Doctor Who: New Series Adventures [049] - Borrowed Time by Naomi Alderman

Author:Naomi Alderman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Media Tie-In, Action & Adventure, Fiction
ISBN: 9781849902335
Publisher: BBC Books
Published: 2011-06-23T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter

12

There was a horrible whooshing sensation. Amy noticed the

feeling - and how nauseatingly awful it was - before she

realised what was happening, which was that the gantry

they were standing on was falling, very fast, towards the

centre of the basin.

She tried not to scream but didn't quite manage it.

The Doctor was holding on to the rail, the wind

blowing through his hair, grinning. 'Nothing to worry

about!' he shouted. 'Perfectly safe! Controlled freefall

with inertial compensators, look!'

He pointed behind them. And she saw that the gantry

hadn't actually broken off, leaving them falling into the

miles of empty air. They were still attached to the outer

edge of the basin, it was just that they were being swept

down past the two hundred storeys of stacked storage

containers, each with its own individual door. They

started to slow as she watched. The flat bottom of the

basin was still rushing towards them but it felt less like

a terrifying fall and more like a ride now she knew they

were safe. The gantry lurched suddenly to the side and

zoomed them around the outside of the basin.

It stopped abruptly, facing a bank of forty or fifty

doors. Above the whole bank of doors was the long

number from the invoice. On each door was a metal

plate with a space for a hand print, as well as several

spaces for tentacle, pseudopod, leaf, paw and various

unidentifiable appendage-prints.

'But which one is it?' said Andrew.

'Perhaps you're just supposed to know which one's

yours,' said Rory. 'Like added security?'

'Right!' said the Doctor. 'Shall we take a look in a

few?'

'Can we do that, Doctor?' said Rory. 'I mean, isn't it

a bit... immoral? Looking at people's stuff?'

'Oh, I don't know, Rory, you'd be surprised what

useful, not to say universe-saving things you can find

out by taking a quick rummage through people's

possessions. Don't worry, well put everything back

where we found it.' He pulled the little silver fish-key

out of his pocket and walked over to the first door.

'Better let me go first. You never know, there might be

some kind of defence system.'

Ignoring the handprint space, he placed the master

key close to the door. It wriggled and flowed outward,

filling one of the handprints with its silvery liquid self.

The door clicked and unlocked. As the Doctor began

to gingerly open it, a flurry of snow blew outwards and

landed at his feet. Amy saw another cockroach scuttling

through the snow.

'Hmm,' said the Doctor. He poked his head round

the door. A snowball came sailing above his head and

crashed into the gantry's safety rail. There was a sound

of hoof beats and a hunting horn. He hurriedly closed

the door and peeled the key off the lock.

'Definitely not that one,' he said, striding over to the

next door.

'Was that...?' began Rory.

'No, Rory. That was absolutely not Narnia. Where do

you get these ridiculous ideas from? Next!'

Nadia tried pulling the glass bomb off the door, but it

wouldn't budge. And every time she came close to it, it

set some weird mechanism off in her own watch - she

could feel herself starting to age again as she grappled

with it.

There had to be another way, though. She looked

at the faces of the Symingtons and Blenkinsops - their

rapt, worshipful expressions.

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