Doctor Who_ Earthworld - Jacqueline Rayner [69]
The Doctor stopped suddenly, and Hoover almost walked into him. The Doctor spun on his heel and stared the President in the eyes. The intensity of his gaze made Hoover take a step back. ‘You want me to make it all go away, don’t you? You want me to tell you what to do, take away the responsibility; to solve everything, make it better. Well, I can’t. If you want to make it up to the triplets for imprisoning them for over half their lives for a crime they didn’t commit, If You Prick Me, Do I Not Bleed?
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then you’re going to have to make that decision yourself. You can come with me now, and maybe save a few lives in the process, or you can sit on your golden throne and worry about whether it’s the best course of action. Only decide now, because I am leaving.’
Hoover tried to draw himself up to the Doctor’s height. ‘I am the President, Doctor, and you are an escaped criminal! I could stop you leaving with a snap of my fingers!’
‘No,’ said the Doctor, ‘you couldn’t.’
Hoover looked at the Doctor’s face, and involuntarily took another step backwards.
In the end, they took two guards with them. Hoover was clearly disconcerted about leaving his palace with no ceremony, and the looks of astonishment on the faces of everyone they passed on their way out showed how infrequently he left at all. The four of them took a ground-car, the Doctor insisting on driving.
‘What a lovely machine!’ he cried, delighted, as they climbed in. ‘I bet she handles like a dream!’
He kept up a cheerful but one-sided conversation all the way to the main entrance. Occasionally Hoover tried to ask him about Gregor Mendel, or this alleged murderer they were going to apprehend. The Doctor just looked pityingly at him, and began to talk about the best method of growing roses, or his theories on possible ways to escape the gravitational pull of a black hole.
The Doctor parked the ground-car with a screech of brakes, and swept into the reception area. Hoover and the guards had to almost jog to keep up.
‘Do you know where we’re going?’ Hoover panted. ‘Do you know how big this place is?’
‘I have a fair idea,’ said the Doctor, whipping the guidebook from his pocket.
‘The question is, how to get there quickly? They do have several hours’ head start on us, after all. Come along, come along.’ He carried on through the control centre. ‘I do think it’s ridiculous that you can’t get a ground-car into it anywhere.’
‘It’s not authentic, Doctor,’ Hoover explained. ‘What would they do if a visitor saw a ground-car driving through ancient Rome?’
‘Oh, let’s think,’ said the Doctor. ‘What normally happens to visitors to this place? Do they get to go home with a packet of holiday snaps and lots of stories to tell the grandchildren, or do they get killed by your daughters? Hmm.
I would imagine that seeing an anachronistic vehicle would be the least of anyone’s worries.’
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EarthWorld
‘But that wasn’t anticipated in the building specifications,’ Hoover mumbled.
‘None of this was anticipated,’ he added, virtually to himself.
‘Well, never mind that now,’ said the Doctor. ‘Perhaps we can hitch a lift on a dinosaur!’ Hoover looked alarmed. ‘It’s all right,’ the Doctor reassured him,
‘that was a joke. All the dinosaurs are out of action. But there was something else I spotted, not that far away from here. I think getting a ride is still a distinct possibility. . . ’
Anji, Xernic and Hanstrum had gone along several long corridors, down a flight of stairs, and then through a huge wooden door into another corridor. Anji was guessing they were underground, and had passed from one zone to another, because this was clearly mock-medieval. The walls were made of stone, and the electric lights had given way to flaming torches stuck in brackets. She kept a close eye out for rats.
Suddenly Xernic clutched at Anji’s arm. She stopped, and looked at him enquiringly. ‘I thought I heard a voice,’ he said. He pointed along the passage.
‘Down there.’
Anji listened hard. ‘I’m not sure,’ she said. ‘There might be something.’
They