Doctor Who_ Halflife - Mark Michalowski [65]
Sensimi frowned.
‘Why? What’s happening?’
‘Oh, nothing you need to worry about – you’ll be fine, girl. You’ll be taken care of, believe me. I’ve got it all in hand.’
Her curiosity had been piqued.
‘What’ll be taken care of? Oh Daddy, come on – tell me!’
Tannalis glanced conspiratorially around the room and raised a finger to his lips.
‘You’ll find out tomorrow – but let’s just say that I have a birthday surprise planned that’ll make your mother explode.’
Sensimi looked shocked.
‘Oh, not literally! Well. . . maybe if we’re lucky.’
Tannalis saw her face pucker up and her shoulders drop as she started to slip into being a petulant little girl. He wagged his bony finger in her face.
‘Now, now – none of that. Just remember: it’s a secret. No telling that brother of yours, either.’
Something crossed her face, and she started to chew her lip.
‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘You and Javill fallen out again?’
‘Um, yeah. . . ’ But he could tell that there was something she wasn’t telling him.
‘Sensimi. . . ?’
‘Oh, Daddy, he’s such a pig. He hates Looloo, and he hates me. And him and Mother are always whispering in corners.’ Sensimi couldn’t hold his stare.
‘You think I don’t know?
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‘Don’t know what?’
‘Sensi – I’m the Imperator. There’s not a lot goes on here that I don’t know about.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘From the top of the Palace, right down to the bottom. . . if it’s happening, I get to find out about it.’ He fixed her with a meaningful look. He knew about Sensimi’s little secret in the cellar – and although he wasn’t quite sure what she was up to, he had a good idea. After all, if it hadn’t been for him, having a word with the Palace Guard to help Sensimi out, she’d never have managed it. She could be a sweet girl, but she’d never reach the levels of conniving and cunning that her mother had.
‘It’s not what you think,’ she said slowly after a long pause. ‘Honest.’
‘And what do I think it is, girl?’
Sensimi didn’t answer. He gave her hand another squeeze and yawned theatrically.
‘Don’t worry,’ he laughed. ‘Just you be careful. I know you have my interests at heart, but I think you’ll find that after tomorrow, you might want to rethink your little plan.’
The darkness outside Saiarossa swallowed them up, and Calamee let the Doctor take the lead. She wasn’t sure how he could be so certain which way this TARDIS was, particularly in the dark.
Nessus, safely ensconced in her pocket, seemed to liven up now that they were away from the noise and bustle of the city. He leaned precariously out of her pocket, his head darting this way and that, as if looking out for something.
Even the Doctor seemed to notice.
‘He seems to have lost interest in me,’ he said. Calamee was concentrating on not stumbling in the dark. Overhead, a smear of stars cast a feeble light down on them.
‘He’s like that – one minute he’s all go, and then the next he just doesn’t want to know. He’s been more lively today than I’ve known him for ages.
Maybe he’s picked up all this madness. He took a shine to you, though, and he’s not usually very keen on strangers.’
‘Animal magnetism,’ said the Doctor wryly. ‘Whoah!’
He pulled up sharply and it took Calamee a few seconds to realise that he’d stopped.
‘What?’
She could see that he was staring forwards, frowning in rapt concentration.
She followed his gaze, but there was nothing there. Just darkness.
‘Can’t you see it?’
She looked again. ‘Uh-uh. Your eyes must be better than mine – what is it?’
He shook his head slowly. ‘I’m not sure. Smoke, maybe.’ He scratched at his chin and patted his pocket absently, as if looking for his non-existent cigarettes 119
again. ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about it.’
Calamee shrugged. ‘Not that I can see anything, but can’t we go round it?’
The Doctor scanned from side to side.
‘It’d be a long walk.’ He opened his arms out in a V-shape in front of him, taking in a good hundred degrees of