The Girl of Colours (Book TWO)

Ghosts in the Storm

Sky:

Dad and mum having some time off with the baby, so we got Lyric. First trip since moving back to London. She was loving it, and was currently getting a piggie back ride from her new favourite person, my Navi, Clara. And we were ghost hunting.

"Boo!" Gramps grinned, making the man jump. "Hello, I'm looking for a ghost."

He raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"

My girlfriend grinned, my little sister giggling on her back. "Ghostbusters."

"I'm the Doctor." Queue psychic paper.

"Doctor what?"

He sighed. "If you like. And this is Sparky, Dolittle and Clara." So Lyric was now Eddie Murphy was she?

I shook my head as he pushed his way to the table of equipment. "I'm Sky and this is Lyrica, my sister. She's still Clara."

The Doctor was getting excited by what was on the table. "Ah, but you are very different. You are Major Alec Palmer. Member of the Baker Street Irregulars, the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Specialised in espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance behind enemy lines. You're a talented watercolourist, professor of psychology and ghost hunter. Total pleasure. Massive."

The girl, cute, but not Navi cute. Shook her head, looking startled. "Actually, you're wrong. Professor Palmer spent most of the war as a POW."

"Actually, that's a lie told by a very brave man involved in very secret operations." I smiled sweetly, making Clara put Lyric down. She was 9, no need to be carried any longar, even if she did have a difficulty with her hearts as a baby. "The type of man who keeps a Victoria Cross in a box in the attic, eh? But you know that, because you're Emma Grayling, the Professor's companion."

"Assistant."

Same thing. "It's 1974. You're the assistant and non-objective equipment. Meaning psychic. I'm the same, only with electromagnetic disturbances."

Clara grinned at me, nudging my shoulder softly. "Getting that. Bless you, though, my Midna." Oh, my Navi...

"Relax, Emma. He's Military Intelligence, and so is his granddaughter." Uh, no, I was Torchwood. "So, what is all this in aid of?"

What else? "Health and safety. Yeah, the Ministry got wind of what's going on down here. Sent us to check that everything's in order."

"They don't have the right."

"Don't worry, guv'nor, we'll be out of your hair in five minutes." Gramps grinned. "Oh! Oh, look. Oh, lovely. The ACR 99821. Oh, bliss. Nice action on the toggle switches. You know, I do love a toggle switch. Actually, I like the word toggle. Nice noun. Excellent verb." Lyrica went to play with something. "Oi, don't mess with the settings." Then he did a quick sweep with the sonic screwdriver as I ran my hand over it, trying to make sure that I got everything right. I liked playing with energy.

Palmer frowned at him. "What's that?"

He shrugged. "Gadget. Health and safety. Classified, I'm afraid. You know, while the back room boffins work out a few kinks." IE, until you could be bothered to market it.

"What's it telling you?" Navi asked us both, while Lyric looked around, like she could hear something we couldn't.

"It's telling me that you haven't been exposed to any life-threatening transmundane emanations." I told the prof, wrapping my arms around her from behind, kissing her neck. So what if gays were discriminated against at the moment, I was a teenage rebel. Well, a rebel, anyway, I'm 22. "So, where's the ghost? Show me the ghost. It's ghost time."