Doctor Who_ Psi-Ence Fiction - Chris Boucher [84]
'o geer! A definite star!'
The Doctor was aware that, of all six members of the group, it was Josh Randall who had shown the most obvious loss of ability so far. Judging from the tapes of the experiments he seemed to have become the most disruptive too. Perhaps he resented the disappearance of his talent.
On the other screen Tommy Carmodie was waiting for his cue. Until the signal bulb flashed he would not reach for the first card in the dealing shoe on the clear Perspex table in front of him. As always, the sender was not allowed to touch the cards before he or she was cued.
When the Doctor read the notes for this short-range telepathy test sequence he was struck by the extra difficulty Hitchins had built into it.
Usually sender and receiver got the same light cue at the same time, but for this series only the sender was getting a cue. The receiver, the already failing
Josh Randall, had to guess not only the card but also the moment it was turned over.
The light cue flashed and Tommy drew the card and lifted the star so that it was clearly visible on screen, then he put it down on the table and stared at the image.
'Star,' the Doctor said watching Josh on the other screen. There was something very studied about his lack of interest. It was an exaggeratedly theatrical display of boredom. 'What a star I am,' the Doctor said thoughtfully as Josh yawned and said nothing.
On the second cue Tommy held up a card showing two wavy lines. On the other screen Josh was leaning back in the chair and his eyes were closed.
'Come on, wave,' the Doctor said.
On voice-over Barry Hitchins said, 'Subject Josh Randall appears to be hostile to the experiment. Perhaps he's been thrown by the additional discipline though I'm not sure at the moment why this should be. Examine the sequence up to this point for clues to his behaviour.'
The Doctor said, 'But you're not seeing his behaviour are you?'
On the screen Josh said, Have we started yet?'
Another card was cued. Again it was a star.
A definite star,' the Doctor said. 'Star, wavy lines, star.'
On the screen Josh said, 'Bored with this game. Let's play something else.
Snap? How about snap?' He nodded as if making up his mind. 'Snap!'
"It'll be another star,' the Doctor predicted.
On the cue Tommy drew another card showing a star.
Is there no end to their talent?' Josh chortled. Well, yes there is actually, and we're approaching it about now.'
All right,' Barry's voice announced with the slightest of feedback echoes.
'Thank you both. Call that a day I think.'
Sow and all right had been spoken almost simultaneously.
The Doctor's fragile optimism vanished. Josh Randall had just displayed remarkable powers of precognition. His control of it was so good that he could take the time to play games and pretend it wasn't happening. How far into the future could he see? Had he got other powers? And why was he covering up what he could do?
'How do you find out what they're trying to cover up?' Detective Constable Bartok asked as he set about squeezing the unmarked pool car into the only remaining parking space in the university's secondary main car park.
Detective Sergeant Simpson said, 'Cover up?'
'Your theory of detective work. Let them get on with it; see what they're trying to cover up.'
'Oh that.' Simpson smiled. 'You wait for them to make a mistake.'
'That means' Bartok pulled the car back. 'That if they don't make a mistake'
He took another swing at the space. They'll get away with it.'
'And your point is?' Simpson asked.
Bartok struggled to get the car to straighten up and fit into the narrow gap.
'My point is, that way you're only going to catch' He failed and pulled the car back a second time. 'You're only going to catch the failures.'
'That's all we ever catch. Failures. By definition that's all we ever catch.'
Simpson yawned and rubbed his eyes.
A vertical ripple ran horizontally