Doctor Who: Drift by Simon A. Forward Read Free Book Online

been a little more prolific, for all our sakes.‟
    Hmieleski followed the Doctor‟s gaze down to the cartridge in her palm. „This little fella‟s a 7.62 Long, definitely not one of ours. The only shots our people fired were the covering volleys from our two snipers but - for obvious reasons - we can‟t confirm whether they hit anyone.‟ She shook her head as she scanned over the wall. „By the time any of our people got inside the house, the shooting was all done. I don‟t get it.
    It‟s as if the walls might have been closing in on them and they were shooting back.‟
    „Well, if I were a guessing man,‟ argued the Doctor, „I‟d say it was more like they were shooting at ghosts, then became ghosts themselves - wouldn‟t you?‟
    Joanna suppressed a sudden shiver. There was no heat in here.
    „Which only goes to prove the futility of guesswork,‟
    concluded the Doctor, stepping past her into the middle of the room, where he could conduct a grand sweep of the scene from under that ridiculous hat.
    „Of course,‟ he added casually, „from a more rational point of view, we could be looking at disintegration weaponry, transmat technology; that sort of thing. Residual energy traces shouldn‟t be too difficult to detect - as long as they‟re tested for fairly soon.‟
    His impossibly wide gaze was meant as a prompt, Joanna could tell. „I‟ll get Pydych on it. The detection gear will be back with the vehicles, but I‟m sure Irving won‟t mind the-‟
     
    All set to fetch the engineer, she was suddenly arrested by a very paternal hand in the crook of her arm. She spun -
    straight into those eyes.
    „Lieutenant Hmieleski, if we really are going to be working together, I think we‟re going to have to pool our knowledge, don‟t you? I mean, we might eventually persuade this house to part with its story, but some of us still wouldn‟t have the full picture, would we? For instance, the part about what Captain Shaw is doing here with his delightful team of soldiers? He didn‟t come all this way to arrest a few misguided cultists, now did he?‟
    For a moment, Joanna felt obliged to give him a précis of their mission. Then her training kicked in. „I‟m sorry, Doctor, but you‟re going to have to talk to Captain Shaw about that.‟
    A crumpled paper bag appeared in the guy‟s hand, right under her nose, like a magic trick. „Care for a jelly baby?‟
    In spite of her years of adulthood and training, Joanna found herself peering inside. „As bribes go, this is not very impressive.‟
    The Doctor shrugged. „Well no,‟ he owned at length, moderately abashed. But the grin returned a second later.
    „But you have to admit it‟s effective, hmm?‟
    Joanna inhaled and couldn‟t believe the turn her thoughts had taken. She dipped a hand into the bag. „You do realise, you breathe a word of this to Captain Shaw, he‟ll eat us both alive.‟
    The Doctor plucked a juicy-looking sweet from the bag for himself. „I can‟t speak for him, but I generally prefer to bite the heads off first.‟
    Irrepressible. Just like her lather.
     
    Martha swore and chucked the papers from her lap onto the coffee table. She dragged her fingers back through her hair, the pen still in one hand.
    It was useless: how was she expected to concentrate?
    School was out, but there were still test papers to mark, lesson plans to prepare. At this rate, she‟d have to pray the snows would keep the school out long after the holidays.
     
    She tossed the pen onto the papers as she stood. Mak‟s sofa was too damn comfortable for this kind of work anyhow.
    Arching her back deep, she took a lethargic walk over to the window. Well, the snow looked set to stick around forever, so that was okay.
    But it sure looked harsh out there. Harsh as hell.
    Maybe she could have been more helpful this morning. But no, she knew well enough, you step into the middle of a fight, everyone thinks you‟re on the other side. It was impossible to gauge the