The Girl of Colours (Book TWO)

Rest In Peace

I had such a painful throat... It was so hard to speak, and I didn't know what to do about any of that. I'd never had a cold like this, where my voice went all croaky. "No, cos I had to do this essay. Two thousand words on pendulum physics. It was fascinating, but then everyone wanted to go out for a burger, and I thought, why not?" Luke grinned as we all sat up in the attic, using Skype to talk to him. "So we all went into town, and-"

His mum interjected. "I hope you finished your work."

"Oh. Sanjay and Imogen owe me five quid each, because I bet them you'd say that."

"Right, and who's Sanjay?" Clyde asked, looking hurt.

"And who's Imogen?"

Luke gestured behind him. "He's just down the hall, and Imogen's his sister. They're brilliant. We just clicked straight away. He's smart, he's cool, he keeps making me laugh. And she's this amazing musician, cello, oboe and flute. I think they're the best mates I've ever had all my life." Oh, Luke... "Whoa, your faces. That is brilliant."

Hang on, what? "What? I" Clyde and I said together, both of us jealous of his new friends.

"That is such a classic." Rani laughed, shaking her head.

"Right, forget next week, swot boy." Clyde told him. "You're on your own."

"And forget me coming down at the weekend." I paused to cough, wincing at the pain. "You can do the talent show on your own."

Then Mr Smith activated himself, and we all looked over at him in confusion. "Emergency broadcast. UNIT armed forces are converging on this house, Sarah Jane, Calliope, right now."

Oh, hell no. Not a chance in hell, if I was going to chose a form of institute to be on Earth for, I would be part of Torchwood, and they're not even around any longer. So we ran down the stairs, standing at the threshold of the garden, stopping them coming up as I lit up my hand blue. "Stop right there. I'm not having soldiers on my property." Sarah Jane told them. "You know my daughter in law, Calliope, I believe?"

"Everything okay?" Haresh called from over the road as I quickly hid the colours. Not the best idea to show your headmaster your ability to control sound through colour.

"Yes, fine." I coughed, having to pause again. "They're just leaving."

Not that they seemed to know that. "Miss Smith, Miss Calliope, my name is Colonel Tia Karim, representing the Unified Intelligence Task Force. If I could have a word in private?"

Sarah JAne shook her head. "No, no, no. You're not getting any closer. Just tell us, what do you want? If it's Callie, you've got another thing coming."

"I'm sorry, but it's my solemn duty to inform you that your friend, the Doctor, is dead." No. 

"Get out. Get out, right now, don't you dare tell me that!" I shouted at her, and Sarah Jane has to hold me back from going for her. He wasn't, there was no way that he was, he couldn't. There was no way dad would leave me before coming back.

"Last Sunday at 1700 hours, the body of a Time Lord was returned to the Earth. UNIT scientists have checked the DNA results against those we have of yours, Calliope, and it's definitely him, it's your father. I'm sorry, Callie, Miss Smith, for your loss. Sorry for the whole wide world, because he's gone. The Doctor's gone. He's dead." I fell into silence after that, and vaguely remember being led upstairs, because the next time I blinked, I was back in the attic, and Karim was explaining how it happened. "The Doctor was found ten thousand light years away by a race called the Shansheeth. They sent us this. It's called an epitaph stone. It's a recording device, the equivalent to a death notice. The Shansheeth are what you might call intergalactic undertakers."