Doctor Who_ Amorality Tale Part 31

The old man chuckled at that. Subsidence! Hardly a surprise if you knew what had been hidden underneath the church. It was amazing the whole street hadn't toppled into the ground. A large sign by the gates suggested the church was going to be converted into an arts and musical centre for the local community. Well, perhaps some good might come of the place after all.

The fifty years were nearly gone. He had been waiting patiently all this time, watching his face grow tired and haggard in the mirror, watching the world change around him. Would the Xhinn return? Would the triumvirate be proved right after all?

Only time would tell.

The old man craned his neck back to glance at the steeple. It was dwarfed by the modern buildings around it. Trees in the churchyard which had been mere saplings five decades ago now obscured the view further. Was the Xhinn antenna still hidden inside the steeple? Was it still sending a signal to the waiting fleet of Xhinnships, inviting them to take this planet as their own?

So many questions, but no answers.

The old man shook his head, putting such debates to one side. Why dwell on things you can't change, he told himself. He could remember when he was able to change his own form. He could remember when he had power and abilities beyond the imagination of ordinary humans. He could remember the moment when that all changed, when he was cursed to walk forever in this form, alone in a world where he didn't belong.

'Never! I could never be like you. I may be one of you, but I could never be like you! Never!'

'So be it.'

They had stripped away his true self and cast him out, a wandering nomad in the form he had adopted. Now he was trapped in this body, a cage of flesh and bone. Trapped on this world, waiting to see if the Xhinn would return.

Xavier Simmons shuffled away, pulling his coat closer around him.

'So be it.'

Historical Note

Amorality Tale is a work of fiction. However, elements of the story are based on historical fact. London was beset by a killer smog in December, 1952. Thousands of people died as a result of the smog, which was brought about by a combination of air pollution and adverse weather conditions. is a work of fiction. However, elements of the story are based on historical fact. London was beset by a killer smog in December, 1952. Thousands of people died as a result of the smog, which was brought about by a combination of air pollution and adverse weather conditions.

A disproportionately high number of those deaths happened in the East End, where pollution levels were worse than in the rest of London. Official estimates for the death toll range between 4,000 and 12,000 people. Recent investigations have shown the full extent of the tragedy was suppressed by the British Government of the time, to prevent a greater outcry.

Even more shockingly, London suffered from more killer smogs after the tragedy of 1952. The Government distributed gas masks to affected areas knowing the masks were ineffective in combating the effects of the smog.

It took years before the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968 finally put paid to the burning of coal in domestic fires, a major contributor to the pollution problem. Clearances of slum dwellings in the East End and the movement of industrial factories out of the city helped resolve the trouble.

St Luke's Church and its surrounding streets are all real, all part of London's Old Street in the East End. St Luke's was closed in the late 1950s due to subsidence. By the time this book is published, work to refurbish and reopen the church may have been completed. If you get the chance, pay a visit to this long-forgotten building.

Tommy Ramsey is a fictional character based on several real-life gangsters who operated in London during the 1950s. Sharp-eyed readers may also spot two infamous characters from the East End gangland making appearances within these pages...

About the Author.

Born and raised in New Zealand, David Bishop emigrated to Britain in 1990 to avoid the Commonwealth Games. After a decade editing comics in London, he became a freelance writer and moved with his wife Alison to the small Scottish town of Biggar, near Edinburgh. At this rate of northerly progress, he expects to be a resident of the Arctic Circle before his fortieth birthday.

This is his first novel for the BBC.