Doctor Who_ Original Sin - Andy Lane [63]
‘Oh, let’s,’ the Doctor muttered sourly, and preceded Beltempest out into the corridor.
The laboratory block was a short flitter ride away: a large, faceted building that shone like a jewel in the light of Purgatory’s sun. The administrative sector of the Imperial Landsknecht planet was probably the most attractive of all the different environments, Beltempest thought, as the flitter spiralled down towards a landing pad on the roof. The white lawn stretched as far away as the eye could see, interrupted every few kilometres by mountainous buildings, each fashioned by a different architect, each the pinnacle of a particular school of design. It was no wonder that Purgatory was one of the chief tourist spots in the Empire.
The flitter came to a gentle rest on the top of the laboratory building, and the pilot opened the doors. Beltempest led the Doctor – who was limping in his Landsknecht boots – to the nearest null-grav lift, and down to the laboratory that had been set aside for him to work.
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The Landsknechte that they passed in the lift and in the corridors saluted Beltempest, and cast odd glances at the Doctor. Still, at least they weren’t firing at him.
The laboratory was hemispherical, with enhanced scanner and presentation facilities in the segments of the ceiling, capable of displaying simularities of anything in the Imperial Landsknecht computers. Beltempest had guessed that the Doctor would be requiring them. Various items of equipment scavenged from other labs or pulled out of storage sat around the edges of the room. Beltempest couldn’t identify half of them. Fazakerli’s body lay on a trolley in the centre, in case the Doctor wished to continue his impromptu autopsy. A medbot loomed over it, looking like an explosion of insectile arms tipped with laser scalpels, repulsor field generators, scanners and plain, old-fashioned clamps. Nobody had bothered to cover the body up.
The Doctor’s gaze roamed over the entire room. It seemed to Beltempest that he was taking in every detail: every panel, every rivet, every bump in the walls.
‘Very well,’ he said finally. ‘I’ve seen better, but this should do. For the moment.’
‘Where do you want to start?’ Beltempest prompted.
‘How about a cup of lapsang souchong?’
Beltempest frowned. ‘I don’t think the cafeteria is set up to provide this
“lapsang souchong”.’
‘I can’t do anything without a decent cup of tea.’ The Doctor folded his arms and stared up into the domed ceiling until Beltempest, with a muffled curse, started rooting around amongst the items of equipment lining the walls for something that could provide refreshments.
It took ten minutes for Beltempest to locate an old refreshment bot, patch it into the main computer and search the database for a reference to the chemical composition of ‘lapsang souchong’. It seemed to Beltempest to be a tisane of some sort – an infusion of leaves in hot water. Intriguing. Beltempest thought he knew all the various tisanes used in the Empire. He would have to try this one himself.
Eventually he handed the Doctor a cup of steaming liquid that smelled of tar.
‘Thank you,’ the Doctor said. ‘Now, how does one get these screens working?’
‘Tell me what you want,’ Beltempest replied, ‘and I’ll call it up for you.’
The Doctor hesitated for a moment, sipping at his tea. ‘Can this computer of yours provide me with some kind of graphic display showing the locations of the various violent incidents that have occurred over the past few years?
Just those with no obvious motive where the perpetrator was easily caught.’
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‘I’m sure it can,’ Beltempest replied, and directed a list of instructions to the ever-attentive computer. Within moments, the dome above them lit up with a map of the galaxy. The Empire sectors were displayed in red. Beltempest felt his breathing quicken at the sight of fully half the