Doctor Who_ Atom Bomb Blues - Andrew Cartmel [45]
‘OK, OK. We’re back on dry land and he’s not a tuna and I’m not a dolphin.
In fact we’re in the middle of the desert and I’m an Arab princess and he’s my prisoner and I’ve got him staked outside my tent in the blistering sun and. . . ’
‘And I suggest that we abandon this line of suggestion before he acquires a nasty sunburn. Do you think possibly that he has now atoned for what he did to you?’
‘Not even close,’ said Ace. ‘But you can go ahead and get down to business if you like.’
The Doctor turned to Henbest. ‘First,’ he said, ‘I want you to emerge from this experience with the strong conviction that Ace and I have both been fully interviewed by you and have emerged from our psych evaluations with flying colours.’
‘Flying colours,’ agreed Ace.
‘You will conclude that neither of us could possibly be any kind of a security risk and, indeed, that we’re both very nice people.’
‘Don’t push it,’ said Ace.
79
‘And that is all you will remember.’ The Doctor leaned closer to Henbest, who sat, silent and helpless, behind his desk. ‘You will not remember any of the devil or dolphin business or any strange impression you might fleetingly have formed of me. Nor will you remember any of the questions which I am about to ask you.’
‘Questions?’ said Ace, sitting up in her armchair. ‘I thought we were through here.’
‘Not quite.’
‘But he can’t talk,’ said Ace.
‘He can now,’ said the Doctor. He turned back to Henbest and said, ‘Is that not the case, Professor?’
‘Yes,’ said Henbest.
‘What do you know about Lady Silk?’
‘Some kind of subversive Jap propaganda sex bomb. Major Butcher spends a lot of time chasing around trying to stop people listening to her broadcasts and her records.’
‘And you think that’s a waste of time?’
Henbest snorted. ‘I think he’s secretly in love with her. In any event, he has to do something to fill the empty hours of his day. Let him go around confiscating music.’
‘What would you say if you knew that Major Butcher believes that Lady Silk’s songs contained coded messages from enemy spies?’
‘I would laugh heartily and I would underline what I said earlier about him having too much time on his hands. I might also add some unflattering remarks about him being incipiently paranoid.’
‘Does the name Imperial Lee mean anything to you?’
‘Imperial Lee? No.’
‘And you know nothing at all about a group known as the Rising Sun Apocalypse Commandos?’
‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ said Ace.
‘No, I know nothing about them,’ said Henbest.
‘Very good.’ The Doctor glanced at Ace. ‘That’s all the questions I’ve got. Is there anything you wanted to ask him?’
‘Yes.’ Ace rose from her chair and stepped towards the desk. ‘Why are you such a bastard Professor Henbest?’
‘Because I was hopelessly indulged and spoiled as a child as a result of my older brother’s tragic death in a swimming accident,’ said Henbest promptly.
They left Henbest sitting there at his desk, one lonely lamp burning in his darkened office. ‘He’ll come back to full awareness in a few minutes and have no memory of our visit,’ said the Doctor. They made their way between 80
the giant half-pipe shadows of the prefab huts, heading back towards Ashley Pond, where moonlight gleamed on the dark water.
‘Listen, Doctor,’ said Ace.
‘Yes?’
‘You want to get Edward Teller to change his mind, don’t you? About the chain reaction. About the world blowing up. That’s one of our main objectives on this caper.’
‘Mission, Ace, mission. Yes, that’s one of our main objectives.’ The Doctor was a vague silhouette, swinging his umbrella as he loped along.
‘Then instead of arguing with him, why don’t you just shoot him with one of the pellets from your umbrella? And tell him to change his mind. It’s got to be easier.’
The Doctor stopped walking so suddenly that Ace almost walked into him.
‘While it is true,’ he said, ‘that Teller is a very