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deal with more immediate matters?'
'Jo has been arrested in Kebiria,' said the Doctor.
'How on Earth do you know that?'
'My dear fellow, you don't think I haven't used the Prognosticator
to track Jo's movements as well? Last time I checked on her she was
in a prison cell in Kebir City with another woman and as far as I
could tell from reading their lips they're planning an escape.'
The Brigadier considered this for a moment. 'I don't think that's
wise. I've already got somebody from the Secretariat on to this, they
should be in touch with the Kebirian government first thing in the
morning.'
'Yes, but Jo doesn't know that. I think it would be easier if I went
and collected her, don't you?'
The Brigadier stared at him. 'Collected her? In that thing?' He
gestured with his swagger-stick at the TARDIS. 'I thought you never
knew where you were going to end up?'
The Doctor frowned severely. 'It's not quite that bad, Brigadier. I've
just had a little difficulty getting used to the navigational systems
again.' He paused, glanced down at a key that he was holding in his
hand, frowned. 'Anyway, this should be easy enough. I've linked the
Prognosticator to the primary space-time orientation circuits. All I
have to do is work out where Jo will be in say ten minutes, and
the TARDIS will take me there. Then, if you'll be kind enough to sit
here for the next twenty minutes, I can use a fix on you to return
here.'
He started towards the TARDIS, the key in his hand.
'Just a minute, Doctor,' said the Brigadier. 'Are you telling me I've
got to sit here for the next twenty minutes whilst you swan off to
Kebiria in that thing?'
'That's right, Brigadier,' said the Doctor over his shoulder, opening
the TARDIS door. 'Twenty minutes.'
The door closed.
'But Doctor '
The TARDIS began to issue the wheezing, grating noise which the
Brigadier recognized as being a prelude to dematerialization. The
light on the top flashed. The wall became visible beyond the machine.
It had almost vanished when there was a muffled thud, like distant
thunder. The TARDIS winked in and out of existence, appeared,
wraith-like, in several different parts of the room at once. Then there
was another much louder thud and a gust of wind hit the Brigadier in
the face as if something had exploded. Automatically he threw
himself flat on the floor, covered his eyes. There was another loud
bang, followed by a strangulated trumpeting noise: the Brigadier
looked up, saw the TARDIS back in place. Before he could react, the
door flew open and the Doctor emerged in a cloud of smoke,
coughing. From within the TARDIS there was a hissing sound, and
the smoke issuing from the door thinned and then stopped.
Too late. Quite a lot of it had accumulated under the lab ceiling.
A bell began ringing, painfully loud in the small room. A red light
flashed. Somewhere in the distance, a siren started to blare. Cold
water began showering down over the lab, and the lights went out.
The Doctor ignored all of this, just looked around, then down to
where the Brigadier was slowly picking himself up, trying not to
think about the dry-cleaning bill for his uniform.
'On the other hand, Brigadier,' he said sheepishly, 'perhaps we
should take a plane, if you would be good enough to arrange one.'
Jo stared at the man, and the man stared back at her. He was an
Arab, tall and lanky, his face burned and wrinkled by the desert. He
was wearing a frayed denim jacket and loose jeans; his feet were
bare.
'Are you a prisoner?' asked Jo, feeling that it was a silly question
even as she asked it. She looked at the bunch of keys in her hand. She
had a ridiculous notion that she ought to apologize to the man for
barging into his cell without knocking.
'I have that misfortune,' said the Arab, in slow, careful English.
'Can I help you?'
'We're trying to escape,' said Jo, glancing over her shoulder at
the corridor outside. She heard a man shouting.
The man got up, walked swiftly past her to the cell door, peered
out. Jo started to follow, but he held up a hand, shook his head.
Suddenly, he was gone.
There was a scuffle, a crash of gunfire. Jo ran forward, saw
Catriona standing over the body of the guard, splashes of blood
staining her shirt. More blood leaked from a neat line of holes in the
man's back. The prisoner was looking up and down the corridor,
holding the guard's machine pistol.
He turned, smiled at Jo.
'My name is Abdelsalam,' he said. 'Follow me.' He began to run
lightly down the corridor.
Jo looked at Catriona, who shrugged. 'No choice, I suppose,' she
said. Her voice was shaking.
They set off after Abdelsalam, caught up with him by a locked
door. 'Come on Jo, do your stuff,' said Catriona.
Jo swallowed, worked the lock. Catriona pushed the heavy door
open. Abdelsalam jumped through, gun at the ready, but there was no
one there. An empty corridor faced them, of the familiar design.
Abdelsalam ran down it, shouting, 'Vincent! Belquassim!'
There were shouts from several cells. Abdelsalam listened, then ran
to one and beat on the door. Jo joined him, frantically examining the
keys. The wailing of sirens drifted in through the door, accompanying
the continuing clamour of the alarm bell in the women's block.
'Quickly!' said Abdelsalam.
The first key Jo tried didn't work. The second jammed in the lock.
Jo looked around frantically.
Abdelsalam put the muzzle of the gun against the lock. 'Stand
back,' he said quietly. 'And pray to Allah.'
He fired, twice.
The door opened.
Inside the cell, a short, dark-haired man with startling green eyes
glanced at her briefly, then turned his gaze to look over her shoulder
at Catriona. A strange expression, half-frown, half-smile, crossed his
face.
'Miss Talliser! So you have decided on direct action at last!'
Jo looked round, saw Catriona wiping blood from her chin with
one hand, pushing back the messy hair from her forehead with the
other.
'Vincent bloody Tayid,' she said. 'I might have known it would be
you. And no, I haven't decided anything. I just didn't have much
choice.'
Vincent grinned. 'Nevertheless I am pleased to see you.' He stepped
forward, held his hands out. Catriona threw him the pistol that she
was still holding.
'You should be careful with these things, my friend,' said Vincent,
hefting the gun, clicking something into place. 'They're killing
machines, eh?'
Light blazed into the corridor. Vincent pushed Jo sideways into his
cell, so that she fell onto the floor. There was a crash of gunfire. Jo
saw Catriona crawling towards her across the floor, heard a man
scream.
Catriona rolled into the cell, winced.
'Are you all right?' shouted Jo.
Catriona winced again. 'My neck hurts,' she said. 'But I'll live.'
Outside, the gunfire stopped. In the silence, Jo muttered, 'Who is
Vincent? Can we trust him?'
'An old friend,' said Catriona. 'And absolutely yes.' She paused, bit
her lip. 'I think.'
Footsteps sounded in the corridor, stopped outside the door.
'Are you all right, ladies?' Vincent's voice.
There was a moment's silence. Catriona didn't seem to be going to
say anything, so Jo spoke up. 'We're okay. What do we do now?'
The door swung open, and Vincent beckoned to them.
'We get Belquassim,' he said. 'Then we get out of here.' He
indicated a cell door. 'That one.'
Jo managed to unlock the cell this time: Belquassim turned out to
be a younger version of Abdelsalam, with Jo thought a nicer [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
deal with more immediate matters?'
'Jo has been arrested in Kebiria,' said the Doctor.
'How on Earth do you know that?'
'My dear fellow, you don't think I haven't used the Prognosticator
to track Jo's movements as well? Last time I checked on her she was
in a prison cell in Kebir City with another woman and as far as I
could tell from reading their lips they're planning an escape.'
The Brigadier considered this for a moment. 'I don't think that's
wise. I've already got somebody from the Secretariat on to this, they
should be in touch with the Kebirian government first thing in the
morning.'
'Yes, but Jo doesn't know that. I think it would be easier if I went
and collected her, don't you?'
The Brigadier stared at him. 'Collected her? In that thing?' He
gestured with his swagger-stick at the TARDIS. 'I thought you never
knew where you were going to end up?'
The Doctor frowned severely. 'It's not quite that bad, Brigadier. I've
just had a little difficulty getting used to the navigational systems
again.' He paused, glanced down at a key that he was holding in his
hand, frowned. 'Anyway, this should be easy enough. I've linked the
Prognosticator to the primary space-time orientation circuits. All I
have to do is work out where Jo will be in say ten minutes, and
the TARDIS will take me there. Then, if you'll be kind enough to sit
here for the next twenty minutes, I can use a fix on you to return
here.'
He started towards the TARDIS, the key in his hand.
'Just a minute, Doctor,' said the Brigadier. 'Are you telling me I've
got to sit here for the next twenty minutes whilst you swan off to
Kebiria in that thing?'
'That's right, Brigadier,' said the Doctor over his shoulder, opening
the TARDIS door. 'Twenty minutes.'
The door closed.
'But Doctor '
The TARDIS began to issue the wheezing, grating noise which the
Brigadier recognized as being a prelude to dematerialization. The
light on the top flashed. The wall became visible beyond the machine.
It had almost vanished when there was a muffled thud, like distant
thunder. The TARDIS winked in and out of existence, appeared,
wraith-like, in several different parts of the room at once. Then there
was another much louder thud and a gust of wind hit the Brigadier in
the face as if something had exploded. Automatically he threw
himself flat on the floor, covered his eyes. There was another loud
bang, followed by a strangulated trumpeting noise: the Brigadier
looked up, saw the TARDIS back in place. Before he could react, the
door flew open and the Doctor emerged in a cloud of smoke,
coughing. From within the TARDIS there was a hissing sound, and
the smoke issuing from the door thinned and then stopped.
Too late. Quite a lot of it had accumulated under the lab ceiling.
A bell began ringing, painfully loud in the small room. A red light
flashed. Somewhere in the distance, a siren started to blare. Cold
water began showering down over the lab, and the lights went out.
The Doctor ignored all of this, just looked around, then down to
where the Brigadier was slowly picking himself up, trying not to
think about the dry-cleaning bill for his uniform.
'On the other hand, Brigadier,' he said sheepishly, 'perhaps we
should take a plane, if you would be good enough to arrange one.'
Jo stared at the man, and the man stared back at her. He was an
Arab, tall and lanky, his face burned and wrinkled by the desert. He
was wearing a frayed denim jacket and loose jeans; his feet were
bare.
'Are you a prisoner?' asked Jo, feeling that it was a silly question
even as she asked it. She looked at the bunch of keys in her hand. She
had a ridiculous notion that she ought to apologize to the man for
barging into his cell without knocking.
'I have that misfortune,' said the Arab, in slow, careful English.
'Can I help you?'
'We're trying to escape,' said Jo, glancing over her shoulder at
the corridor outside. She heard a man shouting.
The man got up, walked swiftly past her to the cell door, peered
out. Jo started to follow, but he held up a hand, shook his head.
Suddenly, he was gone.
There was a scuffle, a crash of gunfire. Jo ran forward, saw
Catriona standing over the body of the guard, splashes of blood
staining her shirt. More blood leaked from a neat line of holes in the
man's back. The prisoner was looking up and down the corridor,
holding the guard's machine pistol.
He turned, smiled at Jo.
'My name is Abdelsalam,' he said. 'Follow me.' He began to run
lightly down the corridor.
Jo looked at Catriona, who shrugged. 'No choice, I suppose,' she
said. Her voice was shaking.
They set off after Abdelsalam, caught up with him by a locked
door. 'Come on Jo, do your stuff,' said Catriona.
Jo swallowed, worked the lock. Catriona pushed the heavy door
open. Abdelsalam jumped through, gun at the ready, but there was no
one there. An empty corridor faced them, of the familiar design.
Abdelsalam ran down it, shouting, 'Vincent! Belquassim!'
There were shouts from several cells. Abdelsalam listened, then ran
to one and beat on the door. Jo joined him, frantically examining the
keys. The wailing of sirens drifted in through the door, accompanying
the continuing clamour of the alarm bell in the women's block.
'Quickly!' said Abdelsalam.
The first key Jo tried didn't work. The second jammed in the lock.
Jo looked around frantically.
Abdelsalam put the muzzle of the gun against the lock. 'Stand
back,' he said quietly. 'And pray to Allah.'
He fired, twice.
The door opened.
Inside the cell, a short, dark-haired man with startling green eyes
glanced at her briefly, then turned his gaze to look over her shoulder
at Catriona. A strange expression, half-frown, half-smile, crossed his
face.
'Miss Talliser! So you have decided on direct action at last!'
Jo looked round, saw Catriona wiping blood from her chin with
one hand, pushing back the messy hair from her forehead with the
other.
'Vincent bloody Tayid,' she said. 'I might have known it would be
you. And no, I haven't decided anything. I just didn't have much
choice.'
Vincent grinned. 'Nevertheless I am pleased to see you.' He stepped
forward, held his hands out. Catriona threw him the pistol that she
was still holding.
'You should be careful with these things, my friend,' said Vincent,
hefting the gun, clicking something into place. 'They're killing
machines, eh?'
Light blazed into the corridor. Vincent pushed Jo sideways into his
cell, so that she fell onto the floor. There was a crash of gunfire. Jo
saw Catriona crawling towards her across the floor, heard a man
scream.
Catriona rolled into the cell, winced.
'Are you all right?' shouted Jo.
Catriona winced again. 'My neck hurts,' she said. 'But I'll live.'
Outside, the gunfire stopped. In the silence, Jo muttered, 'Who is
Vincent? Can we trust him?'
'An old friend,' said Catriona. 'And absolutely yes.' She paused, bit
her lip. 'I think.'
Footsteps sounded in the corridor, stopped outside the door.
'Are you all right, ladies?' Vincent's voice.
There was a moment's silence. Catriona didn't seem to be going to
say anything, so Jo spoke up. 'We're okay. What do we do now?'
The door swung open, and Vincent beckoned to them.
'We get Belquassim,' he said. 'Then we get out of here.' He
indicated a cell door. 'That one.'
Jo managed to unlock the cell this time: Belquassim turned out to
be a younger version of Abdelsalam, with Jo thought a nicer [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]