Doctor Who_ Interference_ Book One - Lawrence Miles [31]
‘Um… yeah.’
‘The Indonesians invaded it,’ Sarah said. ‘They killed off a third of the population. A third of the whole population. It started about the same time I met the Doctor, and it’s been going on ever since.’ She shrugged. ‘There were Indonesians at COPEX today. Nobody makes a fuss, because nobody cares. Hardly anyone knows where East Timor is, even. It’s not like Kuwait, there’s no oil there. Technically, Britain’s not supposed to supply weapons to Indonesia. That means you can’t sell them rifles. But you can sell them fighter jets, for “defensive purposes”. You see what I mean?’
‘What are they defending against?’
‘God knows. It’s all to do with PR, though. It’s all image. The point is, the security business can only get away with this sort of thing by not asking too many questions. That’s why I can pretend to work for IPS, and nobody checks my credentials. Not even Guest.’
‘So who are you? Are you with the UN?’
‘No. But I’ve got friends there. That’s how I got involved.’ Sarah looked around the room, and her eyes settled on the binoculars, still lying on the seat by the door. ‘You know, I thought you were working for the aliens when I found those things in the hall.’
‘That’s a point,’ said Sam. ‘How did you know they were mine? You didn’t see me with them or anything.’
‘Oh, it was your face. When you saw me holding them. I’ve been a journalist long enough to know a guilty look when I see one. Anyway, I thought you might be with the aliens, but it didn’t add up. You had to be a third party. No, I mean a fourth party. Or maybe a fifth.’ Sarah started counting on her fingers. ‘The aliens. The company that’s trying to buy the hardware rights for the aliens’ equipment. The UN. Me. And you. Tell me something. Why do you think the aliens are dealing with private companies, when they’re already dealing with the UN?’
Sam shook her head. ‘They’re not, though. The aliens aren’t talking to the UN any more. They arranged a meeting, but Guest didn’t show up. Besides, the Doctor had already vanished by then, so he wouldn’t have been able to negotiate even if they hadn’t backed out.’ Sam hesitated again, as if wondering whether she’d blabbed too much. But she kept talking, maybe in an attempt to gloss it over. ‘So I got in touch with some of the people on his list. The trail kind of led me here.’
Sarah blew through her lips. ‘I think we should find out more about these aliens. Don’t you?’
Sam thought about it. ‘Those binoculars… they can see through walls.’
‘I know. I’ve been playing with them. I can’t figure out the controls, though. Do you know where Guest’s staying?’
‘Just down the corridor from here, I thought.’
‘Three doors away.’ Sarah tried her best to smile brightly. ‘So why don’t we take a look?’
* * *
Room 3.03
Once Kode got back to the room, the first thing he did was put his receiver back in place. Guest had made him take it out before they’d left the hotel, saying it’d provoke too many questions from the natives. Kode had agreed, but only after going ‘huh’ a few times. There’d been a great big hole in his consciousness all day, where the receiver should have been pumping raw data into his head.
The receiver hummed as he slipped it through the hole in his earlobe, the mechanism prompting the cell growth, so the skin sealed up around the plastic. The information started trickling in from Anathema, but slowly, much too slowly.
The hole needed filling. Now. Kode squatted down in front of the TV set at the end of the bed, and started fiddling with the controls. He still had no idea how the machine worked, but, as long as the set kept buzzing, he was happy.
‘Again?’ said Compassion. Snottily.
‘Spark off,’ Kode told her.
‘Charming.’
‘It’s all right for you. You’ve had your receiver in all day. It’s me who has to go native.’ He looked back over his shoulder as he said it. Compassion was standing on the other side of the room, arms folded across her chest, leaning back against the wall. She was still wearing that stupid jacket she’d bought