name is Colonel Tia Karim, representing the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. May I have a word in private?’
Sarah Jane indicated the assembled troops, vehicles and neighbours. ‘Oh, I think it’s a bit late for privacy, Colonel,’ she said tightly. ‘So as you are not getting any further on to my drive, just tell me what you want.’
Colonel Karim didn’t react, as far as Haresh could see. ‘I’m sorry, but it is my solemn duty to inform you…’ and then the officious demeanour dropped slightly. ‘I’m afraid, Miss Smith, your friend the Doctor is dead.’
‘Don’t be stupid,’ said Clyde, backing up Sarah Jane, along with Rani.
‘He can’t be,’ Rani added.
Colonel Karim sighed loudly. ‘I apologise for just dropping this on you all. I know you all knew him. But last Sunday, at 1700 hours, the body of a Time Lord was returned to Earth. UNIT’s scientific advisors have checked the DNA and it’s definitely him. I’m sorry for your loss.’
Haresh had only caught snatches of the conversation across the road, but he knew the Doctor was an old friend of Sarah Jane’s, someone very special to her. Didn’t know he was a Lord though.
Colonel Karim seemed to glance back towards Haresh and the other neighbours, adding, ‘I’m sorry for the whole wide world. Because he’s gone. The Doctor is dead.’
Chapter Two
The Epitaph Stone
If Colonel Karim was surprised by, or even interested in, the contents of Sarah Jane’s attic, thought Rani, she hid it well. But then, maybe UNIT knew exactly what was up here. They seemed to know far too much about everything, and Rani knew that made Sarah Jane wary of them. Even though she used to help them out alongside the Doctor once.
The Doctor.
Sarah Jane’s old friend who took her away from planet Earth many years ago in his TARDIS, and who had inspired her to start up her defending-Earth plan. Rani, Luke and Clyde had met the Doctor about a year ago, when Sarah Jane had been about to marry a nice man called Peter. The Doctor had arrived and stopped the wedding, revealing that poor Peter had been duped by an old foe of theirs called the Trickster, a member of something called the Pantheon of Discord. The Trickster was always trying to destroy something Sarah Jane referred to as ‘the fabric of time’, usually helped by a tiny dwarfish alien slave called the Graske.
Perhaps this was some kind of plot by the Trickster, because surely the Doctor couldn’t be dead. He was so…so alive. The most alive person Rani had ever met, he just burst with energy and drive and –
‘The Doctor was found 10,000 light years away,’ Colonel Karim was saying, which brought Rani back into the moment.
Clyde was holding Sarah Jane’s arm, although she didn’t look like she needed his support or comfort. Indeed, Sarah Jane looked anything but upset. Angry, maybe, but she wasn’t crying or anything. She moved Clyde’s hand from her arm.
‘And?’
‘His body was found by a race we know to be the Shansheeth, which we recognise as a sort of intergalactic undertakers.’ Colonel Karim passed a small black stone to Sarah Jane. ‘They gave us this. They call it an Epitaph Stone, it’s a recording device. An alien death notice, really…’
Sarah Jane snatched the stone and stared at it. ‘Oh, come on, Colonel, this is ridiculous. Epitaph Stone? There’s no such thing…’
Mr Smith’s melodious voice rang out. ‘Sarah Jane, I can confirm that the Shansheeth are known throughout the universe as the carers of the dead. It is said they trawl the battlefields of outer space, looking for heroes to take to their original homes.’
Sarah Jane crossed the attic and placed the stone on one of his scanning trays, throwing him a look. ‘Just shut up and play this thing,’ she snapped.
Mr Smith lowered the attic’s lights and a pool of white light appeared in the centre of the attic.
And then a hologram flickered into existence before them. Rani walked around it, realising
Sarah Jane indicated the assembled troops, vehicles and neighbours. ‘Oh, I think it’s a bit late for privacy, Colonel,’ she said tightly. ‘So as you are not getting any further on to my drive, just tell me what you want.’
Colonel Karim didn’t react, as far as Haresh could see. ‘I’m sorry, but it is my solemn duty to inform you…’ and then the officious demeanour dropped slightly. ‘I’m afraid, Miss Smith, your friend the Doctor is dead.’
‘Don’t be stupid,’ said Clyde, backing up Sarah Jane, along with Rani.
‘He can’t be,’ Rani added.
Colonel Karim sighed loudly. ‘I apologise for just dropping this on you all. I know you all knew him. But last Sunday, at 1700 hours, the body of a Time Lord was returned to Earth. UNIT’s scientific advisors have checked the DNA and it’s definitely him. I’m sorry for your loss.’
Haresh had only caught snatches of the conversation across the road, but he knew the Doctor was an old friend of Sarah Jane’s, someone very special to her. Didn’t know he was a Lord though.
Colonel Karim seemed to glance back towards Haresh and the other neighbours, adding, ‘I’m sorry for the whole wide world. Because he’s gone. The Doctor is dead.’
Chapter Two
The Epitaph Stone
If Colonel Karim was surprised by, or even interested in, the contents of Sarah Jane’s attic, thought Rani, she hid it well. But then, maybe UNIT knew exactly what was up here. They seemed to know far too much about everything, and Rani knew that made Sarah Jane wary of them. Even though she used to help them out alongside the Doctor once.
The Doctor.
Sarah Jane’s old friend who took her away from planet Earth many years ago in his TARDIS, and who had inspired her to start up her defending-Earth plan. Rani, Luke and Clyde had met the Doctor about a year ago, when Sarah Jane had been about to marry a nice man called Peter. The Doctor had arrived and stopped the wedding, revealing that poor Peter had been duped by an old foe of theirs called the Trickster, a member of something called the Pantheon of Discord. The Trickster was always trying to destroy something Sarah Jane referred to as ‘the fabric of time’, usually helped by a tiny dwarfish alien slave called the Graske.
Perhaps this was some kind of plot by the Trickster, because surely the Doctor couldn’t be dead. He was so…so alive. The most alive person Rani had ever met, he just burst with energy and drive and –
‘The Doctor was found 10,000 light years away,’ Colonel Karim was saying, which brought Rani back into the moment.
Clyde was holding Sarah Jane’s arm, although she didn’t look like she needed his support or comfort. Indeed, Sarah Jane looked anything but upset. Angry, maybe, but she wasn’t crying or anything. She moved Clyde’s hand from her arm.
‘And?’
‘His body was found by a race we know to be the Shansheeth, which we recognise as a sort of intergalactic undertakers.’ Colonel Karim passed a small black stone to Sarah Jane. ‘They gave us this. They call it an Epitaph Stone, it’s a recording device. An alien death notice, really…’
Sarah Jane snatched the stone and stared at it. ‘Oh, come on, Colonel, this is ridiculous. Epitaph Stone? There’s no such thing…’
Mr Smith’s melodious voice rang out. ‘Sarah Jane, I can confirm that the Shansheeth are known throughout the universe as the carers of the dead. It is said they trawl the battlefields of outer space, looking for heroes to take to their original homes.’
Sarah Jane crossed the attic and placed the stone on one of his scanning trays, throwing him a look. ‘Just shut up and play this thing,’ she snapped.
Mr Smith lowered the attic’s lights and a pool of white light appeared in the centre of the attic.
And then a hologram flickered into existence before them. Rani walked around it, realising
Similar Books
