Doctor Who_ Last Man Running - Chris Boucher [101]
‘Keep it simple, that’s the secret. All this alien technology,’
he said. ‘I think magic is the word for it. Isn’t that right?’ He poked Leela in the back with the gun. ‘All this magical technology and finally what it comes down to is a man with a gun. That’s what it always comes down to.’
‘Not always,’ the Doctor said stepping out of the pit and striding towards the control bays.
‘Wait!’ Sozerdor called. ‘Stay right there.’
Leela hesitated at the edge of the pit. As she had hoped, Sozerdor tried to hurry her along by prodding her in the back with the gun. As soon as she knew precisely where it was she dropped below the gun, at the same time twisting and lunging upward... She grabbed Sozerdor’s wrist with her left hand and drove her right shoulder up into his armpit, levering the arm stiff against the elbow. As she straightened up she butted him on the bridge of the nose with the back of her head. The gun fell from his hand. Leela caught it and turned with it pointing at his head.
‘Sometimes,’ the Doctor remarked, ‘what it comes down to is a girl with a gun.’
Sozerdor moaned in anger, never taking his eyes off Leela and the gun.
‘Don’t kill him,’ the Doctor said, and then corrected himself quickly. ‘What I mean is I don’t think you should kill him.’
‘Why not?’
Sozerdor was beginning to cower.
‘Because you don’t have to,’ the Doctor said.
Leela did not lower the gun. ‘We cannot leave him with all this.’
‘I agree.’
‘Do you mean to take him with us, then?’
‘No. The Doctor laughed. ‘Certainly not. Do you want him as a travelling companion?’
Leela did not laugh, nor did she lower the gun. ‘What then?’
‘I think we should destroy all this.’
‘Good plan,’ Sozerdor sniggered. ‘That one’s got my vote.’
‘He does not think we can do it, Leela said, coldly. ‘Neither do I.’ She stepped backwards out of the pit, never taking her eyes off Sozerdor and never lowering her aim. ‘I think I must kill him.’
The Doctor could see that she meant it. Leela’s training as a warrior made killing and being killed a logical part of life, and the machine had been working on that among other things.
‘Wait,’ he said. He hurried into one of the inactive alcoves.
He could recognise patterns in the crystals now. Setting up a force field was one of the simpler procedures, so he picked a simple pattern, little more than a slight curve, and put his fingers against it. He had come to the conclusion, finally, that the machine was either set up to tap directly into the subconscious, or else it was designed to resist conscious interference and amendment of its basic control systems.
Either way, what it could not accommodate was online analysis. Thinking about it, he had realised that thinking about it was not the way to work the machine. He did not mentally specify the details and the function of the force field but merely allowed the fact of it to be in his mind. The control booth flowed smoothly into action. The Doctor imprisoned Sozerdor in the force field and tried not to be pleased with himself. Function without thought? What could be admired in that?
When he emerged, Leela had lowered the gun and was smiling at Sozerdor. ‘How does it feel to be on the inside?’
she asked. ‘Try not to touch it. You were right. It hurts very much.’
‘I think that solves the problem, don’t you?’ the Doctor said.
Leela looked at the Doctor and said, unsmilingly, ‘I think it would have been kinder to shoot him. I prefer it this way.’
‘You’re not going to leave me in here?’ Sozerdor demanded of the Doctor. ‘I’ll starve to death.’
‘No,’ Leela said flatly. ‘You will die of thirst long before that.’
‘Actually,’ the Doctor said, ‘you’ll be able to escape when the systems overload. With luck, you’ll find a way up to the surface.’
‘In that case kill me now. It’s never going to happen.’
The Doctor smiled. ‘Leela and I are going to set off every major function that we can find. As you discovered,