Doctor Who_ Trading Futures - Lance Parkin [34]
She pointed over to the Acropolis. Everything felt strange, dreamlike – in just a few minutes, the streets would be… she just couldn’t think like that.
‘It’s nearly a mile away,’ the Doctor said. ‘We just don’t have that long. Ah‐ha – in there.’
He started jogging across the street to a branch of Medusa Bank. Malady followed. ‘The safe?’
‘That’s right.’
They pushed their way in, past an old couple.
They got straight to the counter. The Doctor looked around in vain for a teller.
Malady pointed at the speaker. ‘Autoteller,’ she told him.
‘I’d like to see the manager, please.’
‘I’m sure I can help, sir.’
‘No, I’d like to open an account, but before I do, I’ll need to –’ the Doctor screwed up his eyes. ‘What was that?’
A small plastic card plopped out into the tray on the counter. ‘Just taken a retinal scan, sir. Your new account is open, and your access to the IFEC is enabled. You have… no… euros in your account.’
The Doctor pocketed the card.
‘I really have to see the manager. It’s very urgent.’
‘Here at Medusa Bank, we’re committed to full customer service, sir, but I can –’
‘This is a robbery!’ the Doctor declared, jumping up on to the nearest service desk, frightening the autoteller.
Malady ushered the old couple inside, before they could leave. ‘In here,’ she insisted. ‘You’ll thank me in the long term.’
The Doctor was playing to the crowd. ‘Anybody moves, and my colleague here, Malady Chang, will wave her gun at them.’ He bent over. ‘You did bring your gun?’
‘Never leave home without one,’ she assured him, drawing it. ‘And, for the record, I’m not sure it’s the done thing for bank robbers to shout out their names.’
‘I didn’t,’ the Doctor reminded her, ‘I shouted out yours. You’ll have to forgive me, I’ve done most things in my time, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve robbed a bank.’
The manager was coming out of his office, behind the counter and its protective glass screen.
‘Open the safe!’ the Doctor demanded. ‘Hurry up!’
‘There’s no need for anyone to get hurt,’ the manager called out in Greek. ‘We’ll co‐operate. Just don’t hurt anyone.’
‘Wouldn’t dream of it,’ the Doctor assured him, without the hint of an accent. ‘But we’ve only got about five minutes.’
Malady had just seen the wall clock. ‘We’ve got about three, Doctor.’
‘Show me the safe,’ the Doctor ordered the manager.
He was already opening up the door to let them in behind the counter. ‘It’s on a time lock. There’s no way I can open it until the morning, and…’
Malady grabbed his collar. ‘We don’t want the lecture. Show us the safe.’
He led them to the back wall. The safe was a thick metal door, with no visible handle or place to enter the combination.
‘How do you get it open?’ Malady demanded.
‘Don’t worry about that,’ the Doctor said, patting her head. The door was already swinging open. In his other hand, the Doctor had something that looked for all the world like an electric toothbrush.
The safe was quite a size, lined with brushed steel safe boxes.
‘In!’ the Doctor ordered the manager. ‘Everyone. Come on.’
‘In?’ the manager asked, not quite sure he’d heard right.
‘In!’
There were only two human staff, the manager included, everything else was done by autosecs. There were eight customers. The safe held the twelve of them, just. Malady had to help the old couple in.
The Doctor was pulling the door closed. Malady took a last look through the doorway – and saw a wall of water surging into the square, towards the bank. The pressure had changed, there was a high wind blowing.
Outside the bells of the church of St Nicholas were starting to chime midday. As the Doctor hauled the door shut, and the bolts engaged, the sound was cut off, and the only thing they could hear was the sound of their breathing.
‘We’ll be trapped,’ the manager shouted.
‘We’ll be saved,’ Malady told him. ‘Now, quiet, we’ll need to preserve oxygen.’
And outside, the bank collapsed as the tidal wave hit.
* * *
The pain inducer was rubbish.
Fitz didn’t mind that one bit, of course.