Doctor Who_ Interference_ Book Two - Lawrence Miles [13]
‘Negative,’ said K9.
‘What d’you mean, negative?’
‘Logical flaw, mistress. Analysis suggests an eighty-two‐percent chance the Remote will be keeping the Doctor imprisoned in a location not on this planet. The TARDIS will be required before the Doctor can be found. Logic dictates –’
‘Thank you, K9, you’ve made your point. But the Remote must have some way of reaching… what’s that place called again?’
‘Anathema,’ said Lost Boy.
K9 spun his ears at her. ‘Negative, mistress. Chances of successfully gaining access to Remote transportation without detection by the Remote –’
‘I don’t want to know.’
‘– negligible.’
She nudged the robot with the end of her foot. ‘I said, I don’t want to know.’
‘I did not tell you, mistress. I merely summarised.’
Sarah turned her attention back to Lost Boy. ‘When I saw the Doctor, he was being tortured. Trying to escape from some kind of prison. You know Anathema. Any ideas?’
The Ogron screwed up his face. It was like watching an alien gurner, thought Sarah. ‘No prisoners on Anathema. Never seen anyone tortured there. Maybe at the main transmitter.’
‘So can we get to the main transmitter? Using the Remote’s route?’
‘There are machines,’ said Lost Boy. ‘Back at the hotel. Machines to make holes in the air.’
‘You know how to use them?’
Lost Boy rumbled uneasily. ‘No. But the Remote sold machines like them to humans on Earth. If humans can use them, they must be simple.’
Sarah glared at him. ‘I resent that. Erm… wait a minute. The Remote sold these transporter things to humans? When?’
‘When they came to Earth. They wanted to sell their equipment to your… council of old women.’
‘The UN?’ Sarah suppressed a snigger. ‘Old men, mostly. But yes, I know.’
‘They changed their minds. They decided to sell to smaller tribes. They talked to the leaders of one of your countries. Gave them some samples. Some vials of the Cold. Some machines for transportation.’
‘And?’
‘And then they changed their minds again. That was when they went to COPEX. To spread their hardware around the Earth.’
A nasty thought suddenly struck Sarah. Not just the thought of some government or other already having teleporters in its armoury, although that was bad enough. It was the unexpected feeling that she’d been missing something obvious. Which, for a journalist, was one of the worst sensations imaginable.
‘This country,’ she said, slowly. ‘Do you remember what it was called?’
Lost Boy shook his head. ‘All human names sound the same. There were… two words. None of them made any sense.’
‘Try to remember,’ Sarah urged. ‘It’s very important.’
So Lost Boy thought, and thought, and thought. Sarah could almost see the muscles straining inside his head.
Finally, he remembered. He mangled the words when he spoke them, but they were familiar enough for Sarah to work out what he meant.
‘I have to make a phone call,’ she announced. ‘Lost Boy… help yourself to anything in the kitchen. But don’t try biting into any more hot pop tarts, all right? Trust me, you won’t survive a second time.’
* * *
20 August, 17:24
Kode watched the woman Bland walk out through one of the doors. Then the Ogron started staring at the metal dog again. Kode ended the transmission before the guard’s thought patterns started to infect him.
He glanced at the telephone in the hotel room. He could try calling Guest. There wasn’t a direct line from here to Anathema, but he was sure he could get in touch with the media, ask it to rewire the local communications network. Guest would want to know what the woman was up to.
Then again, why should he care about Guest? He could deal with this himself, couldn’t he?
Kode stubbed his cigarette out against the nearest available piece of furniture, then picked up the telephone. He concentrated again, telling his receiver to tune in to the signals from the local communications net. Actually, he probably didn’t need to hold the phone to do that, but it helped him focus.