Doctor Who_ Return Of The Living Dad Part 38

The stone was huge and mossy, taller than a man. An orange light pulsed inside it as it moved. A smaller tombstone was crushed to dust beneath it as it headed for the panicked woman.

'Keith!' shouted Benny. 'Come here' Keith! Come to mummy! Come here!'

Woodworth had almost lost her grip on the toddler, hypnotized by the stone. Keith struggled out of her arms and made a wobbling run for Benny. She s.n.a.t.c.hed him up and got the h.e.l.l out of the way of the stone.

Woodworth didn't try to back away. She didn't scream.

She just stood there staring up at the worst thing she had ever seen.

The stone hovered for a moment, its orange heartbeat fading to nothing. Then it silently toppled forward and crushed her flatter than a pancake.

Benny and Keith both burst into tears. Jason put his arms around his family and held them tightly.

The stone flared with orange light again, sucking sucking.

'Well,' tremored Isaac, 'that will save on cattle mutilations for a while.'

Five minutes later Chris said, 'Um, my feet are wet.'

Albinex had hefted the Doctor in his thick limbs and carried him to one of the staterooms. Now M'Kabel was watching him sleep. Or whatever it was he was doing.

When the ghost had offered to let Albinex see his future, days ago, the Navarino had politely refused. M'Kabel reckoned he had the right idea.

The Doctor stretched and yawned' as though waking up from a pleasant nap. 'What's in all of this for you?' he said, as though continuing a conversation.

M'Kabel said' 'Sorry?'

'I mean, is it an aliens-versus-humans thing?'

'No,' said the Tzun. 'Look, I'm not supposed to tell you anything.' The Doctor rolled his head to look at him. 'Sorry,'

gulped M'Kabel.

'It must be something extraordinary,' said the Doctor.

'You've been friends with Isaac for years. And to be perfectly honest, you don't strike me as the cloak-and-dagger type.'

M'Kabel wished Albinex would come back.

'So let's see. Pa.s.sage home? No, you defected, and besides, if you wanted to go home' Isaac could have organized it. Rulership of part of Albinex's conquered Earth, or perhaps Navarro? No, you don't strike me as that type either.'

The Doctor sat up, making M'Kabel jump. 'Perhaps he hasn't offered you anything at all,' said the Time Lord.

'Perhaps you're both taking your orders from someone else.'

Mercifully, that was when Albinex walked back in.

He was back in human form. He had to be: he was holding his gun again, and for that, he needed humanoid hands. 'Come back to the ballroom,' he said.

The Doctor lay down again. 'I honestly can't be bothered,' he said. 'So far, you're out for a duck. Why don't you give up like a sensible megalomaniac?'

'You can't be a sensible megalomaniac,' said M'Kabel. 'A maniac by definition isn't sensible...' He trailed off as they both turned to look at him. 'Sorry.'

'We can do this here,' said Albinex. 'Right here.'

The ghost appeared again. She buzzed, angrily, like a cloud of woken insects. M'Kabel wondered whether it was the Doctor or Albinex who needed to watch out.

'You still haven't worked it out' have you?' said the Doctor. Forcing this poor woman to distort herself further isn't going to get you what you want.' His eyes pierced the Navarino. 'Why don't you level with me? Who are you really working for? What's your real plan' Albinex?'

'Find the moment,' said the Navarino.

With a weary movement of the air, she settled down to the bed. She seemed attenuated' thin. M'Kabel was reminded of one of those miniature balloons that human children played with, one which had been allowed to drain of air for a few days. She was deflated.

The Doctor sat up. He was inside her, as though he was inside a cloud of colourful light. Her wings beat around him, slowly. 'You don't have to do this,' he said, gently. 'You're only making yourself sicker.'

His eyes went blank as she pushed him backwards.

Evidently they did not have to travel far. I'VE FOUND IT I'VE FOUND IT, she announced.

The Doctor reached out a hand, as though taking something small, holding it.

'Hold him there.'

He froze. Light flashed and flared in the cloud around the Doctor. M'Kabel could see the ghost's pale face deep inside, staring at the Time Lord.

'What is it?' asked Albinex.

A NICE CUP OF TEA, said the ghost.

M'Kabel said' 'What are you doing?'

Albinex turned his fake human eyes on the Tzun. 'She's taken him back to a specific moment on his timeline. Not far.'

'You already tried that,' said M'Kabel.

'We tried taking him back to a moment of pain. But she couldn't bear it.'

The Doctor frowned, confused, as the same little moment of time played itself over and over.

'He doesn't experience pain in the same way that we do, said Albinex. 'I doubt that he experiences pleasure the same way, either. A nice cup of tea,' he snorted. 'How much can you amplify it?'

I DON'T KNOW, said the ghost. A MILLION TIMES, A MILLION TIMES, MAYBE MAYBE.

'Do it.'

ALL AT ONCE?.

'As much as he can survive. Right now.'

The Time Lord's back arched, suddenly, and he fell back on the bed. The ghost stayed with him, sticking to him, swirling around, burning with an intense orange light.

AH.

'Stop!' he yelled. 'Stop it!'

Albinex knelt down beside the bed, so that his face was level with the Time Lord's. The Doctor was shaking violently, his arms thrown up in front of him as though to ward off the attack.

MMMMMMNNNNNNNNNN.

'That's more like it,' said the Navarino. 'You're enjoying this,' said M'Kabel. Albinex gave him a dismissive glance.

'I've got a tape recorder here,' he said. In a single' fluid movement' the Doctor pulled his whole body into a foetal position, arms thrown over his head. 'Can he escape you?'

HE'S TRYING TO. The ghost's voice was thick with ecstasy.

'Then make it stronger.'

I CAN'T The Doctor said something' his voice m.u.f.fled. 'What was that?' ' Please Please,' sobbed the Time Lord. He was weeping for joy. Albinex switched on the tape recorder. 'Any time you're ready.'

M'Kabel unlocked the door of the stateroom and slipped inside. The Doctor lay on the bed' awake. His eyes were dark and empty. 'I'm sorry,' whispered the Tzun. He wondered what it must be like to come down from a high like that. 'It's over now,' he said. 'You've given him the codes.'

The Doctor had bitten out a long, long series of numbers.

Albinex didn't let the ghost stop until he was sure he had the whole of the codes safely recorded. M'Kabel had spent the last hour checking them for errors. They were all valid.

'No one can blame you. n.o.body could have stood up to that.' Behind them' the door opened. Albinex marched in.

'What are you doing?' 'I'm not doing anything,' said M'Kabel.

Albinex pushed past him and hovered over the Doctor. 'Get up,' he said. When the Time Lord didn't move, he reached down and wrenched him upright by his collar. The Doctor didn't try to resist.

'I was very worried you'd try to trick us.'

'Don't talk to me,' said the Doctor hoa.r.s.ely. 'Just kill me.'

M'Kabel looked at Albinex. 'You wouldn't,' said the Tzun.

Albinex dragged the Doctor off the bed and pulled him across the room. M'Kabel caught up with them in the hallway and took the Doctor's arm, steadying him. 'Where are we going?' the Tzun demanded weakly.

'To the airlock,' said Albinex.

'We're going to let you go now,' the Tzun rea.s.sured the Doctor.

It wasn't far. Albinex slapped a panel, opening the inner door of the airlock. He dropped the Doctor onto the floor inside. For a horrible moment, M'Kabel thought they were in s.p.a.ce.

But the sensors registered normal pressure. The outer door opened.

They were still above the lake. M'Kabel looked out, cautiously.

Thirty metres above the lake.

The Doctor murmured something. 'Last words?' said Albinex. 'I can't hear you.' He leant closer.

The Doctor lifted his head and kissed Albinex on the end of the nose. He fell back, grinning.

Albinex blinked at him. M'Kabel watched the pair of them, almost dancing from foot to foot with anxiety.

The Navarino pulled the Doctor to the door. The Time Lord peered out at the darkness. At the water, far below them, the hovering ship's anti-gravity beam forcing strange ripples across its surface.

'Don't you have any mercy?' whispered M'Kabel.

Albinex glanced at the Tzun. 'Yes,' he said. He twisted his hand in the Doctor's hair and smacked the Time Lord's head against the door frame, hard, twice.

The Navarino lifted him by the collar, shoved him out into the air.

M'Kabel screamed as the airlock door slammed shut.

PART FOUR.

THE END.

Be like the chameleon - keep one eye on the past and one on the future.