Doctor Who_ Interference_ Book Two - Lawrence Miles [23]
SAM: There are three hundred million people down there!
[There’s a burst of static from the communicator. SAM plays with the controls a bit more.]
SAM: Doctor?
CREATURE [voice]: We control this transmitter now. There will be no further messages from the Time Lord.
SAM: Listen, you morons. There’s a fleet of Time Lord warships out here, ready to wipe out the whole planet. Is that what you want?
CREATURE [voice]: Unimportant. We control the transmitter system. We can transmit ourselves to any point in the physical universe. The planet is of no further strategic significance.
SAM [to herself]: So that’s what they wanted.
CREATURE [voice]: We will transmit ourselves to Gallifrey. To Earth. To Andromeda. We will inhabit every media network in this continuum. There will be nobody to stand against us. The fate of Ordifica is unimportant.
SAM: Wait. The Doctor said it’d take you nearly an hour to take over the whole media system. And you’ve still got – I don’t know – another couple of minutes to go. You’re not in complete control yet, are you?You don’t have total power. You can’t start transmitting.
[A long pause.]
SAM: Did you hear what I said? You can’t start –
CREATURE [voice]: Transmission will occur shortly. We will be universal. We will be ubiquitous. All life will be our receiver. All space will be our transmitter.
SAM: Not if I can help it.
CREATURE [voice]: You have no option. All life will be –
[SAM twiddles the knobs, and the voice fades out.]
SAM [under her breath]: Let’s hope you’re listening. [Loudly.] This is Samantha Jones to the Time Lord fleet. Samantha Jones to the Time Lord fleet. Can anybody hear me?
[No response.]
SAM: Come on. You must be keeping a check on all the frequencies, or you wouldn’t have known what was happening on the planet. Can you hear me, Time Lord fleet?
[No response.]
SAM: OK. So you can’t talk. Well, I’ll just have to assume you can speak English, then. The Doctor says you’re waiting for an order. And I’ve got an order for you.
* * *
Scene 46. Space
[There’s a brief moment of stillness, all the Time Lord ships having taken up position around the planet. Then the bows begin to crackle, black light burning across the metal.]
* * *
Scene 47. The Control Section of the Ship
[SAM stares at the screen, watching the Time Lord warships.]
SAM [to herself]: Three hundred million people.
[A pause.]
SAM: I can’t even imagine what three hundred million people look like.
[She leans over the communicator.]
SAM: Fire.
* * *
Scene 48. Space
[The black light continues to crackle and spark across the vessels. There’s the traditional hum of power, finally reaching a crescendo.
[The ships open fire. There’s a flash of pure black, big enough to blot out the planet, the ships and everything for light years around.]
* * *
‘The whole planet,’ said Compassion. ‘Three hundred million people.’
‘Does that bother you?’ asked Guest.
‘No. Why? You think the girl’s starting to infect me?’
‘Her ideas are part of the media now. Although I wouldn’t have expected them to have an effect so soon.’
‘She did it so easily, though. She just… pushed the button. Killed off a whole race.’
‘True. Another exaggeration, I’m sure. If she had to do it for real, there’d be more… angst. But you heard what she said. She couldn’t even imagine what that many people looked like.’
‘So?’
‘She seemed to find it easier to kill a planet than to kill her friend. The planet was more distant to her. A less well-defined image.’ Compassion felt a pulse run through her receiver, and she realised that the media was listening to Guest’s words, changing its plans accordingly. ‘Perhaps the media was wrong when it raised the stakes,’ Guest continued. ‘Perhaps if it makes the scenario more personal, we’ll get a stronger reaction from her. A single individual may mean more to her than a whole culture.’
‘That doesn’t make sense.’
‘It doesn’t have to. The imagery is all that matters.’
‘Oh, yeah,’ said Compassion. She wasn’t sure how she’d forgotten a thing like that. Something