Doctor Who_ Match of the Day - Chris Boucher [71]
Ronick nodded. „Criminal court jurisdiction,‟ he said. „It was murder, no question about that.‟
The Doctor still found himself slightly surprised by the contradictory attitudes to killing in this world. As far as he could work out the only real difference between legal and illegal killing appeared to be the consent of the people involved. If everyone agreed then it was a duel and the Rules of Attack applied; if someone didn‟t agree then it was murder and the police dealt with it. There was a certain logic about the whole arrangement, a sick, destructive logic but a logic nonetheless, and it worried him a little that he could recognise that to be the case. „So how can I help you?‟
Ronick said, „The victim‟s name was Nenron.‟ He paused possibly waiting for a reaction, the Doctor thought, and when he got none he went on, „He drove runners for a living. At least that was what it said on his ID. In fact he was a minor criminal into anything that would turn a dishonest dollar. He was involved in the corruption a colleague of mine was investigating at Aerospace Main. Cargo-skimming, haulers of all kinds: cash, pharmaceuticals, biologicals; illegal off-world travel transfers. Usual stuff.‟
„Sounds like a thoroughly lawless sort of place,‟ the Doctor said.
„Not especially,‟ Ronick said. „No more than you‟d expect from a main interplanetary terminus.‟ He shrugged with the professional‟s dismissive cynicism. „You name it though and
„Space Main‟s probably got it. Except a criminal mastermind, which is what my colleague was supposed to be looking for.‟
„This man Nenron wasn‟t a criminal mastermind then?‟
Ronick laughed mirthlessly. „He was a small-time player, big time enough to get himself dead it seems, but strictly small time.‟
The Doctor resisted the impulse to volunteer information.
„You still haven‟t said why you‟ve come to see me?‟
Ronick‟s eyes narrowed and more or less vanished. „Nenron was last seen in the company of your principal fighter.
What‟s her name: Leela is it?‟
„Ah,‟ the Doctor said, and thought: how did he know that?
„If it‟s Leela you want to talk to I‟m afraid you will have to come back. She isn‟t here at the moment and there‟s no way I can contact her.‟
„Because you have no idea where she is, I know,‟ Ronick said. „It appears she has disappeared, yes?‟
Playing for time by being even more deliberately obtuse, the Doctor asked, „Are you suggesting there‟s a connection of some kind?‟
„I‟m suggesting there‟s a number of connections of all kinds. My colleague saw you coming out of the State Security Minister‟s office as she was going in to be arrested, for example.‟
Surprised the Doctor said, „Your colleague is Sita Benovides? I didn‟t know she was a policeman.‟
„She isn‟t. She‟s a major in state security.‟
„Arrested for...?‟
Ronick ignored the question. „Now this is all circumstantial, you could even say it‟s coincidental. But my feeling is coincidences only happen when someone makes them happen. And my question is, could that someone be you?‟
„No,‟ the Doctor said emphatically, „it couldn‟t.‟
„You would say that wouldn‟t you,‟ Ronick said cheerfully.
„Yes I would,‟ the Doctor agreed equally cheerfully. „Why don‟t you believe in coincidences?‟
„I don‟t believe in a lot of things,‟ Ronick said. „I don‟t believe in my colleague‟s chances of getting out of this frame-up in one piece. Which would be a waste because I think one piece is a good look for her. I also don‟t believe you‟re telling me the truth.‟
„You‟re quite right,‟ the Doctor said. „There is no such thing as coincidence. It‟s the law of probability and pattern recognition, nothing more. And I never lie. Not deliberately anyway.‟
Ronick‟s eyes narrowed again. „I don‟t even believe you‟re who you say you are.‟
„Have I said who I am?‟ the Doctor asked, wondering if Ronick did that thing with his eyes deliberately.
„This so-called school is a front. You‟re not a genuine agent.
Leela‟s not a genuine duellist.‟
The Doctor strove to look outraged. „How can you say that to me?‟ he demanded