• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Fanson breathed a heavy sigh and sat down on the bench beside him. „I‟m not sure how bright I‟ve been about this,‟ he confessed. „I chose direct interrogation instead of a court appearance and an open pleading. I am innocent. They were right it was the logical choice.‟

„They were right?‟ the Doctor asked.

Fanson glanced at him, gave a small distracted shake of the head, and went on, „There‟s no chance the computer can read me any other way. But I‟ve had a preliminary and now a supplementary and they still haven‟t turned me loose.

Something‟s not scuffling right.‟

„Did you tell the truth?‟

Fanson smiled a half-hearted smile. „Technically.‟

„You did not then,‟ Leela said from the other side of the room where she was now trying to prise open the scanner plate. „What was the reason for that? There is always a reason. You cannot always spot what it is but there is always a reason.‟

It was clear how low Fanson must be feeling when he answered her directly and without any sign of irritation.

„Point is it was some sort of computer foul-up got me here in the first place. I don‟t know how bad it is.‟ He shook his head.

„I don‟t know how bad it is.‟

He was talking to himself as much as to Leela, the Doctor could see. „Yet you chose to rely on this computer?‟ he prompted.

„It‟s a glitch. Can‟t be anything else. I am innocent.‟

„The computer doesn‟t make mistakes. Interesting,‟ the Doctor said. „Just this one or all of them?‟

„It‟s all one and they don‟t lie. They can‟t lie, you know that.‟

Leela prowled back across the room and stood in front of them. „But you can,‟ she challenged. She glared at the Doctor. „He can lie. You know he can lie.‟

Fanson was still too depressed to react. „Not to the computer,‟ he said, shaking his head slightly as if to emphasise the impossibility of the idea. „The computer can‟t lie and it can‟t believe a lie. You can lie to other people, you can lie to yourself, but you can‟t lie to the computer. The computer knows what the truth is.‟

„Perhaps you‟re lying to yourself then?‟ the Doctor suggested. „Have you thought of that possibility?‟

Fanson rallied at last. „I‟m innocent, not crazy.‟ He looked at the Doctor suspiciously. „You‟re not a plant are you? They haven‟t put you in here to convince me that I did it have they?‟

„This computer,‟ Leela asked the Doctor, „is this like the god of the Tesh?‟

„No,‟ the Doctor said. „These are just machines. Merely machines,‟ he corrected himself. Whether they were just or unjust machines remained to be seen. All that could be said with certainty was that they were dominant in this society.

„Then why does he listen to it and do what it says?‟

„It‟s the law, it seems,‟ the Doctor explained.

„Why are you discussing me as though I‟m not here?‟

Fanson demanded.

Leela ignored him. „What was it you told me: if it looks like a duck, and it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck.‟

„It‟s probably a duck,‟ the Doctor said.

Leela shrugged, „So if it speaks like a god, and he treats it like a god, and it rules him like a god would rule him...?‟

Leela offered.

„It‟s probably not a duck,‟ the Doctor said and beamed at her. When he had told her that tired old duck routine, which he had always found quite amusing, he had not even been sure she had understood the basic point. And she had never seen a duck to the best of his recollection. But here she was adapting the argument to make a point of her own. She was getting quite sophisticated in her thinking. He really must try not to underestimate her.

„Enough of this,‟ Fanson declared. „Let‟s get to the gore.‟

„Get to the gore?‟ Leela asked.

„A colloquialism meaning let‟s get on with it, I imagine,‟ the Doctor suggested. ‘A nos moutons, cut to the chase...?‟

„You never stop talking do you,‟ Fanson commented. „And a good chunk of it doesn‟t make any sense at all.‟ It was not a criticism. „You‟re a natural. If fighting comes as naturally to her, you‟re going to be huge one of these fine