Doctor Who_ Transit - Ben Aaronovitch [54]
The Doctor must have shouted 'jump' because she sailed through the air and fell over on the other side. She rested on her hands and knees for a moment before standing up, the whole event fading nightmare-fast from her mind.
There was light again. The torch lit up the Doctor's face and threw his huge shadow across the wall behind.
'Perhaps it wasn't the batteries after all,' he said.
Kadiatu said nothing. She didn't want to talk about it, she didn't even want to think about it. When the Doctor started down the tunnel again, she followed him, silently.
There were four more shafts. One of them was off-centre, leaving a shelf wide enough for them to cross. They had to jump the other three. Kadiatu insisted on going fust each time.
Six hundred metres in they saw the light at the end of the tunnel. It wasn't an oncoming train; instead they stepped out into a large open space.
The light was coming from a couple of holo projectors strung up on the ceiling. Set on neutral they produced big boxes of pearly static. It reminded Kadiatu of the rainy season in Makeni, sitting on the verandah with her father as the daylight was filtered through the falling water.
'Looks like somebody was having a party,' said Kadiatu. Spilled food stained the white linen over the trestle tables lining the walls. Some of the tables had been knocked over. Empty canons littered the floor. Kadiatu nudged one over with her foot, exposing a picture of a Black Forest gateau printed on the other side.
'Junk food,' said the Doctor.
Kadiatu thought that was a strange expression. How could food be junk? 'Chocolate cake and ice cream,' said Kadiatu. 'Nothing wrong with that.'
'Carbohydrates, sucrose,' said the Doctor. 'High-energy foods for people who use up their glycogen in industrial quantities.'
'Maybe they've got a fast metabolism.'
'Or an accelerated one,' said the Doctor.
'Maybe they just like cake and ice cream?'
'There it is,' said the Doctor.
It looked just as she remembered it from Kings Cross station and the Stone Mountain archives, right down to the words 'POLICE BOX' stencilled below the roof in white letters. It was opposite the entrance to the cavern of course, embedded in the wall. It had sunk all the way in, leaving about two centimetres clear of the rock.
The Doctor rushed over and put his hand against its side. 'My old friend,' he said, 'what have they done to you?' He patted the side again. 'Don't worry, soon have you out.'
Kadiatu put her own hand against it. She wasn't sure what she expected it to feel like, gritty perhaps, like all weather paint on concrete or wood. Instead the texture was rough, warm and organic like elephant skin. She felt a threshold vibration under her palm.
'It's called a TARDIS,' said the Doctor.
'I know.'
'What do you think of it?'
'It's smaller than I expected.'
'All we have to do now,' said the Doctor, 'is get it out of the wall.'
'Can't we just move it?'
'Of course,' said the Doctor. 'It would be a simple matter once I got inside to dematerialize for a short jump. Unfortunately there's a problem.'
'What's that?'
'The door's on the other side.'
Lowell Depot (Central Line Terminus)
The train doors hissed open and Old Sam jumped out. Blondie saw terrified faces falling back as he followed the veteran out. They went up the platform at a fast dog trot, refugees scattering out of their way. Blondie hardly noticed; sweating in his half-armour he concentrated on keeping up with Old Sam.
Old Sam stopped by a tall African wearing a dayglo orange jacket and carrying a clipboard. The African looked critically at Old Sam.
'What's with the rig?' he asked.
'Got a mission,' said Old Sam. He held up a snap projector; it put a four by six 3D image into the air above. A six-second loop of Kadiatu's head and shoulders. The image must have been sampled at the party because you could see Credit Card dancing in the background. 'You seen this?' asked Old Sam.
'Ran through here half an hour ago,' said the African, 'with some mwngu, claimed they were bangjacks.'
'Which way?' asked Old Sam.
'Up the end of