Doctor Who_ Earthworld - Jacqueline Rayner [35]
‘We have our ways.’
‘You have your ways or they have their ways? You really should stop confusing yourselves with the real things, you know.’
‘They have their ways,’ said Asia, reluctantly. ‘Devices.’
‘Oh, they have devices. Well, why didn’t you say so?’ The Doctor moved closer to the images of Anji and the boys, nose almost touching the screen. ‘Of course, if they have devices that makes all the difference.’ He spun back round to face the triplets. ‘But you can control things from here. I know you can.’
Direct to Asia: ‘Where did you go?’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘You left. Went into another room. Not long after the real princesses left the Roman arena. And now –’ he indicated the screen again – ‘at least one of them is in another zone. I’m sure they do have devices enabling them to walk around at will, but I doubt they’d leave it to chance in the event of, say, loss of device or risk of discovery. Now I admit I’m skipping a number of steps between first premise and conclusion, but I think you are able to control the barriers from here. Excuse me.’ He darted past the girls, behind the thrones. And there was a door.
He found himself in a control room. A very small one, but the banks of switches, dials and levers were unmistakable. A small screen showed a diagram which he presumed was a map of the EarthWorld zone barriers, and another echoed the scene that was shown in the throne room. ‘You didn’t hide this very well,’ the Doctor called back into the throne room. ‘Anyone could just walk in, and where would your secret identities be then?’
‘But no one ever visits us,’ said Asia, coming through to join him. ‘And as there are no big signs reading “we are really androids”, it’s irrelevant anyway.
What could anyone tell from this?’
The Doctor gave her a hard stare. ‘That you have rather more of an involvement in the centre than you should. Which, considering all the suspicious A Man is the Sum of His [False] Memories 65
deaths and so on, is quite enough to call for a further investigation, I should say. Now, tell me how to call off those monsters. Or shut down the barriers.’
‘No,’ said Asia.
‘Why not? What use is it to you if my friends are killed?’
‘My sister obviously has her reasons.’
‘And how long do you think your “sister” will last once I’ve told people exactly what’s going on here?’
‘And how long do you think you’re going to last now you’ve said that? Africa!’
But it wasn’t Africa who came through the door. It was the sixteenth-century executioner, complete with axe. Africa was behind him, though, laughing excitedly. A glimpse at the small screen showed the Doctor that Anji and the boys were being herded against the barrier, prehistoric monsters approaching from all sides. He darted to the control bank, and began to flick switches and swivel dials at random.
‘No!’ cried Asia, and leapt on the Doctor’s back. He threw her effortlessly to the ground, and continued his work. The executioner stalked closer.
‘Kill him!’ called Africa. ‘Chop him into bits!’ The Doctor carried on pulling levers. ‘Little bits!’ Africa added.
The axe was raised above the android’s head, and began to sweep down.
With all the time in the world, the Doctor flicked a final switch, looked up at the plan to see one of the white lines wink off, glanced at the second image to watch the barrier shimmer into visibility and Anji and the boys breaking for freedom, and stepped to one side as the axe fell.
Sparks flew from the desk. On the screen, more white lines disappeared, one by one.
The Doctor admired the blue flicker that surrounded the android momentarily, then stepped over the fallen Asia, putting out a hand to help her up as he went, dodged round Africa in the doorway, and bounded through the throne room past a stricken and shrieking Antarctica. Once in the corridor, he began to run.
Fitz. Fitz.
Fitz?
Confusion.
Are you Fitz? Answer: yes, no, unsure.
Unsure.
Anji and the ANJI boys were running as fast as they could. The dinosaurs hadn’t 66
EarthWorld
followed them immediately – confused by the breakdown