Doctor Who_ Peacemaker - James Swallow [66]
‘Yes, must be,’ agreed the Doctor. ‘I wouldn’t go lending it to anyone else, though. Well, maybe Nathan. . . But when you’ve read it, things will make a bit more sense, I promise.’ He smiled again. ‘Bye!’
He left them there in silence; then the sound of mighty engines of infinity wheezed into action, and the TARDIS vanished into the fading light of the sunset.
Inside the time ship, the Doctor circled the central console and fiddled with the controls, patting and tapping the machine as one might stroke a cat, while the central column rose and fell, rose and fell.
Martha jerked her head in the direction of the doors. ‘Was that a sensible thing to do, giving Jenny a copy of a book that hasn’t even been written yet?’
‘Ah, it’s OK,’ he said airily. ‘I mean, what’s she going to do? It’s not like she can post spoilers on the internet, is it?’
‘Good point,’ she agreed. Martha’s fingers strayed to the hem of her leather jacket and she suddenly realised she was toying with the spot where Tangleleg’s energy blast had hit her. She drew in a sharp breath, and from the corner of her eye she saw the Doctor pause.
163
‘I’m glad you’re all right,’ he told her, the mirth fading for a moment.
‘I’m only sorry it wasn’t enough. There’s always some who slip away. . .
The Sheriff, Walking Crow, Alvin Godlove. . . ’
‘Him?’ Martha blinked. ‘But he was a scumbag!’
‘Really?’ The Doctor eyed her. ‘Have you forgotten about all the people that man cured of smallpox, and who knows what other illnesses while he was carrying the Clade? I know he was motivated by greed, but a life saved is still a life saved.’
Martha paused, mulling it over.
Perhaps the Doctor was right.
Godlove had just been a quack con-artist with loose morals; she shuddered to think what could have happened if someone really dangerous, a true killer, had found the Clade in the woods that night.
‘In his own warped sort of way, Alvin Godlove was trying to do the right thing. He was just. . . too weak to stand up to it.’ She heard him sigh. ‘The Clades have the power to heal or to kill.’ He looked at the holster still belted around his waist and with a frown, he took it off and put it aside. ‘Any kind of technology, it’s always the same. It’s not black or white, good or evil. It’s how you use it, the intention behind it, that’s the important thing.’
‘Peacemakers,’ said Martha, thinking.
‘Yes,’ replied the Doctor. After a moment, he crossed to where he’d dumped his brown coat in a heap on the chair and dipped into a pocket, his hand returning with her cell phone. His expression was troubled. ‘I. . . I thought you might want this back.’ He tossed it and Martha caught it out of the air. ‘Just in case, y’know, if you wanted to call home.’
Martha opened the phone and her finger hovered over the keys.
Whenever she had a bad experience in the past, it was Tish that she called, Tish who she moaned to, Tish that listened to her cry when she was dumped or just emotional over something. Martha thought about those moments after she had been injured, thinking of her family and wanting to see them again.
But what could she tell her sister if she called her? I’m just phoning from the Wild West to tell you how I got zapped by a space alien super gun with a mind of its own. She gave a slight shake of her head and 164
snapped the phone shut again.
The Doctor was still watching her. ‘After what happened, I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to, you know. . . call it a day.’
‘Call it a day?’ Martha repeated. ‘You mean, go home?’ She nodded at the door again. ‘Are you throwing me out?’
‘What?’ The Doctor was abashed. ‘No, never. You’re a brilliant house guest. You do your share of the washing up and you don’t leave dirty kilts everywhere, not like some people.’ He paused, taking a breath. ‘It’s not that at all. I meant go home if you want to,’ he said, without weight. ‘It’s not all fun and games, is it? It’s risky, being a wanderer in the fourth dimension. I’d totally understand if you’d had enough, if all that was too much for you.’ He sighed. ‘It’s not every day you stare death