Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 |
It was late, she was tired, and her feet hurt. Tegan Jovanka just wanted to go home. She looked at the clock again. An hour and a half overtime, for which she would not be paid. She sighed as she picked up her purse and got up from her desk. At least the weekend was finally here. Greg had invited her over for supper, but she had declined his offer because she really wanted to sleep. She'd see him tomorrow, she promised.
Tegan left the office to Greg's aviation company and walked down the still bustling main corridor of Heathrow Airport. She wasn't sure she was awake enough to safely drive home, but she knew the route so well, that probably wouldn't matter. Tegan entered the car park and headed for her car.
Suddenly, she got a chill: she felt as if she were being watched. God, but you're tired, she told herself.
When she got to her car, she took out her keys. A hand clamped down over her mouth and her arms were pinned by some assailant's arm. She moved her legs back to kick at the person attacking her, trying to remember the self defense training she'd once had. "If you do not practice these moves often, they will not become second nature to you," her instructor had said. Guess I should have practiced, she thought as she kicked back and hit a shin.
"Owww! That hurt! Why do you wear heels anyway?" The assailant had let go of her and was now bent over rubbing his shin.
"I think it should be obvious by now." Tegan was fuming. "Why the HELL did you do that, Turlough! You about scared me to death!" She looked at the younger man before her. His hair was blonder, and he had filled out a little, but he was still the self-absorbed little twerp she'd come to like during her travels with the Doctor. He had straightened up and his pale blue eyes looked deep into hers.
"I'm sorry, Tegan. I'd only meant to stop you shouting out loud, not scare you to death." He looked sincere when he said it, but Turlough was very good at lying. He had charm, he once told her. "I, um, have something for you." He was now like a little boy, looking for approval, and Tegan was having a hard time being mad at him.
"What do you have?" she asked cautiously, expecting yet another prank.
"It's in your car." He said as he moved over to the passenger side.
Tegan unlocked her car, then looked across the roof of her car at Turlough. "In my car? How did it get there?"
Turlough looked at his nails for a bit before replying. "I put it there." She glared at him. "Well, these locks are so primitive -- I couldn't resist the challenge."
Tegan shook her head and entered the car. By the time she reached over to unlock the passenger side, Turlough had already unlocked and opened the door. Turlough smiled apologetically. Tegan turned to face him. "So, where is it? And why have you gotten me something? And why are you here in the first place?"
"Ah, so many questions. I'll make a scientist out of you yet!" Turlough leaned forward and kissed Tegan on the nose. "Well, if you must know, it's my wedding gift to you. But I don't want you to open it just yet. Wait until you open the other gifts you'll get." Tegan just stared at him for a while. After an uncomfortable silence, Turlough said, "You'll never get home at this rate. Would you like me to drive?"
"What? No! After what you did to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's car, never!" Tegan turned on the ignition and started for home.
"How'd you find out about that?" he asked.
Tegan smiled. "I'll never tell." She frowned and asked, "How'd you know about the wedding?"
Turlough smiled and echoed her. "I'll never tell." He opened up the window, even though it was a chilly night. He breathed deeply at the city air and then coughed. "Damned if I do, damned if I don't," he said under his breath.
"You still get car sickness?" Tegan almost sounded concerned. Turlough nodded. "With all that technology at your disposal, and you still get carsick..."
"Because of all the technology at my disposal, I'm used to transport that has no sense of motion. For some reason, car travel and Turlough have never been firm companions."
Tegan laughed at this. "And you made fun of me when I got seasick!"
"Yes, well, that doesn't bother me in the same way. I can't explain it, I'm not a biologist." Turlough watched as Tegan expertly parallel parked her car outside her flat. "I guess you'll be leaving this place soon?"
Tegan smiled. "Greg and I have found this really nice place that's closer to Heathrow. Much less driving. And we're used to the sound of planes, so that's not a problem. But I will miss this apartment. It's served me well these 5 years."
Turlough opened his door, and got his travel bag that was sitting in the back seat. He followed Tegan to her door and then entered the flat after her. As much as he hated Earth, it was actually nice to be back.
Turlough made supper while Tegan lounged on the couch. They talked about what they'd been doing in their lives while they ate. After supper, they sat on the couch and Tegan put her feet on Turlough's lap. "Rub," she commanded.
Turlough grimaced, but since Tegan always gave him free room and board on his visits to Earth, it was the least he could do. "You work too hard, Tegan."
"Doesn't everyone. Apart from you, who always avoids it." Turlough pulled on her little toe with enough force to express his rebuttal. "Though it wouldn't be so bad if I could just get a decent night's sleep."
"Working hard often makes sleeping difficult. Take a vacation. Or better yet, get that future husband of yours to give you a honeymoon."
Turlough was tired of rubbing Tegan's feet, so he got up and switched on the TV. Tegan wouldn't even have a TV if not for his fixing the one he'd seen on the street laid out for the dustmen. He was impressed with the picture, always pleased with his work. He sat back down, not waiting for Tegan to lift her feet out of the way.
"Turlough you are a pig!"
"Ah! Last time I was a brat, now I am a pig. I've come up in the world. At least you've always been civil enough not to call me a human." He smiled at Tegan, and then noticed she was asleep.
"Is anybody there? Can anybody hear me? Where is everyone? Please! Someone answer me! Don't leave me alone!" Tegan sat up straight, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She shook her head and then collapsed back onto her pillow. Not again! The same dream she'd been having for days now. The feeling of isolation remained despite her being awake.
Glancing at the clock, she realized that she'd actually gotten a half-decent night's sleep for a change. There was a knock at her door. For a second, she was surprised, then she remembered her house guest. "Come in, Turlough."
"Um, are you okay?"
Turlough was wearing the pajamas that Tegan's parents had given him two Christmases ago. Tegan smiled at the teddy bears on his PJs.
"Tired, but fine. Why do you ask?"
Turlough was a very conscientious house guest (well, she wouldn't put up with anything less, would she?) so his coming into her room before she was up was unusual.
"You cried out. Was it a nightmare?" Turlough came in and sat on the edge of her bed. He tousled her already messy hair and looked at her with concern.
"Oh that. Yes. I'm okay, don't worry." Cried out? Surely the dream wasn't that evocative. "I was back in that dream world the Mara used to take over my mind. You'd think I'd be over that by now."
Turlough rubbed her back. "Being forced to do things you'd rather not do. That's not an easy thing to deal with. I know that from experience."
"Don't ever stop. If I wasn't marrying Greg, I'd marry you and make you rub my back and feet all the time." Tegan was close to falling asleep again, her head buried in her pillow.
"Then I'm glad Greg got you. My fingers are getting cramped."
"Wimp." Tegan was smiling as she lay there, relaxing under the back rub. "Actually, the dream wasn't about doing things against my will. It was the absence of people. I know it may seem silly, but I'm afraid to be alone. The Mara had me pretty well pegged."
"I'm sorry."
Turlough stopped the back rub and cracked his knuckles. "So what are our plans for the day?"
Tegan sat up, feeling refreshed, and even awake. "Our plans? Since when are we an 'our?'"
Turlough smiled. "Just kidding. You probably have all sorts of mushy things to do with you boyfriend. And I needed to get away from things on Trion. It is incredible the amount of paperwork generated in a 26.7 hour period there. I figure I'll check on your neighbors to see if there's anything they need fixed."
"Oh that reminds me, Mrs. Mettleson's radio stopped working again. She told me to 'Tell that nice, young man' about it. Nice, young man indeed! You just think that a back rub, a foot massage, and supper will allow you free reign over my apartment ..."
Turlough seemed to consider this. "Yes, you have summed it up well." He smiled as he left her room to make breakfast.
D.I. Burke walked into the office with no hint of formality. He plopped himself down on the chair before her desk and then stretched his legs out before him. He yawned, exaggerating. Dr. Elizabeth Shaw looked up from her computer, finally acknowledging the new arrival. "Bored?"
"What makes you think that?" He yawned again, his mouth wide open, barely shielding it with his hand. "Just because PROBE hasn't been called into action for over a month, why should I be bored? I think it is nice, not being threatened by ghost, aliens, vampires, or things that go narg in the night. Even though that's why I joined this outfit in the first place."
Burke hadn't been with PROBE, the Preternatural Research Bureau, for very long --only two cases so far. Liz, however, had been with the organization since its inception, and she was used to the lulls by now.
"Well surely your regular police duties have been keeping you busy. I'd suggest that you do as I do during these inactive times, but I doubt that you wish to publish research papers on the latest and greatest halo-carbon to pollute our atmosphere. Why don't you take up a sport or something?" Liz was back looking over her paper, trying to see where her colleague, Janis Uberdecker, would find holes in its reasoning. He was very good at ridiculing her in the journals, though she had her own crew of supporters to ridicule him back.
"Well, sometimes we get lucky and have a bunch of robberies, or we bust the occasional brothel, but lately all we've been getting are missing persons. Kid runs away cuz his folks don't like his weirdo friends. Dear old dad doesn't come back from work. Maybe he just got tired of listening to his wife bitch about how he can't make ends meet and surely family is more important than those buddies you drink with at the bar ... Anyway, they usually turn up a few days later."
"Have they" Liz was looking over her computer monitor, her glasses perched near the end of her nose. She looked to Burke just like his old teacher, Mrs. Markham.
"Have they what?"
"Have they returned home after a few days?" Liz took off her glasses and stood. Time to stretch.
"Well, not yet. But mark my words, they will. Sure there is the occasional kidnapping or murder, but most of our missing persons are just temporaries." Liz motioned to the coffee machine toward which she was headed and Burke nodded. "Black please. Thanks."
"So are these the kids running away from home or dear old dad?"
Burke took a sip and winced. How could she drink this stuff? "Well, neither actually. We have a single male, Caucasian, who never arrived at work 3 days ago. Keeps in well with his family, missed only one day of work until his disappearance." He took out a notebook from his pocket. "Oh, and gets on well with his co-workers. This one may be a write-off after all. Maybe a crazed killer with a penchant for airport employees."
"He works at an airport?" Liz was seated again and was studiously ignoring her paper.
"THE airport. Heathrow. Funny thing is, one of our other missing persons works there too. She went missing day before yesterday. She never came home. She has a teenage daughter and a mother that she looks after, and their neighbors confirm that it was a good relationship. Still, two disappearances from people at the same workplace is only coincidence. Especially a workplace as large as Heathrow."
"Do they have anything else in common?"
"Dr. Shaw, I am not new to the world of policework. We have been through both of these victims' lives with a fine tooth comb. The only thing they have in common is their workplace. They work in different departments in different parts of the building. So their connection is tenuous, circumstantial."
The phone rang and Liz answered it before it was done. "Yes. He's here. Of course, I'll be sure to tell him. Mind if I join in? This paper I'm working on is giving me grief. Thanks Patsy." She hung up the phone and looked at her colleague. "That was our boss. Your coincidence is growing. We're now missing a third person who works for Heathrow."
Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 |