril. There’s no dishonour in fleeing from demons.’
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‘But Father,’ said Aoi, ‘isn’t it also so that you can never be a true swordsman if you are concerned for your own safety? That is what you taught me – if you stop to worry for yourself, or think about death, in that instant your opponent will cut you down.’
‘That is true when you are in battle,’ said his father. ‘But a warrior must also know when not to fight. Then the sword that gives death becomes the sword that gives life.’
‘How can a sword give life?’ Aoi wanted to know, but his father smiled, and would not answer.
They followed Penelope along a narrow trail, silently, guided by the red beam from her torch. With any luck the samurai had ridden madly off in all directions and wouldn’t be looking for them tonight.
‘The village of Hekison,’ announced the short woman, as they emerged into a clearing.
A little distance away, at the edge of the forest, there was a good-sized collection of huts and houses. The sound of a single flute accompanied by singing drifted across with the woodsmoke from dozens of hearths.
‘I think we’ll make our introductions in the morning,’ said Penelope. ‘We’ve been staying here for some days. There was an empty house. We did a few repairs. Not quite enough, I’m afraid.’
Chris and Joel glanced at each other. ‘How long has it been?’ they said simultaneously.
Chris grinned. ‘Not long for me, maybe a couple of years.’
‘It’s been thirteen years for me.’
‘Last time we met, you were younger than me.’
‘Yeah.’
The house’s sliding doors were torn, and there was a hole in the roof, but otherwise it was in reasonable shape. There were a few tatami, and a small pile of anachronistic camping equipment neatly stacked in the corner. Joel started lighting oil lamps.
They sat in a circle on the floor, on sleeping bags and mats. For a moment the four of them just looked at one another.
Chris could see the Joel he’d known in this older man. He was still skinny and bespectacled. Under his heavy jacket he was wearing a T-shirt with a slogan Chris couldn’t read. Penelope was also a redhead, a little plump. Her grey eyes were constantly moving, taking in the details of her surroundings.
‘You first,’ the Doctor prompted her. ‘I’m dying to hear this.’
‘You are time travellers,’ said Penelope, ‘as we are. I presume you have also invented a time vehicle.’
39
‘Invented?’ said the Doctor. ‘You’re Victorian, surely. What does it run