Doctor Who_ Time Zero Part 15

'And don't bother trying to reconnect,' Curtis finished. 'There's no response. What in G.o.d's name is going on in Siberia?'

'Siberia?' the Doctor breathed.

'I really couldn't say, sir,' Holiday replied calmly. 'The plane is due to be ready in an hour...'

But the Doctor was no longer listening. In his mind he replayed the conversation he had overheard between Curtis and the man on the screen. The man with the Russian accent, he realised. It made sense, they had been discussing the journal from the auction after all a journal that told of an expedition through Siberia.

Curtis's raised voice brought the Doctor back to the present. 'Just get her!' he shouted.

'I really don't see the point, sir,' Holiday protested, 'She had the journal. She says she has other artefacts, some of them may relate.'

'But we don't know that.'

'She had the journal in her possession for years. She may know something that will help.'

'We have no idea what is happening in Siberia,' Holiday pointed out. 'You yourself said '

But Curtis cut him off. 'Just call her. Get her on the phone and I'll find out. I want to ask the Grand d.u.c.h.ess some questions.'

The Doctor nodded enthusiastically from the shadows. 'You and me both,' he murmured.

The woman who answered the phone was young, attractive and had fine blonde hair that hung to her shoulders. She gave the number, no more, then listened.

When she did speak, her voice was cultured and precise. 'The Grand d.u.c.h.ess? Please wait a moment and I'll see if she is available. Who may I say is calling?'

Holiday had brought a cordless phone from a table in the corner of the room. 'It's Mr Holiday, ma'am. Mr Curtis wishes to speak with the d.u.c.h.ess.'

Curtis gestured for the phone, clicking his fingers impatiently. But Holiday did not pa.s.s it over.

'She is just on her way, sir,' he said. Moments later: 'Your Ladyship, how kind of you to come to the telephone. I have Mr Curtis here... Yes, indeed. He is wondering if you have any especial extra knowledge about the journal or its background. I have a.s.sured him that you have told me this is not the case, but he is very keen to speak to you himself.' He listened for a moment, his firelit expression unreadable. Then he handed the phone to Curtis and stepped deferentially away to let him speak.

Curtis spoke quietly into the phone and the Doctor strained to hear. He seemed to be asking about the journal's background, and also whether the d.u.c.h.ess had any other artefacts or papers that were related to it. Eventually he handed the handset back to his manservant, who switched it off and replaced it on the table in the corner of the room.

'Am I to understand, sir, that the d.u.c.h.ess now believes she may have some relevant papers?' Holiday asked.

'She mentioned that it might be the case.' Curtis pulled himself out of the chair and gestured for Holiday to help him across the room. 'She is coming here.'

'Now, sir?' Holiday sounded surprised. 'It is nearly nine o'clock.'

The Doctor ducked back into the adjacent room, listening keenly. 'Of course now,' Curtis snapped. 'We'll wait for her in the library.' The old floorboards creaked under his tread as Curtis made his way down the corridor, past the room where the Doctor was concealed.

'Shall I postpone the flight?' Holiday was asking.

Their voices were fading now.

'Of course not. She's coming with us.'

And as they faded down the corridor, the Doctor heard Holiday ask: 'And is the d.u.c.h.ess yet aware of that fact, sir?' But the answer was swallowed up by the silence.

When he was sure they were gone, the Doctor went into the room with the fire. The journal was not on the coffee table either Curtis himself or Holiday had taken it with them. But the handset for the cordless phone was on the table in the corner.

Through Directory Enquiries, the Doctor got Anji's home number. She was not there. After several rings an answerphone cut in. The Doctor listened to Anji's message, wondering what he should say that he happened to know that someone had found a body somewhere in Siberia and that there was an outside chance it just might, possibly, be Fitz? He hung up. He tapped his fingers on the table top, then called Enquiries again.

The phone rang just as Larry Withers was locking his office door. He considered letting the voicemail system get it. After all it was gone nine o'clock and Anna was probably about ready to kill him anyway.

But if someone was ringing this late, it might be urgent. Or it might be Anna. Maybe he could tell her it rerouted to his mobile and he was already on his way?

Without realising he had already made a decision, he found he had unlocked the door again. Now he was in a hurry to get the phone before it switched to voicemail. He scooped up the receiver. 'Withers,' he said, breathless.

'Er... Does it?' The man on the other end of the phone sounded confused. 'I'm sorry, I was trying to contact Miss Kapoor. Miss Anji Kapoor.'

Larry sighed with annoyance. Anji's phone had been rerouted to his own. 'She's not here,' he said. 'She's gone away.'

'I realise it's late...'

'No, I mean she's away on business. Are you one of her clients? I can give you the name of someone to call tomorrow if that helps.'

'Well, no, It doesn't actually.' The man somehow managed to sound annoyed and apologetic at the same time.

Larry glanced across at Anji's empty desk. For a moment, just for split*second, he wondered what would have happened if Anji had decided not to go, or if he had decided he could not spare her. For that instant he thought he could see her, still at her desk, working late usual. A thin, ghostly image of the woman that was there for as long he considered the decision she they had made, then was gone.

'I need to speak to Anji, Can you tell me where she is?'

As Larry still stared at the empty desk, he caught sight of the wall clock beyond. Nine*fifteen. He was a dead man. 'Yes I can,' he said abruptly. 'She's gone to Siberia.' He dropped the phone back on to it cradle.

The Doctor listened to the dial tone for several seconds. 'Why is everyone suddenly so interested in Siberia?' he wondered out loud.

'Everyone?' The reply was soft and close, filled with self satisfaction.

'Well, rather more people than I would normally have expected,' the Doctor replied with a smile. He turned as he spoke, and found Holiday standing behind him. The burly manservant was holding a pistol in his large hand.

'Perhaps we should ask Mr Curtis if he can help you satisfy your curiosity,' Holiday suggested.

'Yes, what a good idea. I'd like that.'

Holiday gestured with the gun, waving him towards the door. 'This way, if you would be so kind... Doctor.'

24: Distractions

If nothing else, Anji took some comfort from the fact that she had managed to stop Hartford and his men killing anyone else. At least for the moment.

The Russian soldiers were herded away, presumably to be locked in their own barracks with their clothes confiscated. Having spent what seemed like hours struggling through the snow fully clothed and almost freezing to death, Anji thought that the notion of trying the same thing in your underwear would deter even the hardiest of the Russians from attempting to escape.

With the soldiers and corpses removed, Hartford and his team turned their attention to the scientists. Yuri Culmanov took Hartford and Thorpe, together with Anji, to what he described as the Cold Room. This was apparently the place where most of the practical work was done. Even though she was still in her thermal clothes, Anji felt the icy blast of air as the door was opened.

She heard Thorpe gasp behind her. But it was not a reaction to the cold.

'What the h.e.l.l was that?' His eyes were wide and staring. 'Must be imagining things,' he muttered, embarra.s.sed.

'No,' Hartford said. 'I saw him too.'

'Saw who?' Anji asked. She could see that Yuri was grinning.

'It's just the ghost,' he said.

'The what?'

Yuri shrugged. 'You get used to it. He walks along here, disappears through the door.'

'Ghost?' Anji echoed. 'That's just what we need.'

'Indeed,' Hartford said, his composure recovered. He pushed Anji forward, into the Cold Room. 'Proof that there is a time experiment in progress, wouldn't you say?'

They stood shivering among tile centrifuges and work benches, Hartford tapping b.u.t.tons on the device on his wrist.

'You getting a reading, sir?' Thorpe asked.

What is that?' Yuri ventured.

'It detects time*travel... stuff,' Anji told him.

'Really?'

Anji shrugged. 'It found me, so I suppose so.' She turned away so not to have to watch Yuri's expression of incredulity. Instead she witnessed Hartford's frustration with the device. 'What's the matter?' she asked. 'Not working?'

'Maybe it's the cold, sir,' Thorpe said.

'It should lead us to the equipment they're using,' Hartford said. 'The experiment.' He glared at Anji, 'But all I get is the reading for her.' He jabbed his pistol towards Anji, and she thought for a second he was going to eliminate that rogue signal. With extreme prejudice.

'She's swamping everything. We need to get her away from here. If they've hidden it, we'll never find the thing.'

'Find what?' Yuri protested. 'I told you we all told you. We are only interested in black holes.'

Hartford ignored him. 'Start searching,' he told Thorpe. 'Everywhere, I want this place taken apart.'

'How do we know what we're looking for, sir?'

Hartford considered this. 'Take one of the scientists with each group. When they get too itchy, when they protest too much, when they go ape because you're about to bust something up then you've found it.' He shoved Anji over towards Yuri, and they collided.

The small Russian helped Anji regain her balance, holding her protectively. 'Thanks,' she said quietly.

'Take these two with you,' Hartford ordered. 'I'll see if this thing works when she's the other side of the building.'

Thorpe took them back to the Great Hall, where the other scientists were now seated at one of the tables. With nothing else to do for the moment, while Thorpe organised his team into smaller groups to search the facility, Anji introduced herself.

'Do we really get to send you back in time?' the woman with dark hair Miriam Dewes asked.

Anji looked round to check none of Thorpe's men were within earshot. Two of them stood with guns ready a few yards away. 'No,' she said quietly. 'But don't tell them that.'

The other woman, the straggly blonde, was Penny Ashworth. The men, apart from Yuri Culmanov, were Vladimir Naryshkin who ran the facility and Basil Flanaghan who had tried to stand up to Hartford earlier, The dead man, Anji was told, had been an American called Michaels.

Hartford returned before long. He did not look happy. Anji gathered from what she could hear of his conversation with Thorpe that he still could not detect anything other than Anji herself on his time*detector. Which didn't surprise her. After all, she knew there was nothing else to detect.

'So what do we do?' Thorpe asked as the two of them approached the table where Anji and the others were sitting.

'Get her out of here,' Hartford said. 'Way out of here. But I want her kept alive. For now,' he added.

'How kind,' Anji murmured.

'Get me a map,' Thorpe said. He pointed at Penny. 'You map, now.'

Penny scrambled nervously to her feet and ran from the Hall. One of the armed men followed her. She returned a minute or so later with a large rolled sheet which she gave to Thorpe.

Thorpe unrolled the map on the table where they were sitting, holding down the corners with cutlery from a nearby set of trays. He studied it carefully.

'What's this?' he jabbed his gloved finger towards a set of small dots a little way from the castle.

It was Flanaghan who answered. 'There used to be a village there. Abandoned long ago, but the remains of the buildings survive.'

'Shelter?'

'Well, sort of. If you can call it that.' Flanaghan stood up to get a better view. 'It's not far from the ice cave,' he said slowly. 'I hadn't realised.' He pointed to an area to the west of the village, close to the castle itself. 'Just here. That's where we found the body.'

'Body?' Anji asked.

'I'm not interested in bodies,' Thorpe said, knocking Flanaghan's hand aside. 'You know the area?' he asked Flanaghan.

'Well, yes...'

'Good. You can go with her and show my people the way.' He turned and shouted: 'Gamblin, Jacobs, get over here.' He turned back to Anji. 'They'll take you to this village, get you well out of the way.'

Hartford had joined them. 'Then we can get on with finding the time travel experiments,' he said as Thorpe indicated the village on the map. Hartford nodded with satisfaction.