Doctor Who and the End of Days (The Future Doctor Chronicles Part Three)

Chapter Eight

Doing a two hour stint on the reception desk had been just about tolerable before the arrival of the angels but now it was an absolute nightmare. Hundreds of pilgrims filed past every hour all wanting to know when they would be appearing again. There was only so many times he could smile politely and explain that the museum had no idea when the angels might appear before he completely lost his temper. 

"Excuse me?" asked a strange looking man wearing a cheap looking angel around his neck. 

"Can I help?" replied Dan as politely as he could manage. 

"I hope you can." said the man smiled the man "Do you know when the next visitation will be?" 

Before he could reply another man wearing the same cheap jewellery around his neck butted in. 

"Oh are the angels going to appear today?" he asked eagerly.  

"Listen, I have absolutely no idea when the angels will make another appearance and to be perfectly honest I don't care. I find it hard to believe that any sane person is willing to accept their words without question. We've seen no evidence whatsoever that they are what they claim to be. Answer this question for me. Why would a loving God only save the faithful? What do the unfaithful have in store for them?"  

Dan tried to calm himself down by taking long deep breaths but he was too wound up. The world had become a harsher place in recent years due to the economic crisis. Maybe this was why such a large percentage of the population were willing to become believers. The certainty of a better place after death made it easier to cope with an increasingly hard life.  

Remembering where he was he looked up to see how badly he'd offended the two visitors. Rather than looking angry they looked shocked and when he looked into their eyes he realised they weren't looking at him at all. He turned his head to the left and immediately saw what had diverted their attention. A servant of the angels had appeared from nowhere and was stood a foot away from him. 

"Blasphemers must be punished." he said in an emotionless monotone voice. 

Before he had time to react the servant had grabbed his left arm and twisted it behind his back until it felt as if it might snap. The man inflicting this agony on him was more than twice his age and should have been easily overpowered but for some reason he couldn't manage it. 

"What are you doing? Where are you taking me?" he pleaded. 

"I'm taking you to meet the angels. They'll know what to do about your lack of faith." 

As he was dragged past the reception and down the slope towards the office door his fear mixed with anger. Who did this man think he was? You couldn't just take someone away because they didn't agree with your beliefs. Didn't thousands die in the Second World War to prevent such a thing happening again?  

John watched from a distance as his friend was led away. He could feel Father Solomon's hand grip his arm tightly and prevent him from going to his friend's aid. He'd explained that acting on impulse would get them nowhere. They'd almost got caught trying to follow the last poor unfortunate who was dragged down the slope. They needed to follow Dan at a safe distance if they didn't want to arouse suspicion. 

Father Solomon slowly released his grip on John's arm and without speaking motioned with his right hand for them to follow the servant. Unfortunately he'd misjudged how fast they were walking so they had to pick up their pace and walk faster than he'd wanted too. They were still only halfway down the slope when the servant reached the security door. He had to think fast or they'd lose the opportunity. 

"Do you have a security fob to get us through that door?" he asked. 

"No I'm afraid not. All staff security fobs were confiscated when the angels took up residence." 

"I thought you'd say that."  

John watched as Father Solomon's eyes glazed over for a few short moments and then suddenly came back to life again. 

"May I borrow your ID badge?" 

"Yes of course." he replied as he removed it from around his neck. 

He narrowed his eyes and tried to judge the distance from where he stood to the rapidly closing door. Once he was satisfied he squatted down and slid the plastic ID across the polished stone floor with as much force as he could muster. The seconds felt like minutes as he watched its progress. He held his hands up as if in prayer and couldn't help but smile as it lodged underneath the door. 

"I suggest we take our shoes off. The slightest noise may alert him to our presence." 

"You seem to have unusual talents for a priest." remarked John. 

"I wasn't born a priest. I spent many years as a homicide detective before I found my true path." 

After placing his shoes on the floor he gently pushed open the door. He could sense John's impatience behind him so he held up his hand for him to halt and then placed his forefinger to his lips. Several seconds of silence from the stairs below them confirmed that it was time to move.  

The basement level of the museum was eerily quiet so much so that John found it quite unnerving. Nobody was allowed to work down there anymore except the servants. As they reached the bottom of the stairs he pointed to the left and round the corner. This led them through a door and into a dark and dingy locker room with another door at the far end that fortunately for them was slightly ajar. 

"It's through there." he mouthed silently.