Doctor Who_ Earthworld - Jacqueline Rayner [71]
The other person with them, however, inspired much less laughter. He was as blond as the triplets, but much taller than they. And he had an arrogant look in his eye that Fitz recognised from all the power-hungry dictators he’d met.
This man wanted to be in charge.
‘Hanstrum!’ Antarctica cried as the man entered the cell, and flung herself on him in a giant hug, which he coldly returned.
The others were less enthusiastic. ‘Have you come to stop us playing?’
pouted Africa.
‘I’ve come to get you out of here,’ he replied.
Antarctica extricated herself from him. ‘Oh no!’
‘We’re not coming!’ yelled Africa.
‘Why do you want to take us away?’ Asia asked.
The man seemed slightly taken aback. ‘You can’t possibly stay here. The whole system’s been fused. What would you do?’
‘We’d have fun!’ said Asia. ‘That’s what we always do. We can’t have fun locked up in the palace. We want to stay here.’
‘Maybe they’re worried they’d be put on trial for murder if you take them back,’ Fitz suggested.
‘Oh no,’ said Hanstrum. ‘We know that any deaths that may have taken place must have been accidental.’
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Fitz opened his mouth to strongly deny this, sharply aware of the corpse of Elvis only a few feet away, but thought better of it. Hanstrum looked like a man who knew it wasn’t the truth, and didn’t care. And even if not, Antarctica’s giggles gave the game away more than Fitz’s words ever could.
‘The President will no doubt agree,’ Hanstrum continued.
‘But we don’t want to go back!’ cried Antarctica.
Hanstrum was glancing around himself distastefully. ‘We can’t talk in here,’
he said. ‘Could we go somewhere a little more –’ he gestured at the body –
‘aesthetically pleasing?’
Asia shrugged, and gestured to the open door. ‘We’re near the banqueting hall,’ she said. ‘We can go there.’
‘But we’re not dressed for it!’ Antarctica complained, until she was shushed by Asia.
Presumably the hall was also part of the Medieval Zone. There was a big central table (round), and massive candelabras lighting the room, but possibly someone should have told the designers that tapestries usually went on the walls and rushes on the floor, not the other way round.
Hanstrum placed himself at what, as soon as he sat down, became the head of the table, even though a round table logically provided no such thing. He was facing the door, where a golden robot stood guard. Asia sat directly opposite him, Africa on her left-hand side and Antarctica to her right. Fitz, Anji and Xernic huddled in a corner of the hall.
‘I want you to come home with me,’ Hanstrum said.
‘Father will be cross,’ said Antarctica.
‘He’ll lock us up again,’ said Africa.
‘Do you love your father?’ Hanstrum asked.
The girls exchanged puzzled glances.
‘No,’ said Asia, finally.
‘He locks us up!’ said Africa.
‘We loved Mother, though,’ added Antarctica. ‘I don’t know why we killed her.’
‘But you did,’ said Hanstrum, smoothly. ‘You killed someone you loved. So surely it would be much easier for you to kill someone who you didn’t love –
someone who locks you up. . . ’
The triplets looked at each other again. ‘You want us to kill Father?’ Asia asked. ‘Won’t people be cross?’
‘Not if they don’t know about it. Not if you replace him with an android. . . ’
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‘Hmm,’ said Asia, seemingly considering the idea. Then, ‘No. Don’t think so.’
Hanstrum pushed back his chair angrily. ‘Why not?’ he shouted. ‘You could rule, then! Isn’t that what you want?’
‘No,’ Asia told him. ‘What we want is to go to Earth. Real, proper, old Earth.
The Doctor is going to take us there in his time machine.’
Anji shot an alarmed look at Fitz, who tried to shoot one back that said,
‘Don’t worry, he won’t, only we might have to play along with it for now to get out alive.