Chapter 5
Run!
"It's okay," said Amy, trying to make it okay. "We'll go back to the TARDIS and get it." She started back toward the bridge they had crossed. Jack followed her.
Before they knew it, Jack and Amy were across the river and standing on the pavement on a street corner on the other side.
"Which way?" said Jack.
"That way," said Amy, pointing. "We came from that general direction on our way here." They kept walking.
"Oi there!" said a voice a couple of minutes later. "You can't go that way!" Jack and Amy looked up in the direction of the voice. One of the workmen they had seen before was talking to a man who had gone behind the barrier. Where there had been an empty street there was now a cluster of trailers, lights, cameras, and some people in hats walking around, trying to get things organized.
"He's not talking to us," said Jack. But Amy wasn't paying attention to Jack; she was watching the scene behind the barrier.
The workman turned around. "Go back to the trailer, Tom," he said. "You're drawing a crowd." And indeed, a cluster of people was forming around the barrier.
"The actor's there," said Amy, "The one from the paper. Tom Baker." Jack saw the curly haired man as he disappeared from view behind a trailer. A minute later, the man returned with a woman. She had short brown hair and the smile of a model. The workman who had spoken before saw them.
"Tom! You alone's bad enough. We don't need the whole cast out here!"
"Relax, Phil," said Tom. "We needed some fresh air. Is it alright if we meet the Whovians?"
"No!" said Phil. "Go get ready. You're on camera in twenty-five minutes!"
"Jon is nowhere to be seen," Tom pointed out silkily. "Last I saw he needed to use the loo, but that was ten minutes ago." Tom smiled and waved at the people standing at the barrier. Someone cheered.
Amy pulled Jack forward. "Now's our chance," she said. "We can see if he knows anything about the daleks, or the Doctor, or whatever universe we're in." They reached the barrier. "Are you using the daleks today?" she called.
"Not today," said the other workman, not Phil. "Fan of them, are you?"
"Yeah," said Jack, catching on. "We thought we heard heard one last night."
"Jon reckons he heard the TARDIS last night," said the workman. "Doctor Who is in the air."
"He heard us," Amy whispered.
"You have a TARDIS?" asked the workman. Apparently, he had been eavesdropping.
"I know this sounds crazy," said Jack, "But yeah. This isn't actually our universe, but the Doctor is trapped here and we came to save him. We need his sonic screwdriver, but we think the daleks want it too."
"You two are hilarious," said the workman. "Oi, Tom! I think I've just found the record for crazy Whovians!"
Tom Baker walked over to them. "Are you fans?" he asked.
Amy opened her mouth to speak, but Jack got there first.
"We're from a parallel universe where Doctor Who isn't a TV show. It's real life. We're friends of the Doctor's: I'm Captain Jack Harkness, and this is Amy Pond."
Tom laughed. "I'll tell you what. If you can bring the TARDIS here, I've always wanted to go to the moon."
"He doesn't believe us," Amy told Jack. "No one does. Our story isn't all that believable, anyway."
"Elevate! EXTERMINATE!" Everyone whirled around.
"Dear God!" someone cried. "Is this a joke?"
"No!" said Amy. "They're real! They want to exterminate the Doctor!"
"Did you organize this, Phil?" asked Tom.
"I think we might have some trouble getting to the TARDIS," said Jack.
"I'll help you get there," said Tom.
"What?" said Amy.
"You will?" said Jack.
"If these daleks are real, you must be too," Tom explained. "In times of trouble, the Doctor always saves the world."
"Allons-y!" said Jack. Tom gave him a funny look.
"Wrong Doctor," whispered Amy.
Jack, Amy, and Tom slipped past the barrier and down the road, away from the daleks. In all the excitement and confusion, no one noticed them leaving. Even Phil didn't argue.
"This way," said Amy, leading them around a corner.
"I think we should…" Tom started to say, glancing over his shoulder.
"What?" asked Jack.
Tom grinned. "Run!"