Doctor Who_ Interference_ Book Two - Lawrence Miles [43]
‘Because there’s a TARDIS here?’ asked Llewis.
‘Are we going, or what?’ asked the driver.
‘No, no,’ said Mr Blood-Red. He touched his earring, as if checking the facts. ‘Earth’s a… sensitive area. Yes. And if anybody interferes with it, then… well… it’s quite likely the Time Lords would notice. Especially if the Faction’s involved.’
‘Stands to reason, doesn’t it?’ said the van driver. Llewis hoped to God he was joking.
‘So we thought… I mean, Guest thought… if we gave the Cold to Earth, the Time Lords would have to send someone to sort it out. Which means we could steal their TARDIS. You see?’
‘No,’ said Llewis.
‘Oh.’ Mr Blood-Red looked a bit upset about that. ‘Well, I’m sure it all makes sense. The thing is, we were never really interested in Earth, much. So, the deal’s off. We’ve got instructions to take the Cold back to Anathema, seeing as you won’t be needing it.’
‘Fine,’ said the van driver. He looked over his shoulder as well, and waved to the two other drivers, who’d also climbed out of their vehicles. ‘No worries,’ he told them. ‘Looks like we’re knocking off early.’
Llewis shook his head. He kept shaking it until everybody noticed him. ‘You can’t do this. It’s… it’s not professional. It’s not done, it’s –’
‘There’s an old human saying,’ cut in Mr Blood-Red. ‘“He who has never gone back on a promise has never lived.”’
‘There’s no such saying!’
‘Isn’t there? Ah. I’m Sorry. We’re used to inventing old human sayings.’
Llewis thought of Peter bloody Morgan, sitting at his smug desk in his smug suit and his smug shoes. He thought of the man making bets with the others in the office, laying odds that Llewis would mess up, that all this business about the Cold would turn out to be hot air.
Come to think of it, he wasn’t entirely sure what ‘smug shoes’ were. But if they existed, then by God, Peter bloody Morgan would be the one to wear them.
‘We won’t let you,’ he hissed, practically spitting in Mr Blood-Red’s face. ‘We’re taking the Cold. We won’t let you take it away from us.’
‘We’ve got our orders,’ the alien said. ‘We’ve got to take the Cold back. It’s all part of our plan.’
Then he paused, as if the next few words were difficult for him to put together.
‘We’re quite prepared to die for our beliefs,’ he added.
The van driver sniggered. Llewis just sweated.
‘Take the Cold!’ he snapped.
‘You what?’ said the driver. The other drivers were standing behind him now, muttering darkly.
‘Take it,’ Llewis repeated. ‘Put it in the vans. We’re not leaving without it.’
‘We can’t let you do that,’ said Mr Blood-Red. ‘If you try to take any hostile action, I’m afraid we’re going to have to…’
He glanced back at his colleagues. They seemed to have finished adjusting the machines, and now they were standing around the static screen, apparently waiting for something. One of them nodded at Mr Blood-Red.
‘…kill ourselves,’ Mr Blood-Red concluded.
‘Or our immediate family groups,’ one of his friends added.
‘Yes. Anything we think might stop you, really. We do have principles, you know.’
‘You’re mad,’ said Llewis, his voice finally cracking. ‘You’re all stark staring mad. How is killing yourselves going to stop us?’
Mr Blood-Red didn’t seem sure how to answer that. He turned, and took a few steps towards the other aliens. They discussed the topic among themselves for a while. Eventually, they seemed to reach a decision.
‘Activate,’ Llewis heard one of them say.
All of a sudden, there was a low hissing in the air, which Llewis seemed to feel with his spinal column rather than hear with his ears. He realised the noise had been there all the time, the crackling, splitting sound of the static window, but now it was getting louder, getting harsher, vibrating through the floor of the warehouse. The aliens all turned, as one, to face the entrance. Behind him, Llewis heard one of the van drivers cry out. He wasn’t sure what the man said, but it was almost certainly obscene.
He turned. Outside the warehouse, another static window had opened up, hovering in