Doctor Who_ Match of the Day - Chris Boucher [95]
„A scuffling big price,‟ Ronick growled.
Finbar grinned. „The Doctor‟s bound to be good for it. Am I right Doctor?‟
„I don‟t normally carry cash I‟m afraid,‟ the Doctor said.
„Apart from jelly babies, which I usually trade for, I don‟t have much use for it.‟
„You could buy me ten times over with what that girl of yours would get for one fight.‟
The Doctor shook his head. „We have no immediate plans for a big money fight; he said and wondered why he was bothering to tell this young man technical truths.
„You‟re a man of your word,‟ Finbar said. „I know you‟ll pay me.‟
The Doctor looked at Ronick and at Sita. „It appears this is to be my treat,‟ he said. „So what do you want to do?‟
„As long as you‟re paying,‟ Ronick said. „I always fancied a trip to the high deep.‟
„There has to be an end to all this,‟ Sita said. „Reefer‟s the key. Find him and it all falls into place. I badly want it all to fall into place. I want to know who it is I‟m going to...‟ She paused as though searching for the precise word and then said finally, „punish.‟
Find him, the Doctor thought, and it all falls into place?
How likely is that? Again: could one not-very-well-known duellist really be what all this was about? And when had that theory stopped being thin and become the only possible explanation? Movement instead of action, is that what was happening?
„We have to move,‟ Finbar said, „if you‟re going to do this.‟
The Doctor got to his feet. For the moment he couldn‟t think of an alternative course of action. Movement was all that was left. „Is it far?‟ he asked.
„Pretty far,‟ Finbar said. „But it is getting closer all the time.‟
„I was talking about the ship,‟ the Doctor said.
Finbar gestured them to follow him. „So was I,‟ he said.
Once Keefer had decided on his new strategy it was a lot easier to avoid pointless fights with hakai-warriors. The Fat Boys were not tasked to protect the flight deck and he was not wandering about looking for an unidentified hiding place that could be changing as he searched. The flight deck stayed put and nobody saw any reason to hide it. To make it easier still the flight crew of the Ultraviolet Explorer wore smart, pseudo-military uniforms when they were on duty and went about their business with a brisk formality. Obviously the Lady Hakai liked the appearance of a tight ship to be maintained.
He followed a uniform to the flight deck and stood in the shadow of a bulkhead to watch the security procedure for entering and leaving. After several members of the flight crew had come and gone through the automatic airlock he concluded that there was no security procedure. There was no print reader, no iris scanner, not even a basic keypad and a couple of surveillance cameras. The richest woman in the known worlds, with her own fanatical warrior cult to protect her, and the control centre for her space palace is left accessible to any passing chancer who happens to have got on board. Keefer was not sure that made any sense. Maybe there was something he‟d missed.
Just to be on the safe side, he withdrew into a side companionway so that he was out of the immediate line of sight of the entrance. As he waited for a member of the crew to come within reach it suddenly struck him that he was definitely losing his edge. Maybe there was something he‟d missed? What was he thinking of? Just to be on the safe side he was waiting to kidnap a crew member and use him to get past some hypothetical security system? When had he started to think like that? He checked the handgun: there were four shots left. He tucked it in his belt. He hefted the short sabre: loosening his arm and wrist. Enough of this nonsense, he thought. It was time to take over the flight deck and flush out his enemy. Impatient with himself he stepped out into the main corridor and strode unhesitatingly towards the flight deck.
* * *
Leela hesitated. She had managed to get the breathing