Doctor Who_ Sleepy - Kate Orman [97]
The drone swivelled, pointing at her. ‘Yes?’
‘You were going to tell their secrets,’ said Kylie. ‘They’ve got lots of secrets, and you were going to tell and tell. I know because I’ve got the secrets now.’
‘What kinds of secrets?’ said the fairy.
‘ I don’t know,’ said Kylie. ‘But I’ll give them to you later.
As a present.’
‘Thank you, Kylie,’ whispered the drone.
‘You’re welcome, Mr Sleepy.’
The Doctor sat at the edge of the clearing. BAR B and WATCH OUT! were frantically in communication with LEONARDO, rummaging through the Warrior’s systems.
They’d already managed to introduce a few low-level fluctuations to its scanner systems, enough to stall them for at least another half an hour. Keep them looking.
It was up to the AIs, now. Their job was to find a way of disabling the Warrior without destroying it. Even minor system glitches could be enough to turn the ship back, if there were enough of them. Something grated a little, leaving it to the machines like this; but they were good machines.
Good people.
He had his back to a tree, trying to keep everything in view at once. The colonists huddled together, too tired to be scared. Dot was there, with her niece held in her lap. So were Byerley, and Cinnabar, who had insisted on staying, the four lieutenants, Chris and Benny, and Roz, standing a little to one side.
Perhaps she was right. What could make the colonists risk their lives for a computer, one that had used and abused them? He remembered GRUMPY snarling at him from the mirror in his dream. Hate skin hate you hate you.
But SLEEPY wasn’t quite the same person as GRUMPY, was he?
It must be quite pleasant in some ways. To wipe the slate clean, leave all your crimes behind.
Did he have to keep it alive? It was, after all, only a computer.
He stood up, and someone looped their arm around his throat and pulled it tight.
He tucked his chin down and was about to spin out of the hold when he felt the muzzle of a blaster being pressed into his temple. Well, this had taken longer than he’d expected.
He let himself go limp while Colonel White dragged him backwards out of the clearing, through the trees, to the edge of a creek cutting through the forest. White threw him onto the ground and said, ‘If you cry out, I’ll shoot you.’
‘It’s all over,’ said the Doctor. ‘Everything’s been set in motion. I’m superfluous to the action, and so are you.’
‘I’m not interested in any of that,’ said the Colonel.
‘I know that,’ said the Doctor. ‘That’s what’s wrong with you, really. How does it happen, Colonel? How do you become so fascinated by ships and guns and orders that you forget about real life?’
‘Real life?’ said the man. He looked as though he hadn’t slept for a week. ‘This is real life, Doctor. Real history. History is ships and guns and orders.’
‘I beg to differ,’ said the Time Lord.
White kicked him. The Doctor doubled up, curling instinctively into what a human would have called foetal position. He sighed inwardly. Here we go again.
The Colonel grabbed him and put his ungloved hands on either side of the Doctor’s face, forcing a knee into his ribs.
The Time Lord clutched at the man’s wrists. ‘This is pointless,’ he wheezed. ‘Dot already tried.’
‘She wasn’t,’ said White, ‘an experienced telepath.’
All the colour drained out of the Doctor’s face. His pupils snapped open, leaving just an edge of blue around the black.
He clawed at White’s hands.
‘You remember that,’ said the Colonel. ‘Like it was yesterday. What about this?’
The little man’s black eyes were wide, seeing something else, another time, another place. He clenched his teeth, forcing down the cry. ‘No,’ hissed the soldier, ‘you’ll never forget that. You see, I can just watch your memories. But you have to relive them.’
‘You’re wrong,’ the Doctor moaned. ‘You’re wrong, it will kill you.’
The soldier tightened his grip. ‘Let’s see, there was the time that—’
The Doctor wailed, twisting his head to one side. He wasn’t even struggling now, lost in the memory.
‘It’s been a long life, hasn’t it?’ murmured White. A drop of