Doctor Who_ Prime Time - Mike Tucker [5]
Abruptly he leant forward, stabbing at a set of controls in front of him.
The surface of his desk shimmered as his videophone link activated, but the picture was nothing but static. Lukos scowled.
‘Roderik, activate your video feed.’
Nothing.
‘Saarl!’
The picture swam into life, Roderik Saarl’s sweating face filling the screen. He was red and breathless, Lukos caught a glimpse of naked shapes scurrying for cover in the background. ‘Disturbing something important, am I, Roderik?
Something to look out for on the expense account?’
‘You know I always have a work-out after a studio,’ said Saarl defensively. ‘You were the one who suggested that I get a personal trainer.’
‘I counted three personal trainers. I had no idea that you were so dedicated.’
Saarl grinned unpleasantly. ‘Very. Now is this just a social call, Vogol?’
‘No, Roderik, my dear. I want you over here for a board meeting.’
‘Now?’
‘Yes, my dear, now. We have a very important new programme that needs discussion – an award winner, no less.
My spinner will be over to collect you in twenty minutes.’
Lukos snapped off the communicator, and the desk faded back to mahogany.
‘You are becoming far too expensive in your tastes, Roderik, my dear. Still, our new star may be easier to keep.’
He pulled himself from behind his desk and crossed the office. A complex telescope on a tripod loomed in the picture window overlooking the valley, cables trailing to a tower of recorders and monitors.
Lukos peered through the eyepiece. The windows of the apartment block on the other side of the valley were pin-sharp in the viewer. He gave a sigh of disappointment. What was the point of getting the most beautiful vid model in the system staying there if she was never at home. He swung the telescope towards the valley floor, filters cutting in to shade his eyes from the glare from the cornfields.
He scanned the fields for a few moments, sweeping back and forth, searching. ‘I know you’re out there somewhere,’ he murmured.
A harvester lumbered into view and Lukos tracked it for a while, then he straightened. ‘No matter, no matter. I’ll get to see you soon enough.’
He swung the telescope back to its original position. He was about to shut it down when a movement on one of the monitors caught his eye.
A tall blonde in a low-cut dress had appeared in one of the windows, laden down with shopping bags. As Lukos watched she put down the bags, stretched and slid the straps of her dress from her shoulders.
‘Ah. A successful days shopping it seems. And now you will want to try your purchases on, no doubt.’
Lukos slid a chair over to the telescope and lowered himself into it.
‘Auntie.’
+YES, MR LUKOS+
‘How long until the first of our illustrious board of governors arrives?’
+54 MINUTES, MR LUKOS+
‘Excellent.’ Lukos slipped a disk into one of the recorders and I ‘ant forward, eyes fixed on the telescope viewscreen.
‘Just enough time for me to watch one of my favourite programmes.’
Chapter Two
Ace shrugged off her jacket and tied it around her waist. It was getting hot. The Doctor had grudgingly agreed to have a breather and she had settled down under the trees bordering the field. The city loomed closer now, spires and towers dominating the skyline. It was impressive she had to admit –
and it was still a long way off. A distant rumble of thunder reached her. There was a storm building.
She pulled another handful of berries from one of the bushes beside her and popped one into her mouth. The berries were about the size of grapes, but tasted like oranges. Ace had got quite addicted. A huge pile of them filled the Doctor’s hat.
She grimaced. The straw was getting stained with juice.
Something else for him to complain about.
She looked up to see where the Doctor was. He stood at the side of the cornfield studying something on the far side of the valley through his opera glasses. Ace tried to follow his gaze. There seemed to be a building set into the mountainside, it was difficult to tell through the heat haze. She frowned. He was