Doctor Who_ Father Time - Lance Parkin [110]
‘Then what happened?’ Ferran asked.
Miranda sighed. ‘It’s a story. An allegory. A reminder that the status quo hasn’t always been the status quo, that true leadership is not simply conferred on whoever owns the most property.’
Ferran shrugged his shoulders. ‘Deputy, fight me. Win, and you get my title and all that that confers.’
Cate looked up. ‘My Lord?’
‘No conditions. This isn’t a trick. Win the fight and you’ll be the Prefect.’
Cate looked between him and Miranda, but stayed down on her knees.
‘You see?’ Ferran said, faintly disappointed. ‘When she was created, I knew she would spend a great deal of time alone with me. I toyed with the idea of placing a limiter in her brain, a device that would prevent her from trying to assassinate me. In the end, I decided not to – I command loyalty. It hasn’t even occurred to this property to try to hurt me. I am her master.’
Miranda’s eyes flashed at Cate. Try it.
Somewhere, in among the micro-relays and neuronitecture of her brain, Cate found herself agreeing.
And the Deputy leapt at Ferran, hands out like talons.
Ferran batted her out of the way, kicked her in the stomach. While he did that, he reached to his belt.
He took the wand from it, pointed it at Cate and pressed a control. The Deputy collapsed on the floor, doubled up, clutching her head. She kept her mouth closed, trying so hard not to scream.
She couldn’t think, she couldn’t think, she couldn’t think. It was the only thing her mind was telling her, an endless loop of the same error message.
‘You’ve made your point, now stop it,’ Miranda demanded.
‘She likes it.’
Cate cried out, finally.
‘She tried to depose the Prefect,’ Ferran said. ‘A traitor deserves to die, not just suffer.’
Cate looked up to see Miranda looking down, unsure what to do. Then the girl tried to grab the control from Ferran. He pulled it up out of her reach. Cate watched them, unable to do anything more.
There was a chime, then a voice. ‘Prefect, this is the flight deck. Computer is reporting a development.’
Ferran started towards the door, stepping over his Deputy as he went. As the door opened, he turned back to look at Miranda and tossed the wand at her.
‘Use it wisely,’ he advised.
The door slid up.
Miranda quickly found how to turn the device off.
Cate lay there for a moment, trying to get her breath back.
Miranda leaned over her, tried to comfort her, but Cate shrugged her away. ‘I deserved it,’ she said.
‘No one deserves that,’ Miranda said. ‘Have you really never even thought about hurting him before?’
Cate shook her head. ‘I do only what he commands.’
Miranda hugged her. ‘We have to get out of here,’ she said. ‘If Ferran wants a fight, then he can fight me.’
Cate shook her head. ‘Fight us,’ she said. ‘He will have to fight us. I can get you to a saucer, return you to your father.’
Miranda hesitated. ‘I can’t fly a spaceship.’
‘You wouldn’t need to: one pilot can. I can. I could come with you.’ There was a tremble in her voice that undercut the defiance she was trying to convey.
‘But Ferran would come after us.’
Cate was happy to lie there, debating the point – it gave her a chance to get her breath back. ‘No. You heard what he said – there are no records of you. He wouldn’t know where to look for you.’
‘But he has those records of Dad. I couldn’t go home without showing up on those.’
‘Perhaps they were faked.’
‘Or perhaps he destroys the saucer to prevent us from landing.’
‘He would kill me, but he wouldn’t kill you. He needs you alive.’
Cate was surprised to see that Miranda was starting to cry.
‘I want to see my father more than anything else at the moment,’ she said, voice full of anger. ‘I want to go back to my bedroom. I want to walk round the garden and touch that reassuring, stupid police box. Take me home.’
* * *
‘What is it?’ Ferran asked as he came on to the flight deck.
‘A human space craft has been detected. Its markings indicate that it is Atlantis, a vehicle belonging to the National