Part 30 (1/2)

And in the end Roz got fed up with chess and with waiting for the phone to ring, and had pulled on her coat and gone out into the freezing morning, leaving him in the lounge.

Chris had got hold of the Doctor's ghost-detector. The Time Lord had dropped it in the mud when the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p's beam had caught him; he must have been trying to take some kind of reading. Bit more precise than a divining rod.

Chris had dampened a tea towel and wiped off the worst of the mud and bits of wheat. The thing was making little humming noises, so it must still be working a bit. He could see a couple of batteries taped into the mechanism just behind the tea-strainer.

There was a roll with times printed on it and a long, slow line drawn by a needle. Mostly the line was flat. He gently lifted the needle and wound the roll back.

At about noon that day, the needle had gone berserk.

As he was staring at the roll, the pen jumped in his hand.

He quickly pulled his hand out of the machine, and the needle started hopping and scratching all over the paper, faster and faster.

'Oh frag,' he said.

He bolted out of the cottage. She was just about to go inside the coffee shop. 'Roz!' he shouted. 'Wait!'

She turned, as he ran up the road towards her, the rough surface biting his feet and he could see that feathered horror he could see that feathered horror descending on her, rus.h.i.+ng from all sides like a hurricane descending on her, rus.h.i.+ng from all sides like a hurricane with her in its eye - with her in its eye - Roz batted at the thing as it battered at her, waving her hands wildly and shouting. Chris knew that no one else could see it.

She could see it because it was attacking her, and he could see it because he'd already seen it twice.

He saw her mouth open as he sprinted the last few metres between them. He knew she was being taken back to the beginning, that her life was being read like a book that someone was flipping through, fast, uncaring, looking for a particular paragraph or picture.

He grabbed hold of her as she was catapulted into her own future.

And suddenly they were married, living on a lush green world where he surfed and fought villains and she danced and wrote laser-sharp political commentary. And from time to time the Doctor visited them, sometimes wearing a different face, but always with that conjurer's twinkle in his eye.

And suddenly they were lying on a road in 1983, free of the ghost storm, and it was so cold that he could feel his bare toes turning blue.

Roz was shaking in his grip, outraged, still struggling. He jerked backwards, letting her go, giving her s.p.a.ce. 'Did you see it?' he asked her, as they sat up. 'Did you see it?'

'I didn't see anything!' she shouted wildly. 'Christ! I didn't see anything anything, all right?'

24 Plan B

Albinex pressed his palm against the engine room lock. The door slid open.

Inside, his time engine was lying in disrepair, little puffs of burnt stuff scattered over its surface like black flowers. His transformation arch had been dragged away from the wall, and was lying flat on the floor, sizzling softly.

The Doctor, not surprisingly, was gone.

'Never mind,' said Albinex. 'Never you mind.'

He turned on his heel and walked the short distance to his larder. The door slid open at his touch. He stepped into the room, found the canisters he wanted, brus.h.i.+ng away the condensation to read the labels.

'I knew you would come in handy,' he breathed. 'The both of you.'

It's surprising what you can think of in an hour.

25 Conference

Someone was helping Roz up, flapping his hat at the bees that were still b.u.mbling around her. Chris scrambled to his feet.

It wasn't the Doctor. It was Tom Sullivan, the old guy from the post office. 'Are you all right, missus?' he said. 'Is this fellow annoying you?'

Roz dusted herself down. 'No more than usual,' she muttered. 'No, I'm fine, thanks very much.'

Tom gave Cwej a suspicious glance, but pushed his hat back down on his head and wandered off down the road towards the graveyard. Roz watched him go, thoughtfully.

'It was the ghost,' said Chris. 'The Doctor's ghost. Well, not his his ghost, but the one he was talking about before. That little machine started going nuts.' ghost, but the one he was talking about before. That little machine started going nuts.'

'Oh, great,' said Roz. 'Government conspiracies, UFOs, and now ghosts.'

'It recorded stuff when I was having that dream this morning,' said Chris. He plucked a dead bee from his joggers. 'And the bees were there again.'

'Okay, well, we'd better let Isaac know.' Roz headed for the coffee shop door.

'It showed me the future,' said Chris.

Roz hesitated at the door. She didn't look back at him.

'At least, I think it was the future,' he said.

He wanted to go to her, put his arms around her again.

Touch her. He wanted to touch her.

He stood where he was, still in the road, awkward.

'At least, I hope it was the future,' he said quietly.

Roz glanced at him with eyes like black gla.s.s. She pushed open the door, and followed the sound of bells into the shop.