THE GUARD

A strange little account of a truly odd meeting somewhere, somewhen.

He was resolute, was The Guard. He had been tasked with guarding the City, and that was what he was going to do even if it took for all Eternity to do it. So he stood there, rifle over shoulder until the mechanical arm that held it ached, motionless, only twitching to ease this or that robotic irritation or random metallic itch.

The Guard was good at his job. No: he was more than good �" he was the very best, which is why he'd been chosen to perform the task.

Guarding the City!

What could be more honourable than that!

Time was, he mused as he stood there, time was when the people came this way, but they seem to have changed their ways. Time was when I'd be visited from time to time by this or that old geezer and he'd pass the time of day with me... but it's got to be, oh, years since any old geezer passed through the gate...

And it had been.

Old Periwinkle had been the last. He remembered Old Periwinkle with affection, those slate grey eyes, shining with a dim light, that quaver in his voice, the way he lisped and then walked away, back straight, proud, a man amongst men. Amongst very few men. And then a man alone. And then nobody.

“What are you doing?” came a voice, suddenly, a voice he'd never heard before, the first voice he'd heard in so very long. He jumped visibly. You would jump if you heard a voice like that, new, young (was it young? What did a young voice sound like? Where might a young voice have come from?)

He looked round.

Lemon cotton dress, tied round the waist by a shining yellow belt, hair like golden tresses hanging to her shoulders, smart white socks like kids used to wear when he'd been young, a clean, refreshing face...

Refreshing? Of course it's refreshing �" it's the first face I've seen in … in ages...

“Me?” he asked. “I'm ...” He pulled himself up to his full height, and let his eyes wander over her young face, “I'm guarding the city!”

“You're guarding the city?” she queried �" then, “what city?”

“Absolom. I'm guarding … Absolom.” he replied, thoughtfully.

She must know about Absolom, the greatest City anywhere in the world... the one I was built to guard throughout Eternity. The one where the people live and shield themselves from the dust...

“I've never heard of it,” she said, frankly.

Then, child, where are you from, he thought he'd ask. He thought he should know. There were so few places anywhere outside of the City, outside of Absolom.

“Child, where are you from?” he asked, hesitantly.

She giggled. “You mean you don't know?” she asked. “You're silly! I come from down there!”

She pointed.

Down in the dusty valley a shining silver cigar-shaped thing pointed to the skies. He'd never seen its like before yet there was something about it … he started searching through his huge memory banks.

“What is it?” he asked, confused. He might have asked more, but words were hard to locate in the morass that was his long-disused verbal chips.

“It's ours,” she said proudly. “We're going on a trip!”

“But where … where are you from?” he asked again, confused.

“I'm from here. I'm from Gallifrey,” she said, grinning impishly.

Author's Note

For those who may not know, Gallifrey is the home planet of Doctor Who, main character of the long-running SF series of the same name. I remember seeing the first episode above 50 years ago on its first transmission!