Doctor Who_ So Vile a Sin - Ben Aaronovitch [93]
‘Genneadiy, we must get to work at once!’ Leabie jumped up.
‘I want a banquet ready at nineteen hundred hours, and guest quarters ready for the Duke’s entourage. And I want our security stepped up.’ The servant was entering it all into a palmtop. ‘And no tomatoes. The Duke hates tomatoes. And check the guest database to find out what kind of music he likes – I can’t recall whether it was modern makossa or ancient dreamhouse. One of those is Duke Armand and we do not want to get it wrong. And another thing…’
Roz closed her eyes, feeling the droplets landing on her skin.
She was well out of this. Had been well out of this.
Leabie lined them all up for the Duke’s arrival, her sister and her children and an assortment of aunts and uncles and cousins.
Chris was there, standing off to one side, looking humble and terrified. Roz waved him over. She didn’t care if they all assumed he was her bloody consort.
Leabie had wanted him to wear a full Adjudicator dress uniform, until he’d pointed out that he didn’t represent the Adjudicators. She’d insisted on having a suit made for him, 215
though, a soft blue thing that fitted perfectly. He stood next to Roz, hands clasped in front of him, staring at the airlock door.
The kids were neatly lined up – even Thandiwe, who had far too good an idea of etiquette for a six-year-old. Bringing her up right, thought Roz, prim and proper. Gugwani was smiling, trying to catch Chris’s eye. ‘Everywhere we go…’ Roz muttered.
‘What?’ he whispered.
‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘Look, the shuttle’s finished docking.’
Leabie was hovering, nervous. ‘We’re all sorted out, then, Genneadiy? Of course we are, and it would be a bit late now if we weren’t. Deep breaths, everyone.’
The grand airlock door irised open with a hiss. The Duke’s personal attendants were first through. One of them took out a little trumpet and blew on it. Roz heard a stifled giggle from one of the kids. She glanced at Thandiwe, who was glaring straight ahead, the model of seriousness.
‘His Excellency, Duke Abu ibn Walid of Callisto.’ The Duke stepped through, and his entourage followed, looking around and smiling. ‘Her Excellency Lady Kirsten. The Lady Genevieve ap Gwalchmai.’ There were a dozen more, walking in through the airlock as Walid shook Leabie’s hand.
‘I don’t believe it,’ said Chris.
‘I do,’ said Roz.
The Duke was making introductions on behalf of his staff.
‘This is my chief personal secretary, this is my accountant and this is –’
‘Hello, Doctor,’ said Roz.
‘Roz, Chris,’ said the Doctor. ‘I seem to have fallen on my feet again.’
Gugwani had somehow managed to arrange it so that Chris sat opposite her at the banquet. The two of them were chatting away, sitting on cushions at the low wooden table. Roz could swear the thing was half a kilometre long, seating the family members, the Duke’s entire entourage and every minor noble, corporate and bureau chief who could get there fast enough.
Chris looked relaxed at last. Roz wondered if her niece had been ordered to flirt with him. Chris had enough sense not to tell 216
the girl anything he shouldn’t. Let him enjoy himself for the time being.
The Doctor sat next to Roz, drinking tea and eating fairy bread.
‘You know,’ said Roz, ‘we haven’t had a chance to talk in weeks.’
‘You’re right. It was exhausting, keeping one eye on Iaomnet… and the other on me.’
Roz shook her head. ‘We were totally taken in by Zatopek. I don’t understand how he could have impersonated you so completely.’
‘At first,’ said the Doctor, ‘he was me. He must have gradually regained control, with time, and distance from Iphigenia.’
‘OK,’ said Roz, ‘he was you. What was inside that moon, a Doctor-making machine?’
‘Now, there’s a frightening thought.’ He smiled. ‘Once upon a time… that’s a good way to start the story. Once upon a time, there were unicorns and bread-and-butterflies, planets like giant apples and suns like red balloons. But since no sentient life had yet evolved, there was no one to notice they were impossible, so no one minded. And then along came the Time