Doctor Who_ Sleepy - Kate Orman [95]
They sat back against the trees they were leaning on.
‘Shit,’ said Seketo.
‘It wasn’t supposed to do that, was it?’
‘I don’t know,’ said the young warrior. ‘I don’t think so.
What other side effects did the damned thing have?’
‘Cancer, or brain damage, or... do you think we can still have children?’
‘I don’t think we know one another well enough,’ said Seketo.
Munoru closed his eyes. ‘This isn’t funny,’ he said.
Seketo checked his chronometer. ‘I’ll worry about it if I’m still alive in an hour,’ he said.
Benny gratefully sat down with her back to a tree. This had been the hardest and fastest excavation she’d ever overseen. Tomorrow she was going to be a mass of pulled muscles.
A couple of techies were finishing up the last of the repairs, laser-torching a metal patch on SLEEPY’s prow. The colonists were sitting about in an exhausted semicircle, watching. The two lieutenants sat together on the other side of the shuttle.
‘Here they come,’ said SLEEPY. Its voice was routed through an old railway tannoy they’d dug up out of the TARDIS and hung from a tree, echoing eerily through the clearing.
Benny held up an arm, shielding her eyes as she watched the Doctor’s shuttle drop smoothly into the trees.
Her digital watch loomed in front of her face. Less than an hour to go.
The Doctor came into the clearing at a run, trailing Chris and Roz and — what was his name? — Lieutenant Ngaiyo.
Benny pulled herself slowly to her feet. When this was over, she was going to sleep for a week.
‘Any sign of White?’ asked the Doctor.
She shook her head. ‘We’ve done everything we can as far as repairs go.’
The Doctor looked down into the ditch. The shuttle’s hull was a patchwork, its shattered windows welded over with chunks of flat metal. Its landing gear was simply gone; it lay on its belly in the mud.
Will it really fly?’ he asked.
‘Well. I wouldn’t go up in it,’ said Benny.
‘Let’s do it,’ said SLEEPY.
‘All right,’ said the Doctor. ‘How’s your connection with the Olpiron?’
‘Firm and steady. I’m initiating the lift-off sequence now.’
The Olpiron quietly closed its doors. There was a bright flash from beneath the ship as its engines came to life. It shot into the Yemayan sky, accelerating hard, plunging upwards into the clouds.
From the clearing, the ship was a streak of light, vanishing. ‘Right,’ said SLEEPY. ‘Altering course to intercept the Flame Warrior.’
‘What’s the ship’s complement, LEONARDO?’ asked the Doctor. The colonists were watching him like spectators watching a magician. No, thought Roz, a conductor, trying to coordinate a particularly bizarre orchestra.
‘Twelve,’ said the AI’s tinny voice, almost immediately.
‘There’d be a landing party of thirty troopers, but we’re not supposed to land.’
‘Cruk,’ muttered Benny. ‘They’re not messing about, are they?’ ‘They’re hailing the Olpiron,’ said SLEEPY. ‘Hang about—’
‘ Olpiron, Olpiron, please respond. This is the DKC
warship Flame Warrior. Please respond, Olpiron.’
Roz felt the fear wash through the clearing. Suddenly the danger wasn’t just a blip on a screen.
Chesinen said, ‘Hello Flame Warrior, this is Lieutenant Chesinen aboard the Olpiron. No-one told us you were coming to the party.’
‘This is Captain Lukabyo aboard the Warrior. Sorry, Lieutenant, security reasons. Where’s your commanding officer?’
‘Planetside,’ improvised Chesinen. The others were watching her intently, and she was watching the Doctor. He nodded, encouragingly. ‘We have the situation under control, Warrior.
We do not, repeat, do not, require assistance.’
‘Glad to hear it, Olpiron. We’ll be landing shortly.’
Chesinen shook her head at the Doctor. ‘Negative, Warrior, negative. We have a dangerous quarantine situation here. Please stay in orbit.’
‘Negative, Olpiron. We’re under orders. We’re coming in.’
Chesinen thumbed her communicator. ‘So much for going through the motions,’ she said. ‘Can we start shooting at them now?’
‘LEONARDO,’ said the Doctor, ‘are you ready?’
‘I’m keeping my finger on the pulse,’ said the AI.
Chesinen toggled her communicator