Doctor Who_ The Dying Days - Lance Parkin [50]
'Can't we tell them it was an accident?' Ford objected. 'We didn't even know that there were any Martians, let alone what their laws are.'
Bambera fixed the Doctor with a stare. 'I take it that ignorance of the law is no defence?'
'No,' the Doctor intoned gravely.
'What's al this about forty hours?' the Brigadier asked. 'It takes four months to travel to Mars, yes?'
The Doctor shook his head sadly. 'Martian science is far in advance of that of the human race.' Lethbridge-Stewart expected the Doctor to say something of the sort.
His old friend stood up, abruptly, and began pacing the room again. He ended up at the head of the table. All eyes were on him. 'From launch on Mars to arrival here, it wil take just under forty eight hours.'
The Doctor flashed a smile, and stabbed down at the corporal's keyboard. All the pictures on the video wall snapped off. 'That was very distracting. Now, by my calculations, the Martians will be in Earth orbit by Thursday lunch time. They will declare their intentions, presumably via radio. If they are not given what they ask for, they will take it by force.'
Bambera straightened. 'And that is it?'
'Isn't it enough?' Benny asked.
'Word coming in from Skywatch Control, Brigadier. They've retuned to the new frequency.'
'Now we'll have some evidence for you, Winifred,' the Doctor shouted triumphantly.
The signal from the Orbiter was piped through the loudspeakers again. This time there weren't any voices, just the steady bleeping of the computers on Earth and Mars talking to each other.
'There's no sign of the telemetry from the Lander, ma'am.'
'The Lander has been destroyed along with its crew,' the Doctor declared, almost casual y. 'And the war rocket has shown up on the photographs, hasn't it?'
The Corporal tapped a control and the video wal filled with astronomical pictures, images of Mars.
The prim young woman checked her own screen. 'Our watchers report that the Orbiter is still there, and there's been no sign of a spaceship launch from the Martian surface. We have triple confirmation of that.'
The Doctor's face fell. 'Well,' he said, a note of uncertainty in his voice, 'keep looking, won't you?'
***
Eve was surrounded by her silk dress, the leather sofa, his wool suit. The smell of the whisky and the leather and his aftershave. Lord Greyhaven - Edward - had none of a young man's urgency, and was content to hold her and kiss her face and mouth, if that was all that she wanted. She straightened a leg, and together he half-pushed, she half-pulled down until she was laid the full length of the sofa, her head on the armrest. Her hand on the back of his neck, his skin rougher than anyone's she had known before. His weight on her, pushing her further down into the cushions. The smell of coffee.
She opened her eyes and there was a tray full of coffee pots and cups on the glass table. His secretary had come in with them and left without making a sound. Eve shifted up onto one elbow, about to say something.
Greyhaven eased himself back, until he was upright. He placed a hand on her side, just beneath her ribcage.
'I have something for you,' he said very seriously. He leant over her to get to the tray.
'Coffee?' she asked, laughing.
'That too. If you'l excuse me, I just have one little thing to do.'
She moved her legs, allowing him to stand. He crossed the room, closing the door behind him. After a moment, she could hear his voice drifting across from his office. One side of a conversation.
Eve looked around guiltily, as though she was being watched. Then she made a decision to listen in. She tiptoed across the room. 'We have crossed the Rubicon.' Edward informed someone that she couldn't see.
Eve eased