Doctor Who_ Loving The Alien Part 8

'And you hired me to do the dirty work without telling me I was dealing with G.o.ddam reds in bed!'

'I'm sorry, Mr McBride.'

She really was. She liked Cody McBride. She'd tried her best little-girl-lost routine, but it hadn't cut any ice. McBride was angry more, she thought, because he'd had the wool pulled over his eyes than because of the potential dangers. She'd tried to argue that she couldn't tell him the truth, not without putting him in danger. McBride hadn't believed a word of it, and had stomped back into the dark, slamming the door behind him.

He was developing the pictures that she'd taken earlier.

'So let me see if I've got this right.' The Doctor tapped on the table with his pencil. 'The British Rocket Group launched an experimental rocket, which you witnessed. Something went wrong and the rocket crashed. An anonymous informant told you the army and the government are concealing some part of the truth, and you suspect Mr Dumont-Smith is pa.s.sing secrets to the Soviet Union.'

Rita drew on her cigarette. 'That about sums it up.'

'But you have yet to establish a link between Mr Dumont-Smith and 46 the British Rocket Group.'

'Yes,' said Rita. 'There's still something missing. Something I don't know about.'

'Or someone,' said the Doctor darkly.

He rested his chin on his steepled fingers. 'So why are the American army keeping the pilot of that s.p.a.cecraft which I think we can a.s.sume he is in a London hospital, and what is his connection with Dumont-Smith?'

Rita's jaw dropped. 'Colonel Kneale is here in London?'

The Doctor frowned. 'Kneale? No, no, no. The man I saw was called O'Brien. Captain David O'Brien.'

'Davey O'Brien?' Rita gave a harsh laugh. 'No way, sweetheart.

Davey O'Brien is at Winnerton Flats, pretty much under house arrest.

The pilot of that s.p.a.cecraft was Thomas 'Chipper' Kneale; Davey O'Brien was the relief pilot. I should know, I interviewed them myself two days before the launch.'

'I wouldn't take too much notice of her if I were you, Doc.' McBride ambled back into the room, cigarette stub dangling from his lips. 'I imagine there's about as much truth in her s.p.a.ceman story as there was in her one about the giant ant attack last week.'

Rita turned on him. 'That was from eyewitness accounts. The poor man who...'

'Yeah, yeah, whatever.' Cutting her short, McBride dropped a bundle of black-and-white photographs on the desk. 'These might interest you, Doc.'

The Doctor picked them up and started leafing through them.

Rita reached into her bag for another cigarette. 'That guy's been delivering messages from Dumont-Smith's office to that house for at least two weeks. He's a messenger boy, no one important.'

'Yeah? Well, he might be important to us.' McBride leaned over the Doctor's shoulder, handing him an eyegla.s.s. 'Look at the last couple of pictures. See who he's with?'

The Doctor squinted though the eyegla.s.s. Rita saw him stiffen.

'Ace,' he murmured.

'What do you know about this man, Miss Hawks?'

'Nothing much. He looks great in overalls...'

'I beg your pardon?'

'I've seen him wearing them a couple of times. He looks like a... a park-keeper or something.'

'Or someone who works at the zoo?' said the Doctor sharply.

He looked at McBride. 'How's your petrol ration holding up?'

McBride grinned. 'I've... uh... got a special source, Doc. Back to the 47 zoo, then.'

'No.' said the Doctor thoughtfully. 'Time is against us, and we have no real idea that she's still at the zoo.'

'If it's so urgent that you find her, why don't you put out an alert on her?'

McBride and the Doctor stared at Rita.

'What?'

'An all cars alert.' She nodded at McBride. 'He's a private d.i.c.k, he must know lots of policemen. Comes with the territory.'

The Doctor and McBride stared at each other, the same name on their lips.

'Mullen!'

McBride pulled the Anglia to a halt outside the mess of ruined warehouses. From behind the facade was the glare of lights, throwing huge shadows across the rain-slick brickwork of Vauxhall.

He turned to the Doctor. 'Look, there's something you'd better know. Mullen's not exactly going to be overjoyed to see me. He's liable to be a little... ratty.'

The Doctor raised an eyebrow 'He was never exactly jovial.'

'Yeah, well that business with the Cybermen kinda took its toll, on both of us, and... well, we've barely spoken for the last few years. I don't know how the h.e.l.l he's going to react when he sees you.'

'I see.' The two men sat for a moment in silence, then McBride took a deep breath and opened the door. 'Only one way to find out.'

The two of them dashed through the rain towards the warehouses.

Police and soldiers scurried to and fro. A uniformed policeman watched them approach with a frown.

'Hold on, you two, where do you think you're going? There's an unexploded bomb in there. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave the area.'

McBride pulled an ID card from inside his coat. 'We're here to see the officer in charge, Chief Inspector Mullen.'

The policeman peered at the card. 'Private detective, eh?' McBride could hear the distaste in his voice. 'Well that's as may be, but...'

'It's very important.' The Doctor's voice was low, calm and icy, his face obscured by shadow 'A young girl's life is at stake.'

The policeman shuffled awkwardly and handed the card back to McBride. 'Well, yes, that's different. Carry on, sir, but put the cigarette out, please.'

'Thank you, officer.' The Doctor pushed through the battered doorway. The policeman mopped his forehead with a grubby 48 handkerchief. McBride smiled sympathetically at him. The veiled menace in the Doctor's voice had reminded him once again that, however una.s.suming the little Time Lord's exterior was, a very powerful and potentially dangerous alien being lay just under the surface.

He ground the stub of his cigarette under his heel and followed the Doctor through the door. The warehouse facade was all that was left of what had once been a sizeable industrial complex. Now all that remained was rubble, though from the look of the cranes the site had already started to be redeveloped. It was probably the construction workers who had found the bomb. Even now, fourteen years on, they were still finding them.

McBride hurried to catch up with the Doctor, stumbling across the uneven surface. Not far away a cl.u.s.ter of soldiers and plain-clothes officers stood around a rain-filled crater in the mud. One of them looked up and pointed.

McBride's heart sank as he heard Mullen curse loudly and crudely.

He had been hoping that things might have improved between them with absence; it didn't look as though they had. The big Irishman walked towards them, his face crimson. 'Get the h.e.l.l out of here, McBride, before I...' His gaze swung to the Doctor and the colour drained from his face.

'Oh, Christ, no...'

The Doctor doffed his hat, smiling grimly. 'Inspector.'

' Chief Chief Inspector.' Mullen tried to regain some of his composure. 'I suppose you're here to tell me that we're being invaded again, that little green men from Mars are imminently landing their fleet of flying saucers in Parliament Square. Is that it?' Inspector.' Mullen tried to regain some of his composure. 'I suppose you're here to tell me that we're being invaded again, that little green men from Mars are imminently landing their fleet of flying saucers in Parliament Square. Is that it?'

The Doctor shook his head. 'I'm here to ask you to help me stop a murder.'

Mullen looked startled, then flushed. 'Well, I don't deal with that sort of thing anymore. The powers that be have decided that I'm only good for digging up b.l.o.o.d.y German bombs...'

'It's Ace, Inspector. You remember Ace? I need to find her, and I need to find her tonight or she is going to be shot in the head and her body dumped in the Thames.'

'And how the h.e.l.l do you know that?' Mullen was dismissive.

'Because I'm a time traveller and I've seen the future.'

McBride winced at the Doctor's bluntness. His voice had acquired that edge again. Several of the soldiers were staring curiously. Mullen must have sensed something too. His voice softened.

'When did you last see her?'

49.'London Zoo, earlier this evening. I didn't actually see her, but I know she was there.

Mullen scratched at his chin. 'Well, I can put a call into headquarters, get the cars looking out for her. You can provide us with a description of what she's wearing?'

The Doctor nodded.

'Right,' said Mullen. 'I'll see what I can do.'

'Thank you, Chief Inspector.'

McBride let out his breath in a rush. A showdown with Mullen hadn't been what he wanted. He gave a curt nod to his old sparring partner. 'Thanks, appreciate it.'

Mullen grunted. 'You'd better get out of here, McBride. This isn't the safest place to be at the moment. We've got a tricky one here.

Three hundred-pound German bomb caught in the foundations.' He turned back towards the hole.

The Doctor started after him. 'Perhaps I '

McBride caught him by the hood of his duffel coat. 'I think the boys can handle the situation, Doc.'

The Doctor was about to reply, then stopped, head c.o.c.ked on one side. 'Do you hear that?'

McBride listened. There was was something a chittering, m.u.f.fled, distant. He frowned. The ground was starting to tremble, to vibrate. something a chittering, m.u.f.fled, distant. He frowned. The ground was starting to tremble, to vibrate.

'What the...?' McBride struggled to stay on his feet. The mud and rubble beneath him was heaving. Soldiers and police scattered.

McBride's heart leapt. The bomb!

Suddenly, ground erupted around them. He looked in disbelief as an ant as big as a dog burst from the rubble, mandibles snapping. Others followed. He could hear gunshots and Mullen bellowing his name.

Something caught him by the sleeve and he nearly screamed. He looked up to see the Doctor leaning over him.

'We've got to get everybody out of here!' the Doctor shouted. 'The bomb '

Too late. The bomb went off.

50.

PART TWO.

51.

Chapter Six.

'Prime Minister's Question Time witnessed an angry exchange between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, Mr between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Gaitskell, over the crashed Waverider rocket. Mr Macmillan confirmed Gaitskell, over the crashed Waverider rocket. Mr Macmillan confirmed that a note had been delivered to the Soviet emba.s.sy demanding to that a note had been delivered to the Soviet emba.s.sy demanding to know whether or not there was any Russian involvement in the know whether or not there was any Russian involvement in the destruction of the Waverider; and that the Russians had denied any destruction of the Waverider; and that the Russians had denied any knowledge of the incident. He also confirmed that he was keeping the knowledge of the incident. He also confirmed that he was keeping the Americans fully abreast of developments, and that Her Majesty's Americans fully abreast of developments, and that Her Majesty's armed forces were on full alert and ready to mobilise should the need armed forces were on full alert and ready to mobilise should the need arise. arise.

Mr Gaitskell then asked whether there was any truth in the rumour that the real intent of the mission had been to place an advanced that the real intent of the mission had been to place an advanced surveillance device into orbit. The prime minister was vigorous in surveillance device into orbit. The prime minister was vigorous in denial, and angrily accused the leader of the opposition of playing into denial, and angrily accused the leader of the opposition of playing into the hands of Soviet propagandists the hands of Soviet propagandists 'Prompted by one of his own backbenchers for a response to Mr Khrushchev's increasingly belligerent statements, the prime minister's Khrushchev's increasingly belligerent statements, the prime minister's response was robust. He a.s.sured the House that NATO was resolved to response was robust. He a.s.sured the House that NATO was resolved to meet with force any further Soviet meet with force any further Soviet aggression...' aggression...'

'Did someone sneeze back there?'

Cody McBride shuffled into Mullen's hospital room, forcing a grin.

His head hurt as if someone was drilling for oil in there, and his face was cut up a bit, but apart from that he was fine. He was shocked at the sight of his old sparring partner. He looked frail, his eyes sunken, bloodshot and black-rimmed. Old. A drip was discharging a clear fluid into Mullen's arm, and McBride could see more tubes snaking out from under the bedsheets into discreet plastic bags.

'Always when you turn up, McBride,' Mullen muttered.

'Good to see it hasn't altered your mood. They treatin' you well?'

'Can't complain, said Mullen, turning off his radio.

McBride looked furtively towards the door. He slipped a silver hip-flask from his overcoat pocket and unscrewed the lid.