Doctor Who_ Halflife - Mark Michalowski [76]
Her face was tight as a fist as she stared at them all. She must have felt more than a little betrayed by Fitz, as he stood impassively through her little speech, and he began to feel a bit guilty. She was only a teenager, for God’s sake. Didn’t all teenagers want to set ravening beasts on their parents? No, he thought. Probably not.
‘Well,’ said the Doctor with a deep sigh, when no one had said anything for an absolutely eternal ten seconds. ‘That’s as may be. Murder’s rather bad, Sensimi – but from what I’ve heard of your mother and brother, I’m not sure I blame you.’
‘Doctor!’ said Fitz, clearly unable to believe what he was hearing. ‘This is, erm, matricide we’re talking about. And, um, that other one. Brothers.’
‘Fratricide,’ chimed in Calamee helpfully.
‘That one, yes. I don’t think we should be taking this so lightly.’
The Doctor pulled a stage ‘ooh-who-rattled-his-cage?’ face at Calamee before waving Fitz’s objections away.
‘Anyway, before we get on to the real matter at hand, perhaps Sensimi would like to tell us how that poor creature got in here.’
‘I had it smuggled in a week ago,’ she said sullenly, obviously deciding that the truth might get her into marginally less trouble than more prevarication, 137
‘after I heard reports that it had come wandering into the city. I was curious about it. Some of the Palace Guard managed to catch it in a net and knock it out. I was going to tell Mother and Father about it, impress them, and then I heard Javill and Mother plotting and I decided to see if I could. . . train it.’
Her face started to look pleading again and Calamee told her to just get on with the story. ‘So I started feeding it and giving it bits of Mother’s and Javill’s clothing, you know, in the hope that it would. . . ’ Her voice tailed off as she clearly realised how awful and calculating she sounded.
Calamee finished her sentence for her: ‘Build up an association between their scent and food? And then what? You planned to release it and hope it went for them?’
‘It’s a fair plan,’ interjected Fitz, ‘although I don’t for a minute think it would have worked. Look at it – this creature’s far more calm and docile than the others we’ve heard about. Rather like the one me and Trix encountered, actually.’ He stepped over to the bars of the cage and crouched down, dangerously within reach if the night beast should suddenly decide to grab him. But it didn’t: it just watched him, like a half-dozing cat, with its tiny black eyes.
Nessus gave a little wriggle and adjusted his position before continuing his nap.
‘So what do we do with it?’ asked Calamee. ‘Let it go?’ She threw a sharp glance at Sensimi whose suddenly open mouth was, equally suddenly, closed again. ‘It doesn’t seem fair to keep the poor thing caged up here. And if we let it go, it might head for home, mightn’t it?’
Fitz hmmed. ‘And that’s somewhere we’d like to be, I imagine?’
‘Spot on Fitz! We let the creature go, follow it to its home, hope that’s where the distress call came from and wrap up this whole thing in time for tea! Oh, and sort out this thing that’s on its way towards the city.’ He sprang from his knees to full height and dusted off his hands. ‘Unless of course,’ he added a trifle sadly, ‘the gentleman standing in the doorway with two members of the Palace Guard has a different idea.’
It took a moment for what the Doctor was saying to sink in, and then all eyes turned towards the top of the stairs.
138
Chapter 16
‘Not die exactly. Not really.’
The man tilted his head ever so slightly to one side and gave a thin little sigh.
‘Doctor,’ he said magnanimously ‘What brings you back to the Imperial Palace so soon? I thought we’d seen the last of you?’
‘Did you? Can’t say the same about you I’m afraid – particularly since we haven’t met.’ He paused. ‘Have we?’
Fitz was starting to wonder if he was going to meet anyone on Espero