Doctor Who_ Corpse Marker - Chris Boucher [40]
Toos raised her glass and smiled broadly. At this moment her Chief Mover from the Seven was family, they were all family, and that was good enough for her. But the noise level was rising, she noticed, and it wouldn’t be long now before the family started fighting among themselves. She hoped the human beings who staffed the place were fast enough on their feet and bright enough to recognise that they mustn’t wait too long to bring on the food. Apart from anything else, riding the storm mines didn’t make for patient people.
Outside the Robot Lounge night was falling and in the gathering darkness the robot that had been assigned to kill Toos waited patiently for the party to end. Its instructions were clear and unequivocal. No one other than Captain Lish Toos herself must be allowed to know that her assassin was not human.
Chapter Six
As promised, Uvanov had given instructions for the TARDIS to be removed from Dome Six and stored in the auxiliary equipment bays under Miscellaneous/Restricted and had given the Doctor all the access codes and clearances he would need to retrieve it at any time. What he did not tell the Doctor was that one of the codes had to be updated regularly and without it all the others were useless. It was also part of his agreement with the Doctor that he ask no questions about the big blue box and that no attempt was made to find out what was inside it. The latest report he had was that his personal tech team had been unable to make much of a dent in the thing and were running out of ideas. When the Doctor came back he decided he would renege on their agreement and ask him what it was.
The intercom interrupted his thoughts. ‘Do you know anybody called Ander Pouf?’ Caifio Techlan asked.
‘I don’t know.’ Uvanov said irritably. ‘Do I?’
‘He’s not on my list.’
‘Then I don’t. Why are you asking me this?’
‘I don’t know how he got hold of your comm link,’ she said,
‘but he has and he’s very insistent that he speak to you.’
‘So?’ Uvanov sighed theatrically. ‘They’re the ones I pay you to keep away from me, aren’t they?’
‘This one sounds a bit threatening, Kiy.’ She sounded nervous. ‘A bit deranged.’
Uvanov flicked up vision. She looked nervous. ‘Since when was deranged a problem for a family member like you?’ he asked.
‘Half the people you grew up with hang from the light fittings and gibber.’
‘He says he was Chief Mover on your last tour.’
‘I doubt that.’
‘He says they’re back and they’re after him. Whatever that means.’
‘It means he’s deranged.’ Uvanov reached for the control pad. ‘Get rid of him.’
‘He says he has to warn you,’ she persisted. ‘He says your life’s in danger.’
‘Cailio,’ Uvanov said quietly. ‘Do as I ask.’ He broke the connection and sat staring at the blank screen. Poor Poul, he thought, he was never going to get over what happened. He wondered what had set him off this time. It must be bad whatever it was. He had never tried to make contact before.
Maybe the people who had targeted him had targeted Poul too.
But why would they? Poul was no threat, he was just a timeserver in the Security Division. What enemies had he got?
Ander Poul wasn’t fighting for a firstmaster place on the Board and Uvanov was pretty sure that whoever was behind the conspiracy against him, that was the reason. They didn’t want him on the Board because of who he was. Because he wasn’t from the families.
‘Kiy?’
He looked up.
Cailio Techian was standing in front of his workdesk. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked.
‘I didn’t hear you come in,’ he said. She had a drink in her hand, he noticed. Typical arrogance.
She put the drink on the workdesk beside him. ‘I thought you might need a drink,’ she said.
Uvanov chuckled softly to himself. Wrong again, Kiy.
Nothing made sense