Doctor Who 841 - Father Time by Lance Parkin

Author:Lance Parkin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-07-13T03:48:23+00:00

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168

Father Time

In the time it had taken the Doctor and Debbie to cross the wasteland, curtains had twitched, word had spread, and the streets had started to fill up. Men and women, children fetched from their beds, Asians and skinheads, police and dealers, all standing shoulder to shoulder and looking out at the tower of roses, breathing in the perfume that was filling the city air. No one – apart from a few kids – had crossed the threshold yet, stepped on to the broken ground, reclaimed the wasteland, but they would.

The Trabant sat, untouched, in the street where the Doctor had parked it.

Debbie was amazed that it was still going, and told the Doctor as much.

‘It costs quite a lot to keep on the road,’ the Doctor admitted, ‘but I’m quite attached to the old girl.’

Debbie took a last look back at the roses, growing where there had been only the dark Tower.

The Doctor was already in the driver’s seat of the car, reconnecting the earphone.

The almost musical autodial was followed by the ringing tone.

‘Come on,’ the Doctor said.

The phone continued to ring. After a moment, an answering machine kicked in, and Debbie heard the Doctor’s voice. But only for a moment. The Doctor hung up and immediately redialled.

With the other hand, he was starting the ignition.

As the phone rang again, he was parping the car horn, trying to negotiate the crowds.

‘This isn’t like Miranda,’ he said.

‘It’ll be hours before we get to your house,’ Debbie said quietly. ‘We should call the police, get them looking.’

The Doctor hung up the phone. He hesitated. ‘If she’s not at home, where is she?’

Alex had gone home.

Dinah claimed she didn’t have a row with him, but Miranda knew she’d been planning to spend the night with him. She had found that shocking, in a rather abstract way. Thinking about it, though, it was only because it wasn’t the sort of thing she would ever do.

Dinah claimed Alex was ill, and ‘too drunk, anyway’.

So there were just the three of them. Bob was hanging around, trying to get back into Miranda’s good books. She was suddenly very self-conscious around him. Miranda had told Dinah what had happened, and Dinah agreed to have Urban Regeneration

169

a chat with Bob. After that, they agreed to clear up in the morning, and went their separate ways. Dinah was in her parents’ room, Bob in her little brother’s.

Miranda got Dinah’s bed.

Miranda didn’t need much sleep, indeed she could do without it.

Bob and Dinah both seemed exhausted. Minutes after they’d gone to bed, the house was silent.

Miranda lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Dinah’s room was odd.

There were posters all over the walls. Posters of Tom Cruise and a-ha, all the pop stars and film stars Dinah had a crush on. Dinah had a record player, and a stack of albums and tapes. At the foot of the bed was a menagerie of toy animals. She wondered where Dinah kept her chemistry set or her encyclopedias.

All so unreal.

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