Companions by Jaqueline Rayner

Author:Jaqueline Rayner [Rayner, Jaqueline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Media Tie-In, Science Fiction, Collections & Anthologies, Performing Arts, General
ISBN: 9781844350070
Google: Cx9xNwAACAAJ
Amazon: 184435007X
Barnesnoble: 184435007X
Publisher: Big Finish
Published: 2003-06-01T07:00:00+00:00

* * *

156

Sara left the TARDIS, chewing the last chuck of the nutrient bar that she’d stopped to obtain from the food machine. She climbed up out of the ditch.

‘Doctor?’ she called. ‘Steven?’ Sara surveyed the landscape, looking for her companions amongst the figures in the mud. She berated herself for not following directly after them. It didn’t look safe out here, and she should be covering their backs.

After a minute or two, she saw them. The Doctor was talking to some of the locals, whilst Steven had joined some of the men in kicking and chasing a spherical object back and forth. Sara assumed this to be some form of ritual exercise. Relieved that they appeared to be safe, Sara debated what she should do in the meantime.

‘Bang,’ said a voice behind her.

Sara spun around to see a boy, no more than eight years old, dressed in a uniform like those worn by the men in this place. It was a little too large for him; the trousers were rolled up above his boots and the tin helmet obscured his eyes. He brandished a toy gun at her. Sara

recognised him as the boy to whom the Doctor had spoken in 1885. That shouldn’t have been possible, though. He should have been much older by now. Perhaps, she considered, he simply resembled the other child.

‘Bang,’ he said again, clicking the trigger of his toy. ‘You’re dead.’

No, it was definitely the same boy. Even the voice was the same. Sara crouched down to speak to him.

‘Hello,’ she said. She wasn’t really used to speaking to children, so she tried not to make it sound too much like an interrogation. ‘Who are you?’

‘I’m Robert, ’ said the boy. ‘Who are you?’

‘My name’s Sara.’

‘Well, you’re dead,’ said Robert. ‘Lie down. ’

‘I’d – rather not,’ said Sara, looking down. ‘It’s very muddy.’

Robert looked at her, sulkily. ‘All right. But you are dead. It’s the rules.’

‘All right,’ said Sara. ‘I’m dead. Robert... what are you doing here?’

Robert ignored the question and looked at her clothes. ‘I remember you. I’ve seen you before, in lots of places, but you didn’t see me,’ he said, proudly. ‘You’re a soldier, aren’t you? You’re not like them –’ he gestured at the men on the battlefield – ‘but you’re a soldier too.’ Sara was about to reply, but Robert simply continued. ‘And this isn’t your time. I learned about this time at school. The British are fighting the Germans. Who do you fight?’

Sara was a little taken aback by the boy’s apprehensions. ‘Er, I fight the Daleks.’ She knelt down and asked again, ’Robert, why are you here?’

Robert smiled at her. ‘Because it’s Christmas,’ he said.

157

Then he vanished.

‘Very good, my boy! Excellent!’ called the Doctor, as Steven performed a neat sliding tackle. The Doctor had spent a little time talking to the soldiers, but their optimism made him uneasy. He didn’t want to stretch his cover story – that he was a minister from the War Office – too far, either, although everybody seemed too jubilant to question his presence.

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