Doctor Who_ Unnatural History Part 21

The Doctor leaned across Joyce's desk. 'Is this what happens when you stay in your own little corner of the world?' he said. 'Everything else everyone else takes second place to your concerns?'

'I'll thank you, of all people, not to lecture me on those grounds. What with you torturing your TARDIS and all. You know what's necessary sometimes '

'Oh yes.' The Doctor's mouth twisted. He advanced on Joyce around the desk, reaching out his arm towards him. 'I've still got spots of blood on my shirt cuff. See? From a few weeks ago, the last time I had to do what was necessary necessary. And after that, "necessary" is the last thing I'd want to settle for.'

He stopped inches away from Joyce's face and lowered his voice. 'Now I want you to look me in the eye and tell me was what you did necessary?' His eyes flicked upwards, locked on to Joyce's. 'Or was there a better way?'

Joyce took a long, slow breath.

'Yes,' he said flatly. 'Yes, it was necessary. I wish we could have given you a bit of warning, but you're very difficult to keep track of.'

'Then tell me what you're doing,' breathed the Doctor.

What I'm doing, thought Joyce. What I'm doing is trying to find a little part of the universe to call my own, and keep it neat and tidy. That's all. It's just that sometimes cleaning up your own back yard means having to work on cleaning up the bigger messes. Especially the messes you had a part in creating.

'When you're older,' he said. 'Now, let's see if we can get some work done on this gadget of yours.'

133.

Sam was sitting in Kyra's lounge, watching Fitz pacing back and forth on the balcony. He'd said he needed a breath of air after Kyra put on that Kathmandu alb.u.m. He had a smoke in his mouth, but he hadn't lit it. Not yet, anyway.

Kyra had fed them pancakes with maple syrup 'Real maple syrup, not that imitation rubbish' until they could hardly move. Sam had settled on to the couch to wait for breakfast to wear off. Now it was what? ten o'clock, and the Doctor still hadn't turned up.

She'd taken off her money belt last night, before drifting off to sleep. Now she was thumbing through the contents, vaguely checking that everything was still there.

She took out the return voucher, turning the bit of paper around in her hands.

It was covered in chunky computer writing. You just took it to the airport, and they gave you a ticket in exchange. It was like a door marked Exit, she thought.

Kyra wandered in, carrying her iguana. Sam said, 'Do you think we should '

'He's fine,' Kyra said. 'He'll be back here when he's ready. Want to help me spray him?'

There was a knock at the door. Sam jumped up, stuffing the voucher into her jeans pocket. Kyra was already unlocking the door, the lizard draped across her shoulders like a fur.

The Doctor spilled into the flat, followed by three huge weird-looking guys, each wearing one of those red Turkish hats. Kyra's iguana started to wiggle, so she took it back into the kitchen.

'It's time to deal with Griffin,' said the Doctor. 'These chaps are going to keep an eye on things. Just in case our unnaturalist friend decides to bring his Henches along after all.'

'Um, Doctor,' said Sam, 'are they. . . you know? From up there?' She pointed at the ceiling.

He looked up, as though contemplating the flats above. 'They're from the planet Basardos in the Basar Cl.u.s.ter.'

'Tourists,' said one of the men in a deep voice. The others smiled at the joke.

'Look at this,' said Sam, jerking her thumb at Fitz. He was still standing on the balcony. 'He hasn't even noticed.' She went up to the sliding door and knocked on the gla.s.s. 'Get in here!'

Fitz jumped, stared into the flat, and slid the door open. 'Just as I was about to give in to temptation,' he said, taking the cigarette out of his mouth. 'These are the heavies, are they, then?'

'Actually,' said the Doctor, 'they're a trine of poets. But they look wonderfully intimidating.'

134.

'Scary,' croaked one of the men, smiling. Sam thought that maybe his teeth had been sharpened.

The Doctor grinned, putting a finger to his lips. 'Whatever you do, don't let Griffin know.'

Kyra was pulling on an ancient army jacket. 'Let's go,' she said.

The rendezvous was just a gra.s.sy patch by the side of the road up to Mount Tamalpais. They drove Kyra's battered old van along wet, curving roads. Silver-green trees became receding, twisted shapes in the mist.

They drove a mile or so past the spot, not pulling off the road until the van was well out of the sight of anyone at the rendezvous point. For a moment they sat in the sudden silence, the rain pattering down on the roof. The Basardi were looming shapes in the back, their fezzes touching the ceiling.

They all piled out of the van and followed the Doctor back through the cold afternoon light, crunching over fallen leaves and wet gra.s.s.

When they reached the designated area, the Doctor walked around it once, then pulled out his watch.

'Fitz, Sam and I will watch from the trees,' he said. 'The Basardi will stay out of sight over here. I don't want you to get involved unless there are Henches about.' The Basardi nodded, their red hats wobbling. 'I'm going to create a large, triangular area with the tags. Kyra, all you have to do is get Griffin to step into that triangle.'

He took the modified tags out of his pocket. Kyra looked at them, dubiously.

'And these little things will stop him getting out?'

The Doctor grinned. 'No. This This is going to stop him getting out.' He took a small machine out of his pocket. 'It's a remote force transmitter.' To Sam it looked a bit like a radio with the outside taken off. is going to stop him getting out.' He took a small machine out of his pocket. 'It's a remote force transmitter.' To Sam it looked a bit like a radio with the outside taken off.

'There's much more to Griffin than meets the eye, quite literally,' the Doctor explained. 'He comes from our three-dimensional universe, but he's also at home in the higher dimensions. Four, five, six. . . He's like a sphere visiting a world full of circles. We can perceive part of him to us, he looks like another circle but he also sticks out above and below our sheet of paper.'

So that was why he seemed to have too many hands, Sam thought. How he could move stuff around inside them.

'So our current understanding is wrong?' Kyra was saying. 'Normal s.p.a.ce isn't three-dimensional?'

The Doctor waved his hand, the wires in the device rattling about. 'It's a bit more complicated than that,' he said. 'Don't worry, the basic maths will 135.

be worked out in a century or two.' Kyra nodded, as though that was that taken care of. 'Ordinary walls wouldn't be able to hold him he'd find a way, the right angle to just slide out of any cage, any cell.' He handed the device to Kyra. 'Once Griffin is standing between the tags, just press this b.u.t.ton.

That will supply power to a dimensional field created by the tags, one which he shouldn't be able to penetrate. It would be like trying to walk through a hurricane. But only for Griffin the interference will only be broadcast in the higher dimensions. You can safely step through.' He smiled suddenly. 'You know, I'm fond of having a captive audience.'

Sam crouched on the forest floor, leaning against Fitz. Both of them were shivering, despite the parkas they'd picked up on the way. Beside them the Doctor was balanced on the b.a.l.l.s of his feet, poised and still as a cat readying to pounce. Somewhere, out there in the mist, three huge aliens were watching.

Like bodyguards in a film, thought Sam.

Kyra sat by the edge of the road on a rock, under a wide, multicoloured umbrella. She was right in the centre of the Doctor's triangle, the tags pushed into the ground. Once, a car went past, slowing down to take a look at her. She waved cheerily at it, and it sped off.

Sam had been expecting Griffin to drive up. Instead he came walking along the road, almost invisible in the fog. She saw him only when he was almost there, coming out of nowhere, strolling up to Kyra.

He looked young, and thin, and pale. He looked like he needed a decent feed and a good haircut. Sam was sure it was some kind of illusion. The hands that had grabbed her in the bookshop had seemed painfully strong, the voice that had murmured in her ear old and confident. Or maybe he was like the Doctor much, much older than he looked.

He was wearing simple, dark clothes, a bit old-fashioned a b.u.t.toned suit, a shirt with a high collar. Sam wondered if he had researched the clothes before coming to Earth, but had got his time period a bit wrong.

'h.e.l.lo, Miss Skye,' he said to Kyra. Sam jumped at the sound of his voice.

'h.e.l.lo, Mr Griffin,' said Kyra. She had the device in her lap.

'What do you have there?' Griffin reached out a hand, although he was still several feet away from her.

'Let me show you,' said Kyra. Casually, she pressed the b.u.t.ton on the machine.

For just a moment Sam saw the wall, a sudden gla.s.sy slab distorting the fog.

136.

Griffin turned sharply, reaching backward, s.n.a.t.c.hing his hand away. 'He's aware of the walls,' breathed the Doctor. 'He knows we've got him. Stay here.'

The Time Lord stood up, and strode out of the forest. Kyra was backing out of the triangle, fast. Griffin watched her go. Sam wished she had binoculars she wanted to see the look on his face.

'h.e.l.lo,' said the Doctor. His voice came clearly through the fog. 'Please don't be alarmed, I don't have any intention of harming you.'

Oh, go on, thought Sam, harm him a bit.

'But I can't allow you continued access to my biodata,' the Doctor went on.

'And I certainly can't allow you to go on imprisoning and experimenting on sentient beings. It's against every galactic law.'

Griffin raised a hand to his mouth, as though politely covering a laugh. 'I never know what to say in these situations.'

Kyra was standing just outside the triangle, watching him. But Griffin seemed to be interested only in the Doctor.

'I know you,' said the unnaturalist. 'I know how you fit in. How you're supposed supposed to fit in. A Time Lord of the planet Gallifrey, with all the standard augmentations. Binocular, bipedal, two hearts, respiratory bypa.s.s system, no other unusual features allowed. Overgrown student rebel, burning desire to get involved, incipient messiah complex. It's all there, reflected in your biodata.' to fit in. A Time Lord of the planet Gallifrey, with all the standard augmentations. Binocular, bipedal, two hearts, respiratory bypa.s.s system, no other unusual features allowed. Overgrown student rebel, burning desire to get involved, incipient messiah complex. It's all there, reflected in your biodata.'

'I'm called the Doctor.'

Griffin stared at him, as though surprised that he had a name. 'You must understand how infuriating your biodata is. I have located and catalogued fifty-three per cent of the extruded web, and have found no fewer than seventeen conflicting streams.'

'Yes,' said the Doctor. 'Well, let's not go into that.'

'You oughtn't to leave it lying about,' said Griffin, covering his mouth again, 'if you don't want people to look at it.'

'Enough,' said the Doctor. 'Are you operating alone? Where are you from?'

'Alone,' said Griffin, settling himself on the rock Kyra had just left. 'My expedition was partly sponsored by the Society. I hope to earn the remaining cost through the specimens I return with.'

'A freelancer, then,' said the Doctor, prowling outside the invisible wall. 'A specialist in taking weird and unusual creatures and explaining them away.

Pinning down b.u.t.terflies. Stuffing and mounting the White Rabbit.' There was a harsh edge to his voice. 'It must give you tremendous satisfaction.'

The unnaturalist bowed his head graciously. 'As to where I will return to. . .

I'm afraid I can't explain it to you.'

137.

'I think I have an idea,' said the Doctor. 'We've been aware of you for some time.'

'We've been aware ' said Griffin, sounding puzzled.

'Rumours. Here and there. Dimensional disturbances. Disappearances. My people are aware of the whole of s.p.a.ce and time, Griffin, even if they seldom choose to interfere in it. We've suspected that people like you might be traipsing about the cosmos. Stuffing their pockets with beetles.'

The Doctor stepped closer to the wall around Griffin. 'And now here's one of them, in his own little box. With the lid on.'

Griffin folded his hands behind his back. He said, 'Before I encountered you, it would never have occurred to me to involve a specimen in its own investigation. But you comprehend the higher dimensions!'

He stood and took a step forward. 'We could work together. You could answer my questions. You've got me intrigued, Doctor. I want to understand you. Make sense of you.'

'Pin me down?'

'Your biodata is such a clutter, such an admixture. I could sort all of that out.

It would be fascinating.'

'Fascinating to take me to pieces,' said the Doctor.

'And put you back together again,' said Griffin. He took another step, nose to the hidden wall, inches from the Doctor. 'Not multiple, conflicting pasts, muddled possibilities. Just one past, one life, one explanation.'

Sam glanced over at Fitz, and saw him scowling, his eyes miles and years away. She reached for his hand.

'So few people have the chance to be totally understood,' the unnaturalist was saying. 'Inside and out.'

'Don't,' said Kyra calmly. She stepped up beside the Doctor, locking eyes with Griffin. 'Don't you dare touch him.'

'Just as you say,' said the unnaturalist.

Without moving, he reached through the invisible wall and killed Kyra.

They rode back to the hotel in shaken silence.

The Doctor drummed his fingers non-stop on the wheel. Sam couldn't work up enough annoyance to tell him off.

He'd moved on already, worrying about the next moment. But this this moment hadn't let go of her yet. moment hadn't let go of her yet.

The game had changed. Now Now was a moment in which people was a moment in which people died died.

She didn't know what had happened. When Griffin reached out to Kyra 138.

She didn't know what had happened, she didn't see. When Griffin reached out to Kyra She didn't know what had happened, exactly, because she had curled up into a ball, buried her head in her stomach, her knees and her elbows between her and what was happening by the side of the road. She hadn't listened to the shouting, to the silence, she hadn't looked when Fitz had picked her up and dragged her across the clearing.

There had been a point at which she had become aware that she was in the back of the van with the Basardi, that they were driving much, much too fast, that they were somewhere back in the city.

The Doctor had got them back to where the Bug was parked, a couple of streets away from Kyra's place. He handed the van's keys to one of the Basardi.