Doctor Who_ Hope - Mark Clapham [89]
Anji didnt have to ask whose authority and power the Doctor was worried would become too great. Her stomach clenched. If the Doctor was considering making a play against Silver, then Anji needed to place herself to protect Dave II. Regardless of the Doctor and Silvers conflict, and the rights and wrongs of the situation, Anji couldnt allow this new Dave to come to harm. She wasnt going to lose him twice.
Silvers diplomatic mission returned to Hope to find theirs was not the only submarine berthed near the Pier. Another of the sleek craft was parked at the other side of the Pier, both crimsonclad staff from the Silver Palace and environmentsuited humans wandering its deck.
I didnt know there were more than one of those, said Fitz as they ascended to the Pier.
There are several, said Silver, clearly reluctant to reveal exactly how many. But more will need to be constructed. Miraso. He turned to his deputy I need you to assist the human scientist, Richard, in locating and dismantling whatever he requires from the Silver Palace. You will load this second sub with all the vital components, and then join me in the Bunker.
Arent we leaving anything in the Palace? asked Miraso.
For now, no, said Silver. Our base of operations will be in the Bunker from now on, a place only accessible with our permission. Presently the Palace will be refitted to become the public face of our government.
Fitz suspected that when Silver said our, it was very much the Royal We.
Miraso didnt argue with this, instead giving Silver a tight nod.
Silver nodded towards the second sub. Youll find Richard either on or below deck, he said. Miraso stepped in that direction, visibly smarting from the dismissal.
Ill just go find the Doctor, said Fitz, backing away. But neither Miraso nor Silver were listening, too wrapped up in their own power games to notice Fitz.
The Pier had changed rapidly in the previous couple of days. Whereas before it was a foreboding multistorey shantytown, the presence of the submarines, and the attention they drew, had driven the derelicts away. However, evidence of the Piers previous occupation lay all around metal cylinders where crude fires had once burned, leantos in which the poor wretches who lived there had slept, this and other debris littered the area. It hadnt been too difficult for Anji to find somewhere to hide.
After breakfast Anji had left the Doctor on the roof of the Palace, pleading heatstroke as an excuse to get out of the sun. From there she had gone straight to the Pier, keeping out of sight and waiting for Silver to return. The second submarine had caused some initial confusion, but when Anji saw Richard walking around on deck, unselfconsciously trying to scratch himself within his environment suit, she realised Silver must have had more than one sub making trips between the Bunker and the surface.
So Anji had waited some more, tucking herself into a hideyhole between a large sheet of metal and a wall. Some derelict had lived here recently, and in the heat the smell was intense, but nonetheless Anji remained out of sight. From where she stooped, she could make out the TARDIS further down the Pier. If the Doctor came to visit his ship, Anji didnt want to be spotted.
Eventually, Silver did return. Anji waited for Fitz to leave she didnt want to have to explain her presence to him and then scurried out of her hiding place, running towards Silver. Naturally, his heightened senses registered her presence, and he turned to greet Anji, a quizzical expression on the human side of his face.
I was wondering when I could next see Dave, said Anji, slightly out of breath. Her hair had become clogged with sweat in the sun, and she nervously tucked it behind her ears, painfully aware that her request hadnt come across as the casual enquiry it should have been.
Silver, perhaps surprisingly, didnt question her barely concealed urgency.
Then you have