Doctor Who_ Last Man Running - Chris Boucher [29]
‘It is not as bad as it looks, The,’ Leela said and began to eat the food herself.
‘You’re a sorry case, The,’ Rinandor scoffed through a mouthful of food. ‘Greed is making you into a skinny, lawbreaking blasphemer.’
The Doctor smiled. ‘A skinny, lawbreaking blasphemer?
That would be a bad thing, would it?’
Pertanor giggled. ‘You have to enjoy a bold toody,’ he chortled. ‘I say if more of us were like The, then we’d be better off as a people.’ He helped himself to more of the meat. ‘There is nothing fundamentally wrong with greed.’
‘If you’re a firster,’ Rinandor said, taking more food herself.
‘There’s no place for greed among us toodies. I mean let’s be honest about this, Pe. Do you find thin people physically attractive?’
‘Not really, but that’s just a personal preference. I think we’ve got to be careful not to be prejudiced about body shape. It would be wrong to assume that all thin people are obsessively greedy, or selfishly aggressive. Leela’s not like that, are you, Leela?’
Leela took what was left of the food and began to eat. ‘I do not think so,’ she said. ‘Maybe you should ask The what he thinks of me.’
All three of them looked at the Doctor, who responded blankly ‘I’m sorry, what was the question?’
‘Does body size affect the way you behave?’ Leela asked.
‘It helps to be taller if you want to see over people’s heads.
And it helps to be stronger if you’ve got to carry your own luggage,’ the Doctor reflected. ‘But then again, there are ladders and trolleys.’
‘The question is body shape,’ Pertanor pointed out, ‘not body size. We’re talking about being fatter or thinner.’
‘Shape is in the eye of the beholder,’ the Doctor said.
‘Different gravitational conditions will change size and shape, as will climate and memory.’
‘Memory?’ Rinandor challenged.
‘It’s where appetites and attitudes come from.’
‘Another philosophical toody,’ she mocked. ‘It is shape.’
She looked at Pertanor. ‘Get as thin as him and you’ll be talking as much rubbish as he does.’
‘It’s getting lighter, the Doctor said looking up and around and peering off into the trees. ‘Of course. This system has twin suns, hasn’t it?’
Rinandor wiped her mouth on her sleeve. ‘I think your manager should eat something, Leela,’ she said. ‘Trying to switch planets is affecting his mind.’
‘Switch planets?’ Leela tried to keep the question casual.
This was all getting way beyond her. She hoped the Doctor knew what was behind it, though judging by his expression and the way he was sitting and fidgeting she doubted it.
‘You mean you hadn’t noticed?’ Rinandor smirked. ‘I think that makes my point about firsters and toodies.’
It struck Leela that the trouble with casual questions was that the answers usually did not tell you much. ‘The?’ she said. ‘Is there something wrong?’
‘Apart from everything,’ Pertanor giggled.
Leela had noticed before how the eating of food usually affected mood but she did not think she had ever seen it happen quite so quickly or so markedly as with these toody people. Perhaps they were right about the Doctor not eating, though. He did seem to be particularly distracted. ‘The?’ she repeated. Stupid name, she thought. She could not believe his plan required using such a stupid name, especially as she did not think he had a plan. And anyway she saw no reason why they had to pacify these two toody people. They were unfriendly and ungrateful. And they were unnecessarily plump.
‘It would be useful to know if all the nights in all parts of this planet are as brief as this one,’ the Doctor said.
‘Unfortunately, without the TARDIS I have no way of getting the data or of making the calculations.’
‘No problem,’ Pertanor sniggered. ‘Our reconnaissance data was unequivocal about that one.’
‘Probably because it didn’t make any practical difference to anything,’ Rinandor laughed.
‘So?’ the Doctor asked.
‘No, I’m Pe,’ Pertanor