Part 16 (2/2)

127.

'What happened?' she asked, barging through the door.

Should she have checked earlier?

'Sorry, madam, but we're closed for the moment.' The duty manager; tall, bronzed, wavy sandy hair.

'Never mind that, what happened?'

'We don't know,' admitted one of the waiters, righting a table. Someone else was brus.h.i.+ng wood splinters onto a shovel.

'We found it like this. You were here last time, weren't you?'

'I beg your pardon?'

'All the weirdness, six months ago. You must think we never have a quiet day.'

If you'd like to come back in ten minutes?'

Six months ago? Time travel! Ace thought. Who needs it?

Still, she could worry about that one when it came up. For now, she needed to find out what had gone on this morning. Kids, she hoped.

She was halfway through the door, intending to wait within sight of the window - just in case - when she heard it. That familiar noise, like a key sc.r.a.ped along a piano string only much slower.

To Ace's considerable surprise, the TARDIS arrived.9.16 a.m.

Jason looked disdainfully at the woman on the screen, standing unruffled as cleaners fled for cover about her. 'She looks the worst of the lot,' he commented. 'I admit, I was a bit unsure about our mission, with that nice-looking Melanie and Chris in there. But this one obviously blows up worlds in her spare time.'

Dr Who's hand hovered over the door control. 'And are you ready to stop her?'

He nodded, reaching beneath the console for a large stick and weighing it in one hand. 'Ambush prepared. Go lure her in.' Dr Who went outside and Jason slipped behind the door, following his progress via the scanner.

He grinned as Ace stepped forward to greet her visitor, unsuspecting. 'I need you,' Dr Who said. 'Get into the TARDIS, I'll give you details en route.' Ace nodded and moved 128 to obey. Jason tensed and s.h.i.+fted his grip on his weapon.

Then, to his horror, the woman whipped around and punched his faithful friend in the bread-basket. She grabbed Dr Who's shoulder and applied a nerve pinch, which fortunately didn't work. The beleaguered alien struck bravely back and the pair became locked in close combat.

Jason dropped his stick (a bad move, he realized immediately) and rushed out to join the fray. He hurled himself onto Ace and pummelled her, but she threw him. He lashed out blindly, but she twisted and he ended up punching Dr Who instead.

Likewise, his friend's attack went awry and the good guys fell, entangled. Now Ace was above them, gun drawn. 'Right,' she said with ice in her voice, 'I spent enough time with the Doctor to know that you're not him. Who are you?'

'We're heroes,' Dr Who proclaimed loftily. 'We have come to arrest you, you evil miscreant.'

She laughed, incredibly. 'You what?' But she had made a mistake: her attention was entirely on Dr Who. Feigning queasiness and half-turning, Jason reached into his blazer and produced . . . hmm, what could it be? Ah . . . a sonic-powered weapon-destruction device.

Ace whirled, too fast, as Jason primed the machine. She fired . . . but the blast was deflected by a circular, red-and white-striped s.h.i.+eld which appeared on his arm. Simultaneously, Jason activated the sonic device and Ace's precious gun evaporated.

Dr Who went for her in that instant and brought her down.

'Surrender! I would hate to take your life, it's against all I believe in.'

'Believe in this!' Ace snarled. She knocked him back with the heel of her hand and laid into him, punching again and again until he reeled into the counter.

'Leave him alone!' screamed Jason. This time, his pocket held a rifle. Dr Who was down, unconscious and bloodied, and Ace turned her attention to him.

Now come on,' she said, reaching for the gun, 'you're only a kid, you don't want to go down for murder, do you?'

129.

'I am not!' he protested. 'I'm a grown-up. I'm . . .' He faltered as he tried to remember the year. 'Well, I was sixteen now. But I'm from the future, so I'm even older. So there!' He stuck his tongue out.

Somebody grabbed him from behind. Jason squeaked and fired, but the rifle jerked upwards and he brought a shower of plaster down upon himself. He fell back and Ace leapt, pus.h.i.+ng the courageous waitress aside. 'I'll handle this.' She had won, Jason realized, in panic. She was going to torture and mutilate and kill him . . .

That was when the wildly improbable happened.

The room exploded and Ace staggered back, coughing and spluttering in thick smoke which didn't bother Jason one bit. He knew, deep down, that the flames were the doing of his own subconscious, as had been the s.h.i.+eld. They wouldn't harm him.

It was sad that the girl must die, but then that's what you got for shooting at goodies.

The despicable Ace yelped painfully as burning air coalesced into a fierce, red sphere, centred upon her. Two seconds later, she was gone and the cafe was back to normal, unscathed by the brief inferno. The staff had evacuated, but Dr Who was up and well and moving across to Jason's side.

'Is she dead?' he asked. 'Did I disintegrate her?'

He shook his head. 'She transferred through time.'

'Without a TARDIS?'

'She had something on her back.

'So what do we do?'

Dr Who produced two handheld plastic devices. 'With these portable time-transference machines,' he said, 'we can lock onto Ace's fourth-dimensional trace. According to my readout, she's travelled forward to just past five to three this afternoon.

We can follow and pounce when she least expects it.'9.21 a.m.

Barely half a minute after the last of the intruders had faded, the woman appeared again, in midair over a table. She hit the ground running, dived over the counter and left the camera's view.

130.

When her pursuers arrived a moment later, they stood, presumably confused by her absence. Then she leapt out, caught them unawares and landed on the younger man's back. She knocked him over, turned and smashed the plastic contraption from his companion's hands with a roundhouse kick. It fell and shattered, the pieces skittering beneath a table.

The woman disappeared. The boy followed immediately afterwards.

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