Doctor Who_ Earthworld - Jacqueline Rayner [85]
Africa and Antarctica made a grand sweeping gesture. ‘The marvellous Memory Machine!’
‘It will show us how you feel,’ said Asia. ‘What you thought about us killing Mother.’
The President looked up at the Doctor. ‘I have been shown. . . ’ he said hes-itantly, ‘I have been shown that. . . that you may not have killed your mother after all.’
There was a silence. Asia finally broke it. ‘We. . . didn’t kill Mother?’
‘No.’
Antarctica gave a cry of delight. ‘I knew I loved Mother!’ she said.
Africa was scowling, but looking slightly disconcerted. ‘But I like killing,’ she said. ‘I thought killing was what we did.’
Hoover spoke to the Doctor. ‘I’d like Hanstrum to be here for this,’ he said.
‘I know he’s betrayed me now, but if he understands this too – well, it might change things.’
154
EarthWorld
The Doctor gave Hoover a peculiar look, a sort of ‘You really don’t get it, do you?’ But he didn’t stop the guards going to find Hanstrum.
Asia slipped off the headphones and handed them to Hoover. ‘Put these on,’
she instructed. He did so. Fitz had the feeling that the President’s willpower and sanity were swinging back and forth. Mostly back.
‘It won’t hurt much,’ Antarctica said.
‘It doesn’t hurt at all,’ said Fitz, trying to be reassuring. He glared at Antarctica.
Asia was adjusting the controls. ‘Are you sitting comfortably?’ she asked her sisters, who nodded eagerly. The machine began to hum.
At that moment, the two guards brought in Hanstrum. He was looking wretched, as if he’d been in the cells a month rather than an hour or so.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked hoarsely.
‘The triplets are reading their father’s memories and emotions,’ the Doctor said. ‘They’re discovering that he doesn’t think they killed their mother after all.’
Hanstrum took a step back. ‘He doesn’t?’
‘No, he doesn’t. But he hasn’t worked out what really happened yet. I don’t expect he ever will – his mind’s not equipped to figure out treachery. He always goes for the easiest answer.’
Hanstrum was looking worriedly at the President. Hoover had taken off the headphones now, and the three girls were surrounding him. Africa offered him the bag of sweets, and he took a toffee, thanking her.
‘You really don’t think we did it,’ said Asia, wonderingly.
‘You want us to forgive you,’ said Africa.
‘And you think that even if we had done it, you shouldn’t have blamed us but tried to help us,’ said Asia.
‘But now you’re going a bit mad,’ added Antarctica.
Hoover nodded to all of it. ‘We can go back to the palace now,’ he said. ‘Try to be a family. Make up for lost time.’
‘Send out a mass apology to everyone they’ve murdered,’ murmured Fitz.
But the triplets were shaking their heads. ‘We’re not going back to the palace,’
said Asia.
‘We don’t want to stay on stupid old New Jupiter,’ Antarctica added. ‘We’re going to Earth in the TARDIS with the Doctor and Fitz Fortune.’
The Doctor laughed. ‘I’m sorry, that’s just not possible.’
‘Fitz Fortune promised!’
‘I did not!’ said Fitz.
Nights at the Round Table
155
‘We offered you your heart’s desire!’
‘Yeah, and I said no!’
‘What’s your heart’s desire, Fitz?’ enquired the Doctor, interestedly.
‘Oh, nothing important,’ said Fitz. ‘The point is, I didn’t agree to anything of the sort. There wouldn’t be much point. You’ve obviously forgotten how to control the TARDIS anyway.’
The Doctor shot an awkward look at Anji, but she wasn’t paying attention.
‘You can give anyone their heart’s desire with that?’ she was asking Asia.
‘With the right data we can do anything,’ the girl said.
The Doctor jumped forward and grabbed Anji by the shoulders. ‘Don’t be tempted!’ he said. ‘Oh yes, they could make you a copy of Dave, but you’d always know he wasn’t the real thing, and in the end it’d make the pain much, much worse.’
Anji turned to him, blank-faced. ‘I wasn’t thinking of Dave,’ she said. ‘I was thinking of you.’
‘You want a copy of the Doctor?’ asked Fitz, incredulous. Surely one was quite enough for anyone!
She shook her head dismissively, turning back to Asia. ‘If you can copy