Doctor Who_ The Dying Days - Lance Parkin [88]
- could a mammal even experience the intenssity of emotion - if the native lifeform offered no ressisstance and told you that poolss of gold covered two-thirdss of the world'ss ssurface, that they had a word for ssuch a phenomenon, "ssea"? Your world is unlike ourss. The land and the ssky and the ssea crawl with life and mineral wealth.'
A human was talking to Gerayhayvun, bending over him, talking quietly into his ear. Apparently the other humans couldn't hear the conversation, but Xznaal caught every word. It came as no surprise, then, when Gerayhayvun tried to get his attention. Xznaal finished quickly.
'Everything here iss in ssuch abundance. Even the horizon is further away. I look forward to ruling you, my ssubjectss. Thank you for your human hosspitality.'
80
Once they were sure that Xznaal had finished, the guests slapped their claws together. Gerayhayvun leant across to him.
'My office has just taken a call from a friend of mine. She has found the Doctor. He's about a hundred miles from here, the police are on their way.'
Xznaal exhaled, pulling himself upright. 'Do you not want to be in on the kil ?' he asked.
'It would be nice to see the grin wiped off the Doctor's face,' Xztaynz offered.
Xznaal hissed his satisfaction.
***
All four of them sat around a big oak dining table. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment.
The Doctor took a deep breath. 'The Ice Warriors did not come here to avenge the memory of some dead clan chief, that was simply -'
'Wait a minute,' Eve objected. 'Ice Warriors?'
'The native race of the planet Mars,' the Doctor explained rapidly, 'The name is a rough translation of their own term for themselves, although literally it's nearer "Polar Bears". In the future, some people prefer to cal them
"Indigenous Martians", but that's an ugly phrase coined in a rather ugly period of colonial expansion.'
'Like "Red Indians" and "Native Americans",' Alan said suddenly. 'Even the politically correct term imposes European cultural assumptions.' He looked over at Eve, pleased with his analysis. It was the first thing he'd said.
'Quite,' the Doctor continued. 'Now, the Ice Warriors claim to have come here to punish humanity for the crime of tomb robbery. This only provided the pretext for the invasion, and in fact the Martian war rocket was waiting in a powered orbit above the dark side of Earth's moon.'
Eve was still waving at him to slow down. 'How do you know all this?'
'Don't worry about that for the moment. Let me just explain what's happening. A number of people here in the United Kingdom have been involved in a conspiracy with the Martians.'
'Like who?' Eve said scornfully.
'Who has benefited most in the last twenty-four hours?' Lethbridge-Stewart asked them.
'Greyhaven?' Alan suggested.
'Precisely,' the Doctor said triumphantly.
Eve was shaking her head. 'Edward's not in league with the Martians. He brokered peace.'
'You know him?' the Brigadier asked.
Eve nodded, clearly preoccupied with something. 'I was researching a profile of him, and I'd met him to arrange an interview.' She paused. 'If he is working with the Martians, then he has good reasons.'
The Doctor looked her straight in the eye. 'I can't be sure what his motives are. Perhaps they are noble, perhaps he thinks that what he has done will benefit the British people. He wants to make his country great again, he wants to be its leader. What I do know is that to achieve his aims he has al ied himself with a warlike alien power and overthrown the elected government of this country.'
It was the Brigadier's turn to speak. ‘He's almost certainly implicated in the assassination of the Prime Minister.
We've uncovered evidence of a conspiracy dating back over twenty years. Greyhaven has been using his influence all that time, collecting allies and equipment.'
'You make him sound like a Bond villain,' Eve objected.
The Doctor gestured helplessly. 'Greyhaven isn't relevant, anyway.