Doctor Who_ The Also People - Ben Aaronovitch [117]
Roz limped past her, grimacing and going 'ow' every time her left foot touched the ground.
Bernice watched the older woman hobble over to join Chris who was staring up at the hills behind the town. After a moment she realized that Roz was staring in the same direction as Chris and with the same thoughtful expression. Bernice paused to stretch her back and then wandered over to see what on earth it was they were looking at. The Doctor joined them, patting Bernice on the shoulder. The four of them looked up the hill to where the windmills turned in the wind.
It couldn't be that simple, could it?
'The night of the party,' said Chris, breaking the silence. 'I was playing a game with Dep.'
Bernice bit back on I'll bet you were. Now was not the time.
'There was a fault on the entertainment console which it blamed on a static build-up in the capacitors.'
'What do you reckon the storage capacity of those capacitors is?' asked Bernice.
'Enough,' said the Doctor, 'with a bit left over to mess up Christopher's game.'
'But I thought they were, you know, decorative,' said Roz.
'They like to build real things,' said Chris. 'Real steamships, real biplanes, real wind turbines.'
'What do we do now?' asked Bernice.
The Doctor suggested that they stopped staring at the windmills. 'Just in case someone is watching.' There were too many people, organic and machine, on the beach with them, too many eyes. Bernice thought there was such a thing as too paranoid and said so. 'A stitch with twine saves time,' said the Doctor. 'We're just four weary partygoers taking the scenic route home and when we're out of sight we'll nip up the hill and have a look at those windmills.'
'My feet are killing me,' said Roz. 'Why don't we just get the lift down to the station and then back up to the control centre?'
'Lifts can be monitored,' said the Doctor ominously.
'Barefoot dancing in the sand is so romantic,' said Bernice. 'Pity you picked a pebble beach.'
'Barefoot in the head more like,' muttered Roz. 'There's something I want to check out first,'
she said. 'If I don't meet you at the windmills, I'll catch you later at the villa.'
FeLixi wanted to come with her. 'At least let me keep you company in the travel capsule,' he said.
Roz managed a smile. 'Thanks, but I need to think about some things first.' She let him brush his nose against hers. 'I'll call you,' she said.
'I'll be waiting.'
She asked the travel capsule to black out its windows and spent the trip staring at her reflection in the shiny surface of the coffee table.
Starport Facility's topside was in darkness when she arrived, a corridor of flickering orange lights like regimented glow-worms lighting the pathway to the lifts. She watched the windows of the upside-down towers flick past her face as she rode down to the waiting ship. When she stepped out she found the atrium was deserted.
'I thought you might come and see me again,' said S-Lioness.
Roz said nothing.
'I thought you were very entertaining the other night,' said the ship. Its voice was artificial, of course, and so there was not a chance of it reflecting any true emotion, and yet Roz could swear that the S-Lioness was nervous.
'Where's your big friend?'
Roz stared resolutely straight ahead, just as she had all those years ago when Konstantine was shouting at her.
'Aren't you going to say something?'
'I'm waiting,' said Roz, 'for you to answer the question you know I'm going to ask.'
In answer a tray flew around the corner and into the atrium. It was carrying a matt black object the size of a pack of cards. Roz picked it off the tray. 'Is this it?' she asked.
'Yes,' said the S-Lioness. 'Press the top to get the screen.'
'Have you read it?'
'No,' said S-Lioness. 'I was afraid of what I might learn. How did you know I had it?'
'I guessed,' said Roz. 'Vi!Cari would