Doctor Who_ Original Sin - Andy Lane [46]
His pilot, a close-cropped young Landsknecht with metallic skin and eyes like those of a dead fish, also held a blaster. To Bernice he looked a lot more trigger-happy than his superior.
The Doctor stood beside Bernice. He was looking around with interest, fanning his face with his hat. ‘Some people collect stamps,’ he said brightly,
‘and others collect beer-mats. You obviously collect planets.’
79
‘Not me,’ Beltempest responded, wiping the sweat from his domed forehead with the back of his hand. He seemed in no hurry to do anything. ‘The Landsknechte. As you saw from the orbit, Purgatory has been terraformed into a set of different segments, each with its own ecology and climate, each separated from the others by a force wall. Some even have their own individual atmospheres. We have copies of thousands of planets here, each one presenting its own special survival problems. They’re all training grounds for our Landsknechte. All apart from the administration, spaceport and the accommodation segments, of course.’
‘I don’t think “terraformed” is the right word,’ the Doctor said quietly.
‘Why not?’
‘Because it means “made to look like the Earth”.’
‘I stand corrected. What would you prefer?’
‘Distorted?’ the Doctor suggested. ‘Twisted? Perverted?’
‘You don’t appreciate what we’re trying to do,’ Beltempest said, gesturing carelessly to the forest with the blaster. ‘This segment, for instance, is a perfect representation of the jungles of Ybarraculos Epsilon. Nasty place. Wouldn’t go there for a holiday, that’s for sure.’
‘That’s all right,’ the Doctor murmured, ‘they wouldn’t take you.’
Beltempest waved the blaster off to one side. ‘Over there,’ he continued,
‘this segment abuts onto one representing the acid ice-cap of Throssa. You might want to avoid that one: the icefish have a particular taste for human eyes, and it’s an evens bet whether their caustic flesh kills you before their teeth do.’
Bernice suppressed a shudder. ‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’ she asked.
‘On the other hand,’ and he pointed over their shoulders, ‘in that direction you will find a perfect replica of one of the ruined emerald cities of Dargol.
Beautiful place. Absolutely beautiful. Don’t stop moving, though, or the jewel-wraiths will melt your minds out through your ears.’ He smiled. ‘Or perhaps I’m lying. Who can tell? Anything could be true here. The Landsknechte set Purgatory up some years ago. We’ve replicated almost every environment that the Landsknechte might be called upon to fight in. We can simulate almost every type of conflict in every potential location. Very useful. Our lads leave here the best fighters in the galaxy, ready to take on any alien scum under any conditions.’
‘Those that leave at all,’ the Doctor murmured to Bernice.
‘The strong survive,’ Beltempest said, overhearing him. ‘And the weak die.
That’s why we won the Wars of Acquisition. Superior training. Superior personnel.’ He tapped his head. ‘Superior intellects.’
The Doctor scratched his head. ‘Now who was it who said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us”?’
80
‘Any advice for us?’ Bernice asked.
Beltempest’s warm, friendly eyes suddenly weren’t so warm and friendly any more. ‘Run,’ he said. ‘Run fast. And then die.’
‘This isn’t fair,’ she protested. ‘It isn’t fair and it isn’t legal.’
‘It’s perfectly legal,’ Beltempest said calmly. ‘The War Act of 2825 gave the Landsknechte full powers to administer their own laws to their own personnel on their own planets and on their own space vessels, and to administer punishments as they saw fit. We’re not Adjudicators. The penalty for anything on Landsknecht planets and vessels is death. That’s how we maintain discipline.’
‘But the war’s over,’ the Doctor said.
‘Unfortunately, due to an oversight on the part of the then Imperator, the Act was never rescinded.’
‘Unfortunately?’
‘For you.’
‘But we’re not in