Doctor Who_ The Also People - Ben Aaronovitch [105]
'See if they've got any peanuts,' said Grinx. 'The dry roasted type.'
'What's your excuse then?' Bernice asked the Cyberman.
'I'm with tinhead,' said the Cyberman. 'It's a tough universe out there and it's only logical to get your licks in first. You'd be better off asking fatface there what his excuse is.'
Bernice turned to Grinx. 'Well?' she asked.
'Sorry, what was the question?'
The Dalek came back with the drinks. Grinx took his peanuts and ate the lot in one go, plastic packet and all.
'This is getting sodding nowhere,' said Bernice.
'It's your dream,' said Kadiatu.
'How do you know it's my dream?' asked Bernice.
'Because I have a better class of portentous dream,' said Kadiatu.
'How do you know it's not one of us having this dream?' asked the Dalek.
'Because –' began Bernice.
'We don't dream,' said the Dalek. 'Are you sure of that?'
Grinx stood up. 'I have a dream,' he said, 'that little Sontarans and little Rutans will one day walk through the streets of Mississippi, hand in tentacle . . .'
Everyone shouted at him to shut up and sit down. 'More of a nightmare really,' admitted Grinx.
'Will you guys chill out,' said the Cyberman. 'Seems to me the issue is whether the customized human here' – it indicated Kadiatu – 'has free will or not? If she has then you have to let her live; if she doesn't then she belongs with us and you can exterminate her with a clear conscience.'
'AM!xitsa says that she's been modifying her own brain chemistry,' said Bernice. 'Perhaps there's some kind of drug therapy that could "help" remove these antisocial tendencies.'
'You mean change her personality?' asked the Cyberman.
'Er, yes, I suppose so.'
'Make her into something she is not?' asked the Dalek.
'Tinker with her soul,' said Grinx.
'Just the bad bits,' said Bernice defensively.
'And they say we're bastards,' said the Cyberman.
'I'd rather die,' said Kadiatu.
'That is a distinct possibility,' said Bernice. 'You know that.'
Kadiatu laughed. It was a harsh, unnerving sound. The Cyberman and the Dalek were arguing about something in short bursts of compressed data. Kadiatu banged her palm on the table to get their attention. 'Bernice here,' she said to them, 'is having trouble making the correct decision.
Hands up all those that think she should kill me.'
Grinx and the Cyberman raised their hands.
'Is that a yes?' Bernice asked the Dalek.
'No, I'm crukking birdwatching, what do you think?'
Bernice sighed. The Cyberman, the Dalek and the Sontaran wandered off and left her alone with Kadiatu. A few minutes later there were screams and the sounds of gunfire and explosions as the three of them tried to exterminate each other.
They had also, she noticed, stiffed her with the bill.
'Well?' she asked Kadiatu. 'What do you want?'
The big woman shrugged. Bernice saw metal and crystal glinting in her eyes. 'I want to be free.'
'And if I let you live, what then?'
'The Doctor will kill me,' said Kadiatu. 'He has no choice.'
'He told me it was my decision.'
'And you believed him? I don't think you understand the stakes that the Ka Faraq Gatri plays for. If our roles were reversed, do you think I would hesitate?'
'Do you want to die?'
Kadiatu said nothing.
Roz sat up yelling in anger, elbowing feLixi in the chest as she tried to scramble away. 'Roz,' he shouted, 'wake up, wake up, you're having a nightmare.' She was practically invisible in the darkness, only the whites of her eyes showing. He put his arms around her trembling shoulders and drew her back under the blanket. She clung to him, her face buried against his neck – he could feel her heart banging against his ribs, the rhythm gradually slowing down to normal.
'Cold,' she said.
FeLixi adjusted the thermostat on the blanket and held her tighter. Whynot was in crescent, darkness having swept down the coast of the Endless Sea while they slept – it was night in iSanti Jeni. The meadow would see the morning first; some time in the next couple of hours, he estimated. There was a dull throbbing pain against his ribs where Roz