Doctor Who_ Original Sin - Andy Lane [135]
Trash the ship.
Bernice took a deep breath, then nodded slowly. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Thanks.’
She let her gaze roam over the corridor, and the armed Hith troops. They were setting up blaster emplacements, preparing to dig in for a siege. One of them, in an ornate body-sleeve, was glancing over towards her. Although he was engaged in conversation with a number of his troops, he looked as if he might be heading over at any moment.
‘Powerless Friendless,’ she said, ‘what will your people do if they get this ship back?’
‘With the engines on, the icarons are getting more energy, aren’t they?’ Cwej interrupted. ‘I mean, that was the point. The Hith can take the ship away and junk it. I mean, it’s dangerous.’
‘Don’t be a fool,’ Forrester snapped.
Powerless Friendless sighed. ‘It’s a weapon,’ he said, ‘and my people have been wronged. Grievously wronged. If somebody kills your friends and family, and takes your planet away from you, and then you find a weapon, what do you do with it?’
‘You use it,’ Forrester said levelly.
‘But we can’t let them.’ Cwej sounded outraged.
‘No,’ Powerless Friendless agreed. Forrester and Cwej both looked surprised. ‘There’s been too much killing. Too much hurting. Too much pain.
If the Hith are going to get anywhere, it has to be through talking. Diplomacy is the only solution.’
Bernice nodded. ‘Right on,’ she said, ‘“Jaw-jaw,” as the Doctor once told some fat old man who smoked cigars and tried to pinch my bottom, “is better than war-war.” As I see it, our priorities are: firstly, to destroy this ship; secondly, to defeat whatever evil bastard has been trying to kill us; and thirdly, to get out alive.’
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‘But not necessarily in that order,’ Forrester added.
‘And,’ Bernice continued, shooting Forrester a dark glance, ‘we can do it all in one fell swoop.’ She turned to Powerless Friendless. ‘Can you set the controls so that this ship appears in real space?’
‘In real space?’ Powerless Friendless looked stunned. ‘I thought you wanted to fly it away in hyperspace?’
Bernice shook her head. ‘We’ve got a whole load of your people on board.
They’d just take the ship off our hands. And even if we could defeat them, or lock ourselves in here, they must have arrived in something. All they have to do is follow us through hyperspace. No, the best course of action is destroy it here and now; bring the whole thing crashing down, and the INITEC building with it.’
Powerless Friendless shrugged. ‘I have bad memories of this building,’ he said. ‘I’m game.’
Cwej opened his mouth to protest, but Forrester elbowed him in the stomach. ‘Sign me up for it,’ she said as he bent double in pain. ‘I’d like to shove this ship right up the arse of the person who runs INITEC. After what he did to me . . . ’ She paused, and swallowed. ‘After what he did to Martle.’
Cwej nodded. ‘Fine,’ he said, still trying to catch his breath. ‘Whatever you say. But what about the people in the building?’
Glancing out into the corridor, Bernice could see the Hith commander slithering towards them.
‘If the congruities are preserved,’ she said, ‘then the ship will appear in mid-air outside the building. I think. I hope. It’ll drop down to the Undertown. Is there anything in particular underneath us here?’
‘Mostly deserted buildings and water,’ Powerless Friendless said, moving over to the controls. ‘The INITEC building is above the area where the old Scumble ship crashed, years ago. It’s a wasteland. And, let’s face it, if we can stop the icaron radiation, we’ll save more lives than we squander.’
‘I see you’ve got the Skel’Ske working,’ the commander said, addressing them all from the doorway. ‘Good work. How long before the ship is ready to go?’
‘Five minutes,’ said Powerless Friendless, without turning. ‘But it’s only going in one direction.’
‘What do you mean?’ the commander hissed. ‘Which direction?’
‘Lingerie, stationery and kitchen utensils,’ Bernice said with a smile.
The Doctor slipped a hand into his right trouser pocket, frowned, and