Doctor Who_ Earthworld - Jacqueline Rayner [24]
‘The fence is just symbolic,’ explained Xernic when she questioned this.
‘There’s an energy barrier the other side, through the hologram, and we’ll have to get through that too.’
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EarthWorld
Anji shuddered slightly, not relishing the prospect of going through a barrier again.
Xernic was still speaking. ‘This is just to indicate the line not to be crossed, you see. The whole idea of the walls is that you can’t see them – they reflect the image you expect to find in front of you.’
‘And I suppose it’s a form of psychology,’ Anji mused. ‘A natural human reaction not to breach obvious barriers.’
‘Unless you’re a rebel, like us,’ said Beezee. ‘’Cos it’s a natural rebel reaction to breach obvious barriers wherever possible.’
Anji sighed. She was perfectly aware that someone had to go and get that idiot Fitz out of whatever trouble he’d got himself into, and that she was probably the best person for the job. She also acknowledged that she needed some technological assistance. But a trio of rebel children was not her idea of ideal companionship. She’d never been fond of the youth-club type of culture when she’d been a teenager herself, so their company didn’t even have the appeal of nostalgia.
She did like Xernic, though (birth name James, he’d confessed earlier in the cell). Anji actually thought the way they’d adapted alien names was quite sweet, and wondered quite how anyone could think this freckle-faced boy could be a threat to national security. He was clearly bossed around by Zequathon and Beezee, but he seemed to take it all in good humour. Anji suspected he’d had to be persuaded – probably bullied – into jumping into action by the other boys. She thought he’d be more at home setting up a rebels’ website or dis-tributing subversive pamphlets from a basement somewhere. Zequathon – né Jonathan – had probably turned down the idea of subversive pamphlets because he couldn’t read. Oh, bitchy, Anji, she thought with a smile. She wondered if Zequathon’s definitely-not-natural blond hair had been one of his first acts of rebellion, and then wondered if anyone had ever told him that it really didn’t suit him. Probably not. So she almost certainly shouldn’t mention it.
Best to keep on his good side, seeing as these three boys were the only ones she’d met so far on the whole planet who hadn’t wanted to arrest or kill her.
And she definitely wanted to keep on the good side of Beezee – otherwise known as Timothy – who was clearly the power behind the throne (assuming Zequathon to be the throne) in this set-up. He gave her the creeps – one of those slimy kids who didn’t really say much and what he did say was sarcastic, but you just knew he was watching you all the time, taking it all in, waiting to use it to his advantage. So she wasn’t going to give him any ammunition.
He’d probably become a rebel because he thought they were allowed to pull Killing Queens
47
the wings off insects or something.
Anji stopped herself. Even if she had reservations about these boys personally, the facts remained that not only were they helping her out (and they had no need to do so, less honourable types could easily have dashed off on their own agenda after the Doctor had freed them), but she actually did understand their cause, and had an admiration for those who had the guts to do something about what they believed in rather than sitting at home moaning about it. Speaking as the person who always had to take the initiative and arrange the parties/pay the bills/sort out collections for leaving presents or else they’d never get done, Anji felt that anyone who actually bothered to get off their bottom and do something was automatically several points ahead.
Zequathon had by now managed to create a metre-square hole, big enough for them to crawl through easily. Xernic crouched beside it and flicked a switch on the getting-through-barriers device. Instead of the barren waste ground