by Doctor Who
184
NUCLEAR TIME
'Wait, wait. OK, fine, you got me.' The Doctor held up his hands and slipped the psychic paper out from his sleeve and into his palm. 'I'm actually from the Pentagon, access all areas, and I've been fully briefed on your mission, which is why I know everything.'
Geoff rubbed a palm over his eyes. 'This is getting silly now. First you said you were from Health and Safety, then you were travelling backwards through time, now you're a Pentagon official.'
'Ah.' The Doctor held up a finger. 'Actually I'm a Pentagon official who was working undercover as a Health and Safety officer. See?' he said. 'Um, just ignore the backwards-in-time bit; I knew that was never going to fly.' He thrust his pass in Geoff's face. 'Look!'
Geoff took the psychic paper gingerly and inspected it. 'Well, it appears to be genuine. Not that I believe it for one second after that little ramble.' He sighed. 'So if you are from the Pentagon, what are you doing here? It's not like you guys to get your hands dirty — especially with something as world-changing as this. I thought you'd all be cowering under your desks thinking up incredible alibis.'
The Doctor waggled his hands by way of explanation. 'I'm from the hands-on division.'
185
DOCTOR WHO
He paused and scratched his chin. 'But you're right, it's all a bit... extrovert this operation, isn't it? Why the nuke in the middle of the desert, and why build the town?'
'I thought you were meant to know all about this project.' Albert's eyes narrowed as he shifted his weight from foot to foot, anxious to leave.
'I know all about it. I just don't know why. That's bureaucracy for you.'
'The androids are practically indestructible,' Albert began. 'Their circuit boards and vulnerable joints are fused over once the model comes off the production line
- we can't risk anybody on the other side getting hold of one. Nuking them all in one go is in fact the cheapest option available. And you'll notice the theme of cheapness running through this whole explanation.'
The Doctor tutted. 'Yeah, tell me about it. State-run services, always the first to cut corners. I'm always telling my Pentagon buddies we should go private;
"soldiers of fortune" has a much better ring to it than
"the armed forces".'
'Er, yeah. So anyway, not only are the models too expensive to maintain in the current economic climate, they're also expensive to keep still - what with the EM
fields and whatnot. The village is a low-cost substitute, designed to make them think they're undercover long enough to nuke
186
NUCLEAR TIME
them without us blowing up a small fortune in generators at the same time. Luckily we still had a few skeleton buildings lying around from the sixties.'
The Doctor fished around in his pockets for his sonic screwdriver, but thought better of whipping it out in a room full of armed guards. 'Did you not ever consider a focused sonic pulse to dismantle the androids? I found it pretty simple myself... in theory.' He coughed quickly.
Albert looked at him like he was from another planet. 'A focused sonic what?'
The Doctor laughed bitterly. 'Oh dear. Nineteen-eighties technology against futuristic robots. You had no chance did you? Didn't you two ever stop and think that you might be getting a little ahead of yourselves?'
His tone of voice hardened. 'Didn't you two ever stop and think that maybe, just maybe, creating something where the best way to destroy it was with a nuclear bomb might be a bad idea? This world hangs by a thread, nations poised to destroy each other within minutes, and you know what the only thing stopping that happening is? The fact that, until now, everything the other side has produced - vehicles, soldiers, buildings - could still be destroyed with conventional weapons. It's always been possible to inflict casualties on your
187
DOCTOR WHO
enemy without ripping apart the planet. And that fact has saved the lives of millions.' He began to pace around the room, his body tense with rage, hands gesturing wildly at the vista that lay beyond the observation glass. 'But now, but now... you've managed to make the impossible. A weapon that can only be destroyed by a nuclear weapon, where the other side has no choice but to use them when your androids begin carving up their people.' He stopped stone dead in his tracks. 'You know this means war?'
'It means war either way, Doctor.' Geoff's eyes were cold and unfeeling. 'That's the point. If the androids live, their existence will be discovered by the other side; if they die, we'll have broken the Test Ban Treaty, a sign of aggression against the Russians. The government want to test the limits, to escalate the situation so that the other side is forced to admit that they won't push the button, no matter what.' He paused. 'By tomorrow, we'll either have won the Cold War, or we'll all be dead. That's it — no other options.'
'Not if we can stop the nuke.'
'The plane's in the air already, there's no going back.'
'Well radio them, call it off!'
Geoff shrugged. 'I don't have the authority. It's out of my hands.'
188
NUCLEAR TIME
'Well I might still have a few tricks up my sleeve regarding that anyhow.' The Doctor looked around.
'The most pressing issue at the moment is making sure your soldiers—' He broke off suddenly.
'Where's Albert?'
The scientist had vanished. Geoff snapped a gaze at the soldiers by the door.
'He just left, sir. Said he didn't have time to sit around chatting. And that's his words, not mine, sir.'
The Doctor's face went pale. 'We have to get after him. It's him I need to stop.' He rushed to the door.
'Wait, where do you think you're going?' Geoff clicked his fingers and the Doctor found himself pinned against the door by the guards. 'I'm not letting you outside, Pentagon official or not. We can't risk a rogue element in the unloading.'
'We haven't got time for this, Colonel,' the Doctor snapped. 'Albert is about to do something that will lead to the massacre of your platoon — he's the rogue element you should be worrying about.'
'Have we switched back to your "I've seen the future" story now, then?'
The Doctor yanked his hands free. `Go with whatever story you like, but I have to go. Five minutes with Albert, that's all I need, then you can 189
DOCTOR WHO
load me on a truck to the village and I'll be out of sight and mind.'
Geoff faltered at the sincerity in the stranger's voice.
'Albert wouldn't betray me.'
'He doesn't know he's going to betray you!'
'What's he going to do?'
The Doctor turned and looked Geoff in the eye before muttering one single, heartbreaking word. 'Isley.'
Geoff let out a yell, his suspicions confirmed. 'I knew it. I knew he couldn't keep his distance - the extra programs he wrote for her were nonsense. I told him time and time again he was putting us all at risk with that music player business.'
The Doctor raised his eyebrows.
'Five minutes, Doctor, then I'm putting you on the trucks.'
But the Doctor was already out of the door, boots clattering down the iron staircase. 'Thank you!'
Albert tapped a nearby captain softly on the shoulder. 'I'll take it from here,' he whispered, as the last of the androids were unloaded from the truck. He had already retrieved his bag from the front cabin and was toying nervously with the Walkman in his hand.
He wrapped the headphone wire around a finger, then unwrapped it again as
190
NUCLEAR TIME
the captain turned his face to acknowledge him. 'Don't do this, Albert.' The voice was low and quiet, but its authority was undeniable.
Albert turned, quickly stuffing the Walkman into his coat pocket. 'What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be cuffed to a radiator or something by now?'
The Doctor pushed through the row of soldiers that divided the two men until he was face to face with the scientist. 'You
don't understand what you are about to do.'
'I'm just...' Albert's eyes filled with tears. 'I just want to say goodbye. What's wrong with that?'
'She's a machine, Albert, she doesn't understand the way you see her. She's not even aware of how you feel.
How could she be?'
Albert choked, as the Doctor gently took his hand and began leading the man away from the lorry. The scientist protested and tried to pull away but the Doctor's grip was firm and unyielding. He nodded to the captain to resume the unloading.
'I know what it's like, Albert, to love something that you created, but it's not real love, is it? It's pride - you just think you're in love because you made her look so beautiful.'
'She is beautiful.'
'They all are, Albert, everything you've created is incredible. You're decades ahead of your time, 191
DOCTOR WHO
you know that? But they're not people, they're weapons. You can't forget that - they're guns dressed up like men and women.'
As the Doctor backed away, Albert following reluctantly, he waved a hand behind his back to a group of soldiers who had just finished playing cards around a small circle of barrels in the shade of the officer's mess. They vacated their seats without a word.
'I've never been in love, Doctor.' Albert slumped onto the cool steel seat.
The Doctor settled beside him and rested his head against the corrugated iron wall. 'It's never too late.'
Albert laughed. 'Of course it is. This was my life.
She was my life. There is nothing for me beyond this.' He turned, suddenly intense. 'Have you really seen the future?'
The Doctor opened his eyes and tilted his head. 'Yes,'
he said with complete sincerity. 'You told me what happened when I found you amongst the survivors.
You said that you'd walked Isley to the dead zone and someone shouted something. It triggered the military programming - no one had a chance. Geoff had no choice but to put you on a truck. You died in the village at Isley's hand.'
His honesty was brutal, and it hit Albert like a bullet through the heart.
192
NUCLEAR TIME
'But the point is,' the Doctor continued, 'you wouldn't have done it if you'd known what would happen. It might seem like the most important thing in the universe to say goodbye to her now, but it won't be worth what happens next - you said so yourself. You told me yourself.'
Albert leaned forward and rested his head in his hands. He took a deep breath, a long sniff, and when he looked back at the Doctor his eyes were dead and cold.
'You're right.'
The Doctor smiled weakly. 'I'm always right,' he said.
'So what happens now?'
'Nothing and everything.' The Doctor shrugged. 'The future is already changed - you didn't trigger the massacre. That was it. We changed history by having a conversation.'
'But... everything you lived through...?'
'Will soon have no longer existed,' he finished Albert's sentence for him. 'Time will ripple forwards from this point, and in this version all these soldiers will live. You'll never see what I have seen.'
Albert smiled faintly through the tears, his cheeks glistening in the shadow. 'Then shouldn't we be looking a bit happier?'
The Doctor turned away. 'You should,' he said.
193
DOCTOR WHO
'What's wrong?' Albert was concerned once more.
'It's the bomb, the bomb you dropped - or will drop in an hour's time. That's why I'm stuck living backwards, I managed to halt it at the point of detonation
but
to
extinguish
the
explosion
completely I was forced to dissipate the energy into the past.' He leant forward now. 'But don't you see?
I've changed things, changed the future - including the hour that leads up to the bomb being dropped.
It's a new piece of string; the old time line won't exist any more.'
'So all that energy dissipation...'
'Will be lost. The lost energy will coalesce at the point of impact and explode into the future once again. I can't stop the bomb going off, your government is still going to ignite a war and worst of all, and worst of all...' The Doctor struggled to sustain his composure. 'My friends were in Appletown, at the instant of detonation. I've condemned them to death to save your men.'
Albert looked aghast. 'Is there nothing you can do?'
The Doctor looked at his watch. 'Not until I revert to my backwards state. I have to finish the loop with you and Geoff loading me into the truck - if I try and preserve as much of the old time line as possible, it might take longer for the energy to 194
NUCLEAR TIME
reach the critical point. Once this forward loop finishes, I'll be travelling through my arrival at the base, reversed from your point of view.'
'On the bicycle?'
The Doctor rubbed his chin. 'Now there's a good idea.'
'But how does this reversed state end? Are you stuck like this for ever?'
'I hope not. The plan was to travel backwards until the explosion was completely dissipated, then, fingers crossed, I'd snap back to the instant the reversion began, pick up my companions and tell the Colonel to drop a second bomb the moment they were safe.'
Albert chuckled incredulously. 'A second bomb? Do you think we're made of money?'
The Doctor's glance made him stop short. 'I don't care about money; I care about Amy and Rory. Their lives are beyond value.' He ruffled a hand through his hair. 'Anyway, it's irrelevant now.'
Albert got slowly to his feet. 'Well, go and warn them now! Tell them to stay away from the village!'
'We haven't arrived yet.' The Doctor shrugged. 'And every minute this backwards loop continues takes me further away from that moment.' He leant forward and stood up to join the scientist, 195
DOCTOR WHO
moving past him in the direction of the covered walkway that led to the courtyard. His shoulders were hunched, his head hung low, the gait of a defeated man. Albert had to jog to catch up with him, drawing alongside as the Doctor strode beneath the first strips of artificial light.
'You know what?' Albert said with a voice made of steel. 'I don't think you do care about your friends very much.'
The Doctor rounded on him, and the scientist started at the sight of the stranger's face - a tight mask of rage and grief. 'How dare you,' the Doctor hissed. 'You have no idea.'
Undaunted, Albert continued. 'Look at you, Doctor - a man of impossible things. You claim to be able to diffuse the effects of a nuclear bomb, you live backwards through time, you've saved my life and the lives of everyone on this base with nothing but a piece of string...' He dropped his hands to his sides in exasperation. 'Does that sound like the behaviour of a man who just... gives up?'
The Doctor looked at him silently for a full minute, then embraced him. 'You're right,' he said quietly. 'Thank you.'
They walked the last few metres in silence, a pair of guards solemnly pulling open the great iron doors to the courtyard as they stepped, blinking, 196
NUCLEAR TIME
into the natural light once more. The citizens had been almost completely transferred to the waiting vehicles at the exit to the compound and the Doctor solemnly took his place at the head of the final queue, boots crunching on the sand as he turned to face the scientist, his back to the trucks. He looked around and snapped his fingers.
'Guards! If you would please escort me to one of the trucks. Backwards, if you don't mind.'
He checked his watch. 'In thirty seconds,' he added.
The five soldiers began to gather hesitantly around the incongruous figure, faces tilted to the balcony above in search of confirmation. Albert followed
their
gaze
and
saw
Geoff,
leaning
nonchalantly over the iron railings. He nodded solemnly and scratched his face, st
ill unsure why he was permitting this.
Albert gave a knowing nod to the Doctor, who smiled and returned the motion. 'I will not be beaten,' he said, and took a step backwards.
Albert didn't notice the switch, the subliminal flash and hiccup in time as the man he had been talking to only seconds before was catapulted backwards half an hour. But the look of unfamiliarity in the prisoner's eyes as he was led away and the unnatural assuredness with which he took each step backwards, told him everything
197
DOCTOR WHO
he needed to know.
He turned away quietly and spotted the nervous sergeant as he prepared to board up the rear of the first truck. He jogged over to him with a swift
'Hey'.
The sergeant nodded, and then looked up in surprise as he found Albert's Walkman shoved quickly into his hands. 'Sir?' he enquired.
'Can you give this to Isley?' Albert asked as he unravelled the headphones from his pocket and coiled it up in the man's palm. 'She's in the truck at the back.'
'Uh, yeah, sure. Anything you say, sir.'
'It'll make the journey go quicker if she's got music to listen to,' Albert explained. 'And if there's any tape left when she's unloaded, it'll act as an extra reinforcement to her reset and keep you guys safe a bit longer.'
'Oh right. Well, thanks, Dr Gilroy.' The sergeant coiled the wire tightly around the player. 'I'll do that.'
Albert's relief was plain to see and he opened his arms to give the soldier a brief hug of thanks, but he thought better of it upon seeing the soldier's frightened face and instead stuffed his hands into his pockets awkwardly. 'Take care of her,' he said finally. 'She's not like the others. She's special, you know?'
198
NUCLEAR TIME
'If you say so, sir.' The sergeant raised his hand in a half salute, but the scientist was already hurrying away.
199
Chapter
16
Colorado, 28 August 1981, 6.07 p.m.
The smoke was warm and thick as it coiled around the pair, huddled in the corner of the upstairs bedroom. Amy's head rested gently on her fiancé’s lap as the thick cloud filled her lungs and lulled her to sleep. Rory too was struggling to stay awake; he ran his fingers idly through the girl's soft red hair, the pain in his arm reduced to a dull, soothing throb.
