Doctor Who_ Match of the Day - Chris Boucher [63]
‘You have a wonderful office,’ the Doctor said smiling.
‘It’s not to everyone’s taste,’ the minister said modestly, ‘but I like it .’
‘The daughter of your friend, what was her name... you introduced her that night, Sita Benovides, yes that was it, she said you had excellent taste, but I had no idea.’ The minister’s expression darkened and the Doctor wondered if he had sounded insincere, but then he realised that it must have been the mention of the girl’s name that had caused the change.
The minister confirmed it when he said, ‘You would be wise to forget you ever met that young woman.’
‘I’ll do my best,’ the Doctor said. ‘If that is your best advice.’
The minister nodded. ‘It is. Now what can I do for you exactly?’
‘The development of my business is being hampered by the fact that I have no official ID. It was suggested that this might be as a result of an administrative error in the Ministry of State Security, though I know this is not the case.’
Interpreted in one way, that sounded like a vote of confidence in the minister’s department or at the very least an expression of friendly solidarity with the minister himself.
The chances were that would be the way the man would hear it because that would be the way he wanted to hear it. Once again the Doctor was uncomfortably aware of the way truth and lies could simply be a matter of tone and phrasing. I’m not lying, the Doctor thought. I am not technically lying. I am not lying technically. And the man is a politician so he should know about these things. He is a professional...
The minister sighed. ‘I wish I had your confidence. You can’t get the staff you know. They just don’t seem to be out there any more.’ He pressed a button on his desk and two assistants, one male and one female, bustled in. ‘Arrange to have the Doctor rescanned and reissued with a full ID will you,’ he said to the man, and to the woman he said, ‘Is she waiting?’
‘Yes minister,’ she said.
‘Is everything in place?’
‘Yes.’
‘I want her kept waiting. But everything else is ready?’
‘Ready on full stand-by.’
‘Very well.’ The minister dismissed them with an imperious wave of his hand. ‘What were we saying?’ he said to the Doctor.
‘No staff out there?’ the Doctor suggested.
The minister nodded. ‘A changing world. Dark forces at work...’ His voice trailed off.
‘Dark forces?’ the Doctor prompted.
‘How’s the fighting school coming along?’ the minister said, ignoring the question as if it had never been spoken.
The Doctor resisted the urge to ask again what the minister had meant and instead smiled cheerily and said, ‘Training and recruiting. Early days yet.’
‘Speaking as a traditionalist,’ the minister said, ‘I’m still not sure I hold with these new-fangled ideas of yours.’
The Doctor contrived to look crestfallen. ‘Oh dear. And I was hoping you could help me with a duellist I wanted to recruit. I’m having trouble contacting him.’
The minister smiled indulgently. ‘I’m not running a communications network, Doctor. What’s this fighter’s name?’
‘Keefer,’ the Doctor said. ‘I understand he’s a well-thought-of young duellist who has no agent at the present time.’
The minister’s expression did not change. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I can’t help you with that.’ His expression still did not change as he stood up, thus obliging the Doctor to do the same. ‘If you see my assistant on the way out he’ll deal with the ID for you.’
‘I’m obliged to you, Minister,’ the Doctor said, wondering what it was about the name Keefer that had caused the State Security Minister to react with such a determined show of not reacting. Curious that, and rather a pity. He had started to think that the whole Jerro Fanson mystery was not a mystery after all and now here it was again.
By way of farewell the minister said, ‘I shall expect tickets to Leela’s first formal match.’ And the fixed, indulgent smile never left his face.
As he came out of the office the