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.It was only at this point that Fitz remembered he hadn’t told anyone his name.Chapter SevenTurn on, tune in, drop outThe meeting broke up shortly afterwards, and the crowd of nicely attired partygoersmeandered out of the grimy lodging house.Many of them were muttering about the séance;most of them were clearly startled and surprised by what had happened.Their little game hadbecome all too real, Fitz decided.Only a handful remained, and disappointingly the longhaired screamer wasn’t one of them.There was Kellen, who seemed unable to take his eyes off Fitz, and was generally acting as ifhe was Jack Slipper after cornering Ronnie Biggs.Ressadriand, meanwhile, was tidying up the room.Fitz almost laughed.The strutting boy ofearlier now looked as though he was desperate to clear stuff before his parents came back anddiscovered he’d had an illicit party, and none of his guests were helping.Fitz didn’t know how he himself had managed to crash the party.How could they have drawnhim here, as Tarra had announced? She must just be making it all up, as she had implied toRessadriand.She was currently on the other side of the room, facing the older aristocraticguy, talking quietly to him.Her body language – the way she angled her head, the slope ofher shoulders, her arm gestures –suggested she was letting him down gently.He looked likehe was hugging himself, and wasn’t taking it well.Dirty old man.Suddenly, Tarra leaned in, seizing the man by the hair at the back of his head, pulling his faceclose to hers.She was kissing him.Abruptly, he pulled his head back, and then tugged hishair out of her grip.Tarra chuckled and placed her hands on her hips, appraising his reaction.The dirty old man was touching the back of his head, as though she had pulled his hair toohard.He touched his bottom lip, and saw his fingers were stained with blood where Tarra hadbitten him.She was still laughing when he shuffled off angrily.Fitz nodded after him as Tarra returned.‘College lecturer? Research student?’Tarra frowned a little, puzzled.‘Isn’t he a bit old for you?’ asked Fitz.She smiled, revealing her perfect white teeth, surprisingly pointed.‘Who, Eton? Oh, he’squite a bit younger than me, Fitz.’Fitz showed her his ‘oh yeah?’ look.‘Well, Eton should eat more of what you have forbreakfast, then.It’s rude to ask a lady how old she is, of course.’ He paused to suck his teeth.She didn’t take the opportunity to answer.‘So, how much do you weigh, then?’She simply offered him an enigmatic smile.Well, thought Fitz, who knows how old all theseguys are? He was rubbish at guessing ages.After all, the Doctor looked younger than Fitz’sdad – and, not long after first meeting him, the Doctor had casually mentioned having agranddaughter.If the Doctor could be a grandfather and still look like that …Kellen muscled up to them at this point.‘Fitz Kreiner?’ he said abruptly.‘Er … yeah:‘What kind of name is that? I thought you Outsiders were all called Gur or Blug.’Fitz was in two minds about pretending to be someone he wasn’t, because it seemed clearthat some of them already knew who he was.He could hear his mum’s admonishing voice inhis ear’ Careful, Fitzie.Your sins’ll find you out, boy.’‘I suppose Kellen is a toff’s name, then?’ Fitz’s sarcastic tone suggested he thoughtotherwise.‘My father enjoyed The Great Gatsby far too much and christened me Fitzgerald,my mum thought I stopped growing at the age of six and called me Fitzie, but my friends callme Fitz.You,’ he added, ‘can call me Mr Kreiner.’Kellen bristled.Tarra put a calming hand on his tensing shoulder.‘Where are you from, Outsider?’ said Kellen.Fitz gestured around the grimy student digs.‘I’m from Archway, of course.’ They continuedto stare at him as though he was some kind of alien.All right, then.‘Archway?’ he continued.‘London, Earth, the Milky Way, the Universe, N2 8GT.’The word ‘Earth’ had a gratifying, if completely unexpected, effect.Kellen’s jaw dropped,and Ressadriand was so surprised that he stopped tidying up.The two men studied Fitz,looking for the card in neatly inked block capitals that explained what this museum exhibitactually was.Tana remained studiously unimpressed, however.‘Earth?’ croaked Ressadriand.‘Where else?’ said Fitz, though he felt less certain now.‘A monkeyman,’ snorted Kellen.‘Oooo,’ said Fitz, deadpan.And then he looked more carefully around the room.Why had he assumed he was back onEarth? He walked around the little podium, thinking things through.Maybe he’d wanted toreturn to that safe and shabby life, a place far removed from the recent terrors, a time longbefore his travels through time with the Doctor.Maybe it was instinctive, to step through adoorway and go back to what he knew.Ressadriand’s gobsmacked look was enough for the scales to fall j from Fitz’s eyes.Theclothes, the wall hangings, the furniture were all unlike anything he’d seen in London.Thetechnology set in the far wall – which he’d just assumed was a television but which they hadcalled a ‘Visualiser’ – was unknown, alien.The low lighting permeated the room evenly,there were no flyspecked fortywatt bulbs hanging from frayed wires.Even the air smelleddifferent –not the sour smell of old dust and stale urine that seemed to pervade most studentdigs, but a sharp, almost electric tang that made his nose hairs tingle.There wasn’t even anycigarette smoke– definitely not a student pad in London.Ressadriand and Kellen continued to gape at him, the way he’d stare if he’d met aNeanderthal with its elbow on the polished mahogany of Molly’s bar.His foot scuffed into something on the floor.He looked down and saw one of the gruesomeHallowe’en halfmasks.Things became clearer all of a sudden.Not Earth.‘We summoned a human!’ Ressadriand’s young face suddenly creased into a huge grin.Hewas practically dancing on the carpet– or whatever passed for carpet on this planet.‘You’re telling us this is not one of your tricks?’ said Kellen dubiously.Ressadriand was still burbling: ‘A human! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!’Kellen snorted.‘You did not know it.You were as surprised as the rest of us, wasn’t he,Tarra?’Tarra was watching their reactions, as though separate from events [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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