Death of the Doctor by Gary Russell Read Free Book Online Page A

turned and stared at Clyde, whose mouth was moving, but the voice he’d spoken with wasn’t his. He looked as shocked as they did.
    ‘I beg your pardon?’ said Jo.
    ‘Clyde?’ Sarah Jane was piecing this together. ‘That’s not you, is it?’
    Clyde’s mouth moved again, but still it wasn’t his voice. It was an older man’s voice, a bit posher than Clyde’s and very authoritative. ‘Course it’s not him, it’s me! I’m using Clyde as a receiver – I’ve been keying into his residual Artron energy so I can organise a very complicated biological swap across ten thousand light years. Hold on –’
    At which point the blue energy crackled not just on Clyde’s hand but halfway up his arm now. ‘That wasn’t me speaking,’ he said in his own voice. ‘I’m getting all – whoa!’ Clyde was staring at his hand that the energy had been around.
    And everyone else was staring too – because it was a much larger hand than Clyde’s. And white… ‘This is so not good…’ he started to say, but in a blue flash, he vanished.
    And in his place was a man who seemed to be about ten years older than Clyde, a lot taller, in a tweed jacket, tight black trousers, boots and a bow tie over his white shirt. His hair was brown and untidy but his eyes…his eyes burned blue with piercing intelligence.
    And he smiled. ‘Sorry, Clyde –’
    There was another blue electrical flash, and Clyde was back.
    ‘Waaaah!’ Clyde was yelling, before he vanished again and was replaced by the older man.
    ‘This –’ and he was gone.
    ‘Ouch,’ said Clyde as he reappeared, shook himself and vanished again.
    ‘Space –’ said the man. And then he was gone. Again.
    This happened a couple more times. First Clyde appeared, then the man, then Clyde, all occupying the same space in the corridor.
    Finally the man settled. ‘This space is taken.’
    And he stayed.
    And Clyde didn’t come back.
    ‘Oooh,’ he said, running his hands through his mass of hair. ‘So. Gosh. That was different.’ And he grinned widely at the others, who all stared at him in shock. ‘Hullo everyone.’
    ‘Who are you?’ yelled Rani. ‘What have you done with Clyde?’
    ‘Come on, Rani,’ he said. ‘Use your brain. Clyde and I swapped places, yes? You saw that. I’m where he was and he’s where I was…oh. Oh. Oh, that means he’s in a lot of trouble right now…’
    Ten thousand light years away, on an empty, dull rocky planet, covered in cold, damp mists and not a lot else, Clyde stood shivering. ‘Oi!’ he yelled. ‘Someone? Anyone?’
    Back on Earth, inside the UNIT base in Mount Snowdon, Sarah Jane was staring at the man who stood in Clyde’s place.
    Rani was yelling at him to bring Clyde back, but Sarah Jane held up a hand to hush her. ‘Don’t you see, Rani?’
    Rani just stared at her and shrugged in dismay.
    Sarah Jane reached out and put her hand to the side of the newcomer’s face and smiled, so, so happily. ‘You’ve done it again, haven’t you? Doctor?’
    And the Doctor took her hand. ‘Hullo, Sarah Jane.’
    ‘That’s the Doctor?’ said Rani incredulously.
    ‘What Doctor?’ asked Jo. ‘ The Doctor? My Doctor?’
    ‘He can change his face,’ Sarah Jane said quietly. ‘His whole physical form.’
    Jo nodded. ‘Oh, I know about regeneration,’ she said. ‘But into a baby?’
    The Doctor laughed. The last time Jo had seen him, he’d been in his…what would it have been? Oh yes. His third body. Tall, grey-haired, dynamic and bright, like a light bulb that never turned off. He’d always quite liked that body.
    ‘Imagine it from my point of view,’ he said to Jo. ‘Last time I saw you, you were what? Twenty-one? Twenty-two?’ He took her hand, too. ‘What a marvellous life you must have led! Look at you – older, wiser and been out in the sun a lot. Looks like someone’s baked you!’
    Jo stared in mock shock at him, and then gave him a huge hug.
    After a few seconds, the Doctor unwrapped her from him.