Doctor Who_ Enlightenment - Barbara Clegg [31]
She did hate emotional scenes, particularly when she could not return the emotion. ‘What?’ she murmured vaguely.
Marriner held her arm. ‘I’m empty. You give me being.’
His voice shook with passion. ‘I look into your mind and I see life, I see energy, excitement. I want them. I want you.
Your thoughts shall be my thoughts, and your feelings my feelings.’ Tegan decided that this time she really had got out of her depth. She tried to sound as blasé as possible as she said, dampingly, ‘Wait a minute, hang on – are you trying to tell me you’re in love with me?’ Marriner’s face went blank. ‘Love?’ he said, as though he had never heard the word before. ‘What is love?’ And then his urgency returned and he looked into her eyes and said, longingly, ‘I want existence.’
The Doctor and Turlough were being marched along under guard, when round a corner they came face to face with Wrack. Mansell saluted. ‘I found them coming out of the grid room,’ he reported. Then, before anyone could stop him, Turlough suddenly shook off the hands holding him, stepped forward, and pointed at the Doctor. ‘He’s a spy!’ he said, accusingly. The Time Lord looked at him with surprise, and for a second they stared at each other in silence. Then Turlough turned to Wrack.
‘I saw him wandering around and followed him,’ he said plausibly.
Mansell, at least, was not easily taken in. ‘What were you doing in the grid room?’ he rapped.
‘I followed him in,’ came the innocent reply.
‘Why didn’t you summon help?’
‘From where?’ Turlough was a good liar. ‘I was trying to apprehend him myself, when you found me.’
Wrack had been listening to this exchange with interest.
Now ignoring both of them, she stepped up to the Doctor and looked, long and hard, into his face.
‘Spying, Doctor?’ she asked sweetly.
‘I’d hardly call it spying.’ The Doctor kept his tone as mild as possible in an attempt to play down the situation.
‘We were welcomed as guests – given the freedom of the ship.’
‘You think freedom extends to a door marked
"Danger"?’ Wrack was equally conversational, but there was a hidden menace in her words. She smiled at Turlough. ‘What should I do with your friend the spy?’ she asked, companionably. They both looked at the Time Lord. Turlough did not even hesitate. ‘Get rid of him,’ he said in an expressionless voice. Wrack seemed intrigued.
‘How?’ she asked, as though torn between several delicious choices. Turlough’s composure faltered, and he almost stammered as he hurried to explain, ‘I meant – send him back. Send them all back. To Striker.’
Wrack gave him a melting look. ‘And what about you?’
she asked softly.
The guard of honour was still presenting cutlasses, still standing at attention, as Tegan and Marriner emerged from the stateroom and looked down between the long lines of buccaneers. Two officers had interrupted Marriner’s conversation with her, somewhat to Tegan’s relief, and asked them both to leave. There had been no explanation, but even Marriner did not attempt to argue.
Had the men been mere Ephemerals, he would have dealt with them, but they were creatures of his own kind, with equal powers. There was obviously some urgency about their departure, for Tegan was almost hustled into the passage. ‘All right, all right – don’t push!’ she protested, shaking off the hand of the officer who was trying to hurry her along. At almost the same moment, she caught sight of the Doctor, waiting in Mansell’s custody. ‘Where’s Turlough?’ she asked, running over to him. The Doctor did not reply, simply gave a warning glance in the direction of his captor.
‘You will board the launch now,’ the tall buccaneer said, impassively.
‘What about Turlough?’ Tegan whispered into the Doctor’s ear.
‘He’s staying,’ came the whisper back.
And Mansell spoke again. ‘The launch. Now.’
It was clearly a final order, and the two officers drew their swords.
‘Come on,’ the Doctor said breezily, and started off down