Doctor Who_ Last Man Running - Chris Boucher [65]
‘Isn’t that what I tried to tell you?’ the runner said. ‘I tried to tell you that. You don’t listen, do you? So anyway, now that I’ve got your full attention, what exactly was this deal you wanted to make with me?’
The Doctor could not make up his mind whether the man was being serious. Could he be stupid as well as insane? He stared down at the unaffected situation far below. The gap in the chamber wall was closing up. The power that battered at the TARDIS continued unabated. He stared round the gallery. How did the runner know exactly what was happening all the time?
‘Face to face,’ the Doctor said emphatically. ‘I only make deals face to face.’
‘Are you impressed?’ the runner asked.
The Doctor stayed calm in the face of this new turn in the conversation.
‘With what?’
‘With this. It regularly remakes everything, more or less from scratch. It sterilises as it goes to remove the biological contamination brought in by the subjects.’
‘Subjects?’ the Doctor asked. ‘As in “experimental subjects”?’
‘It’s a remarkable piece of machinery,’ the runner went on, ignoring the question. ‘It retrieves all materials falling on the surface, meteorites and the like, and breaks them down, storing the materials for later use.’
‘That’s what happened to the ships,’ the Doctor said.
‘Yes. Bit of a problem, that. Your own vessel seems to be the only exception.’
‘My vessel?’
‘Don’t be coy, Thedoctor. I saw you come out of it. You and your fighter.’
The Doctor snorted derisively. ‘Out of that? Are you serious?’
‘I saw you.
The Doctor thought he heard uncertainty in the voice. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said, scornful and dismissive. ‘I’m terribly claustrophobic. I can’t imagine getting into that box, let alone travelling in it.’
‘How did you get here then?’ the voice challenged.
‘The same way you did,’ the Doctor said. ‘And this monstrosity ate the ship so we’re just as stranded as you are.’
‘No.’
The Doctor stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled towards the entrance to the gallery. ‘If you’re that convinced,’
he said, ‘I admit it. It’s my ship and I’m giving it to you. Now it’s your ship. Where shall we meet to discuss the deal I have for you?’
‘Shall I tell you what’s happening to it?’
‘The deal?’
‘The box. It seems to be time-shifting very slightly.
Backwards and forwards. Fascinating protective mechanism.’
The Doctor glanced down at the TARDIS. If you knew what to look for there was a tiny slippery shimmer that could be detected on the sharper, more clearly defined edges. If you saw it you might interpret it correctly as the runner had.
Insane, then, and homicidal, but not stupid. ‘Interesting theory,’ he said.
‘It’s taken a while to find the key to it,’ the runner said.
The Doctor grinned mirthlessly. ‘In other words you haven’t. And you won’t. My guess would be that it’s randomly phased.’
‘I don’t care if that’s a ship or the box you keep your currency and a change of clothes in – I want that time-shifting device. Do you have any idea of the sort of battle system I could develop out of that?’
‘Let me guess,’ the Doctor said, strolling out of the gallery.
‘The tomorrow-the-world sort.’
‘Leela? Are you there?’
It was the Doctor’s voice in the darkness. That did not mean it was the Doctor. Mimicking a voice was no great trick.
Leela had known warriors who did that to amuse a hunting party at the night’s fire. There were even animals and birds that did it to fool their prey.
‘Leela, where are you?’
Leela tensed slightly, ready for the change in what was happening and her chance to get free as a result of it. She closed her eyes and held them tight shut for a long moment, then opened them wide in an effort to catch some glimmer through the darkness. There was nothing to be squeezed out of the blackness. She narrowed her eyes now, but kept them open. If light came suddenly it would be blinding. She took a couple of deep breaths. She was ready.
‘Leela?’
The Doctor’s voice was becoming irritated.
‘Leela!’
Abruptly the cell was bright with light and as she had expected she was blinded by it,