Doctor Who_ Beyond the Sun - Matthew Jones [103]
The corridor was made of rusting metal. The school, if that’s what it was, was built into the underground tunnels. Like the spaceship and the tunnels, this part of the Sunless’s home was pressurized. Perhaps the children were not as strong as the adults. Perhaps they had to accli-matize to a rarefied atmosphere over time.
There appeared to be few adults in this part of the underground burrow. She presumed that most were on Ursu now. It made sense that the children would be among the last to be transported to the colonized world.
A hand fell heavily on to her shoulder and she gave a little yelp of fear. Her body coursed with adrenaline as she prepared to flee down the corridor. And then she saw that the hand on her shoulder was not pale white but purple.
‘’S OK, Bernice, it’s me.’ Michael’s round face loomed over her shoulder.
‘Bloody hell, Michael! What are you doing here? I thought I told everyone to stay put.’
He shuffled awkwardly. ‘I thought you could do with some company, in case you run into trouble.’
‘I can take care of myself, thank you. There’s at least one of them wandering about around here, so keep your voice down.’
She thought for a moment before turning to appraise him. ‘That’s not the reason you came, is it?’‘No.’
It was clear that he didn’t want to pursue the conversation, but Bernice was too curious to let politeness be her guide. And she couldn’t think of any reason to make life more comfortable for the young Jeillo man. ‘Scott, is it?’
‘He’s made it clear that he doesn’t want me around him. And anyway, your friend keeps threatening to kill me.’
‘Tameka?’ Bernice almost laughed. ‘I can’t say that I blame her.’ The large man seemed a little forlorn as he hovered next to her. Which wasn’t very surprising. Michael didn’t really have anywhere to go. Stuck between hostile camps both here and back on Ursu. His treachery had made him homeless. He had betrayed his brothers, disobeyed his sister. Trapped between vengeful Ursulans on one side and vicious collaborators on the other. Bernice wondered what treatment Michael would face from his comrades back on Ursu. The collaborators would probably kill him, but she didn’t know what punishment might exist in a society that didn’t have laws. Perhaps they would just blank him as Scott was doing. It seemed a light sentence for a murderer.
‘Sometimes I wish I were like them,’ he said, indicating the door to the room full of chanting children.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You don’t understand their language, do you?’
Bernice shook her head. ‘You do?’
‘Iranda speaks their language fluently. I’ve learnt a little.’ He paused for a moment, listening.
And then, in time with the chanting he began to translate. ‘To be without feeling is to be without fear. In the darkness only the fearless survive. In the cold only the fearless survive.’ He paused for a moment. ‘There’s more but you understand the meaning.’
Bernice nodded. ‘Yeah, yeah, I do. And I thought they were learning grammar by rote. I wonder what happened to them to make them like this. Sometimes colonies get cut off . . .’
‘Does there have to be a single reason?’ Michael said. ‘And anyway, this was never a colony.
Not like Ursu. This has never been part of human space.’ He looked as if he were about to say more and then stopped. ‘I don’t think this is a good place to stand and talk. I think I hear someone.’ He began to back away down the corridor. Bernice followed cautiously. Michael clearly knew more about the Sunless than he was willing to say. She made a note to question him about them further.
And then she promptly forgot all about it when they