Doctor Who_ Original Sin - Andy Lane [108]
Pryce’s eyes opened slowly, and he turned his black gaze on the Doctor.
‘Icarons are elementary particles that exist in their rest state in hyperspace,’
he whispered. ‘As their energy levels increase, they slip from hyperspace into the real universe. In this regard they are the opposite of normal matter, which requires energy to take it from the real universe into hyperspace. It is that extra energy, over and above the rest-state energy of particles of normal matter, that makes them so dangerous to the human mind.’ He smiled slightly. ‘You appreciate that I use the term “real” with some distaste. Nothing is real. All is illusion.’
‘And so,’ the Doctor added, ‘by building a spaceship around a low-energy icaron particle accelerator, you ensure that it actually prefers being in hyperspace – which is, if you like, its natural habitat. The low-energy icarons act as an anchor in hyperspace, whereas, if they are given energy, they pull it into real space. Most of its power can then be diverted to weapons and manoeu-vrability.’ He raised his eyebrows as the implications of the thought unrolled before him In a strange sort of way, the Hith had done with a spaceship what the Time Lords had done with a time craft. After all, TARDISes ‘lived’ in the time vortex, and only emerged into reality under protest and with much encouragement.
Beside him, Provost-Major Beltempest caught his breath. ‘Incredible,’ he said. ‘A ship like that could have changed the course of the war if it hadn’t been captured!’
184
Hater Of Humans shifted in its seat. Beside it, Hopeless Itinerant curled a pseudo-limb around the vestigial shell at the base of its tail and yanked hard.
‘You have no idea how pleased I am to hear it,’ Hater Of Humans murmured over Hopeless Itinerant’s squeal. ‘But you distract me.’ It turned to Pryce.
‘Professor Pryce, where is our ship? Where is the Skel’Ske?’
Pryce shook his head.
‘I do not know,’ he said simply.
‘But . . . ?’ Hater Of Humans jerked upright in its seat. The guard grabbed for her gun.
‘After my mind was opened to higher possibilities,’ Pryce whispered, low and compulsively, ‘after the sacrament of pain and degradation was revealed to me, the Imperial Landsknechte took your ship away. I believe it was given to an independent company with experience in subatomic particles. They were contracted to take it apart, on the basis that they could patent any spin-off technology. I don’t know which company it was.’ He smiled. ‘By then, I was past caring about such mundane things as finance. Only death interested me.
Death, and the prolonging of the moment of death, the stretching of pain until it became like a fine, taut wire that, when plucked, rang out in a scream of pure agony.’
Pryce closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. All eyes and eyestalks turned from him to Provost-Major Beltempest.
‘Don’t look at me,’ he protested. ‘Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you.’ He turned to look at the Doctor.
‘Who would be likely to get such a contract?’ the Doctor said.
‘Doctor, I will not discuss classified information with aliens!’
The Doctor removed a gold Hunter watch from his waistcoat pocket and opened the face. As Beltempest, Pryce and Hater Of Humans watched, fascinated, he counted off ten seconds, then put the watch away.
‘Based upon my earlier calculations in your laboratory,’ he said, ‘fifteen people have just gone mad on Earth as a result of the release of icaron radiation from the Skel’Ske. How many more will you allow to die? What proportion of humanity will have to be sacrificed before you change your mind? Who knows what the effects will be on the Empire? We have to make them realize the dangers of dealing with icarons!’
Beltempest took a deep breath. ‘You have an unerring knack of reducing everything to a simple choice between two unpleasant alternatives,’ he said through clenched teeth. ‘If I wanted robotic workers for something, I would choose INITEC. Their experience in cybernetics and robotics is unparalleled.’
‘INITEC?’ the Doctor queried. ‘I thought I’d come