Read Online Doctor Who by Nicholas Briggs - Free Book Online

something.
    ‘What’s your name?’ asked the Doctor.
    Without looking up, she said, ‘I’m not allowed to tell you my name.’
    ‘Not very friendly,’ said the Doctor, giving her his best boyish, charming smile. She did not look up to see it.
    ‘I’m not your friend,’ she said. His smile faded. And then she looked at him again.
    He could see the very beginnings of a smile in her eyes, that twitch at the side of her mouth again; but once again, she suppressed it.
    ‘What about my blue crate?’ he asked.
    ‘You can go now,’ she said, simply.
    Unceremoniously marched down a brightly lit corridor by another soldier in full face mask, the Doctor soon found himself reunited with the children. They were sitting on some rather battered-looking comfy chairs in a sort of waiting area. When the Doctor entered, they looked round in anticipation. It struck him that perhaps Ollus and Jenibeth were hoping against hope that, somehow, their parents had returned. For a split second, they looked as if they were about to launch themselves towards him in delight, but then they deflated, their eyes taking on a rather dull, haunted look.
    Sabel just stared at the Doctor. He felt as if she was looking right into his thoughts; but then he realised that what he was thinking must have been fairly obviousfrom his expression. What in the world was he going to do with these children? Why was he being reunited with them anyway?
    ‘We told them the truth,’ Sabel said, simply.
    The Doctor shrugged, trying to be cheerful. ‘Always the best policy! So, how are we all, then?’
    They didn’t answer. It was, the Doctor realised, a bit of a stupid question.
    ‘They thought you might have killed our parents,’ continued Sabel. ‘But we told them it was the Daleks.’
    ‘And they didn’t believe us, they didn’t,’ said Ollus.
    ‘No,’ said the Doctor. ‘No, they didn’t believe me either … Not enough evidence to prove anything. But we’ve got to find a way to
make
them believe us.’
    ‘Why?’ asked Jenibeth. ‘What’s the point?’
    ‘Because … Well, because the Daleks are always up to no good,’ said the Doctor. ‘So these people here need to be warned, especially if they think the Daleks are …’ he screwed his face up, ‘… nice.’
    ‘How will you make everyone believe?’ asked Ollus.
    ‘I don’t know,’ admitted the Doctor. ‘And what’s more, I don’t even know how I’m going to get the TARDIS back.’
    At that moment, the door opened and the woman who had interrogated the Doctor breezed through, clearly not expecting to see them there.
    ‘Oh,’ she said, stopping.
    ‘The girl with no name,’ said the Doctor, smiling.
    ‘What are you still doing here?’ she asked, a little blankly.
    ‘Um … Where are we supposed to go?’ asked theDoctor, gesturing around the room.
    ‘The exit is through this door and down the corridor,’ the woman explained.
    ‘And that’s it, is it?’ asked the Doctor. ‘I just leave here with three children and … where do we go? What do we do?’
    ‘That’s not our problem,’ said the woman. ‘There’ll be a full examination of the ship. An investigation. If you’re needed, we’ll find you.’
    ‘Oh, will you?’ the Doctor smiled, intrigued.
    ‘You’ve been implanted with a data-chip,’ she said, as if he should have known.
    ‘Oh. Nice. Thanks,’ said the Doctor. ‘Isn’t that an infringement of my inalienable rights or something?’
    ‘No,’ she said, moving off towards another door on the other side of the room.
    ‘That’s it, then?’ said the Doctor, starting to hurry after her.
    She turned and looked at him, a little alarmed, he thought, as if she was considering calling for security or something.
    ‘Yes, that’s it,’ she said, turning and exiting through the other door.
    ‘Well,’ said the Doctor, turning back to the children, his arms wide in one of his larger shrugs. Before he could say anything else, they had assembled in