Doctor Who_ The Also People - Ben Aaronovitch [78]
Roz glanced at Chris, flicking her eyes to indicate that she was planning to terminate the interview soon.
'Aren't you going to ask me your last question?' asked S-Lioness.
'Well, we had better be going now,' said Roz with forced politeness. 'We have other lines of inquiry to follow up.'
'What a shame,' said S-Lioness. 'I'd like to say that this was one of the most fascinating conversations I've ever had.'
'Thank you,' said Chris.
'Yes, it would be nice to say that,' said the ship. 'Don't hesitate to stay away.'
The ship waited until they reached the atrium and the base of the grav lift before saying: 'The answer to the question you didn't ask, and believe me you can't even begin to comprehend how much it pains me to say this – as to who the murderer is? Your guess is as good as mine.'
Once they were back in the grav lift Chris wanted to speak but Roz signed at him to be silent.
'God, are you listening?' she asked.
'Yep,' said God. Chris looked around for the source of its voice. They seemed to be alone in the shaft, nothing but empty space above and below.
'Has S-Lioness bugged us?' asked Roz.
'Let me have a little look,' said God. 'There's one in Chris's hair. Do you want me to neutralize it?'
'Yes, please.'
Chris felt his hair rustle as God plucked a tiny metallic insect off his scalp. The tiny bug waved its tiny legs and feelers in protest before vaporizing with a small pop.
'Can we talk now?' asked Roz.
'I wouldn't advise it while S-Lioness can see you,' said God.
'Lip reading, eh?'
'Oldest trick in the datastore.'
'And where are you?' asked Roz.
'Can't I stick around for just a little bit longer?' said God plaintively.
'God!' snarled Roz. 'I'm going to get very angry.'
'I'm in your hair,' admitted God somewhat sheepishly.
'Well, buzz off,' said Roz. 'You can't afford the ground rent.'
Another tiny bug emerged from Roz's hair and buzzed around her head a few times before flying back down the lift shaft.
'You know, Chris,' said Roz, 'I used to really hate the robots back home, but now I'm beginning to miss 'em.'
'But, Roz,' said Chris, 'you used to hate everything back home.'
'You're right. But since we've been with the Doctor I've found so many new things to really hate that all the things I thought I hated have begun to look much more attractive.' She sighed. 'I suppose it's true: travel really does broaden your mind.'
The Doctor strolled along the esplanade taking in great lungfuls of fresh sea air and whistling a cheery melody from Sarajevo: The Musical. The sky above was a deep purple, streamers of stratospheric cloud stretched their fingers across the sky, ruddy in the darkening light of the sun.
The waterfront cafés and bistros were turning on their lights, checkered tablecloths, cruets and occasionally chairs flew hither and thither as they prepared for the evening promenade. With the groan of artistically distressed machinery the harbour lighthouse rose out of its concealed recess at the end of the breakwater.
The Doctor doffed his hat as a remote-drone whirred past with a brace of floating toddlers trailing behind it like chattering balloons. He had arrived in iSanti Jeni during the quiet hour between the late afternoon walks and the evening promenade. Light spilled from the open windows of the town as families, couples and solitary individuals squabbled, laughed, cried and dictated to their houses what they wanted to eat.
Smiling, the Doctor watched a squadron of drones the size and shape of frisbees flash down the esplanade at head height in a perfect diamond formation before vanishing around a corner with a chorus of electronic giggles. A pair of teenagers rode unicycles in and out of the cast-iron bollards that lined the seawall. He heard a glass smash in one of the bistros followed by gales of laughter and scattered applause.
Far out to sea a multi-hulled schooner reached into the wind under full sail. Its wake was a smear of phosphorescence