by Doctor Who
241
DOCTOR WHO
Amy laughed softly.
'I guess! she said. 'You're not going to ask me to dance, are you?'
Charlie shook his head and smiled. 'No! he said. 'Sittuun don't dance.'
Just then they heard the clanking sound of footsteps on the stairs and a familiar voice, singing along: 'The moon will guide us I As we go drifting along...' The Doctor stepped down into the loading bay.
'Ella Fitzgerald!' he said. 'You know, I once jammed with her at the Roseland Ballroom. I played recorder. Didn't go down too well with the audience. Or her, for that matter.
Anyway... Are you ready?'
Amy nodded. 'As I'll ever be.'
'Very well! said the Doctor. 'In that case... to the TARDIS!'
He pointed at the little blue box with a dramatic flourish and then frowned.
'Was that a bit much?'
'Yeah! said Amy. 'It was a bit. Don't do it again.'
'Right. OK. Funnily enough, it didn't feel the right last time I tried it.' He turned to Charlie. 'Goodbye, Charlie.'
'Goodbye, Doctor.'
With a sad, crumpled smile, Charlie looked at Amy.
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NIGHT OF THE HUMANS
'Bye, then! he said.
'Yeah! said Amy. 'Bye.'
And then she reached up and gave him a single kiss on the cheek. With his face once again turning an embarrassed shade of turquoise, Charlie laughed nervously, and gave a small bashful wave as the Doctor and Amy stepped into the TARDIS and closed the door behind them.
Moments later the light on its roof began to flash and the loading bay was filled with that noise, like the sound Charlie imagined a galaxy might make as it turns. First the TARDIS
became translucent, the wall behind it appearing as a faint outline, and then the blue box and its two passengers were gone, leaving Charlie alone with the music.
243
BEAGLE XXI!OBJECT 556C INTERNAL INQUIRY Final Conclusions
Though a thorough cross-system investigation found no records of 'the Doctor' (presumed human) or ^Amy Pond' (presumed human), both Captain Jamal al-Jehedeh and Lt Baasim 'Charlie' al-Jehedeh testify that, without their assistance, escape from Object 556/C would have been impossible, and the mission would have failed.
It is the decision of this board that all information regarding the human inhabitants of Object 556/C and the final fate of the Herald of Nanking should remain classified, in the
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DOCTOR WHO
interest of Human-Sittuun relations. The death of the wanted criminal Dirk Slipstream has been reported to both the Volag-Noc facility in Mutter's Spiral and the Intergalactic Crime Bureau.
It is this board's recommendation that all crew members of the Beagle XXI, surviving and deceased, are awarded the highest commendation the IEA can offer for their bravery and commitment: the Silver Helix. We would also recommend that Cpt. Jamal al-Jehedeh and Lt Baasim 'Charlie' al-Jehedeh are promoted forthwith, to the ranks of Admiral and Lieutenant Commander respectively.
'The Doctor' and 'Amy Pond' are awarded the Civilian Cross in absentia.
File status: Closed.
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Acknowledgements
Big thanks to everyone at BBC Wales and BBC Books who helped along the way, including Gary Russell, Justin Richards, Steve Tribe and Edward Russell. Special thanks also .to Lord Tinlegs (aka EF), who listened to the story in instalments, and to the writers and other animals with whom I discussed ideas, including Joe Lidster, Scott Handcock and Oli Smith. Lastly, a posthumous thank you to Vaughan Williams's Sinfonia Antartica, which became the soundtrack to this book as I was writing it. If you've not heard it, I believe it is readily available on LP and cassette.
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