Doctor Who_ Return of the Living Dad - Kate Orman [74]
‘I checked a few years ago, just before I met the Doctor.
Cadet Kyle is a Captain now.
‘All the things I wanted to say to his face still bubble up in my mind, sometimes, if I wake up at night, or when I sit down on grass or leaves... I never got the chance to say any of it, of course. I never will. For months afterwards it was like I had this constant inner dialogue where I was scripting what I’d say to him if we ever met again. I wanted to put it behind me, but I couldn’t get it out of my head.
‘The monks helped a bit, after I crash-landed on their planet. They did this strange meditation’ where one of them pretended to be him, and I could call him a liar and a traitor and tell him how I would never trust him again and didn’t love him anymore because he’d shown me that he didn’t love me.
And that he’d just used me to have fun, because enjoying himself was all he cared about. And that I didn’t want to hear his rationalizations. And that we’d obviously never really been friends at all.’
Benny stopped and ran a hand over her forehead.
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘that’s what happened with Simon Kyle, who was my best friend and my first lover. So yeah, Daddy. I understand. A little bit.’
She realized that Joel was standing on the staircase, hovering uncertainly.
‘Oh,’ he said, realizing he’d been spotted. ‘Look. Um.
Admiral, there’s something you’d better see.’
The tape begins with a blast of unfocused movement’ as though the camera was switched on before its operator was quite ready.
Suddenly it cuts to a figure, looming close to the camera, a dark blotch against a lighter background. The figure does something to the camera, and the brightness increases.
The figure steps back into shot. It’s Albinex. He backs up and sits down, so that his head and shoulders appear in the frame.
‘Hello, Admiral,’ he says. ‘Firstly, I want to apologize for this. It’s not the sort of thing I usually get up to.’
He folds his arms, a little awkwardly, as though he’s a bit embarrassed about the whole thing. ‘But I’m very determined.
I warn you, don’t get involved. This is between the Doctor and me. Don’t try to interfere.’
He sits back, and the automatic focus on the camera adjusts to follow him. ‘This message is really for the Doctor.
You already know what I want. I can assure you that I’m not going to use the destructor codes for any destructive purpose.’
(‘Suuuuure,’ says Joel.)
He pauses for a moment, as though realizing the contradiction he’s just presented. ‘I can’t tell you my actual plan, of course,’ he goes on. ‘But I can tell you that I’m not going to stop at anything. I need those codes.’
(‘Cut to the chase,’ says Benny.)
‘I’ve got your TARDIS, of course, but that didn’t seem to be enough to persuade you. So now I’ve got something else to bargain with. Come with me.’
He gets up from the chair, obscures the camera as he picks it up. A blast of static as he switches it off. Then: A shaky close-up of something — someone. The camera zooms out, wobbling from side to side.
A hand-held shot of a young woman, unconscious, lying on a concrete floor. She’s dressed all in black. She’s half curled, as though sleeping uncomfortably. Her breathing is slow, but obvious.
(‘Oh my God,’ says Benny.)
She looks as though she’s in her late teens. She looks terribly vulnerable, lying there on the floor.
The shot goes wild. After a moment, we see Albinex, who’s presumably holding the camera at arm’s length, with some effort. ‘I’m going to add a location at the end of this tape,’ he says, his voice echoing off concrete walls. ‘Doctor, come alone. Let me emphasize that. Come here by yourself.
I’ve got scanning equipment — I’ll know if you bring any of the Admiral’s crew or your companions.
‘I won’t hurt you. I won’t hurt her. All I want are those codes.’
(‘But she’s too young!’)
The camera swings again. A final shot of the sleeping girl.
(‘But she’s too old. She’d only be thirteen this year’) The image cuts out’ to be replaced by a miniature