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05/06/2026 07:54 One Last Night Together
Nights were always harder than the days. Time seemed to pass so much more slowly during the hours of darkness. During the day time there was always something to do. A roster to look at. Decisions to be made. Action to be taken. Regrets to be filed away until such time as the could be taken out and looked at fully. Running the UK branch of UNIT was more than a career. It was a way of life.
Tomorrow, Alistair would be collecting his golden clock and he was going to take things at a much more sedate pace. Perhaps he'd take that part time teaching role that he saw at Brendon school? He'd never had much time for mathematics, but at A Level the boys practically taught themselves. It would be easier than facing down the daily losses that UNIT brought.
He sat down behind his desk and opened a drawer. The half bottle of scotch that he'd bought six months ago lay there, invitingly. Never would drink on duty, but it was there just in case one of the many horrors that he came across routinely proved too much. Thankfully, he'd never needed it. He closed the drawer again. Maybe tomorrow he'd crack it open?
There was a knock at the door.
"Come!" he called.
"I've got the report on the Zygon incursion, sir."
"Very good, Corporal Bell. Just place it in the in tray."
"Sir!" Bell did as she was bidden. She turned to leave and then thought better of it and turned back. "Sir?"
"Yes, Corporal Bell?"
"It's an honour to share this last night shift with you, sir."
"We've seen some things, haven't we, Bell?"
"That we have sir. It's hard to believe that it will all be over."
"You'll be fine under Faraday. He's a good man. A bit of a stick in the mud, but he gets the job done."
"Of course, sir. Sir?"
The Brig sighed. "What is it, Corporal Bell?"
"Do you think he'll show up tonight?"
"What? Faraday? No he's still en route from Geneva."
'No, sir, I mean the Doctor."
Alistair chuckled to himself. "No, I doubt it. Never was much of one for goodbyes. I'm sure I'll see him again. But not tonight. Was that all?"
Corporal Bell hesitated, then spoke. "Yes, sir. I think it was."
"Very well, Corporal Bell. Dismissed."
Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart couldn't shake the feeling that he'd just dismissed himself.