Part 15 (2/2)

'What do you think about the camp?' asked Jacqui.

Forrester didn't look at her, concentrating on not slipping In the mud. 'I've seen hundreds of protests,' she said.

'You must be kind of an expert then.'

'I'd never really thought about it like that,' said Roz.

'Chris said you and he used to be police. In the future.'

'That's right.'

'So was it your job to stop protesters?'

'If it wasn't a legal protest.'

'Like painting the planes,' said Jacqui. 'Criminal damage.'

'I suppose so.'

Jacqui laughed. Roz glanced at her. 'Sorry,' she said.

'It's just funny how you get arrested for stopping nuclear bombs and not for blowing them up. We need police who arrest the people with the bombs.'

'Right, thanks for that,' said Roz. 'Now let me ask you something.'

'Why do you take part in the protests, when you know the future? You must know the base is going to be decommissioned eventually, and that World War Three never happens.'

'Oh yeah,' said Jacqui, 'but the Admiral says that the future could change if something happens. Anyway, I couldn't just do nothing.'

'Why not, since you know the outcome anyway?'

'Well, because, doing nothing is like saying it's okay,'

said Jacqui. 'I hate it when people do that.' She stepped over a fallen tree limb. 'Here's the next camp.'

'Three down, two to go,' muttered Roz.

The Doctor had stayed in the pub to think. He ordered a lemonade and sat by himself in a booth, tapping his fingers on the table and scowling.

He'd told Benny he wasn't going to get involved here.

That this was Isaac's territory. And yet merely arriving had precipitated so many events. He should have dropped her off and come back in a month!

A young man brought him his lemonade, smiling. The Doctor took a long drink. There were two basic possibilities regarding the TARDIS. One, that Isaac had decided to hide her away as a sort of hostage. Two, that that was a panicky move which didn't suit what they'd seen of the Admiral at all, and that someone else had taken the old girl. Someone who knew just what she was, and had been watching the village.

And if they'd been watching the village, they might have taken Ia Jareshth while they were about it.

They were facing a common enemy, and they were so busy mistrusting one another that they'd missed the chance to work together.

The Doctor kicked himself mentally. He'd promised himself not to make that same mistake again. He had to get back to the village, talk to Isaac - if the Admiral would accept his help.

The only thing was, he didn't seem to be able to get up.

He slumped against the wall. 'Oh, for goodness' sake,'

he murmured.

A blurred face swam into view. 'h.e.l.lo, granddad,' it said.

'Have you fallen off the wagon again?'

He tried to fend off two pairs of strong hands as they lifted him out of the booth. Someone clucked their tongue.

'And before lunchtime, too. Don't worry,' they told someone else, 'we'll get him up to our room. He can have a little lie down. Won't you, granddad?'

It wasn't far back to Little Caldwell from Greenham Common.

The problem was that Joel had panicked and driven the car down a side road, and now he had no idea which way he was going.

The helicopter buzzed him again. Joel yelled involuntarily at the sheer noise noise of the thing. He slammed the accelerator Pedal down hard, skidded as a tyre went into the mud, dragged on the steering wheel. of the thing. He slammed the accelerator Pedal down hard, skidded as a tyre went into the mud, dragged on the steering wheel.

He was so terrified that his brain felt like a superconductor, colder than ice and running at ten times normal speed.

This was what they wanted - to force him into some obscure spot so that they could grab him without witnesses. If they wanted to kill him, they'd be shooting at him right now.

He could radio for help. But even if he could take his hands off the wheel for a moment the chopper would only hear the message. He had to get back onto a main road, drive away from Little Caldwell.

Two minutes later he lost control and slammed sideways into a tree.

Luckily, it was the other side of the car.

'So much for that brilliant plan,' he gasped, his whole body resounding with the shock of impact. His ears rang in the sudden silence - and then the chopper was behind him, its blades booming as it slowly came down.

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