Doctor Who_ Storm Harvest - Mike Tucker [36]
‘It’s all right, Garrett,’ said Brenda Mulholland smoothly. ‘I’ll handle this.’
The man smiled grimly. ‘It’s your call, Brenda. Keep me posted. Ile turned to the Doctor. ‘I’m sure we’ll be talking again,’ he said, turned on his heel and marched out of the room.
‘You mustn’t mind Garrett,’ Brenda Mulholland said. ‘As he said, the colony here is his baby. But if you do know what’s going on here...’
‘I know very little at the moment,’ the Doctor said. ‘But I’ll find out more.’ He smiled at her. ‘Don’t worry, Miss Mulholland, I’ll keep you posted. Come on, Ace.’
Half an hour later the Doctor and Ace were once again sitting in the bar of their hotel. The Doctor’s fingers danced across a little electronic notepad. He tutted in frustration.
‘Code-locked,’ he said. ‘It was on the dead alien’s diving suit.’
Ace was restless. She sipped her drink and watched the carefree ebb and flow of people. As usual she and the Doctor were up to their necks in something they didn’t understand while everyone else relaxed, chatted, enjoyed themselves. Why could life never be that simple for them?
Rajiid and the others had been released without charge, and he and R’tk’tk had gone off to file an insurance claim. With the vessel in custody he didn’t hold out much hope of success.
MacKenzie had dogged them all afternoon, dropping heavy hints about funding. Ace was glad to get away from the confusion of people.
The Doctor let out a long sigh. ‘People like MacKenzie wear me out,’ he said.
‘What’s all this InterOceanic stuff?’ Ace asked.
‘A useful lie, Ace, said the Doctor. ‘MacKenzie’s a very stupid man.
He has little knowledge and no imagination. I’m more concerned about Mr Garrett and Miss Mulholland. One of them is bound to run a check on my credentials. Garrett, I shouldn’t wonder. We’ve got to move quickly.’
‘Doctor, do you know what’s going on here?’
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‘Not really, Ace. And I don’t think it’s going to be very easy finding out. The authorities here know something’s up.’
‘So what do we do now?’
‘Well, as official channels seem to be closed to us, we’ll just have to work our way around the problem. I need more background. More history. Now, I’m not well up on the history of this part of the galaxy, but I know a man who is.’
‘MacKenzie? But you said...’
‘Bryce. He collects folklore. Did you notice how he suddenly disappeared from the beach? That was odd... You’d think that after what happened on the sub he would have wanted to talk about it.’
‘You think he knows something?’
‘Or suspects something. Either way, I think he’s frightened.’ The Doctor pulled his watch from his pocket and glared at it. ‘I’d have expected him to be here by now... Ah!’
Bryce had just walked in. He sat at his usual table and ordered a drink from a waiter.
‘Shall we?’ said the Doctor, rising from his seat and picking his way across the crowded room. Ace followed.
‘Mr Bryce, said the Doctor. ‘May we join you?’
‘Please,’ said Bryce. He sounded anything but welcoming.
‘That was quite a business on the sub,’ the Doctor said.
Bryce took a gulp of his drink and said nothing.
‘What do you know about the Krill, Mr Bryce?’ the Doctor suddenly asked.
Bryce shrugged. ‘Not much,’ he said. ‘A few stories...’
‘You gave me the impression you’d assembled quite a collection of tales,’ the Doctor said.
Bryce shrugged again.
‘Why did you leave the beach in such a hurry?’ the Doctor pressed.
‘Things to do, that’s all,’ said Bryce.
‘You looked as if you had something on your mind.’
‘I did,’ said Bryce. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, Doctor...’
He downed his drink and rose to his feet.
‘Not staying for another?’ the Doctor said with forced cheeriness.
Bryce didn’t answer. He slapped a coin on the bar and walked towards the door.
‘Follow him, the Doctor said bluntly to Ace. ‘Don’t let him see you.’
‘I was supposed to meet Rajiid here,’ Ace protested.
The Doctor stared her full in the face. I’m sorry, Ace, he said, ‘but I rather think what’s happening here has to take precedence over your social life. The entire colony’s in danger.