Part 2 (2/2)

'That's the Fuller Lodge,' said Butcher. 'That used to be the main building of the ranch school. Now it's the hotel and main dining room. It's where you'll be billeted. Or at least you you will,' he glanced at the Doctor. 'The girl goes in the women's dormitory.' will,' he glanced at the Doctor. 'The girl goes in the women's dormitory.'

'Oh great. The girl goes in the women's dormitory,' said Ace.

'Should we perhaps get out of the car and unpack?' said the Doctor tentatively. Butcher shook his head.

'Oppenheimer wants to see you right away. Matter of fact, he's throwing a party in your honour.'

'A party?' said Ace, her mood improving.

'They're probably hitting the booze already,' said Butcher.

The Oppenheimers' house was at the end of a dusty road known affectionately as Bathtub Row. The house looked like a log cabin with a boxlike veranda built onto one side of it, surrounded by spa.r.s.e gra.s.s, crazy paving, trees and flowerbeds. Ace and the Doctor walked up the crazy paving as Butcher drove back down Bathtub Row to park the car. There was a subdued buzz of voices coming from the open door of the house. They paused a few yards from the threshold, in the shade of a poplar tree.

'Well, he was a bundle of laughs,' said Ace.

'Don't underestimate Major Butcher.'

'Did he really write all those books you were banging on about?'

'Of course.' The Doctor smiled. 'Do you doubt my word?'

'No, but he doesn't look like he could manage the quick crossword puzzle in the Sun Sun let alone write an entire book.' let alone write an entire book.'

'Looks can be deceiving.'

'You're telling me.'

'His novels are actually very good. I wasn't being insincere or disingenuous when I praised them. He really is a very talented man. You should read one.

I've got copies in our luggage. I can lend them to you.'

'No thanks,' said Ace. 'I've got better things to do. Like picking fluff out of my belly b.u.t.ton. And speaking of our luggage, what happened to it?'14.

'I'm sure it will be safe with the Major.'

'I'm not sure at all. He's probably going through my knickers right now.

What did you make of him pretending to be our driver?'

'Rather a clever ruse. We should have been more careful about what we said in front of him, or rather behind him.'

'Does that mean he's suspicious of us?'

'Major Butcher is in charge of security here. It's his job to be suspicious of everyone.'

'Well it's a good job I didn't mention the TARDIS.'

'Yes,' the Doctor grinned. 'That was rather fortunate. Though I imagine it would mostly have served to confuse the poor fellow.' He glanced towards the open door of the house. The sound of voices had grown steadily louder and more festive and now music started to play. Ace didn't recognise the tune but it was something boring and cla.s.sical. The voices rose louder still, in compet.i.tion with it. She frowned.

'Did we really have to leave the TARDIS in Lame-o or whatever that dump was called?'

'Lamy. Yes, I'm afraid we did. The military presence here made it problem-atical to bring it any closer to Los Alamos. And then, of course, we had to explain our arrival. We couldn't just turn up out of the blue.'

'Out of the blue box, you mean,' said Ace. There was the distinctive sound of an ice shaker from inside the house, and laughter contending with the music.

The party was beginning to seem inviting.

The Doctor said, 'In fact, I'm not so sure that turning up at Lamy and getting the bus from there was sufficient to allay the Major's suspicions.'

'What about our forged ticket stubs?'

'They're not forged, Ace. They're perfectly genuine. I collected them myself, and filed them away for future use.'

'You've been planning this caper for some time then.'

'I told you, I'm not deeply enamoured of that word. And I'm not sure that the tickets alone are enough. Even though I've clipped them with the correct implements.'

'I should hope so.'

'I wonder if we should have caught the train from Chicago after all. To throw Butcher off our scent, as it were.'

'What, and leave the TARDIS in Chicago?'

'Precisely. That was the quandary. It would have been a long way off if we needed it.'

'Well it's not exactly dead handy where it is now. What if we suddenly need to get to it. Do we ask Major Bulldog to give us a lift back to Lamy?'15.

'Major Butcher,' corrected the Doctor. 'No. If it comes to that we shall ask a friend of mine to help us.'

'We've got some back-up?' said Ace. 'That makes a pleasant change.' She looked at the inviting cool shadows of the house. 'Someone here?'

'No, someone a very long way away.'

'Sounds useful,' said Ace. Inside the house, someone walked past the door and she got a glimpse of the red-and-white fabric of a woman's dress. She remembered her own outfit and felt her face go hot with embarra.s.sment.

Perhaps sensing her mood, the Doctor spoke up. 'Now, are you sure you understand the situation?'

'I know I'm not going to the Alamo to join the fight with Davy Crockett, if that's what you mean. I have managed to absorb that fact.'

'Yes, well I'm sorry about that little misunderstanding. But it's important that you are clear on everything else. Our hosts the Oppenheimers, for example.' The Doctor nodded towards the house.

'He's some kind of boffin, right? Like Dr Judson.'

'Yes, but several orders of magnitude higher. He studied at Harvard, Cam-bridge and Gottingen.'

'Gottingen? That's in Germany isn't it? I thought that lot was at war with our lot. I mean, is is at war with our lot.' at war with our lot.'

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