Doctor Who_ Warchild - Andrew Cartmel [130]
But Roz was ready for him.
She fired first. Just once. The shot echoed through the empty rooms.
There was a moment’s silence and then a piercing wailing from the nearest office. Roz rushed to the door and opened it.
Eve was sitting cross-legged on the bare carpeted floor.
She looked up at Roz with tears in her eyes.
Roz smiled down at her. ‘Are you OK?’
‘I told him something bad was going to happen,’ said the little girl forlornly.
Chapter 36
‘If I start to drive on the wrong side of the road,’ said Redmond, ‘just give me a sharp rap.’
Jack chuckled. ‘And you give me a rap if I stick my head out of the window with my tongue lolling in the breeze.’
He stared delightedly through the windows of the rented car, at the passing streets of the American city. After a while he pulled down the small mirror, which all cars had to indulge the vanity of the passenger. Jack inspected himself.
His long red hair was beginning to look normal again; the years in the life-support tank had turned it into something that looked like dried red seaweed for the first few hours after he’d woken up. He slapped the mirror shut and pressed the button that made the window hum swiftly open.
A pleasant breeze came swelling into the car. The evening smelled good; but compared to the way things had used to smell Jack felt like a blind man feeling the sun on his eyelids and trying to conjure memories of colour.
That didn’t matter. He was glad to be back.
‘On second thoughts, I might just stick my head out and do some tongue-lolling. Only stop me if I start pissing against lampposts again.’ Jack smiled as he glanced across at Redmond.
‘Forgive me if I still find all that a bit hard to swallow,’ said Redmond. ‘I mean, a dog.’ He glanced sceptically across at Jack. ‘You can understand if it’s a bit hard to believe.’
‘Sure,’ said Jack. ‘Listen, if somebody could convince me the whole thing was a bad dream I’d be happy. So long as it’s a bad dream that’s all over.’
‘But what about this whole business with Vincent?’ said Redmond.
Jack stopped smiling. ‘Yeah, well you might say that was fate.’ He stared out of the window at the passing buildings. A man in tattered clothes was standing on a street corner, unashamedly digging into a garbage can as respectable pedestrians streamed past. Jack remembered the rich smell of garbage and the excitement of rooting through it.
‘It was fate that brought me and Vincent together.’ said Jack. ‘Or maybe it was the Doctor. He has a reputation for that sort of thing; for being a nexus. You know, interesting events happen around him. Although interesting isn’t quite the word for this.’
‘I’ll say.’ Redmond slowed for a red light, drumming his fingers impatiently on the steering-wheel. ‘There’s been a lot of bloodshed.’
Jack frowned. ‘I know. And if I hadn’t connected up with Vincent it would never have happened.’
‘Sure. And if your grandmother had balls she would have been your grandfather,’ said Redmond. ‘There’s no point in thinking like that. Don’t blame yourself.’
‘But I gave Vincent his idea.’
‘When I meet this Vincent fellow I’m going to put a bullet in his head,’ said Redmond. ‘He seems to have caused a lot of trouble for everyone.’
‘He wants vengeance,’ said Jack.
‘Tell him to join the line. Half the world wants vengeance.’
‘But I showed him how to get it.’
‘I thought this Ricky kid was supposed to be the instrument of his vengeance. His son.’
Jack sighed. ‘Yes, but he never would have understood his son’s gift, or how to manipulate it, if I hadn’t shown him.’
‘How?’
‘Well, you must have seen sheepdogs,’ said Jack. ‘The way they can manipulate groups of sheep. Basically, they know how to control the dynamics of the crowd. Dogs are naturals for that because they have their own gift for complex pack behaviour. It didn’t take me long to work this out. And I realized I could make use of it. I might not have been able to talk to Vincent, or write him a note asking