Part 15 (1/2)

They want all of Earth and its resources to feed their endless quest for more worlds, more territories.'

Sarah tried to absorb all of this information. 'So, if Callum hadn't picked a fight with Tommy, none of this might have happened?'

'We might have been able to stop the Xhinn some other way, yes.'

'We got here two weeks before the crucial moment and still thousands of people are going to die.' Sarah felt tears rolling down her cheeks.

'I know, Sarah, I know. We want to save everyone but we can't.' He took her face in his hands and lifted it up. His thumbs delicately wiped away the tears from her cheeks. 'Remember what I said before? We're here to prevent a greater tragedy. We both have a role to play.'

She nodded, sniffing back her tears. 'So, what's our next step?'

'You need to go back to Tommy Ramsey's house. I'm convinced his part in this crisis is not yet over. But be careful, Sarah remember what happened with Callum. Not everybody is who or what they seem to be.'

'That's alright we developed a test for finding the Xhinn.

They don't like flames or fire.' Sarah explained about the severed arm. 'The Xhinn don't just use their external scouts to carry out their plans. They employ unwitting collaborators to do their bidding, people who do not realise they will be betraying their own species,' the Doctor warned. 'Trust no-one.'

Sarah nodded. 'What will you be doing?'

'Trying to avert any more deaths. I'm going to tell the Xhinn to leave Earth alone or suffer the consequences.'

'How will you find them?'

'Finding them will be the easy part.' The Doctor pointed to his handheld tracking device. 'The smog is being controlled by Xhinn technology. This device should enable me to track the source of that control. Convincing the Xhinn they should leave now will be the hard part.'

'But how can you stop them?'

The Doctor tapped the side of his nose. 'That's my little secret better you don't know. Let's just say I haven't been wasting my time here in the TARDIS.'

Sarah fetched a new coat and scarf from her bedroom.

Before leaving she said goodbye to the Doctor. 'Please be careful. I don't want to be trapped in 1952 these shoes are killing me!'

He smiled and watched her go. 'Goodbye, Sarah,' he said to himself, the smile fading from his features. 'Good luck.'

Frank Kelly had never been a hard worker. He spent the war avoiding active duty with a series of mysterious illnesses. These helped earn him a medical discharge and small pension once the fighting was over. Most of that went on beer and betting. When he wasn't supporting his local bookmaker, Frank liked to eye up the barmaid in the neighbouring pub.

He had only married Rose because she was pregnant and named him as the guilty party. Her father turned up with a shotgun and a marriage licence. Two days later Frank was on honeymoon in Eastbourne, his feet having hardly touched the ground. Two months later Rose had a miscarriage. She wanted to try for another baby but he was having none of it. He had been blind drunk the night she first surrendered to his charms.

Once he sobered up, Frank decided the slightly overweight, pleasant-faced Rose wasn't to his taste. But he couldn't escape the marriage. Rose was a fervent Catholic and would not countenance divorce. So they stayed together, hating each other more as each day pa.s.sed.

Rose put all her energies into the little boarding house, trying to make it a home away from home for the guests. Mostly they were travelling salesmen, or families evicted after missing rent payments. The Kellys were luckier than most. They actually owned their house, a rarity in this part of London. Rose's father had given it to them as a wedding present. She was turning the business into a going concern. They certainly couldn't have survived on the military pension or the pittance Frank earned helping at the local market.

When the weather was bad like this, Frank stayed in the front room, always in the chair nearest the fire. Rose bustled around cooking meals for the boarders or was.h.i.+ng the bed linen.

She was arranging sheets to dry in front of the fire when a Black Maria police van pulled up outside the house in Great Sutton Street.

'Who could that be?' Rose wondered. She was about to peer out the curtains when a heavy banging rattled the front door.

The little woman glared at her indolent husband. 'What have you been up to, Frank Kelly? If that's the old bill I'll have your guts for garters!'

He protested his innocence. 'I ain't been out of this house in three days and you know it, woman!' He always called her woman, never Rose. Any trace of affection between them had worn away years ago. He s.h.i.+fted in his seat before settling down again to gaze into the fire.

'Well, you could at least get off your fat b.u.m and answer the door! It'll be more than you've done round this place for months!' Rose put her hands on her hips, exasperated at Frank's laziness. But he just ignored her, as always.

The front door took another battering from the impatient visitor. Rose looked to the ceiling for guidance. 'Lord, save us all from lazy, good for nothing, bone idle men!' She stomped to the front door and opened it. 'Yes, what do you '

Sergeant Diggle was standing outside, his truncheon raised to start knocking again. 'Good morning, madam. Could you tell me how many people there are in the house?'

'Just me and Frank me husband,' Rose replied. 'Normally we'd expect to have boarders but this weather is terrible for driving off any casual trade. Is something wrong?' She feared the worst, as always. Frank had a habit of acquiring misplaced goods from dubious salesmen in pub bars. Any police search of the boarding house would probably fund enough evidence to lock both of them away for many, many months.

'We're evacuating everyone from the local area, due to the inclement weather,' the policeman explained. 'The authorities believe this smog could pose a health risk to residents, especially in the East End. We've been asked to move people to a holding area. From there you'll be taken outside the city.'

'Like the kiddies during the war?'

'Something like that, yes madam.'

Rose smiled excitedly. She had never been out of London, never been further than the West End. A free trip to the countryside sounded like just the tonic she needed. But a worry was hampering her happiness.

'What can we take with us? I don't want anyone breaking in and stealing all our valuables.'

Sergeant Diggle smiled. 'Don't worry, madam. Everybody is being evacuated over the next few days, so that shouldn't be a problem. As a safeguard, we shall have a constable on every street corner to stop any looters or criminals from taking advantage of this situation.'

Rose turned to shout along the hallway. 'You hear that, Frank? We're being evacuated to the countryside! The police think the smog's not safe.'

She was rewarded with a grunt of disinterest. Rose rolled her eyes at the policeman. 'How long have we got to pack?'

'Actually madam, the van is ready to leave now. We need to get everyone out of this street in the next few minutes.' He pointed at a Black Maria parked in front of the boarding house.

Through the mist Rose could see several of her neighbours being helped up on the back of the vehicle.

'But I need to take some things a night dress, my jewellery,' she protested, one hand reaching for her neck. Frank had only ever given Rose one gift in all their time together, a pearl necklace he claimed to have found on the street.

She wore it whenever she was expecting guests, or on the rare occasions she got out of the house. She couldn't leave without the necklace.

'You'll be provided with food and clothing at the holding area. If you lock up the house securely, your valuables will still be here when you get back.'

Frank had finally pulled himself out of the armchair and joined his wife at the front door. 'Valuables? What's all this about valuables?'

Rose looked at her husband with worried eyes. 'We have to go now. The policemen want us to leave everything behind.'

'That can't be right, can it?' Frank looked at the sergeant with suspicion. He had a natural distrust of the police anyway but this seemed too sudden. Since when did the authorities care what happened to the residents of Great Sutton Street? All the local people had felt was neglect and contempt.

'Yes, sir. You have to leave now,' Sergeant Diggle insisted.