Doctor Who_ Alien Bodies - Lawrence Miles [76]
‘Gabrielidean warships,’ Qixotl murmured.
The Professional turned to face him. The man would have looked worried, if his facial software had been subtle enough.
‘The Time Lords,’ he said. ‘They’re coming for us, aren’t they?’
‘Yeah, right,’ said Qixotl. He tried his best to sound cynical about the whole thing.
23:49; five cans down, wobbly enough to knock over furniture without noticing it, but sober enough to deny being drunk in any way, shape, or form.
‘And that’s not all,’ Mr Gabriel said, on the other side of the table.
Qixotl picked up a couple of the empty cans in front of him. All of a sudden, he had the irresistible urge to balance them on top of one other. ‘Go on.’
‘You want to know what else the rumours say? The rumours say the Doctor’s involved.’
Qixotl had made a three-can tower in record time, but the word “Doctor” made his hand shake, so it all came tumbling down. ‘Doctor? Like, the Doctor Doctor?’ Qixotl threw his hands up in despair, and very nearly poked himself in the eye. ‘OK, that’s it, show’s over. The Doctor’s involved. Whoever the Time Lords are fighting, they don’t stand a chance.’
‘Yeah? When did I say the Doctor’s working for the Time Lords? Sure, the story says he’s coming here to fight for Gallifrey, but a couple of the pundits are saying he’s gone over to the enemy. They’re saying he’s had it with the way the High Council’s treated him over the years.’
Qixotl belched. ‘Good luck to whoever he’s going up against, that’s all I’m saying.’
‘Yeah. I’ve heard the stories. You know Mr Abel, works for the InCorporate? He says he winged the Doctor with a microwave knife one time, and the guy just walked away from it. I mean, a microwave knife. We’re talking serious tissue damage here.’
‘Tell me about it. Last time I saw the Doctor, there was a whole flotilla of Antiridean organ-eaters on his tail, and he got off without a scratch. Jammy sod.’
Mr Gabriel’s face software went into surprise overdrive. ‘You’ve met the Doctor?’
‘Couple of times. We didn’t get on, y’know?’ One by one, Qixotl picked up and shook the cans on the table, but they all seemed to be empty, for some reason. ‘And I’m telling you, he’s a force of nature. You can’t fight a force of nature, right?’
Mr Gabriel’s face settled down a bit. ‘Maybe it’s different this time. If the Time Lords are at war, the enemy’s got to be someone big. I mean, forget the Daleks, I’m talking big. If the Doctor’s ever going to get stiffed, it’s going to be now. Everyone wants a piece of the action. You know the Celestis? Word is, the Celestis have got agents on both sides of the fight. And in a couple of the organisations here on Drornid, you get the idea? And the Paradox people are hanging around waiting to see how much damage gets done. You know what they’re like. Vultures.’
‘The Faction’s going down,’ Qixotl said, with the voice of slightly inebriated authority. ‘They’ve been outclassed ever since the InCorporate turned up on this planet. Hey! This can hasn’t been opened yet. Isn’t that great?’
***
24:12; six cans down, getting to that stage in the evening when it becomes impossible to be bored by any topic of conversation, however stupid or pointless it may be.
At the end of the meeting, Qixotl shook hands with Mr Gabriel, but missed. As expected, the price Gabriel set for the demat circuit was extortionate. When my ship’s working again, Qixotl told himself, I’m going to track him down as an embryo and inject something really nasty into his albumen. That’ll show him.
He stopped by the bar again on his way out, wondering if he should maybe take another couple of cans with him. Right now, he needed something to take his mind off his problems. Or to take his mind off this level of reality. Whichever came first.
When he started elbowing his way towards the bar, however, everything changed.
In front of him, making their way through the crowd of black-clad Professionals, were