Doctor Who_ Wolfsbane - Jac Rayner [31]
„it‟s still silver. Let‟s get out of here.‟
The strangely confident curly-haired stranger said he was called the Doctor. It made her think of the other Doctor, the soft-voiced Englishman who she thought had betrayed her, and she felt a stab of hatred stronger than any emotion she had felt for days.
He hadn‟t betrayed her, the other Doctor. What she‟d overheard from the bowler-hatted men here had finally made her realise that. But she still hated that Doctor, hated him passionately for being duped himself, for not realising he was handing her over not to safety but to pain. He knew men at the ministry, he‟d said. But they‟d seen him coming. He should have been clever like this Doctor, who was throwing out cryptic comments about how he‟d tracked her down, through forged credentials, much bluffing, and a favour from a fat man called Lord Rowlands.
This Doctor was making them stride confidently through the clinical white corridors as if they belonged there. To her mind it wasn‟t working, how could anyone think they belonged there, the wide-eyed giant in ridiculous clothes, and the ragged woman, blisters and sores covering her arms right down to the chipped scarlet nail polish? „Are you a saboteur?‟
she whispered to him.
„Me? A saboteur?‟ He raised his voice slightly, indignant.
Then lowered it again. „Yes, I suppose I am. Just this once.‟
„You are from Germany?‟
„No. I‟m not even from Earth.‟
The words she thought he said made no sense to her. Her English was very good, but sometimes... Then she realised that she wasn‟t sure what language he was actually talking.
Was it English? Or had she heard him in German? She spoke to him in her own tongue:‟ You know what I am? What they were trying to do to me?‟
„No one has the right to treat a fellow creature that way.
Thank goodness they were too ignorant to succeed!‟ His voice was getting louder again, and she stood rooted to the spot for a moment in alarm. But no one came to investigate. And she realised that she still did not know if he had spoken in German or English.
„I have a car outside,‟ he said. „I‟m the man from the ministry, obviously I have a car.‟
„You are from the ministry?‟ she said, shocked. The English government?‟
„Did I say I was from the English government?‟ he asked.
„Didn‟t you?‟ she said, puzzled.
„I have a car, because men from the ministries have cars.
Well go for a ride in my car. When we get out of here. Nearly there.‟ A pause. „Now, there are guards just inside the front door. The door is locked and the guards have guns. Stay here. Wait for your cue.‟
He disappeared up the corridor before she could ask any questions. A few seconds later she heard:
„She‟s escaped! The werewolf‟s escaped! Here she comes now!‟
Emmeline assumed that was her cue, and ran towards the voice.
„Look! The full moon! She‟s changing!‟
She could see the men now, two uniformed soldiers, both with rifles. They were confused, glancing up at the glass above the door to look for the non-existent full moon, then towards her, as she growled and howled and spat her way down the corridor in a way that was as completely unlike the real change as was possible. One man aimed his rifle.
„Don‟t shoot, man! Bullets won‟t kill her, they‟ll just make her angry!‟ The Doctor grabbed the rifle barrel and pushed it upwards. Any second now they‟d realise she wasn‟t really changing at all. The Doctor grabbed the other rifle barrel.
„But these are silver bullets...‟ the man on the right began to say, until he found himself yanked off his feet by a sharp pull on his rifle, connected with the head of his fellow guard to whom a similar thing had happened, and slid peacefully to the floor.
„Come on, quickly,‟ the Doctor said, fishing in a soldier‟s pocket for keys. „Humans have this terrible habit of investigating unexpected yells.‟
They ran down the road together until they came to a car -
a sporty-looking green open model. „Maximum speed 81 miles per hour,‟ said the Doctor. „And we‟re going to