Doctor Who_ Return Of The Living Dad Part 42

'They're waiting for you, sir,' said the Tzun.

The Doctor tried to smooth his shirt, but after a couple of hours in the drier it was even more rumpled than before. He sighed and pulled on his shoes.

He heard footsteps on the stairs outside. Benny came in.

She sat down on the end of the bed and wept.

The Doctor went on lacing his shoe.

After a few minutes' she moved along the bed and let him hold her while she cried, great, wracking sobs that made her whole body shake.

He wondered if she'd cried like this in the TARDIS, on some occasion when his plans and lies had left her exhausted and betrayed. With no one to hang onto.

'What are we going to do?' she said', when she had enough breath.

'We'll see,' he said. 'What became of Woodworth?'

'The Ogri got her,' said Benny. The Doctor nodded.

'What are we going to do?'

He gave her a gentle squeeze. 'That depends on Isaac.'

Admiral Summerfield stood on the Pyramid's verandah'

leaning on the wooden rail. The aliens filled the main street of Little Caldwell. Some were disguised, some weren't. Some wore human clothes, some wore uniforms, a few were naked.

They were green and blue and pinkish-white and red and brown. Scales glittered in the dawn. A mix of strange scents rose, flesh and incense and chemical.

He had spent ten minutes walking through the crowd, shaking hands and tentacles. He knew almost all of them. He had saved the lives of more than half of them. He had explained his plan, given them hiding places. He had bathed their wounds and worked out their diets and sent messages home for them.

They greeted him with smiles and smile-equivalents, with handshakes and telepathic brushes, with friendly nods and trusting eyes.

Now they were silent, waiting for him to give the order.

M'Kabel stepped up beside him. The Tzun had arrived that morning, his strange face seeming strained. But Isaac knew he could rely on the little alien, no matter what. G.o.d! At least some things hadn't changed.

M'Kabel murmured, 'Everyone's here, except for a mated pair of Cygnians we can't contact. And no one's seen the Ogrons.'

'See if they're in their cottage,' said Isaac. 'They've probably slept in.'

M'Kabel looked up at him. 'What are you going to do, sir?'

'I don't know,' said Isaac. He felt the pressure of those alien eyes on him. All of them.

'Are you going to kill the Doctor?'

Isaac glanced at him in horror.

'If you're going to go ahead with our original plan, sir,'

said the Tzun, 'you'd better kill him right away.'

M'Kabel tucked his clipboard under his arm and went to wake up the Ogrons.

Isaac turned to his army. His hands shook badly as he gripped the wooden rail. He bowed his head and took a deep, deep breath.

'There's been a little bit of a change of plan,' he said.

Joel didn't cry when Ms R told him what she'd learnt. It was just that his eyes were watering a bit. That was all.

She sat down on the floor, right on top of some of his junk, drawing her knees up to her chest. Like she wanted to just block it all out.

Joel got out of bed and went to the window. The Admiral The Admiral pushing the b.u.t.ton, the missiles going up pushing the b.u.t.ton, the missiles going up. He gaped at the crowd. 'Christ,' he said. 'We're up to our a.s.s in aliens.'

'That's what Tony was doing,' said Ms R dully. 'He had to find out whether Woodworth knew about this, or whether she was just attracted by all the aliens hidden around Little Caldwell.'

He glanced back at her. She was staring at the wall. The The Admiral pushing the b.u.t.ton Admiral pushing the b.u.t.ton. It's not every day you find out your friend of twenty years has been a bad guy all along. The The missiles going up missiles going up.

G.o.d! Did Benny know? She must know by now. Sorry, big sister. I guess we both lost our dad today.

Joel had only ever seen about ten different species of aliens. Now he was looking at dozens, all shapes and sizes.

If only this was another adventure. He'd loved being part of this magical world, where wild things happened. Now it was dead. Now it was gone. Nuked.

Joel shook his head slightly. He still wasn't crying, though there was an iceberg in his chest. Well, he'd only been here for eight months. It didn't mean all that much.

His good hand found the window catch' and he pushed it open.

'You said,' called one of the aliens, 'we were going to fight the Daleks.'

'We might still get our chance.' Isaac's voice rang out. A leader's voice - everyone was listening. 'But we have to deal with the immediate problem. I had carefully worked out the nuclear part of the strategy. But I have no idea what Albinex plans. Whatever it is, it doesn't involve any of you.'

'So where izzy?' purred a Ra'ashet, turning its catfish face to look at him. 'Let's go rip him to pieces.'

'He's got the destructor codes,' said the Admiral. 'And our intelligence about USAF Greenham Common. He's going to launch one or more of the cruise missiles.'

'He wants power,' said a dark-coated ex-MIB. 'Five'll get you eight he points the thing at a major city and starts making demands.'

'Yeah,' said the Ra'ashet. 'So let's get over there and wait for him to show.'

'No,' said Isaac. The aliens waited for him to speak. 'We can't risk randomly changing history by revealing you.

Anything could happen.'

'We've been waiting for years,' said another alien, tall, thin and lavender, a species Joel didn't recognize. 'You've been keeping us hidden and safe for all this time. You can't leave us out of it now.'

A murmur of agreement went through the crowd.

'There's something else,' said Isaac.

They fell silent again.

'Even if we defeat Albinex, we still can't go ahead with the original plan.' More murmurs. Joel rested his head on the cold gla.s.s, wondering what would happen next. Not that he cared any more.

'You said you had it worked out in every detail,' said a talking cat. 'We've been waiting.'

'Admiral,' purred the Ra'ashet, 'we trust you, yessss? But if you've lost your bottttttle, let us take over. We'll peel and eat Albinex and we'll get on with the plan.'

'You don't understand,' said Isaac. 'The plan itself is wrong. I've... had some expert advice. The changes to history I thought would happen might not happen at all. We might end up destroying the planet instead of saving it. I was wrong. And I've involved you all in my wrong, wrong plan.'

Joel's heart pounded. He wasn't going to do it. The Admiral wasn't going to do it after all.

That was when he started to cry.

A ripple of sudden realization and fear moved through the crowd. Oh G.o.d, would they attack him? Tear him apart and carry out his plan?

Before anything could happen' another voice rang out across the packed street.

'I'd like a word,' said the Doctor. 'If you don't mind.'

31 We got the bombs

Some of the aliens gasped. Some grabbed for the weapons they'd left behind. At least two started to twitch uncontrollably. And one six-foot, fur-covered humanoid ran away waving its three arms and yelling, and drove off in its Mini.

The Doctor looked down into their faces, coolly. Teeth were bared. Tentacles were writhing. Eyes were flashing with fear and rage. At one time or another, almost every one of these people had been his mortal enemy.

'The first thing,' he told them, 'is not to panic.'

Isaac put a hand on his shoulder. The gesture seemed to calm some of the aliens. But the Ra'ashet was salivating, long feelers twitching at the edges of his mouth.

'Right now,' said the Doctor' 'I'm as trapped on this planet as you are. If Albinex starts throwing nuclear missiles about' there's a good chance that we're all going to die. All of us. Everyone on Earth.'

'Why should we believe you?' said a Kapteynian, a b.u.t.terfly the size of two hands. Her voice was an angry song.

'You killed six of my scouting party!'

'I did no such thing,' said the Doctor sharply.

He raised a hand before the insect could disagree.

'There's no time to discuss it now. Why don't we deal with the nuclear problem first, and then you lot can argue about who gets to kill me, hmm?'

The aliens murmured. There was a lot of old pain there, years old, and fear, and loathing. He was the one who had stranded them here. Not their own commanders or their conquest plans or their own greed or foolishness. Him.

'Listen,' he said, more gently. 'I've been protecting this planet for years. But I've been doing half a job, leaving so many loose threads... and Isaac has been tidying up after me. Taking care of all of you, and so many others. Now I've got a chance to make up for that. Let me work with you to save all of our lives.'

Isaac turned to M'Kabel, who had hopped up onto the verandah, still clutching his clipboard. The Tzun murmured something to the Admiral.

'You're the ones who agreed to fight for this planet.' The Doctor looked around at them. 'This is home now.'

'Yeah, yeah,' said the Ra'ashet. 'Some of us just want a crack at the Daleks.'

'You might get it after all,' said Isaac. He held up a long strip of dark film. 'The Ogrons are gone. And these are -'

'Dalek instructions,' breathed the Doctor. He grabbed the filmstrip and ran his eyes over the harsh green characters. 'I should have known.'

'The Ogrons just left it on the bed,' said M'Kabel. 'Not too bright.'

'Albinex is working for them,' said the Doctor. 'It all makes sense. The ultimate military power. He must worship them.'

'His ship wasn't caught up in the battle,' said Isaac. 'He must have been negotiating with them. Even then. Dear G.o.d.' The Admiral gripped the railing. 'He's going to do it.

He's going to start World War Three.'

'Well, what did you expect him to do?' said the Doctor irritably.

More than half of the aliens refused to have anything to do with the Doctor, even against the Daleks. Of the ones who were left, most were going to have to sit out the action anyway.

It was extraordinary, thought the Time Lord. Some of these people considered humans to be inherently inferior.

Many had been involved in attempts to destroy or control the human race. And yet here they were, taking orders from a short, una.s.suming human in a moth-eaten jumper.

The Doctor's team comprised Isaac' M'Kabel and Benny.