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‘Do go through,’ the Head of Hospitality said, so Do
As the trio entered the dining room, the hubbub stopped and was replaced by a round of applause led, Do
She walked towards them, arms outstretched, kissed Do
A man in his late fifties walked over, and shook Wilf’s hand. ‘Crossland. Cedric Crossland. Doctor Cedric Crossland. Doctor Cedric Crossland CBE. But you must call me Rick, Mr Mott.’
‘Oh, just Wilf’ll be fine,’ Wilf said, throwing a look
appealing for help or rescue to Do
Do
‘I understand you have a big part to play in that,’ the Doctor said, adding ‘Not that I pretend to understand things like that.’
Netty gri
The Doctor stared at her, then smiled. ‘Actually, I’m from Nottingham—’
‘He’s from Walthamstow,’ Do
‘Born in Nottingham,’ said the Doctor.
‘But brought up in Walthamstow,’ added Do
‘Wilf told me everything, Doctor. About you. About the ATMOS stuff. About where Do
The Doctor blew air out of his cheeks. ‘Well, I’m not sure what Wilf has told you but, I’m… um… well…’
Netty touched his hand. ‘It’s all right. Most days I can barely remember who I am, let alone what planet you and Do
‘I think I’ll kill him this time,’ Do
extraordinarily large brandy by a group of old men and women.
Netty shook her head. ‘He’s so proud of you both, please don’t be cross with him. Besides, it gives me a chance to talk to you both about the Chaos Body. You know, while I still can.’
Do
‘I’m sorry, Do
‘It’s not that,’ Do
‘It is. Very sad, believe me. But I have got used to living with it and I make the most of the lucid days because the ones that aren’t are getting more and more frequent.’
‘How frequent?’
‘Doctor! She’s not going to tell the world about us.’
But he shushed her. ‘How frequent, Henrietta?’
‘If I can get through to Friday remembering what I did on Tuesday, that’s a victory.’
Gia
‘So,’ Netty said. ‘Chaos Bodies.’
‘When did it show up? The first one, I mean?’
‘Ah,’ Netty said, ‘you’ve noticed the others. Only saw them myself this evening and no one here tonight seems to have mentioned it.’
‘That’s cos they weren’t there last night. Or when we
left Chiswick, actually.’
Netty laughed. ‘I know you know more about outer space than this lot here do put together but, scientifically, stars can’t move that quickly. And if they could, the devastation would be phenomenal.’
The Doctor toasted her. ‘Ah, but then they’re not stars.
Not real stars. The chaos bit, though, that’s spot on.’
‘What are they, then?’ asked Do
The Doctor shrugged. ‘I have a suspicion. The first one, the original, that looks like a star certainly, and it’s certainly a ball of superheated combustible energy that shares minor properties with a star, but the others, they’re like satellites. But not astral ones.’
‘Man-made?’
‘Well, Someone-made, yes. And somewhere at the back of my head is a little voice trying to tell me where I’ve seen it all before.’
There was a tinkle of someone tapping a glass with a spoon.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, before we eat, I should like to introduce you to our guest of honour,’ Doctor Crossland was saying. ‘In honour of being the first to spot the new star M7432•6, officially known as 7432MOTT, I give you – Wilfred Mott!’
There was thunderous applause and even a ‘hear, hear’, then one of the waiters led the Doctor, Do
The Doctor was nabbed by Wilf and positioned between him and Crossland, while Netty was on Wilf’s other side and Do
The Doctor looked expectantly at the empty seat to his right, wondering who was going to sit there. It was, he thought, a bit like being sat on a train and hoping the empty seat beside you isn’t going to be occupied by a madman with a loud personal stereo or a kicking child or, worst of all, some frumpy businessman who would spend the whole journey loudly on his mobile phone. And, every time he hung up and someone else rang, he’d let the a
The Doctor often wondered these days when these trivial little things had begun to a
Must have been hitting the big 900 mark.
The seat was yanked back by a woman whose clothing could at best be described as eccentric and at worst insane, a terrible clashing of colours, styles and, well, everything.
The biggest crime against fashion was the blouse she was wearing, which appeared to have Galileo’s Map of the Heavens embroidered on it. By hand. They were the sort of clothes you might put on if you got dressed with both eyes closed after someone had taken your wardrobe and given it a really good shake.
Not that the wearer seemed remotely aware of her…
unique haute couture. More alarmingly, none of the other members seemed to bat an eyelid either – only Wilf and especially Do
‘Ariadne Holt,’ she said in a tone that suggested to the Doctor that this wasn’t just an introduction but was in fact
a complete explanation for why she looked as she did.
‘Hullo,’ he said, offering his hand. She held her own hand up as if to suggest he kiss it or, at the very least, bow slightly. He did neither, managing instead to turn it back into the handshake he had started.
She gave him a look that seemed to say, ‘Oh, right, you’re going to be like that are you?’ and pulled her chair closer to the table and very slightly further away from him.
‘So,’ said Ariadne, ‘What’s your field?’
‘Ten Acre,’ he smiled.
Steely glare.
‘In-joke,’ he mumbled.
‘Bad one.’
Steely glare again.
‘I’m the Doctor, by the way.’
‘I know,’ Ariadne Holt said.
‘You do?’
‘Crossland told me. Suggested I sit. Here. Next to you.
For di
‘Indeed?’
‘Yes.’
‘Right. Well, sorry, I don’t actually know Mr Crossland.’
‘Doctor.’
‘Yes?’
‘What?’
‘What?’
‘He’s Doctor Crossland. Not “Mister”.’
‘I see.’
‘You’re Smith. John Smith. You write books. With pictures. About the constellations, no?’
‘Ah, no. Not me. Sorry. Although when I was little I used to do finger-paintings of the night sky. I used to add bits of… well, pasta you’d call it, to make the planets all 3-D. And glitter. Lots of glitter. I was very… glittery.’