Child of the void (Doctor Who)

Part VI (III)

"What do you mean, you can't leave? I ordered it, you ca-" The Master paused, listening to the voice on his phone with the deepest scowl. "Ugh, fine. I'll take another way in. Keep them out."

Grunting, he stuffed the device back into the inner pocket of his leather jacket and ran a hand over his face.

"So... no ride?" I deducted. The people he had ordered to pick us up hadn't shown themselves.

"Aaaaw, don't tell me they saw behind your facade and betrayed you already. Must be a personal record," taunted Vienna.

"Will you just shut up, dust bin?" The Master rolled his eyes and nodded his head down a road, starting to walk. "Some rebels are blocking the road in front of the mansion. My men can't drive through. At least not without driving literally through them."

"Don't tell me you're taking pity on them."

"Heck, no! I told them, I don't care. But the military personnel here seem to have a way higher moral codex than the ones on earth. And since they obeyed on their own, so far, I didn't hypnotise any of them... yet." He growled annoyed.

I had a suspicion this would be one of the first things he'd correct as soon as we would make it back.

"Great," Vienna grumbled. "My bike was parked nearby. Means it's dust now. And my ship is farther away than your stupid not-even-yours mansion."

"We... could just take a cab?" I suggested. "Yesterday, we walked all day. Even with detours and rest stops the way back must be... uh... definitely long."

The Master nodded, glowering into the distance. "My perception filter got a crack during the explosion."

"So? What's the problem?"

"What do you think?"

"Because you're on telly?" I shrugged. "You think they all want interviews and signatures?"

"None of that, I'm afraid."

"They're more likely to try and kill him. Especially if word gets out he's been in the explosion area. People will think he's involved. Which I, to be fair, wouldn't entirely put past him."

"It was not me!" The Master grunted. "If it were I wouldn't have been in there, duh!" He rolled his eyes and led us down an alley with red trees, through a park of sorts. One with very few people in it.

"You survived with barely a scratch, though." Vienna wouldn't stop, would she? I slipped a hand over my chest, feeling the faint pulse through my hoodie. "How'd you explain that?"

The Master shrugged, but tossed a quick glance at me, making me drop the hand.

"'S just luck," I murmured. "It was so dark all around, we probably just didn't see anyone else."

"Yeeeaaah, right."

With every step leaves crunched under our shoes, gravel and sand, bark and nuts. An insect flew by that reminded me of a dragonfly. Somewhere a bird chirped its solemn tune. This park actually looked beautiful. Trees in all sorts of colours stretched along the paths, bushes adorned with blooming petals swayed gently in a breeze. It was almost quiet, except for nature's sounds.

And the bickering of the other two. They really needed to tell me how they had come to know each other. A story that would probably as much amuse as shock me. I had read about a bunch of the Master's deeds throughout his life and knew what he was capable of. So, those stories couldn't be too pleasant, could they?

My mind wandered at a faster pace than my feet, dragging me this way and that before it halted at the collapse again. The not-silence afterwards. This dark and empty space under the table that had felt so... big. Vast. Like a whole other dimension. As if, for a second, I had slipped into some kind of... void. No, not slipped. Dragged it. Pulled it over me - us - like a blanket. Because there had been silence. And there had been darkness. Until there had been not... anymore. Until the creaks and groans had returned, until I had felt a shuffle and seen a light and-