Doctor Who_ Original Sin - Andy Lane [66]
‘Shut it,’ Forrester growled.
‘Yeah, shut it,’ Cwej repeated dutifully.
Or not, as the case may be.
She turned to face them. The elliptical shape of the spaceport loomed behind them, set atop five spindly towers and surrounded by a cloud of small ships arriving and departing. Somewhere on its upper surface, the Imperial Landsknecht scout ship that Beltempest had lent them would be preparing to leap into the clear blue sky. Good luck to it. Bernice’s journey from Purgatory to Earth, locked in the ship’s hold, had been uncomfortable, but mercifully short, and if she never saw the inside of a military vessel again between now and the end of time it would be too soon.
The sun was in Bernice’s eyes, and all she could see of the two Adjudicators was their silhouettes. Both of them were holding weapons. She wouldn’t be able to make it more than a few steps without getting shot, and that wouldn’t help her or the Doctor in the slightest.
‘Can I ask a question?’ she said, shading her eyes with her hand. ‘Does the concept “innocent until proven guilty” mean anything to you?’
Cwej looked at Forrester. ‘Does it?’ he asked her.
‘Not to me,’ she replied. ‘Far as I’m concerned, some people are innocent and others are guilty. Innocent until proven guilty sounds like a dangerous philosophical concept. I hate ambiguity.’
The walkway had emerged from the other side of the building by now, and its edge sliced across the sun, casting a shadow over all of them. Bernice shivered at the sudden chill. ‘So, where now?’ she said.
Forrester hesitated for a moment. ‘We have a problem,’ she said finally.
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‘You surprise me.’
‘Your friends in high places –’
‘My supposed friends in high places. For the record, I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about.’
‘Your supposed friends in high places want us off this case. Unfortunately for you, we’re not going to let ourselves be taken off. That means we can’t go back to our lodge, so we’re going to have to find somewhere else to interrogate you.’
‘Interrogate? Do you have to use that word? Can’t we just have a chat?’
‘Whatever you want to call it, we’re going to have to do it somewhere quiet and private.’
Bernice thought for a second. Something about what Forrester had said bothered her. ‘Hang on a second. Am I right in thinking that you suspect your own superior officer – this Adjudicator Secular person – is implicated in this plot?’
Forrester grimaced. ‘Yes,’ she admitted.
‘So does that mean that you went all the way to Purgatory to collect the Doctor and me without actually having official permission?’
‘Er . . . yes,’ Forrester said, abashed.
‘Wow,’ Bernice said. ‘I’m impressed.’
The walkway began to curve to the left. Looking over her shoulder, Bernice could see that it diverged in a smooth arc around a spiky building – another of those oddities of architecture that Earth seemed to go in for in the thirtieth century.
‘Hey!’ Cwej said suddenly. Bernice turned back to face him and Forrester.
‘I’ve got an idea!’
‘Treat it gently,’ Forrester murmured, ‘it’s in a strange place.’
Bernice tried to suppress a smile, but failed. Her eye caught Forrester’s. The Adjudicator’s lips twitched slightly, and she looked away. Bernice suddenly felt a laugh welling up within her. Great, she thought, here I am, sentenced to death for murder, light-years away from the Doctor, and I’m sharing private jokes with one of my captors. Life’s odd sometimes.
Cwej looked from Forrester to Bernice, aware that something was going on but uncertain what it was. ‘What’s the big laugh?’ he asked plaintively.
‘Forget it, golden boy,’ Forrester growled. ‘What’s your great idea then?’
‘My family!’ he said proudly.
‘Your what?’
‘We can hide out with my family. They’ll be glad to see me.’
Forrester gazed at him.
‘There’s no way of breaking it to you gently, Cwej, but if I was your family and you turned up on my doorstep on the run from the Adjudicators with a 114
prisoner you wanted to interrogate,