Part 7 (1/2)

'That's why you've been expecting the Doctor.'

'We've been tidying up his messes for twenty years,' said Isaac. 'Pm surprised he hasn't got around to us before now.'

Woodworth was starting to wonder whether she hadn't 'missed' Little Caldwell after all. She'd been driving in circles around Newbury for half an hour. She pulled over. The radio was murmuring something about cruise missiles.

It wasn't anything supernatural, she'd just missed the turnoff, twice. She folded up the map and shoved it back in the glovebox.

After a moment, she pulled out the gun and put it in her bag, Pus.h.i.+ng it to the bottom under the jars and bags and books.

'Breathing' started on the car radio as she pulled out onto the road. 'Third time lucky,' she muttered.

Benny closed her eyes for a moment, breathing the breakfast smells. This ought to be a barren plain on some far-flung moon, or an alien graveyard with human names scattered amongst the headstones, or the shattered sh.e.l.l of the Tisiphone Tisiphone suspended in s.p.a.ce. suspended in s.p.a.ce.

She opened her eyes. Tony, his hologram restored, was cooking bacon and eggs behind the counter. Chris and Roz were working their way through a huge plate of doughnuts, At the next table, Jason was describing his adventures to a rapt (and rather too-young-to-hear-them) Joel. And at the next, a tall black woman and a plump forty-ish woman - Ms Randrianasolo and Jacqui - were listening in, amused.

Benny's heart was thumping, and it wasn't the macchiato, Jason had shaken Isaac's hand, formal as a business rival, The Doctor was even worse. He was sitting next to her, and he and the Admiral were eyeing each other like a pair of cats disputing territory.

The Doctor spread strawberry jam on a croissant, deliberately. 'How large is your crew?'

The crew proper comprises myself, Ms Randrianasolo, Joel, Tony and Albinex,' said Isaac. 'Only Ms Randrianasolo and myself are members of the original Tisiphone Tisiphone crew.' crew.'

'What happened to the others?'

'One married, one disappeared, one died.'

'Do you know what caused the wormhole? Or why you landed here, of all places?'

Isaac shook his head. 'I've been wondering that since nineteen sixty-three.'

The Doctor drummed his fingers on the table. Benny imagined that the pattern matched the rhythm of his inner thoughts, rapid and staccato. 'Just how many fugitives have you helped?'

Isaac met his eyes. 'Hundreds.'

'So, many of them must have been hostile,' said the Doctor. 'Dangerous.'

'Most of them are frightened and miserable and just want to get home,' said her father. 'The ones who don't want our help are UNIT's problem, or sometimes the CIA. A few times we've tipped them off ourselves. There was a Lalandian safari killing people in Durham in nineteen seventy-six -'

'Grief,' said Benny. 'I was in England in nineteen seventy-six. And in nineteen sixty-eight. If I'd known I could have just phoned you.'

'They must offer you a great deal,' said the Doctor.

'Technology, funds, a lift home...'

'We're not interested,' said Isaac. 'When I joined s.p.a.cefleet, I took an oath to keep Earth and all its territories safe, and that's just what I'm doing.'

The Doctor stirred his tea. 'I've often wondered what happens to all the leftovers,' he said.

'There are rather a lot of them,' said Isaac dryly. 'UNIT's policy has always been blow it up or cover it up.'

'To my eternal frustration. This is very good tea,' he said.

'We'll have to wean you off that stuff,' said Isaac. 'It's not a patch on my espresso.'

Tony pushed open the gate to one of the little cl.u.s.ter of cottages. 'We only have a few guests with us at the moment,'

he said. 'So you can have this one all to yourself. I hope it's okay.'

'It looks nice,' said Chris.

Tony unlocked the front door and led them into the lounge. 'I've switched the electricity back on, and there should be towels and things. Um, is there anything else you need to know?'

'About a hundred things,' said Roz.

'Oh,' said Tony.

'How have you managed to avoid detection for so long?

We had a look around the place. There aren't any monitors and there aren't any weapons.'

'That's right. This village is so small and uninteresting that a lot of people drive right through without noticing it. We don't want any alien technology about the place.'

'But you have a hologram generator,' said Chris.

'Well, of course,' said Tony. 'I'm supposed to be inconspicuous inconspicuous.'

'Blasters?' asked Roz.

Isaac flicked the big red switch on the back of the PC. It ground to life, chewing on the 51/4-inch diskette in drive A.

'I'm very glad,' he said, 'that we only have to do this once a month.'