Doctor Who_ Halflife - Mark Michalowski [85]
‘I’m sorry sir, I don’t understand.’
He rolled his eyes.
‘Lift your head up, girl. Come on, look at me.’ He paused when she didn’t alter her subservient stance. ‘Your name is Trix and you’re a friend of Sensimi, aren’t you? Or should I have my spies executed as well?’
Trix’s shoulders must have slumped, because the Imperator gave her a toothy, relaxed smile. He patted the bed again.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said when he saw the expression on her face. ‘I’m far too old for any of that jiggy-jiggy business. Ask my wife, the shrivelled old mare.’
Trix cautiously perched at the foot of the bed and then realised how silly that made her look, seeing as she was facing the wrong way. She swivelled until she found the best compromise between dignity and convenience.
‘My, my but you’re pale, girl,’ the Imperator said, adjusting his glasses.
‘Sorry – that was very rude of me.’ He held up his hands in apology. ‘It’s just that I don’t get to see many people – and certainly not offworlders. Tell me: how is the universe out there?’
153
‘It’s fine,’ Trix said. ‘Well, it was when I last looked. Anything could have happened to it since then.’
‘So where you from, Trix? One of the colonies – you are human? I’ve got that much right?’
She nodded.
‘It’s a long story.’
‘Well, if you’re in no rush, I’d love to hear it. Used to be quite a bit of an adventurer in my youth meself.’ He gave a sad sigh. ‘Been a long while since I’ve done anything that didn’t involve either that witch of a wife or an army of nurses or guards tagging along.’ He leaned forwards. ‘I’ll do a deal with you: you tell me a bit about what you’ve been up to, and I might just share a secret or two about this place.’ He gave a conspiratorial wink that made Trix grin.
‘Alinti thinks she’s got it made, you know. But she doesn’t know the half of it.’
‘Buggery!’ swore the Doctor, and Fitz stared at him. ‘It’s that Trove man – look what he’s done!’
Fitz – and Calamee, Sensimi and probably Nessus as well – looked at the doorway that led to the TARDIS. Even the night beast, still on its side in the straw on the other side of its bars, looked. The door refused to budge, and the Doctor pointed to a thin line, running all around the door frame, where the wood of the door seemed to blend seamlessly into the stone of the frame.
‘Some sort of diffusion sealer.’ He kicked at the door angrily and pulled a face. ‘And that door must be two inches thick.’ He turned to Sensimi. ‘Is there any other way into that room? And if there isn’t, I don’t suppose you have access to a thermic lance, do you?’
Sensimi stared at him blankly before shaking her head.
‘Well, we’ll have to find some other way out of the city, won’t we? We need something that can fly – we can’t rely on finding a convenient building around when we run into the wave. Don’t suppose you have any helicopters or shuttles parked around here, do you?’
She shook her head again, before suddenly smiling. ‘No – but we do have a few levicars. Father ordered them from Marselle for his birthday tomorrow.’
She puckered up her mouth. ‘But they cost a fortune – they’re his pride and joy. He wouldn’t let us –’
‘He doesn’t have to know, does he?’ the Doctor whispered craftily. ‘We only need one and we’ll have it back before he knows it’s gone. How high can they fly?’
‘I don’t know – I’ve only seen them parked in the rear yard.’
‘Well they sound like our best hope for now – lead on, Your Princessly Highness!’
Sensimi gave him a look that said she didn’t altogether trust him.
154
‘I mean,’ he added, ‘if you don’t want your family to find out about your furry friend here, getting us out of the Palace would be the best way to keep the secret, wouldn’t it?’
Saiarossa, as dawn was poking her rosy head above the horizon,