Part 8 (1/2)

Scenting that, at last, its hunt was over, the tyrannosaurus leapt through the last of the constricting trees . . .

. . . and collided hard with the outer wall of the returning Galactic Prison.

67.

8.Don't Ask

Bernice sat up and rubbed the back of her neck with a groan.

'You know, before I met the Doctor, I could count the number of times I'd been knocked unconscious on the fingers of . . .

well, one finger. Now it's becoming a regular habit.'

'Occupational hazard,' the computer chirped from nearby.

Benny clambered up and yelped as the jetstream of a pa.s.sing airbus nearly blew her off the rooftop. She took hold of the sky-bike's handlebars and mounted it stiffly. 'Remind me what happened.'

'You crashed when a raspberry blancmange thrown by the Quiz hit your face.'

'I should be surprised. My life's become quite surreal lately.

A fortnight ago, I was fighting mad teddy bears.' That stray recollection cleared Benny's mind a little. She spotted a gap in the traffic and went for it. As the bike eased itself into the flow, she rubbed her eyes and wished that the dull ache in her forehead would go away. 'What am I doing in this place?'

'You're chasing the Quiz, by following the clue he left on my street guide whilst you were asleep.'

Bernice looked down at the green felt-tipped words, scrawled untidily across the map screen.

WHY DID THE ELEPHANT USE THE TELEPHONE?.

-? Q.

The Doctor strode along the corridors of the Galactic Prison building, hands clasped behind his back, inspecting the decor with a nonchalant air. 'Grey walls, grey floor, grey ceiling,' he mused. 'Not very imaginative.'

He smiled as he rounded a corner and saw the familiar police 68 box sh.e.l.l of his TARDIS. As he approached it, two men appeared from nowhere, one each side of him. They were tall and muscular, dressed in fawn prison officer's uniforms.

Without speaking or even looking at him, they gripped an arm each and propelled the Doctor's slighter form towards the TARDIS doors, his feet barely touching ground. He didn't resist.

After a short wait, the doors swung open and three figures emerged, the first with her hands tied behind her back, being pushed along by the others. The Doctor's face lit up when he saw them. 'Of course, I should have realized.' He doffed his hat towards the prisoner, no mean feat with his upper arms pinned.

'h.e.l.lo, Mel. Nice to see you again.'

'Doctor!' Mel's face broke into a grin of relief. But the Doctor wasn't looking at her. He was staring intently at the young man in the black blazer.

'I wish I could say the same thing for you,' he growled. The third man - his own double, it seemed - broke the contact, interposing himself between the pair. 'What are you doing out of your cell?' he snapped.

'Inspection tour,' the Doctor answered, his tone belying the levity in his words.

The newcomer snorted derisively. Then he turned away.

'Jason and I have no time to waste on defeated miscreants.' He raised his voice to command the silent guards. 'Take these prisoners and lock them up. Securely, this time.'

The two men saluted smartly and the Doctor was lifted again.

Another guard appeared and took hold of Melanie's shoulder.

'It might interest you to know,' the ersatz Doctor called as they were dragged away, 'that I've tracked down your other accomplices. They'll soon be serving well-deserved sentences with you.' He chuckled to himself and swept back into the TARDIS. The Doctor craned to see over his shoulder: the young man Jason was still outside the s.h.i.+p and glaring at him with steel in his eyes.

'Aren't you going to do something?' Mel wailed.

'No, Mel,' the Doctor said mildly. 'Our friend there is right.

69.We've been very naughty and we must be punished. It's only fair.'

Roz rose from behind the console, worried. She circled it, but Dr Who was nowhere in sight. Not in here and certainly not on the scanner. But she had seen him pivot and walk in through the TARDIS doors, so quickly that she hadn't had time to escape.

He should have caught her red-handed. So where was he?

She turned her attention back to the screen, and watched as the Doctor and Mel were taken away. She resisted the impulse to charge out and help them. She had some inkling of the powers at Dr Who's disposal and she didn't want to tip her hand yet. Besides, she would have a better chance soon. She knew where the Doctor was now, and she had heard enough to understand that his captors were going after Benny and Chris next (and one more target - who could that be?). Once those two were aboard, the intruders wouldn't know what hit them!

Jason was heading back, so she turned off the scanner and darted out of the room. From the corridor, she could hear the young man talking - and the voice of his formerly missing companion joined in. 'The more recent accomplices next, I think. They should be out of that mysterious crystal by now.'

There was silence for a few seconds, apart from the clicks of the controls. 'That's odd. One of them has travelled to Detrios.'

'I don't want to go there again,' Jason complained.

'Okay, we'll pick up the other one first,' said Dr Who.

'Has the s.h.i.+p not detected the fifth villain yet?'

'I'm afraid not.'

Roz had heard all she needed to hear. She made her way back to the wardrobe hiding place, and wondered why the TARDIS hadn't told its new masters about her.

The sky-bike ploughed through the advertising board and Bernice struggled to keep control as plastic filaments exploded in an electrical shower around her. She wrenched the steering about and lowered the vehicle onto a rooftop.

Wheeee-hoooo! the computer yelled in its perennially cheerful voice. 'You worked out that one with microseconds to 70 spare. That could have been much nastier than it was.

'Chalk it down to deja vu deja vu,' said Benny, brus.h.i.+ng shreds off her coveralls. 'I feel like I've done all this before. Any damage?'

'Only to your pride.'

'Very funny. Where were we going, before the Quiz's video stunt?'

'We were following the main trunk-line out of Metro City.'

'Say that again.'