Doctor Who - Nuclear Time (21 page)

Albert had no words.

Geoff tried to laugh through his tears. 'There you go - a life, right there. The one we took away from you, the one
I
took away from you on that beach in California. All this -' he gestured at the horizon - 'is ended. Go and do what you always should have done.'

'But what about you?'

'I've had my life, before you. I had a wife and a kid, I had a house and a mortgage and a war. I don't think I could handle doing it all over again.'

Albert proffered his hand, and Geoff took it firmly.

'Thank you, old friend,' Albert said quietly.

'Oh, c'mere,' Geoff growled and embraced the scientist in a hug that almost lifted him off his feet. 'Now go, while they're still watching the show. If
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you can cross the state border before midnight it'll cause a hell of a fuss when they try coming after you tomorrow and you're long gone.'

Albert nodded. He shrugged off his grubby white lab coat and folded it neatly over the railing, then turned to walk down the steps.

Geoff waited for a moment before striding over to the top of the stairs. 'Just be happy,' he called after him.

Once Albert had disappeared around the bend, Colonel Geoffrey Redvers turned back to the horizon. He lifted his hands to his goggles and pulled them down to his neck, eyes squeezed tightly shut. He could feel the warm breeze from the horizon running across his face and hands, through his thinning grey hair. It felt pleasant and comforting like the arms of his wife, tight around his chest when he'd come home from the war.

'If I'm going to die tomorrow,' he said to himself, 'then I'll damn well enjoy today!'

A silent count of three, and he opened his eyes.

The highway was long and straight and empty as it ran through the desert towards the shadow of the mountain range in the far distance, and Albert pushed forward on the bike as he raced towards the sunset, the stones and rocks by the sides of the
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road blurring into a smooth golden brown. Geoff hadn't given him a helmet, and his tousled hair had flattened itself along his head, tugging at his face.

Even with his glasses on, he needed to squint against the wind to see where he was going, so he almost missed the figure walking slowly along the side of the road.

She was merely a dark shape at first, but her figure filled out as he approached and Albert could swear that he had seen that T-shirt somewhere before.

He braked gently as he drew alongside, the engine spluttering in frustration as he ground to a halt.

'Isley?'

The woman turned, and it was her. Her headphones had been wrapped together roughly in sticky tape - a bundle which also seemed to include a large chunk of her hair - and she had a scarf wrapped around half of her face.

'Albert, there you are,' she stated flatly. 'I was looking for you.'

'I'll bet you were,' Albert said, opening his arms and encouraging her to come closer. 'Come here. Let's take a look at you.'

She moved closer, and he reached out a hand to her scarf, tugging the material until it fell away.

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NUCLEAR TIME

Albert gasped.

Behind the scarf, the plastic skin of her face had melted away — a smooth line that ran from her right temple down to her lower jaw exposing the metal skull beneath. She held up her hand instinctively to cover the deformity, and Albert could see that it too had been stripped almost bare.

'I ran away from the village,' she said, 'but I wasn't quick enough.'

'No, I can see that,' Albert murmured. He ran the back of his finger softly across her smooth metal cheek and up to the speakers that covered her ears.

He pulled them away softly and nodded as he recognised the track on the album. 'But why did you run?'

'To find you,' she said quietly. 'I need you.'

Albert leant over and kissed her tenderly. 'I need you, too,' he whispered. He composed himself and slapped a palm against the back seat of the motorcycle.

'Hop on then,' he said. 'We've got at least half an hour before you need to change the tape, and I want to be in New Mexico before nightfall.'

243

Acknowledgements

This book (and my career) would not exist if it weren't for Clayton Hickman and Gary Russell. It wouldn't look this good if it weren't for Lee Binding, and it wouldn't read this good if it weren't for the patience of Justin Richards and Steve Tribe.

Thanks also to Paul Lang, Claire Lister and Leanne Gill for giving me enough work to pay the rent whilst I wrote it, and Emma Price for paying it when they didn't.

Special mention must also go to all the wonderful people I've met since becoming part of the 'Whoniverse': Joe Lidster, Stuart Manning, Scott Handcock, Tom Spilsbury, Gareth Roberts, Darren Scott, Kieron Grant, Neil Corry, David Jorgensen and David Llwellyn, amongst many others.

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DOCTOR WHO

I
would also like to thank my family for stoically attempting to read all of my work, Thomas Coates Welsh for being a fellow
Who
fan and best mate throughout my childhood, and Tim Keable, who does the same today.

And finally, of course, Steven Moffat, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill for crafting such a magical fairy tale.

246

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