Doctor Who: Shada by Douglas Adams, Gareth Roberts, Douglas Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

clothes the human was wearing would have to do. It was obvious from his encounter with the gatekeeper that these primitives were overawed by his attire. And this ludicrous vehicle would shorten the journey back to gather information about the Doctor.
    ‘Access knowledge of this ground-transporter,’ Skagra ordered the sphere.
    The sphere burbled and detached itself from the forehead of the human. This one had not survived the extraction, Skagra noted with interest. The bodies of these Earth creatures were obviously more fragile than those of his former colleagues on the Think Tank.
    The sphere zoomed to the operating wheel of the vehicle. Skagra prised the dead man’s fingers from it.
    ‘Return me to the Ship,’ Skagra commanded.
    The sphere burbled and the vehicle sprang into life, roaring past the gates of St Cedd’s and off in the direction of the Cambridgeshire countryside.
    On the back seat on the Capri, a Supermousse slowly melted.

Chapter 10
     
    THE PROFESSOR WAS stalling.
    ‘A rather special book?’ the Doctor prompted him again.
    ‘Rather special? Did I say rather special?’ The Professor blinked. ‘No, it’s very special. A very special book.’
    ‘Special in what way?’ asked Romana.
    ‘Award-winning? Critically acclaimed? Made out of jelly?’ the Doctor suggested, increasingly desperately.
    ‘No, not very special in that way,’ fudged the Professor. ‘Though I did once have a book made out of jelly, or was it about jelly, I forget…’
    The Doctor looked as if he was building up to that explosion again. Romana gulped – and then her head was suddenly occupied by something else entirely. The thin, distorted babble of inhuman voices, much fainter this time. They were gone in a second.
    ‘Did you just hear voices?’ said the Professor, blinking.
    The Doctor nodded. ‘I just heard voices. Romana, did you just hear voices?’ He wheeled on the Professor. ‘Are those voices anything to do with this very special book, Professor?’
    The Professor thought for a moment, then shook his head categorically. ‘What? Oh no, no, no. No no no, no no no.’ Talking into his shirt collar and avoiding their eyes, he added casually, ‘That’s just a book I accidentally brought back with me from Gallifrey. More tea, everybody?’
    He shuffled towards the kitchen but the Doctor blocked his path. ‘From Gallifrey? From Gallifrey? ’
    ‘Is that what I said, yes I suppose it was, yes I suppose it was.’
    ‘Was what?’
    ‘From Gallifrey. Rather a charming place, if a little static and futile, either of you two ever been there, worth a visit I suppose.’ He looked at their shocked faces. ‘Oh yes, of course, I suppose you must have, we were going to have tea, weren’t we?’
    This time Romana blocked his path. ‘From Gallifrey? You brought a book from Gallifrey to Cambridge?’
    The Professor nodded. ‘Yes, just a few old knick-knacks, you know. And you know how I love my books, Doctor.’
    ‘Professor, you just said that you brought it back by accident,’ the Doctor reminded him.
    ‘Ah yes, an oversight.’ He mumbled into his collar again, very quickly, ‘I overlooked the fact that I decided to bring it…’
    The Doctor and Romana exchanged a worried glance. Earth might be a very nice place to while away the odd afternoon, and this one was already turning out to be a very odd afternoon, but it was, nonetheless, at this stage in its history a level five civilisation with all the savagery and stupidity that implied. If an Earth warlord got his hands on an alien book that might refer, even casually, to the secrets of trans-dimensional engineering or warp-matrix astrogation or remote stellar manipulation, the planet might end up a charred cinder on which it would impossible to while away any kind of afternoon.
    ‘It was just for study, you know,’ said the Professor, avoiding their gaze. ‘Handy for reference.’ He sighed and turned his head a little sadly. ‘But as I’m now getting very old