The bike stopped abruptly, at the same time veering to the right and flipping onto its side, dashing Rose to the ground. The landing was softer than she had expected; she had thought she would be flung forwards, but somehow her momentum had been drained. Still, she was barely able to roll out of the way before bike and rider crashed into the s.p.a.ce she had just vacated.
The cop was pinned down by his vehicle, shouting obscenities at her, and Rose scrambled away and climbed to her feet, feeling lightheaded and wobbly.
She was back at the lifts, just about the only defender left standing. The patients had collapsed or fled, and the cops were moving systematically down the main corridor, continuing their search, nearing its end. What could she do? She couldn"t fight them alone.
Then, suddenly, a set of lift doors shot open and she started...
...and then grinned at the sight of Captain Jack, suspended from the lift cable, gripping it with his ankles, one arm looped about it to press a handkerchief to his nose and mouth, the other holding a gun trust him to have found one with which he had evidently just shot out the doors" circuits. They were still smouldering.
She thought he wouldn"t recognise her in the helmet, through the green mist, but her clothes were obviously a dead giveaway.
"Not going so well, I take it?" said Jack cheerfully. He swung himself easily out of the shaft. "How long"s it been?"
Rose checked her watch and her heart sank. "About seven minutes."
"OK." Jack was already running. "Let"s see if we can make eight at least."
They took the corridor to the right because it was relatively empty. But the cops had gone the more direct route and were already battering down the door to the makeshift studio. Rose could hear the Doctor"s voice on the far side, still talking, still calm. They were almost there, but the cops were running to meet them dozens of them.
She wasn"t afraid. She was determined. They had told the Doctor ten minutes and that was what he was going to get.
Jack had four paces on her and he sent a barrage of blaster fire the cops" way, then ploughed into them. He fought brilliantly he could have matched any four of his opponents, maybe more but there were just too many of them.
And the door splintered open.
Rose had eyes for only that, had thoughts for only the Doctor. In that moment, nothing else mattered to her except that she get to that door.
And somehow she did, slipping between the cops in her path, expecting to feel their hands on her collar; but they were surprised by her speed and her dexterity, and too busy with Jack.
And she raced into the small office, where a cop with pips on her shoulder and a uniform a bit too large for her was levelling a gun at the Doctor, who had stopped talking and was raising his hands.
"I trusted you," spat the cop, "and you were him all along. You lied to me!"
And Rose leaped onto her shoulders...
...to be thrown off with an almost casual shrug. She landed in a heap, found her arms pinned by two cops before she could stand again. And there were many more cops streaming into the room, more guns aimed at the Doctor"s head, and his hapless volunteer was wideeyed with fear as he was wrenched away from his camera.
"Turn it off!" the cop with the pips ordered.
"Why?" asked the Doctor.
"Because we"ve all heard enough of your lies!"
"But you"re here now. Inspector Waller to the rescue. The world is watching you. Your chance to fix everything, set the record straight."
Waller hesitated, gesturing to the cop who had picked up the camera to stay his hand for now. She was thinking about it.
"You can be the one who tells them the truth," said the Doctor. "The whole truth and nothing but the truth."
And he smiled past the cops. At Rose.
SEVENTEEN.
Domnic had had a good day. A friend of his from the reading group had a friend who was setting up a publishing company. He was interested in fiction, maybe even comics, and he had agreed to look at some of Domnic"s stories.
He"d made four phone sales at work, including one to a girl he hoped might become more than a customer. He"d told her that his company"s windows were specially proofed against zombies and she had playfully called him a big liar.
"That obvious, huh?" he had said. "I"m still new to it, you see haven"t had much practice."
"Well, they"re saying now that lying is good for a relationship," she had rejoined.
At which point Domnic had let his dreams get the better of him. He"d blurted out a suggestion that they meet in the flesh to practise on each other some time and she had agreed.
Not tonight, though. Tonight was a special night.
Domnic had turned on the telly an hour early and was pa.s.sing the time by surfing channels.
" big match about to begin on 9 Sport, and for anyone who doesn"t wish to speculate about the result, it was 21 to "
" of Sector TwoThreePhi was delighted to be given a parking s.p.a.ce closer to "
" viewers will decide whether Todd or Lucy our two remaining contestants, who are about to emerge from the door behind me gets to take home the Audience Shares grand prize: a starring role in their very own docudrama!"
OK, so change didn"t happen overnight.
But starting on Channel One tonight was a brandnew show a drama, with a script and actors and everything and its makers had promised to show viewers things from beyond their world.
Some people had already complained, before the show had even aired. They were saying it was too scary, too violent or offensive to their newfound religion. But they would be watching.
Everyone would be watching tonight because this was something that, two months ago, they couldn"t have imagined. Something different.
On 8 News, they were playing back the recording of the Doctor"s confrontation with Inspector Waller again. Domnic had missed it the first time round, but he"d seen it often enough in the two months since.
"The only truth that needs telling here," stormed Waller, "is that you"re fantasy crazy, the furthest gone I"ve ever seen! The people only have to look at you, Gryden. They only have to see what"s happening out there."
The Doctor shook his head. "I didn"t cause any of this. Pushed the process along, maybe, but..." "I didn"t cause any of this. Pushed the process along, maybe, but..."
"It"s your fault, you and your Static channel. The media is meant to inform, to educate. It tells us what"s real, what we can believe. But you"ve corrupted it. You"ve used it to spread dissent and violence and fear!"
"Your people want change," said the Doctor. said the Doctor.
"Yeah," piped up the voice of Rose Tyler from offcamera. piped up the voice of Rose Tyler from offcamera. "And if you"d listened to what the Doctor was saying, you"d know " "And if you"d listened to what the Doctor was saying, you"d know "
"I was calling for the violence to end. There"s a better way."
"Oh yeah, and don"t we all know it!" spat Waller with distaste. spat Waller with distaste. "Leave it to you, you"d have people dreaming as much as they like." "Leave it to you, you"d have people dreaming as much as they like."
"We all need dreams, Inspector Waller," said the Doctor. said the Doctor. "Even you." "Even you."
Waller shook her head firmly. "I"m happy with my real life, thank you. We"ve seen where your way leads. Everyone wanting different things, fighting for their own dreams." "I"m happy with my real life, thank you. We"ve seen where your way leads. Everyone wanting different things, fighting for their own dreams."
"Price you pay, I"m afraid. The freedom to hope, to imagine something better so you can make it real worth it, believe me."
Waller let out a hollow laugh. "You"re asking me to believe "You"re asking me to believe you you?"
"Yeah. You"re so concerned with the truth, aren"t you?"
"It"s all there is."
"And what do your superiors think of that? Come on, Inspector Waller, why not talk to them? Find out what they they think." think."
"I don"t have to. I know the law."
"And the law never changes."
"Right."
"So prove it. Talk to them. Make me out to be a liar in front of the whole world."
And then came Domnic"s favourite part. The part where, after a moment"s indecision, Waller brought up her wrist and spoke into her vidcom. The part where she asked somebody called Steel if he had heard, and requested instructions. The part where she nodded and grunted as if listening to someone, then thanked that invisible person and turned to the Doctor triumphantly.
"You see now, Gryden? Do you see who the liar is?"
The part where the camera zoomed in, to show that her vidcom was broken, blank, just the remnants of a shattered screen nestling in a mess of burntout circuitry.
"Yeah," said the Doctor quietly. said the Doctor quietly. "I think we all do." "I think we all do."
The other cops were shaken, unsure who to trust. They were wavering, some of them turning their guns on Waller herself.
"Course, I don"t know the full story," said the Doctor. said the Doctor. "I don"t know where you got the uniform and the bike, but there"s always a way if you want it badly enough. And of course, who"d question you? Who"d dare accuse a police officer of lying? Did the uniform come with the pips, by the way, or did you make them yourself, give yourself a promotion? How about the vidcom? Was it always broken, or did you break it yourself so you"d only hear the voices you wanted to hear?" "I don"t know where you got the uniform and the bike, but there"s always a way if you want it badly enough. And of course, who"d question you? Who"d dare accuse a police officer of lying? Did the uniform come with the pips, by the way, or did you make them yourself, give yourself a promotion? How about the vidcom? Was it always broken, or did you break it yourself so you"d only hear the voices you wanted to hear?" He shifted his gaze to Waller"s colleagues. He shifted his gaze to Waller"s colleagues. "Anyone else heard of this "Steel"? No? I wonder if "Inspector" Waller got away with it this long, how many more impostors are there out there? How many in this room?" "Anyone else heard of this "Steel"? No? I wonder if "Inspector" Waller got away with it this long, how many more impostors are there out there? How many in this room?"
Waller had dropped her gun. She looked as if the life had drained out of her. She was muttering something feebly. Sound technicians had worked hard to decipher the words, so that they could be subt.i.tled. She was saying, "I didn"t mean to ... I was only trying to put things right, fight the monsters..." "I didn"t mean to ... I was only trying to put things right, fight the monsters..."
But the Doctor didn"t let up. "Ironic, isn"t it, "Inspector", that you"ve spent so long denying other people their dreams and all that time you were "Ironic, isn"t it, "Inspector", that you"ve spent so long denying other people their dreams and all that time you were living living all yours!" all yours!"
The cops had gathered their thoughts now and command had pa.s.sed without discussion to a short, stocky man with sergeant"s stripes. At his signal, they moved in and seized the Doctor, Rose and Waller. None of them resisted.
A blackgloved hand closed over the lens of the camera, blocking its view of the scene and a moment later, it went dead.
But by then, of course, it was far too late.
It had been an amazing two months.
The Doctor"s speech had calmed tensions on the streets. Many rioters had just quietly given up and gone home to think about all he"d said. The police had been able to deal with the rest.
Later that night, Cal Tyko had appeared on 8 News and talked nervously about microorganisms that fed off brainwaves. He had been arrested immediately, of course but his claims had been scrutinised by a score of doctors and they"d all concluded that he was telling the truth. Domnic himself had been examined many times over.
A serum had been synthesised within days. The doctors had said it would alter the composition of human brain fluid, just enough to make it unpalatable to these stealers of dreams. An hour later, it was revealed that the serum was actually coloured water and that the doctors had imagined its beneficial effects. But work had continued and distribution of a real cure had begun a fortnight later.
The takeup had been huge although some people had stayed away, still scared of the idea of being able to visualise all they liked. Or perhaps of the opposite: of finding out the truth. Most of them had had their minds changed by the news media swinging its weight behind the vaccination campaign.
The Big White House hadn"t been closed down yet, but most of its beds were empty. Domnic, Rose Tyler and Captain Jack had been among the first to be discharged. Kimmi Waller had been one of the last.
Her release had dominated the news last week. The Chief of Police, in a newspaper interview, had said there would be no charges over the theft of police equipment and indeed that Waller would be welcome to join her force for real, if she cared to apply. Apparently, during her fictional career, she had made more arrests than almost any other officer.
The police had still been trying to work out what to do with "Hal Gryden" still trying to decide if he was hero or villain when the decision was taken from their hands. He had disappeared from a locked room during the night and hadn"t been seen since. Only Domnic knew where he had gone and he wasn"t saying.
An election campaign was well under way, with hundreds of candidates all promising to deliver dreams if they were voted into office.
And a bunch of historians had revealed the name of their world, at last, having sifted through the evidence without delusion or preconception. Colony World 4378976.DeltaFour, it turned out, had once been known as Arkannis Major.
Which, everyone agreed, was a bit dull.
He had hurried through the jungle, not caring about a few scratches this time. Every so often he had thought he could hear voices ahead of him. He"d dismissed them as products of his imagination, before realising that they were were real. real.
He had reached the blue cabinet just as its door shut with a finalsounding thud. He had run up to it but hadn"t known what to do. Cry out? Knock on the door?
What would he have said if somebody had answered?
He had walked round the box, staring at it, agonising over his indecision.
He had completed his circuit and been surprised to find Rose Tyler in front of him.
"Hi."
"Er, hi," Domnic had stammered. "I just... I didn"t want to... I felt..."
"I know. Sorry "bout sneaking off like that. The Doctor"s not keen on goodbyes." Domnic hadn"t said anything, so Rose had continued, "I think it"s all the adoration makes him a bit embarra.s.sed."
Captain Jack had popped his head out of the door. "You ask me, he"s missing out on the best bit. Why else put our necks on the line, if not for the adoration? Coming, Rose?"
"OK, yeah."
Jack had glanced at Domnic. "Listen, mate, the Doctor said you should try to reestablish contact with other human worlds, get them to send you all the fiction they have. He said you"ve got so much to look forward to: Hitchc.o.c.k, Proust, Blyton, Dennis the Menace." And then he"d disappeared again.