Doctor Who_ The Infinity Doctors - Lance Parkin [39]
‘Not by me or Yiri.’
‘Are you suggesting that your employer was able to carry Peltroc’s unconscious body from the barracks to Low Town without help?’
‘I never said that, I just said that it wasn’t me. I was with Yiri in Low Town. The boss called, said he needed some drolminathol.’
The young guard stepped forward and whispered into the Magistrate’s ear. ‘A chemical relaxant designed to weaken telepathic defences. Street name: intermace. The physician found traces of it in the Constable’s bloodstream.’
‘Yeah,’ Huran agreed. ‘Common enough if you know where to look. Whores use it when they have Timey customers and they want to get really friendly.’
‘Your employer, the renegade, was after knowledge, and he felt that Constable Peltroc had that knowledge. What did he want to know?’
‘I’ve no idea. Something about some keys, that’s all I know.’
‘Keys to what?’
‘I don’t know which keys.’
‘The Great Key? The Key to Time?’
Huran laughed. ‘Those are out of his league. I think it was more personal than that.’
‘Let’s talk about your employer.’
Constable Peltroc moved forward. ‘When you came into the room, he said, “We have to be quick, it’s nearly dawn.”
What was so important about the dawn?’
‘Dunno. We only ever saw him at night. Yiri reckons he works early shifts back at the Dome and that someone would miss him.’
‘You never saw him during the day?’
‘No. Never got a message from him either except after dark.’
‘Did you ever see him without the mask or cloak?’
‘Never. You know the question you should be asking?
Why does he wear a mask, eh? Only one reason. We’d recognise his face. Why wear a voicebox unless we’d recognise his voice?’
The Magistrate nodded, mulling over the question. Then, without ceremony, he unplugged the datacube and placed it in its rack with the others.
It was as if Larna was walking amongst the stars.
It was impossible to judge perspective, the room could be the size of a bedchamber or an arena or both. A field of candles against a black background. The room was warmed by them, awash with golden light and filled with their fragrance.
There was a small glass bowl in front of her on a little plinth. She knelt down, and found a necklace nesting amongst a few flower blossoms. A silver chain with a sapphire pendant. Larna had seen it somewhere before, she was sure, but couldn’t say where. She put the necklace on.
Everything felt so right. In this room nothing else existed, it was like the best meditation. This was peace, she thought.
Larna didn’t know how long it had been since she had stepped out of the Doctor’s room and into this place. Time had ceased to matter. She turned, to see how far away the door was.
The Doctor was a silhouette in the doorway.
‘I-I’m sorry,’ she said.
Her hand had moved to cover her chest. It had known before she had that this was a private place, and that she was intruding. Suddenly the room was an empty, vast void.
She was an alien here.
The Doctor stepped down into the room. Warm light fell over his face as he walked towards her.
‘I’ll leave.’ But she would have to get past him.
‘No,’ the Doctor said, as the door began to slide shut behind him. He was standing over her now, the traces of a smile on his face. ‘I have no secrets from you.’
They were almost touching, and Larna’s hand was by her side. She had lowered her head, out of respect.
The Doctor touched the pendant lightly with his index finger, then pulled it away. He wore a ring on the middle finger of his right hand which had the same blue gem set in it.
‘It suits you,’ he concluded softly.
Larna had just remembered where she had seen the necklace. ‘The woman in the picture died, didn’t she?’
There was no need for the Doctor to say anything.
‘I didn’t know.’
‘It was a long time ago,’ he said matter-of‐factly. ‘A year for each candle, and so long ago that everyone else has forgotten.’ There was a tear in the corner of his eye. ‘I’ve forgotten her. I only remember now when I want to. You can’t change the past.’
‘Yet you have this zero room for her.’
‘This place is for me. I have