Doctor Who PDA32 - Heart of TARDIS (2nd & 4th) by David Stone

Author:David Stone
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-07-13T02:43:03+00:00

* * *

„You must be feeling tired,‟ said Lieutenant Major Derricks,

„after all you‟ve been through.‟

„Not particularly,‟ said Romana. „And will you please stop fiddling with that pocket watch. It‟s becoming inexpressibly annoying.‟

Derricks put the watch back in his pocket. He tried to do it smoothly but Romana saw a slight, embarrassed hastiness in the movement, like a small boy caught doing something he shouldn‟t. She had not for one moment taken this man‟s threatening manner seriously, but now it occurred to her that on some level he couldn‟t quite believe in it himself.

„Now you come to mention it,‟ she said, „I am feeling a bit worse for the wear. I didn‟t notice it before, but now I -‟

Derricks glared at her suspiciously as her voice broke off and she stared straight ahead, completely immobile, her eyes wide and her pupils dilated. He waved a hand in front of her face.

Her eyes remained still and unblinking.

„Some kind of allergic reaction...‟ he muttered to himself.

„Reaction,‟ said Romana, precisely but tonelessly. Only her mouth moved: it was as if every other nerve impulse in her body had been physically cut.

Derricks relaxed slightly. „You are feeling happy and relaxed. You are feeling warm.‟

„Warm,‟ said Romana.

„You are with a friend,‟ he said, sinking to a crouch until their heads were level with each other. „I am your friend and you are with me and we are talking.‟

„Friend,‟ said Romana. „My friend.‟

Lieutenant Major Derricks put his face close to hers. „You are telling me about why you were brought here.‟

„Here.‟

„Why were you brought here? Why did Section Eight bring you here?‟

„Well, it certainly wasn‟t to have you breathing all over me like that,‟ said Romana, reanimating her face. „What have you been eating? And just what is this Section Eight you‟re telling me about?‟ She smiled brightly. „Is it a secret?‟

In Hangar 18, Haasterman turned to one of the technicians manning the comms link. „Is it coming down?‟

„It‟s coming.‟ The technician indicated a screen down which the hexadecimal gibberish of machine code crawled. The collected data had no immediate use, due to the time-lag of transferral, but it was useful to have a comprehensive backup copy should anything happen to Sohn and her team - now, hopefully, in the process of evacuating.

Haasterman watched the scrolling alphanumerics for a while. „They were meaningless to the unaided eye, of course, but he couldn‟t shake the feeling that the visual rhythm had a kind of beat to it, and that the beat was accelerating, building up a sense of tension...

„Colonel Haasterman!‟ an operator called suddenly It was the man throwing yarrow stalks. He was picking them up and throwing them, rapidly, over and over again. Even before Haasterman reached him, he saw that they were falling in the precise same pattern. Over and over again.

„Chapter twenty-four,‟ the technician told him worriedly. „I remember because, uh, it‟s an old Pink Floyd song.‟ He quoted:

„A movement is accomplished in six stages, And the seventh brings return...‟

„Sir?‟ another operator said. „Something‟s happening...‟

On

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