Doctor Who MA20 - The English Way of Death by Gareth Roberts

Author:Gareth Roberts [Roberts, Gareth]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2011-07-13T02:21:55+00:00

‘This is ridiculous,’ the man snorted. ‘How can Stackhouse consider this idiot a threat? There are dozens like him across London.’

‘He conceals his intelligence,’ replied the woman.

‘No, I don’t,’ gasped Percy. The name Stackhouse rattled around his brain. Of course, the biscuit magnate, proprietor of Zanzibar cracknels, whom he’d met on the train to Nutchurch.

Surely he couldn’t have offended the fellow that much?

‘Please. What do you want?’

The woman held up the transceiver again. ‘I want to know how you came by machinery such as this, Doctor.’

Percy momentarily forgot the knife poised at his throat.

‘What did you say? Oh, good heavens! I’m not the’ - he remembered there was a lady present - ‘the flipping Doctor!’

The view from the sandhills was superb. The Colonel stood atop a promontory, filling his lungs with the all-pervading brine. In the distance a tiny sailing boat was passing, its single white sail billowing in the gentle breeze. From this distance even the noisy crowds on the beach seemed as much a part of the natural order as the circling gulls, the spray glistening on the grass, and the pacific suck of the waves on the shore.

He heard movement behind him and turned. Romana and K9 were approaching, both with doleful expressions. Silly, really; how could the face of a metal dog convey emotion? He waved to them manfully. ‘No joy, then?’

‘We must have been about a mile into the hills, and there’s nothing,’ Romana reported. ‘I’m starting to wonder if sending us down here was a ploy.’

K9 whirred. ‘Negative, Mistress. Portal is near.’

She sank down on crossed legs. ‘Yes, so you keep saying.’

The implication was obvious, and the dog’s tail drooped sadly.

‘Sorry, K9. I didn’t mean to be rude.’

‘Apology noted,’ K9 said sniffily. He added, ‘Query your acceptance of directions from suspicious humanoid friend Percy.’

‘All right, K9, there’s no need for us to bite each other’s heads off,’ she snapped back.

He burbled in confusion. ‘I did not suggest such an action, Mistress.’

The Colonel decided they both needed bucking up. ‘This whatsit we’re searching for...’

‘Yes?’

‘It could look like anything at all, really? I mean, it’s probably disguised? And isolated?’

Romana looked hopeful. ‘Yes. They wouldn’t put it anywhere that someone might just wander into.’

‘Ah.’ He cracked his knuckles and scratched his head.

‘Sorry, my dear. Come up blank myself.’ He gestured seawards. ‘Nothing down there but a lot of pebbles.’ He peered at the bottletop sticking out of her trouser pocket. ‘You haven’t touched your ginger pop, my dear.’

She offered it to him. ‘Thanks, but you have it.’

‘Ah.’ He took a couple of swigs. ‘Funny thing. So peaceful here. Looking back I can hardly believe somebody was taking pots at us this morning. Dash it, I still say it’s unfair to put a filly like you through all of this, good though you are. You ought to spend more time with girls of your own age.’

She smiled. ‘There aren’t any girls of my age.’

Whatever the Colonel’s reply might have been, it was halted by an urgent buzzing from K9.

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