[Sarah Jane Adventures 01] - Invasion of Bane Read online

  ‘Or a narrow-hipped female,’ said Mrs Wormwood. She turned to the door.

  ‘Quickly - seal the gates!’

  Sarah Jane, Maria and the boy ran through the car park to the outbuilding by the gates where Sarah Jane had parked her car.

  Sarah Jane shoved the boy into the back seat and turned to Maria. ‘Get in!’

  Maria hesitated. ‘But my friend’s in there! Well, I only just met her this morning, but I can’t just leave her.’

  ‘The bus is gone,’ said Sarah Jane impatiently. ‘Maybe she was on the bus. Now get in!’

  Maria was in a torment of indecision. She wanted to get away from this awful place. But it seemed all wrong just to leave Kelsey behind.

  ‘I cant...’

  There was a whirring and clanking sound and they turned to see that the factory’s big metal gates were starting to close. Sarah Jane took her lipstick from her shoulder bag, uncapped it and pointed. There was a low whirring sound, the end of the lipstick glowed red and the still-open gates jammed.

  Maria was amazed. ‘What is that thing?’

  ‘Sonic lipstick,’ said Sarah Jane. ‘Now get in!’

  There was a commotion behind them, and a rush of footsteps. They turned and saw Mrs Wormwood, Davey and a group of guards surging out of the main factory entrance and running towards them.

  That was enough to make up Maria’s mind for her. She jumped into the car.

  Sarah Jane got behind the wheel, switched on the ignition and gunned the engine.

  The car roared through the half-open gates.

  Mrs Wormwood held up her hand, halting the pursuit. She had just caught a glimpse of the white- clad figure in the car.

  ‘She’s taken the Archetype,’ she said with controlled fury. ‘Now we can have even more fun. Oh, even more!’ She smiled her evil smile.

  She turned and marched back to the lift that led to her office.

  When she emerged from the lift she saw Kelsey, terrified but defiant, standing in the middle of the room, her small figure dwarfed by two burly guards.

  Mrs Wormwood marched towards her.

  ‘Now, let’s find out what you know, little girl!’

  Chapter Six

  Interrogation

  Sarah Jane’s green convertible screeched into her driveway and came to a halt. She jumped out, followed by the white-clad boy Taking his hand, she led him towards her house.

  Maria jumped out after them, still full of unanswered questions.

  ‘But who is he? What was he doing in that factory? What are they doing in there?’

  Sarah Jane strode on. ‘Just leave it. You go home, Maria, I can handle things from now on.’

  ‘But there’s something going on,’ insisted Maria. ‘I saw you last night!’

  Sarah Jane stopped and turned. What did you say?’

  ‘She said she saw you last night,’ said the boy in his literal way.

  ‘With that thing, in your garden. That... alien.’

  Sarah Jane marched up to Maria and glared down at her.

  ‘Now listen to me, Maria. My life is dangerous. And, rule one, I don’t put anyone else in danger - especially not a kid.’

  ‘I’m not a kid!’

  Sarah Jane ignored her. ‘Maria, just go home and watch telly, do whatever you do. Just live your life as normal and forget any of this ever happened. Have you got that? Stay away from me - for your own sake!’

  Taking the boy by the arm, she turned and hurried him into the house.

  For a moment, Maria stared after them. Then she turned and ran across the road and into the new house, slamming the front door behind her.

  As she came into the hall she saw her father unpacking yet another box.

  ‘Hey, I’ve worked out the oven,’ he said cheerfully. ‘It was on timer.’

  Ignoring him, Maria ran upstairs.

  Alan got up and went to the foot of the stairs. ‘Maria?’ he called.

  The only response was the slamming of her bedroom door.

  It had been quite a day, thought Alan. No wonder the poor kid was upset. Best give her a bit of time to get over it.

  He went back to his box and carried on unpacking.

  Maria grabbed her old teddy and flung herself on her bed. Suddenly it was all too much for her. The divorce, the move, the weird events at the factory - and now Sarah Jane’s hostility. She stared into space, her eyes welling with tears.

  Mrs Wormwood sat at her desk, Davey standing behind her.

  Before her, flanked by guards, stood Kelsey, scared but still stroppy.

  ‘And another thing, I want compensation for that phone. It was brand new last week! ’ Mrs Wormwood and Davey stared at her. Encouraged, Kelsey nodded towards Davey. ‘And for your information, he is a prize mentalist. He’s got like this big puppet thing living in the roof and he thinks it’s his mum.’

  ‘Puppet?’ said Mrs Wormwood.

  Davey leaned forward. ‘She means Mother,’ he said, cold anger in his voice.

  ‘Yeah? Well, if that’s your mother you should go on Jeremy Kyle,’ said Kelsey scornfully.

  Mrs Wormwood rose, shaking her head. ‘I can’t understand a word she says. She’s all noise and ignorance. Whereas, Miss Smith...’ She picked up a remote control and moved over to the giant monitor screen. An image of Sarah Jane appeared. ‘Miss Smith seems familiar with the concept of alien life. Far too familiar. And look, if we scan her...’ Sarah Jane’s image blurred into an infra-red scan.

  ‘An average human,’ said Mrs Wormwood. ‘Except.’

  Suddenly, colours flared, and text scrolled across the bottom of the screen.

  ‘What is it?’ asked Davey.

  ‘Residual artron energy,’ said Mrs Wormwood. ‘Background radiation. A result of travel through the space-time vortex. Some time ago, but it’s still there.’

  ‘A space-time traveller?’ said Davey unbelievingly.

  ‘So it seems. We must find her.’

  Kelsey felt she was being ignored so she decided to chip in.

  ‘She lives on Bannerman Road.’

  Mrs Wormwood turned. ‘I beg your pardon?’

  ‘Bannerman Road. And she’s as loony as you lot.’

  ‘We must retrieve the Archetype,’ said Davey. And kill the Smith woman.’ He smiled. ‘I’ve been dying to kill one of them ever since we arrived.’

  Mrs Wormwood looked thoughtfully at Kelsey. ‘This one has information. Perhaps we can use her.’

  ‘You can let me go,’ said Kelsey indignantly. ‘Or I’m phoning the police - and Childline!’

  ‘She’s already primed,’ said Davey. ‘Drinks five bottles of Bubble Shock a day. Her system’s full of Bane.’

  ‘Good,’ said Mrs Wormwood. She turned to Kelsey. ‘I’m going to turn off my image translator. Try not to scream!’

  ‘I never scream,’ said Kelsey defiantly.

  Mrs Wormwood touched the jewel at her throat. Her form blurred and shimmered and an indescribable alien horror reared up over Kelsey.

  She jumped back in horror and the guards grabbed her arms.

  The alien horror moved closer.

  Kelsey screamed...

  There was a tapping on Maria’s bedroom door. After a moment the door opened and her dad appeared, clutching a steaming mug of tea.

  ‘Someone said there’s a miserable girl who needs a cup of tea. But I couldn’t find her, so you’ll have to do instead.’

  He held out the mug.

  Maria was sitting on the side of the bed. She gave him a reluctant smile and took the tea. One thing about her dad, you could always depend on him to rally round in a crisis.

  ‘So what is it then?’ asked Alan.

  Maria didn’t reply. So much had happened that it just didn’t seem possible to tell him about it. Where could she begin?

  Alan answered his own question. ‘It’s all right, I know. New house, new school next week. Everything must seem so weird.’

  ‘You’re telling me,’ whispered Maria.

&
nbsp; He didn’t know the half of it, she thought. She’d encountered more weirdness since yesterday than in the rest of her life.

  Alan sat down beside her on the bed. ‘But if there is anything wrong, you can tell me. You know that, don’t you? You can tell me anything.’

  Maria looked at him. For a moment she was tempted - but it was still impossible. For the moment, anyway. Maybe when she’d sorted things out...

  She put her arms round him and gave him a hug, burying her head in his shoulder.

  Mrs Wormwood arched her back, smoothed the skin on her slender neck and adjusted her black silk dress at the collar. She felt awkward and uncomfortable, as if her skin didn’t really fit. It always took a moment or two to get used to being back in human form.

  She sat down behind her desk. ‘Oh, it felt so good to be myself again. These clumsy human oxen.’

  Davey was standing over Kelsey, looking down at her. She was stretched out on a couch, her eyes closed. He reached down and rolled back an eyelid, then straightened up.

  ‘The girl’s still unconscious. I’m surprised you didn’t kill her.’

  ‘These miniature versions have parents. And parents ask questions.’

  Davey went over and sat in the chair before the desk. ‘And what did we learn?’

  Mrs Wormwood shuddered. ‘The thoughts of a child are chaos! ’ She put her fingertips to her temples, accessing the information from Kelsey’s jumble of a mind. ‘Late homework. Is she fat? Will she ever be kissed? And she worships something called “The Holy Oak”.’ She paused. ‘No... Hollyoaks! Her parents fight. She wishes she were younger, she wishes she were older. This world scares her, so very much.’

  ‘What about Sarah Jane Smith?’

  ‘Oh, she knows her. Bannerman Road, number thirteen. And yes! Miss Smith lives alone. No support, no defences.’

  ‘Then I can attack?’

  ‘Oh yes,’ whispered Mrs Wormwood. ‘Have some fun.’ She rose and moved over to Kelsey ‘And I filleted the memories. This one will remember nothing.’

  She snapped her fingers, and Kelsey opened her eyes. She blinked, confused.

  ‘Oh, right… Hiya.’ She struggled to sit up. ‘I’m so shamed, I’m asleep in your office.’

  Mrs Wormwood gave her a benevolent smile. ‘We’ve looked after you. And don’t worry, Davey can take you home.’ She turned to Davey. ‘Off you go, Bannerman Road. Enjoy!’

  Davey smiled down at Kelsey and helped her to rise. He offered her his arm, and Kelsey, delighted, took it. They entered the lift and the door slid closed.

  Smiling, Mrs Wormwood watched them go.

  It wouldn’t take Davey long to reach thirteen Bannerman Road. And once he did - there would be no more trouble from Sarah Jane Smith.

  There would be no more Sarah Jane Smith.

  Chapter Seven

  Attack of the Bane

  The boy sat on an over-stuffed sofa in the pleasant, rather old-fashioned sitting room of Sarah Jane’s house. There were shelves of books, a brightly-coloured glass lampshade, comfortable armchairs and a scattering of assorted ornaments, including a carved wooden elephant.

  The boy looked round the room with an expression of mild amazement. Like everything else, this was all totally new to him.

  He rose politely as Sarah Jane came into the room. She was carrying a tea tray - cups of tea, sandwiches, slices of cake. She put the tray down on a little table and turned to the boy, continuing an earlier conversation.

  ‘You must have a name. If I’m Sarah Jane then you’re...?’

  ‘All I know is, I had to run.’

  Sarah Jane sat, gesturing to the boy to sit as well.

  ‘But you can talk, someone must have taught you that. Who was it?’

  ‘Everyone,’ said the boy simply.

  ‘What does that mean - “everyone”?’

  ‘I am everyone. And then I had to run. The girl came, Maria, and then you.’

  Sarah Jane sighed. She just didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. Somehow she knew that the boy was being honest with her. She felt he didn’t know the meaning of deceit. Yet his answers didn’t make any kind of sense.

  She persevered. ‘Think back,’ she urged. ‘Before you ran, what can you remember?’

  The boy’s answer was as simple as it was baffling. ‘I was born when I ran.’

  ‘But you must have a home.’

  The boy looked round the pleasant, comfortable room. ‘Is this your home?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, it is.’

  ‘Can I live here?’

  Sarah Jane stared at him for a moment and then smiled regretfully.

  ‘No... No, I don’t think so.’

  The boy took a sandwich from the tray and studied it.

  ‘Help yourself,’ said Sarah Jane.

  ‘Is this food?’

  ‘Food and drink.’

  ‘Which is which?’

  Sarah Jane gave him a puzzled look. Before she could answer, a voice came from upstairs.

  ‘Sarah Jane?’

  It was a masculine voice, deep, calm and authoritative.

  ‘Who’s that?’ asked the boy.

  ‘No one,’ said Sarah Jane hastily.

  ‘There was a voice.’

  ‘No, there wasn’t!’

  The voice came again, a little louder this time. ‘Sarah Jane?’

  Sarah Jane went to the sitting room door and yelled up the stairs. ‘Not now!’

  ‘I thought you lived alone,’ said the boy.

  Sarah Jane closed the door and put her back to it. ‘I do. And whatever happens, you’re not to go upstairs, have you got that? It’s private. Don’t ever go upstairs unless I say so.’

  ‘You don’t trust me,’ said the boy.

  There was no surprise or resentment in his voice. He was simply stating an observed fact.

  Sarah Jane gave him a despairing look.

  ‘I don’t even know you,’ she said.

  She came across and sat down opposite the boy, flicked open her watch and held it up to his face. It gave off a rapid series of bleeps.

  ‘Don’t be afraid,’ said Sarah Jane. She studied the data scrolling across the little screen. ‘Not alien. A normal healthy lad. Human, ageing rate normal...’ She stared at the screen as the data changed. ‘But this says you were born 360 years ago.’ She studied the little screen more closely. ‘No. You were born 360 minutes ago.’

  The boy smiled. ‘Is that good or bad?’

  A gleaming black saloon car pulled up and parked outside Sarah Jane’s house.

  Davey was behind the wheel, Kelsey beside him.

  ‘Here we are, Bannerman Road,’ said Davey ‘Off you go then.’

  Kelsey gave him her most flirtatious grin. ‘I don’t have to be home till six,’ she said hopefully. ‘We could go for a burger.’

  ‘Get out,’ snapped Davey. Then he smiled and fished an orange bottle from under the seat. ‘And don’t forget - drink Bubble Shock.’

  Kelsey grinned, took the bottle, got out of the car and ran across the road. She was heading for Maria’s house, but Davey neither knew nor cared.

  He stared at Sarah Jane’s house - and smiled again. But this time it was a very different sort of smile.

  Maria sat despondently on the sofa in her sitting room.

  Her father came back into the room. ‘Here comes trouble.’

  He stepped aside to reveal Kelsey, who went on the attack. ‘Well, thanks for abandoning me. Some friend you are!’

  ‘I’m making a snack,’ said Alan hastily. ‘Do you want some, Kelsey? Beans on toast.’

  Kelsey shook her head. ‘Too many carbohydrates.’

  ‘Right, you can starve,’ said Alan cheerfully, and went into the kitchen.

  ‘Where were you?’ asked Maria, keeping her voice low. ‘All the alarms went off and I was running round the factory looking for you.’

  Kelsey’s attention was elsewhere. ‘He’s all right, your dad, he’s a bit fit.’

  ‘Oh shut up!’ s
aid Maria impatiently. ‘Where’d you get to? Just tell me Kelsey. The factory - what happened?’

  Davey reached through the gap between hedge and gatepost and slipped the bolt on the back gate. He slipped into the back garden and moved around the back of Sarah Jane’s big old house, looking for a way to get in undetected. He heard low voices from an open window and crept towards it...

  Sarah Jane was staring at the boy, still wondering what to make of him. The boy, meanwhile, was flicking through a book he’d lifted from a shelf.

  Sarah Jane registered what he was doing. ‘You can read?’

  ‘I can now.’

  She stared at him. ‘What? You just learnt?’

  ‘It’s easy! Just letters and words.’

  Sarah Jane studied more data. ‘Forgive me, but if you don’t mind… could you just lift up your top? So I can see your stomach.’

  ‘Okay,’ said the boy. He lifted the bottom of his loose tunic, revealing a completely smooth stomach. Sarah Jane stared at it in amazement.

  ‘You’ve got no belly button!’ said Sarah Jane.

  ‘Is that good or bad?’

  ‘I don’t know - but everyone who’s born has got a belly button.’

  ‘Then why not me?’

  ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t think you were born. I think you were grown.’

  Outside, Davey stiffened at the sound of her words. The woman knew too much - too much to live. He shimmered and began to change...

  ‘And that’s all I remember,’ said Kelsey concluding her story. ‘Waking up in her office. Honestly, I was mortified. And then they drove me home.’

  ‘Hold on,’ said Maria suddenly. ‘Who drove you home?’

  ‘The muffin,’ said Kelsey.

  ‘The guide? The man from the tour? He’s here? On Bannerman Road?’

  ‘Yeah, what about it?’

  Horrified, Maria jumped up, running for the front door. ‘Dad, I’m going out!’

  Shaking her head, Kelsey followed.

  They ran across the road and up the drive to Sarah Jane’s front door.

  Maria began hammering on the door. ‘Open up, it’s me! Maria!’

  Kelsey stood back scowling. ‘You are completely shaming me!’

  Sarah Jane flung open the door. She looked very cross. ‘I told you to leave me alone!’ She tried to shut the door.