Doctor Who_ Hope - Mark Clapham [18]
As I thought, the Silver Palaces owner said, a rare note of humility in his deep voice. The apple. The fruits of the tree are quite delicious. He clicked his fingers, a hard noise of metal on metal, snapping Miraso out of the relaxed state the beautiful hologram had sent her into.
Send the sample down to the labs and have them fastgrow a dozen trees in hydroponics. Miraso heard a creak as her boss sat back in his chair. I expect apples to be the new delicacy by the end of the week.
Miraso nodded obediently, and went to get the sample from the analyser. The hologram of the apple tree flickered as she walked through it.
Oh, and Miraso, her boss said with a familiar note of cunning. Fetch me whoever brought this sample to us. I suspect they will be interesting people.
The beautiful singer had done a couple more numbers while the Doctor had been putting drinks on their account, and had then moved to a stool at the bar, where she proceeded to elegantly smoke a stubby cigar and drink deeply from a harshlooking bottle of liquor. She looked down to Fitz, so he decided to lighten up her life. On a backwater planet like this, surely a cute girl like that would be impressed by Fitzs adventures.
Hi, said Fitz, sidling up to her with his best manlyyetunthreatening walk. Im Fitz Kreiner, traveller among the stars.
Really, replied the singer, unimpressed. Fitz suspected she didnt believe it.
Really, echoed Fitz, using the ageold Kreiner trick of attempted sincerity. And I can prove it. Look at this. He produced a crystal from his pocket, and held it cut to the singer. The light refracted beautifully in its many facets.
What is it? the singer asked, awestruck. Now he was getting somewhere.
A thought crystal, a present from the grateful people of a faraway planet. Fitz dropped his voice to an awestruck whisper, leaning closer to the beautiful singer as he did so. Apparently, if you concentrate on the crystal, you can see into the minds of others.
A frown of concentration passed over the singers face. She looked deep into the crystal, raising Fitzs hands so that she could look straight through it and into his eyes. She was trying to read his mind.
Pervert! The backhanded slap she gave him nearly knocked Fitz off his feet. He watched her perfect bottom march indignantly away from him.
Man, said Fitz, examining the crystal with a newfound respect. Who would have thought you really worked?
Anji laughed as Fitz was given the brushoff by the singer. It had been the first moment of brightness in an otherwise grey day, and it felt such a relief to have any kind of emotion other than fear and panic. The Doctor, in spite of himself perhaps, couldnt stop a wry smile as they watched Fitzs comical look of surprise as he sat admiring the crystal in his hands, idly rubbing his slowly reddening cheek.
Poor Fitz, Anji said to the Doctor. He should have learned by now never to let them know what hes thinking. She sipped at her drink, which was cold and slightly fruity. She drank sparingly, suspicious of what stimulants might be in the tangy concoction. This was a club of sorts, after all.
He wouldnt be Fitz if he ever learned things like that, said the Doctor. Its part of his essential Fitzness. He smiled with affection, but Anji could still see a lurking unease in his eyes, a discomfort with both where they were and, she suspected, the absence of the TARDIS.
Good evening.
Anji and the Doctor turned to find a young woman smiling at them. Anji couldnt help but use the womans looks and style of dress as an initial indicator of character, and found herself impressed and not a little envious. She was tall, with long shapely legs and curves in all the right places. Her skin was pale but clear, and although she was as hairless as anyone else here her perfectly rounded scalp was beautiful in itself. Her lips were full on a wide mouth set into an appealingly broad and rounded