The Last Resort by Paul Leonard

Author:Paul Leonard [Leonard, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science-Fiction - Doctor Who
ISBN: 9780563486053
Publisher: Diamond Comic Distributors
Published: 2003-06-15T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Just the Two of Us

‘Anji!’

There was no response. Jack kept yelling into the thing – it was a sort of microphone, wasn’t it? He couldn’t understand any of the switches on the console, didn’t want to touch too many of them – the last thing he needed was another unexpected trip in time.

‘Anji! Can you hear me?’

Still only silence. The two time cops had long gone – they’d tried shooting at the TARDIS, but it must be tough because Jack hadn’t even heard the guns go off, nor any impact of bullets. It had been like watching a silent movie on the console screens. Then they’d called base and gone. But he knew they would be back, with back-up, before long. If Anji was hurt Jack knew that he had to get her in here before then, or she was dead. If they hadn’t killed her already.

He looked around at the huge chamber that was somehow folded into the tiny box. It was an extraordinary sight: as if his own armchair time machine had taken root and grown, become a world of machinery and light, wheels and dials and screens… He felt the pull of fascination, but that was yesterday’s feeling: he wasn’t a child any more. Machines weren’t going to save him. No gadget was going to be any use to Jack without someone to help him understand it.

He called Anji one more time, then knew he was going to have to go outside and look for her. But how did he get the door open? There was a large lever on the console – it might be for the door, or it might engage the main drive, or whatever this thing had. He put his hand on the lever –

‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’

Jack almost jumped out of his skin. He whirled round, saw a figure, almost screamed with terror.

‘It’s OK. I’m not the cops.’

Jack’s vision cleared: he saw a woman, light, thin, not very tall, not wearing a uniform. She sure didn’t look like a cop. She was leaning against the wall, brushing her blonde hair back from her face in a repeated, awkward gesture. Her eyes were green, catlike, her nose long, her attention unwavering.

Jack took a deep breath. ‘Who are you?’

‘Good question. I could ask the same of you.’

‘I’m Jack, and I live –’ He swallowed. ‘I guess I live in a place that doesn’t exist any more.’

‘Great,’ said the strange woman. ‘I come from one of those places too. And I seem to have had this conversation more than once already. But that’s hardly a surprise. I’ll probably have it again before I’m much older.’

Jack decided to ignore these complicated half-explanations. ‘Did Anji bring you here?’

‘Not exactly.’

That was two questions she hadn’t answered. Jack didn’t like it – there was something fishy about this woman. And Anji had never mentioned her – didn’t seem to know she existed.

‘You could tell me your name,’ said Jack.

‘It’s OK,’ said the stranger. ‘I’m not going to hurt you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.