Doctor Who_ The Infinity Doctors - Lance Parkin [105]
‘I’ll never leave you again,’ the Doctor promised.
‘Whatever I have do, I’ll never leave you.’
Even this early in the morning, the market was bustling.
Captain Raimor didn’t pretend to understand the full complexities the Low Town economy. Produce and other items were brought to the market by traders from all over Gallifrey and hawked here. There was an ancient currency, the treazant coin, but mostly goods and services were exchanged. Fish from the subterranean sea were exchanged for silvertree wood or nails for the fishermen’s u-boats, That was a simple case, and the system was a great deal more elaborate than that, with strict rules about the basis of contract, the value of goods, that sort thing.
The market was Outside, right on the edges of Low Town, not even in the shadow of the Capitol Dome. Sunlight streamed over the place, picking out the brightly coloured wares and the rich patterns of the merchants’ robes. It was noisy, too, bartering voices merging in with the whine of horse drawn gravcarts, the clump of feet, the clattering of crates of goods being loaded and unloaded. There was bunting out today, and an air of excitement. One word over and over again. ‘Omega.’
Raimor and Peltroc made their way through the aisles of the market area, the crowds instinctively parting in front of them to let members of the Chancellery Watch through.
Raimor’s expert eye could spot everything from pickpockets to gangster bosses amongst those present, but the best thing about the criminal fraternity was that its members understood the rules. The people here knew that the Watchmen weren’t interested in them and their dealings, they only came down here on Time Lord business. No one was stupid enough to try to pick a fight, not when a hundred Watchmen could transmat in at a moment’s notice. The grossest offenders disappeared into the woodwork for a minute or two, knowing that there were still a few things that the Watch couldn’t turn a blind eye to. But the lower criminals like the palliards and twachylles didn’t even move from their patches.
‘Unashamed,’ Peltroc muttered.
‘They don’t bother us in the Capitol, Constable, and so we don’t bother them down here. If a Time Lord were to come down to pay a visit, and found himself in trouble, then… who are we to judge our elders and betters?’
There had been efforts in the distant past to clean up Low Town, purge it of criminals, but all such actions had been doomed to failure. The authorities had removed some gangland boss only to find his rivals taking over his interests, his territory and his assets, growing stronger as a result. It was a chaotic system, one that neither the Watch nor the High Council really understood.
‘Best to adopt a code of non-interference, like the High Council, isn’t that right, Peltroc?’
‘Is there going to be a place for us in the new regime, do you think?’
‘New regime?’ Raimor scowled.
‘ Omega,’ Peltroc said. ‘There’s talk that the President is planning to abdicate in his favour. I can’t see Omega standing by while others rule Gallifrey.’
‘Yes, well, perhaps the Watch don’t share the general population’s relish.’
‘Passed the Omega Memorial on the way down here,’
Peltroc said. ‘There were crowds gathering.’
‘There were people praying and laying tributes in the Panopticon last night. The Council weren’t sure whether we should be arresting them or joining in.’
‘You know, though, don’t you?’
‘I’ve been with the Watch for nearly nine hundred years, Constable. Plenty of time to read the regimental histories. I know my duty.’
‘You’ll try to carry it out?’
Raimor just looked over at Peltroc.
‘You’d kill Omega?’ Peltroc repeated.
Raimor nodded. ‘Rassilon gave us express orders, and Rassilon had his reasons. He knew that for all their power, for all their knowledge, his Time Lords aren’t perfect. He realised who the enemy really is.’
‘The Watch was here before the Time