Doctor Who_ Earthworld - Jacqueline Rayner [60]
‘Oh yes,’ said Hanstrum. ‘Now I am certain he will find he has finally had enough. Soon.’
The Doctor followed the trail of blood spots down the corridor. It was quite easy at first, but after a while he had to look hard for the next droplet, and explore several turnings before he found it. Eventually, he found himself in a corridor he recognised, and was able to abandon his Hansel and Gretel search and head straight for the place where he knew Hoover must be.
The room was essentially the same as when he had first seen it, but the whole atmosphere had changed. It felt eerie, abandoned, lifeless.
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The headless queen still lay on the floor, but the blood had dried to a sticky mass. Now, only one of the thrones was occupied. A green-robed girl – Antarctica – lay curled up on the right-hand seat, eyes staring fixedly ahead. The Doctor went over to her. It was a broken-down android, but for a second, in his head, it was a dead blonde child, and something deep inside him hurt.
After a moment, he left her, and went through to the tiny secret room. The blue-robed triplet – the Asia android – was caught in mid-action, the killing wave reaching her as she leaned over a control panel. The third girl, the orange-dressed Africa, was perched on a chair, staring up at the screen, her rapt expression captured for ever. The Doctor looked at the screen. It was still working, but the scene it showed was empty and dull – a plain white corridor with no signs of life at all.
He went over to the far side of the room where the President of New Jupiter was shivering in a corner. The Doctor reached out a hand and helped him up, wordlessly. The President winced as the Doctor took hold of his lacerated hand, but allowed himself to be led out into the girls’ throne room.
The Doctor sat the President on the central throne. When Hoover turned to look at his dead daughter – what seemed to be his dead daughter – by his side, the Doctor removed his velvet coat and laid it over the android. He then fetched a flask of water, took a clean handkerchief from his waistcoat pocket, and began to bathe the President’s wounds. Neither of them spoke for a while.
Then, when Hoover’s hands had been cleaned and bandaged, the Doctor said, ‘Tell me about that day. Tell me what happened when you found your wife’s body.’
For a moment, it seemed as though Hoover hadn’t heard him. But finally he spoke.
‘We were happy together, my beautiful wife and I. But I cannot say it was a perfect marriage. She did not always understand what it meant to be married to an important man: that sometimes the planet must come first. Please don’t look at me like that. I did love her. Even when she did not give me children, I did not put her aside. Surely that proves it? Though it was a relief when she fell pregnant. I would not have enjoyed making the choice between my wife and the succession, because I know which I would have had to choose in the end. I know this isn’t what you asked for, but please bear with me. I will get to that day in time. All too soon.
‘It was a blessed day when she bore me children – and three times the blessing we could have hoped for. I named the girls to show that they were part of 110
EarthWorld
Earth, that their destiny was to rule. They were brought up knowing this.
‘But bringing up our daughters did not seem to bring Elizabethan the fulfilment it should have done. She grew distant from me. I should have noticed more, found out what was troubling her. But I had a planet to run.
‘The girls were shown what a supreme honour was ahead of them. They were shown the Earth, what a great world they had to look up to. And I know they appreciated it. Perhaps, as things have turned out, it was not wise. But how could I know?
‘There were signs, I found out later. No nurse would stay with them, they tormented people so. One of them had a kitten – I’m not sure which. Elizabethan said the girl loved that kitten. I discovered