Doctor Who_ Original Sin - Andy Lane [48]
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‘But what about the price?’ he asked. ‘Isn’t it expensive? I’m only on a basic salary, you know?’
‘Don’t worry,’ she said neutrally. ‘It’s covered.’
‘But don’t we . . . ?’
‘Look!’ she snapped, ‘I don’t necessarily want to do this any more than you do, but we both took the Adjudicator’s oath, and I still remember something about swearing to do everything in my power to uphold justice. So, like it or not, I’m getting on that Falardi ship. Coming?’
There was something about her tone of voice that caught his attention. He turned to look at her. She was looking away from the spacecraft with her arms folded across her chest. Her knuckles were white.
‘What’s the matter?’ he asked.
‘Nothing,’ she snapped.
‘Come on, what is it?’
She looked sideways up at him. Her lips were a thin line, and two bright spots of colour burned in her cheeks. ‘I hate aliens,’ she said quietly. ‘Especially the Falardi.’
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘But . . . but they’re just like you and me. I mean –’
She shook her head. ‘You don’t understand,’ she said. ‘A Falardi killed Fenn Martle, my partner. I’ve hated them ever since.’
Bernice’s heart was pumping, and she felt faint. She didn’t mind facing death; she’d done it often enough before. It was the fact that she didn’t know why that hurt. It was the fact that she might die in ignorance.
‘Bright ideas?’ the Doctor asked.
Bernice sat down in the centre of the clearing. She could feel eyes watching her from all around. The knowledge that they were up against the armed might of an entire planet weighed her down; she felt like crawling into a ball and going to sleep. For ever, if necessary. She just didn’t want to move.
‘Give up?’ she ventured.
‘I’m over a thousand years old,’ the Doctor said, looking around. ‘If I’d given up, where would I be now?’
‘Well,’ she snapped, ‘you wouldn’t be standing in the middle of a killer jungle, with an expanse of acidic ice on one side and a ruined city full of mind-sucking wraiths on the other, waiting for a load of gun-toting morons to blow your head off.’
‘You’re being defeatist,’ he chided. ‘Come on.’
He held out a hand. After a few seconds, she reached out to take it.
‘Never say die,’ he said, pulling her to her feet.
‘Even if everything inside you wants to say it?’ she asked.
83
‘Especially then,’ he smiled.
She breathed deeply, then pulled the diminutive Time Lord to her and hugged him tightly. ‘Doctor . . . ?’
‘Yes,’ he said, a smile crossing his face. ‘I know.’
Somewhere above them, Bernice could make out a descending whine.
‘Flitter,’ said the Doctor. ‘That’ll be the troops. There’s only one chance.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I don’t know yet, but there’s always one chance. Let’s try and find out what it is.’
Taking her hand, he led the way into the jungle. Within moments, the fleshy foliage had closed around them. Bernice couldn’t see more than a few feet in any direction. The leaves were warm to the touch, and flinched as she pushed her way past.
A sudden whine in her ear made her jerk her head away. A dartlike shape whizzed past her, so close that she could feel the breeze of its passage. The insect halted in mid-air a few feet away, eyes glittering as it studied her.
‘Don’t move,’ the Doctor hissed.
‘I wasn’t intending to,’ she hissed back. ‘Not unless it comes back this way.’
‘Look at that proboscis.’
‘That what?’
‘That – oh, never mind.’
The thing suddenly flashed towards her, too fast for her to see. She tried to duck, but knew she would be too late. Her heart seemed to stop as she waited for the impact.
Nothing came.
She opened her eyes. For a moment she thought she had gone blind, then she realized there was a dark shape blocking her vision.
The Doctor’s hat.
He lowered his hand, carefully squashing the hat closed. Something within it buzzed, and the hat shook slightly.
‘Fast,’ he said. ‘But not fast enough. Good thing this hat is made from something more than just cloth.’
‘Doctor . . . ’ she said shakily. There was another whine nearby, and her head jerked involuntarily. Sweat prickled across