Doctor Who_ Winner Takes All - Jacqueline Rayner [27]
‘And we must not return to Toop until a controller has completed the game,’ said another Quevvil. ‘This is the controller that will do it.’
All four seemed to agree. Revik relaxed, his quills no longer quivering. The guns, however, were not lowered.
‘This controller shall play the game again,’ he said. ‘And this time, he will complete it. And we will watch him every second, no matter what – distractions – there are.’
The four guns gestured in the direction of the room with the games consoles, and the Doctor moved as indicated. Whatever happened, though, one thing was certain. He was not going to play the game again.
* * *
Rose decided to go to her own flat first. She could pick up her phone, and her mum’d probably know a few of the people who’d won stuff, that would be a start.
As she opened the door to the stairwell, she noticed a police car stopped out on the road. But as she looked, it started off again. Didn’t have its lights on or anything, so probably wasn’t important. Maybe it wasn’t just Mickey who’d had a telly nicked. Hey, there was no sign of Darren Pye loitering around. Maybe he’d been in the back of it. Well, she could hope.
This time, Rose used her key. She pushed open the front door. ‘Mum! You’ll never believe it, there are only aliens here again… Mum?’
There was no reply. She pushed open the lounge door, but the telly was off and there was no sign of Jackie. She called down the hall, ‘Mum? Are you home?’ Still nothing. Oh, my god, they’ve got her too. The aliens have got her too!
No, that’s silly. The front door was locked. She’s fine.
Rose went into the kitchen. Empty. Mum’s out, she thought. She’s out, and she doesn’t know there are aliens on the loose, but she’s fine.
And then she saw the note. It was stuck on the fridge under a magnet that said ‘Best Mum in the World’, a Mother’s Day present from years before. She sighed.
Dear Rose.
I won the holiday!!! Well, it wasn’t me really, it was Dilys, she won two and she’s given me one and said she’d only go if I did, you know what she’s like about going abroad. Tried to ring but you’d left your phone here. Waited as long as I could but they said if we didn’t go today we’d lose it, and Dilys really needs the break. Won’t be for long, hope you’re still here when I get back. Help yourself to anything. If you share a bedroom I don’t want to know about it.
Love Mum xxx.
PS Took your phone, knew you wouldn’t mind, so you can let me know what you’re doing.
Rose wanted to scream. She tried to get angry, angry with her mum for being willing to rush off at a moment’s notice, never mind that she’d got her daughter home for once, but her stomach had plummeted with fear and the anger couldn’t drown it out, because she knew what these holidays were, what they really were, and she knew what might be happening to her mum right now. She thought she might be sick. ‘You never get something for nothing!’ she yelled, screwing up the note and throwing it across the room.
She took a deep breath, and then thought, the phone. I can phone her. I can let her know what’s happening. They wouldn’t have counted on that, on someone having a phone that works across space and time, couldn’t possibly have counted on that. She’d phone her mum, tell her all about it, what was going on, and Jackie could lead a revolution and it’d all be OK until the Doctor could get there, wherever it was, and bring everyone back home.
And inside, a tiny voice was saying, but they’d know what was going on, they couldn’t help noticing that they’re not on an aeroplane going to Ibiza, they’re being taken to an alien planet and made to fight and die, even knowing that no one’s ever come back, so ringing up and going, ‘Oh, you’ve been kidnapped by aliens.’ isn’t going to come as a big surprise and isn’t going to help.
But, of course, she had to phone anyway.
It took her a second or two to remember her own number – you got out of the habit of giving it to people when you were trotting around the nineteenth century or whatever. But then she dialled.
It rang. And it rang and it