SATURDAY 19TH DECEMBER 2009
Sarah Jane sat in the driver's seat of her little green Nissan Figaro, watching as a black taxi pulled up at the Manor Parks Academy and the tall Time Lord climbed out of the back and held the door open for her son and his new companion. She saw Bella pay the cab driver before he pulled away from the curb.
"Can you hear me Sarah Jane?" said the Doctor's voice from the flat screen in her lap and Clyde and Rani looked over her shoulder from the back seat. Looking down she found the Doctor's face displayed twice because both Luke and Bella were looking at him whilst wearing the camera glasses.
"Loud and clear, Doctor." Sarah Jane told him.
"Do the cameras work?" Bella asked.
"We hope that you aren't going to be looking at the Doctor the whole time!" Clyde said seriously and the three of them heard Bella laugh.
"Right, well we are going to head in," the Doctor said confidently and Sarah Jane said, "Look after my son!"
"Aww, of course we will, Sarah." The Doctor said softly, making her smile.
"I still think one of us should have gone with them." Rani said darkly as the three watched Luke walk beside Bella, Rani feeling as though Luke was going to get hurt.
"You really don't trust Bella do you?" Clyde asked moodily, not understanding what Bella had done to deserve Rani's jealous mistrust.
"No I don't really," Rani answered him, not realising that he had picked up on it.
As Clyde shook his head, Sarah Jane spoke to her honestly. "I don't see why not Rani, seeing as the Doctor trusts her."
"Yeah," Clyde laughed suddenly, nudging Rani with his elbow and winking at her. "You can tell by the way he keeps looking at her!"
Sarah Jane laughed fondly, feeling glad that she had turned off the button which allowed Luke and the others to hear them. "Which is even more reason to trust her."
"Why is that?" Rani asked sceptically.
"He doesn't look at just anyone like that, only someone special can make him look like he does now…" Sarah Jane said quietly. "And besides, only the best get to travel with the Doctor."
"I bet he used to look at you like that." Rani said.
"Not quite," Sarah Jane whispered.
"How are we going to convince them that we come from a school in Cambridge?" Luke asked as they walked towards the school, moving uncomfortably in the grey business suit that he had borrowed from the Doctor's apparently extensive wardrobe. "I mean, we have no proof."
"We don't need it," the Doctor smiled as he pulled out his psychic paper.
Luke exchanged a glance with Bella.
"What happens if they see past the psychic paper?"
"The first people we meet aren't going to be trained for seeing past psychic paper." The Doctor explained quietly as he moved towards the double glass doors. "That would be left up to the big guns, who we should avoid like the plague."
"How are we going to do that?" Luke asked.
"Once we get inside, we'll slip away from the main group and go and investigate!" the Doctor told him happily.
"Does he always get this excited?" Luke quietly asked Bella, who grinned.
"Wait until we have to start running!" She laughed which made Luke smile, feeling confident with his new friends.
The Doctor smiled at him as he opened the glass doors for the two of them and Luke followed Bella into what appeared to be the reception hall that reminded Luke of some kind of hospital. The walls were all a pristine white and the floor was polished white marble. People were walking around, all families with parents and their well dressed children all speaking excitedly. Luke noticed that to his left were two steel doors with a sign that read 'Parents waiting room' in bold letters.
"Registration is over in the corner," the Doctor said quietly, pointing over to the right hand corner. "Let me do the talking." He added, leading the way through the crowd, Luke following Bella nervously wondering how Bella managed to look so calm. What they were about to do was like espionage, impersonating others and looking around for clues.
They approached a woman who sat at the registration counter and the Doctor and Bella smiled.
"Good morning," the Doctor said cheerfully and the woman looked up to him with a bored expression on her face.
"Can I sign your children up for the full day tour of the premises today, sir?"
"They're not my children," the Doctor said quickly as Bella said "He's not my dad!"
Luke gave a cheeky grin as he picked up on their awkwardness. "A tour would be great though," he said, trying hard not too laugh.
"I'll sign you up," the receptionist said. "First I need some details to add into the computer."
The Doctor patted Luke on the back in appreciation before he handed the receptionist his psychic paper. The woman imputed whatever information that was on the psychic paper onto the computer before handing it back to the Doctor.
"Well, that all seems to be in order, Mr. Smith, if you could just step into the next room for a general knowledge test before the tour begins – uh, not you sir." The woman added as the Doctor made to follow Luke and Bella.
Luke turned around to find the Doctor looking to the woman with a confuse expression on his face.
"What do you mean, not me?" the Doctor asked.
"Adults aren't allowed into the school, sir. It messes with the children's concentration." The receptionist explained. "Surely who ever invited you told you this?"
"No, they must have forgotten to mention it." The Doctor said, a new edge to his voice now.
Bella moved forward. "It's okay sir," she said, looking up to the Doctor. Her voice was light, but Luke could tell that this new development unsettle both her and the Doctor. "Luke and I will be fine."
"Yeah," Luke said nodding, "We'll stick together."
The Doctor seemed to consider this for a few moments, perhaps trying to quickly think of a new plan, but eventually he nodded once, still looking unsure and not altogether pleased.
"We'll meet you out in the car park when we've finished." Bella said, taking his hand for the briefest of seconds.
"Yeah, course," he said, giving Bella the leather wallet containing the psychic paper and reaching into his jacket for his sonic screwdriver and handing it to her subtly. "See you when you have both finished then." He said smiling before lowering his voice. "Be careful," he said as he turned around and headed back towards the door.
Luke looked to Bella as she watched the Doctor leave, her eyes looking much older than they should have done.
"You can make your way through now." The receptionist said and Bella looked to her, a suspicious glance flashing across her face before she smiled.
"Thank you," Bella said charmingly, "Come on Luke!"
They both turned to see the Doctor reach the front doors and glance back at them, an angry expression on his face. They saw him leave and they both began to walk to the door beside them, feeling very nervous.
As the Doctor approached her car, Sarah Jane quickly opened her door and got out, her heart racing. "What happened?" she asked trying to keep her voice calm and steady as Clyde and Rani got out of the car too.
He looked away from her, looking extremely angry with himself. "They aren't letting any adults into the school." He said vehemently, stopping at the passenger side of the car. "I should have seen it coming, I shouldn't have let them go in by themselves, what was I thinking?"
"If you had of refused to let them go in by themselves, someone would have suspected something." Sarah Jane said, the concern in her voice obvious now.
The Doctor ran his hands through his hair, looking stressed. "Where are they now?" he asked suddenly, looking across to Clyde who held the small screen.
"They're taking some kind of exam," Clyde answered, holding up the screen so that the Doctor could see. "It's got some weird questions though,"
"What do you mean?" The Doctor and Sarah Jane asked him sharply at the same time.
"Like the one that Luke is on now; 'which five figure number can you multiply by four to give the same number in reverse order'?" Clyde said looking up to the Doctor, perplexed.
"21978," the Doctor said at once and Clyde and Rani looked to him with raised eyebrows. "I enjoy trivia," he shrugged.
"Another one from the beginning or the exam was 'I'm bored with it all' was the famous last words of which famous person?"
"Winston Churchill," the Doctor said confidently, "And I should know, I was there!"
"Who is the main villain in Harry Potter?"
"Everyone knows that one!" Rani said before the Doctor had the chance to answer.
"All right then, how about this one," Clyde started smugly, "Which constellation can Betelgeuse be found? Bella's up to it now."
"Orion constellation," the Doctor said without a moment's hesitation. "What did Bella put for her answer?"
"The Orion Constellation," Clyde smiled.
"Oh, good girl," the Doctor said proudly.
"It looks like they've finished," Sarah Jane said as she looked over Clyde's shoulder.
"Ooh, they're up to the tour!" the Doctor said excitedly, bounding around to the other side of the car so he too could look over Clyde's shoulder. "This is the dangerous part…" he said quietly.
"So, if you would like to follow me, I will show you the classrooms and dormitories that you will be staying if you are chosen to come to this prestigious school." Said a woman in a charcoal suit at the front of the room as the group of teenagers all rose from their seats and began to follow the woman out into a new corridor, Luke and Bella bringing up the rear.
"How did you go in the exam?" Luke asked Bella as he stuck close to her in fear of getting separated. He had found the exam relatively easy and he'd noticed that he had been one of the first to finish; he just hoped it would be enough to convince the school.
"Yeah, pretty good." Bella sat as she began to walk even slower than she had been before, keeping her eyes firmly on the group in front of them and Luke quickly followed her lead. "I loved the space questions!" she grinned which made Luke smile. "We need to find that bus and then get out of here," she added in a whisper.
Luke nodded, pushing the black-rimmed glasses back up his nose.
As the main group rounded a corner, Bella grabbed Luke's arm and pulled him backwards and he gave a cry of protest before he saw a door that they had walked straight past without noticing.
"Where did that come from?" Luke asked feeling shocked.
"It was always there," Bella said taking the psychic paper from her vest pocket. "We just didn't notice it because it must have a perception filter on it or something."
She held the psychic paper up to a card scanner on the wall beside the door and the door slid across for her. They exchanged a quick, excited grin before quickly running in and pressing a button to close the door behind them so they couldn't be seen. Bella got an ear piece from her pocket, pressed one of the small buttons and placed it in her ear.
"And we're in," she said as Luke put his earpiece as well.
"EXCELLENT!" said a loud, relieved voice in their ears.
"Ow!" Luke and Bella gasped, their hand's flying up to their ears in pain.
"Sorry," said the Doctor apologetically, "Bella, get my sonic out, it will be able to read for a presence of the transmat, which could lead you to the missing bus."
Bella nodded and got the sonic device from and pressed one of the buttons which made it beep in a repetitive way.
"Should we look out for alien technology too?" Luke asked.
"Always be on the look out for alien tech!" the Doctor said lightly.
"Be careful!" Sarah Jane said and Luke could tell that his mother was worried.
Bella turned to Luke, a serious expression on her face. "Ready?"
"Yeah," Luke nodded and Bella turned from him and began walking down the corridor, her high heels echoing off the walls.
"She looks well fit in a suit!" They both heard Clyde whisper in the background.
"Clyde!" said Sarah Jane reproachfully and Bella looked round to Luke behind her smiling sheepishly.
"I think Luke looks pretty good, myself." Rani told Clyde seriously and Luke smiled despite himself making Bella grin widely at him. They both heard Sarah Jane sigh as Clyde and Rani continued to debate on who looked better in a suit.
They continued walking and after a while, Bella began to look uneasy. "These don't really look like service corridors; they're too clean and there are no panels to access wiring."
"I was just thinking the same thing," the Doctor said slowly. "Be careful,"
Bella remained silent as Luke watched her move around a corner and the Doctor suddenly gave a shout.
"Luke, don't let her scream!"
Luke quickly jumped around the corner and saw two metal men with their backs to him and Bella (whom it had seemed had frozen on the spot). He placed his hand over Bella's mouth and pulled her back around the corner where they fell back onto the white wall, hoping that the metal men hadn't heard them.
"What are the Cybermen doing here?" Luke heard his mother say, sounding somewhat distraught.
"I don't know," the Doctor admitted angrily and Luke could tell that even he was scared.
Bella looked up to Luke and nodded so he took his hand away from her mouth.
"This isn't the Cybermens style," the Doctor continued and it sounded as though he was pacing backwards and forwards. "Besides, they were stopped a few weeks ago from returning, they were all destroyed –"
"Thanks," Bella said quietly as if trying to block out what the Doctor was saying.
"No worries," Luke said seriously. "Not a big fan of the Cybermen then?"
Bella looked away from him. "No,"
Luke looked at her and saw a painful expression on her face and he wondered what experience she had had with the metal monsters.
"You both need to get out of there," the Doctor said urgently as Bella leant towards the corner to peak around to see if it was safe, "If the Cybermen are involved then none of you are going to be involved, I'll ring Jack if I have –"
"They're gone!" Bella exclaimed, making Luke look around the corner too.
"That's impossible," Sarah Jane said sceptically, despite her voice still sounding terrified. "The Cybermen are never just gone."
"Mum, they're not here," Luke said as Bella moved forward, the sonic screwdriver raised in front of her. "We should have heard them, but we didn't hear anything!"
"There's no sign of a transmat beam, so they haven't been transmatted out." Bella said, consulting the beeping device while they both heard Sarah Jane and the Doctor discussing how they thought the Cybermen could have gotten to Earth.
"Where's the sonic screwdriver leading us?" Luke asked, moving towards her.
She held up the sonic in front of her again before pointing it in all different directions; up to her right, to her left and finally down to the floor where it beeped excitedly.
"Going down?" she asked, an excited look growing on her face.
"These two," said Edgar Mann as he watched the two well-dressed teenagers in suits run along the pristine 'service' corridors on the very well hidden security cameras. "Who are they?"
"According to the information they gave us at the front desk," his daughter said, handing him two beige folders, "they are two fifteen year olds who attend Cambridge Common School."
"And in reality?" asked Edgar with raised eyebrows.
"The boy is Luke Smith," Sophie said, handing her father another folder, "fifteen years old, attends Park Vale Comprehensive School and lived on Bannerman Road with his adoptive mother, Sarah Jane. He is possibly the smartest child to ever pass through that school."
"And the girl?" he asked with a snarl.
Sophie smiled. "That is where it all gets very interesting."
"Oh?"
"Her name is Bella Lumic, she is eighteen years old and she has recently graduated in July from King Edward's School in Bath with six A-levels with almost flawless marks in Maths, Physics, Biology, English and History. Not too long after this she was reported missing from her home before it was said that she was holidaying in Venice. What is the most interesting part though, is that she has her own file in the U.N.I.T. archives."
"What do they contain?" Edgar asked curiously, wondering what U.N.I.T. could possibly have on an eighteen year old.
Sophie shook her head. "I'm not sure, I couldn't get into them. All I know is that the files were created when she was reported missing by a Major Ingram of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce."
"Hmm," Edgar said as he watched the girl open yet another door with something within a black leather wallet. "It seems as though they are on a little reconnaissance mission. Go and greet them; I wish to find out who sent them."
Sophie smiled an excited gleam in her eyes. "Well, judging by both of their results from the general knowledge exam, I'd say someone along the lines of U.N.I.T, MI5 or Torchwood."
