Doctor Who_ Full Circle - Andrew Smith [13]
Adric frowned. 'A blue box... it looked old, a bit scruffy. A door... no, two doors. they opened inwards. There was a light on top I think...'
The Doctor looked at Romana. 'This boy's not hallucinating.' He started for the doors. 'I want this place looking like a Mark IX when I get back, Romana. Come on, K9.'
Romana was taken aback by his abruptness. 'Where are you going?'
The Doctor stopped in the doorway. 'The marsh. No good sitting here theorising about it.'
'But we still don't know what's wrong with this.'
'Wrong with what?'
'The console. The scanner.' Romana sighed despairingly. 'Why can't you do one thing at a time?'
'Oh, that... yes. Persistent image of Gallifrey.' The Doctor approached the console and from a pile of loose components he selected a small transparent box packed with intricate micro-technology. As he weighed it in his hand, he said, 'The image translator. It reads and interprets the absolute values of the co-ordinates.'
'Of course it does,' said Romana. 'Co-ordinates are only capable of having absolute values. Real space doesn't have... negative co-ordinates.' Her face paled. The idea which had struck the Doctor seconds before now dawned on her. 'Doctor - that disruption we came through...'
The Doctor smiled and placed the image translator down. 'It's just a thought,' he said, then turned and disappeared through the doors. K9 followed.
'It's a very nasty thought!' Romana called. 'That would mean we're out of real space altogether!'
Garif found Login sitting brooding in his quarters. The engineer lifted his head as he entered. It was customary always to greet a Decider. Login remained silent, and lowered his head again.
'Refnal and Gulner aren't saying much that's intelligible just at the moment,' said Garif, making conversation. 'But it seems they may have been pursued through the forest by a number of Marshmen. If that's so, then the rising is far earlier than it's ever been before. We only just sealed the ship in time.'
Login wasn't listening. He continued to stare at the floor, never once acknowledging the presence of the Decider.
'Your daughter is dead, Login.'
Garif saw the man's jaw tighten.
'Whether at the hands of the Marshmen or not, Login, she is dead,' Garif affirmed. 'The air out there cannot support life. We had to seal the doors. Don't blame us for exercising common sense.'
Login lifted his head. The anger and resentment were gone. 'If I blame anyone, it's myself,' he said quietly. 'If I'd been a proper father to her after her mother's death, she wouldn't have left me.'
'She was a disruptive element dangerous in an ordered society like ours, Login.'
Login asked, 'Where's our new First Decider?'
Garif paused momentarily to examine Login's tone for sarcasm or disrespect, found none, and replied, 'Nefred is receiving the System Files from bio-link storage.'
'It's hard to believe that Draith is gone.'
Garif hesitated, shuffling uncomfortably. 'Actually, there's another reason for my coming to see you... an immediate task for Nefred and myself will be the choosing of a new Decider.'
'Yes, of course.'
'We... thought of seeking your advice on the matter.'
The small room had a single light in its ceiling which illuminated a large black leather chair in the centre of the floor. Nefred sat in this chair, gave himself a moment to relax, then pressed the half-concealed button under the right arm-rest.
There was a slight hum of power as the chair sank into the floor, moving down two deck levels to the bio-link storage chamber. Nefred regarded the smooth, glistening walls of the shaft with ridiculous intensity.
Then he was in the chamber. Immediately his chair came to rest, the lights activated and Nefred saw he was seated before a data terminal.
Nefred knew that sensory devices implanted in the chair were at that very moment transferring every detail about his physical and mental make-up to the security computer which operated the terminal - a computer kept separate from all others on the starliner.
The terminal screen activated.
YOU ARE NEFRED. COMMUNITY