Doctor Who_ Original Sin - Andy Lane [116]
‘No,’ Beltempest said sadly. ‘But thanks for trying.’
There was silence for a few moments as darkness spread across the sky.
High above, moving stars denoted watchful Vanguard laser satellites and the comings and goings of Landsknechte ships. Odd, the Doctor thought, that the Hith should choose to live under the noses of their enemies, conducting their affairs of government from hiding. Odd, and rather courageous. That seemed to be the Hith way.
‘Did you come out for anything in particular, or just fresh air?’ he said finally.
‘There’s some sort of flap going on,’ Beltempest replied. ‘I think a message has come in. The slug in charge wanted me to come and fetch you.’
The Doctor sighed. ‘The slug?’ he said, raising his eyebrows. ‘You mean the Hith.’ The Doctor’s tone was dark with foreboding, but Beltempest either didn’t or wouldn’t take any notice.
‘If you like.’
‘It’s got nothing to do with what I do or do not like,’ the Doctor explained as if talking to a small child. ‘How would you like it if the Hith referred to you like that?’
‘They wouldn’t dare.’ Beltempest walked away. The Doctor watched him for a few seconds, then shrugged and followed. There was no hope for some 197
people.
Together, they re-entered the tent. Hater Of Humans was slumped in its chair. There was a feeling of suppressed excitement in the air.
‘Good news?’ the Doctor asked brightly.
‘We have received a message from Daph Yilli Gar, the navigator of the Skel’Ske!’ Hater Of Humans said, quivering slightly. ‘He is calling himself Powerless Friendless And Scattered Through Space now. He has found the ship!
You were right, Doctor, it is in hyperspace, occupying the same coordinates as the INITEC building.’ Hater Of Humans’s eyestalks gleamed with pride. ‘To think that after all this time, the Skel’Ske still works as it was intended to!’
Hater Of Humans was ecstatic. ‘We are preparing our fleet now.’
‘Fleet?’
Beside the Doctor, Beltempest frowned. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘What do you need a fleet for? I thought you were worried in case the radiation from this ship of yours interfered with the efforts of your diplomats?’
Hater Of Humans shifted slightly in its chair. ‘To help Daph Yilli Gar,’ it said.
‘He is under attack, and cannot get into the control room. He requests our aid.’
‘Don’t you think,’ the Doctor interposed, ‘that a Hith fleet in hyperspace near the Earth might be counter-productive?’
Hater Of Humans gazed at him for a moment, then slid away. The Doctor drummed his fingers against his lips. Much as he wanted to return to Earth, to Bernice and to the TARDIS, he didn’t particularly want to do it at the head of what might seem to be – or might actually turn out to be – an invasion fleet.
The figures for profit and loss that flickered deep in the desk indicated that the riots were spreading. Insurance claims were climbing steeply, weapon sales were going through the roof, tickets for offworld flights were changing hands at vastly inflated prices. Accordingly, the artificial intelligence that controlled INITEC’s financial affairs made various decisions in the absence of its master.
Property was obviously a bad investment at the moment, on the basis that it might not be there for much longer, so various buildings and prime sites on Earth were placed on the market – or rather, on markets far enough away that the news of the riots probably hadn’t reached them yet. Shares were purchased in construction and repair companies. All funds were transferred to financial systems offworld, just in case.
The flickering financial information in the desk reflected off the metal skin of INITEC’s chairman and major shareholder. Its only shareholder. Columns of blue and red figures scrolled in reverse across his gleaming chest. He did not notice. His attention was elsewhere, flitting back and forth between fifty 198
sleek killer robots as they hunted their prey through the corridors of the Hith ship. His ship.
For the first time in a millennium,