Doctor Who_ The King of Terror - Keith Topping [40]
‘But . . . ’ began Barrington.
‘This had better be a really impressive “but” Mark!’
‘It’s mind-boggling,’ said Barrington.
‘And the Autons replicating important figures in world government wasn’t?!
You’re really getting adept at stating the effing obvious these days, aren’t you?’
‘They must be using it for military purposes.’
Paynter was amused. ‘No shit, Sherlock?!’
‘This is serious.’
‘Damn right it is,’ noted Paynter. ‘We’ve got to contact HQ and let them know that whatever they think InterCom is playing at, it’s ten times worse.’
The briefing in Tyrone’s office continued with a viewing of the video that Paynter and Barrington had brought with them from Europe. Lots of out-of-focus camcorder sequences of company installations in Paris, Luxembourg, Prague and Vienna. Some of the material was fascinating, most was trivial. It ended with brief footage of a company football match.
‘They beat the Liechtenstein national side 11-0 in a friendly,’ said Milligan, following the action closely. ‘It made all the papers. There’s some talk of them trying to get into the World Cup. Oooh, nice goal!’
‘The lights Natalie,’ said Tyrone, switching off the video. ‘Well, that told us nothing that we didn’t already know.’
‘Other than the fact that they’re a worldwide organisation with massive resources and that they’re up to something,’ noted the Doctor. ‘Chung Sen’s presence is a surprise though.’
‘You know him?’ asked Tyrone.
77
The Doctor rooted around in his memory once again and came up with a trump card. ‘We met once, in the 1970s when he was working on a tachyon-field generator. A brilliant man, one of the finest minds this world has produced in centuries. Another Galileo. Another Copernicus.’
‘Then how come I’ve never heard of him?’ asked Tegan.
‘Because the man is a scurrilous rapscallion with the morality of a rattlesnake,’ said the Doctor candidly.
‘Not a fan?’ asked Milligan.
‘Not really,’ replied the Doctor. ‘I think it’s time we paid this company a visit.’
Paynter and Barrington slipped out of the warehouse and moved inconspicuously through a jigsaw maze of avenues and cul-de-sacs until they found themselves back in a public area. Slowing their pace, they mingled with the crowds near the exit.
‘Nice and easy,’ said Paynter. ‘Don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.’
‘How many shots did you take of that thing?’
‘Twenty. Twenty-five. Enough. Right, let’s get moving before our luck runs out.’
‘You’re sure that’s them?’ Paolo Sanger asked as he watched Paynter and Barrington on a security-camera monitor in his office. The pair were now attached to the back of a group of tourists, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they were being observed.
‘Ninety-nine per cent certain,’ noted Ryman, standing behind Sanger. ‘They look like the military.’
‘Not enough.’
‘What about the fact that they disappeared from the group they were with and then reappeared with another group half an hour later?’
‘That’s a touch more conclusive,’ said Sanger. ‘OK, get somebody up on the roof and take them out.’
Ryman was incredulous. ‘What, in full view?’
‘Why not? We announce it’s gang-related. It’ll be a good news story if nothing else. You know what they say . . . there’s no such thing as bad publicity.’
Milligan drove the Doctor and Tegan the short distance from headquarters to the InterCom facility.
‘They’ve given us a pass to get into the nonpublic area,’ he said.
‘Unusual?’ asked Tegan.
‘Unique in my experience. It’s easier to get behind the scenes at Disneyland than it is to see around this place.’
78
As if to prove Milligan’s point, as they reached a wire gate weighed down with Keep Out notices the car was immediately surrounded by five heavily armed guards.
‘State the purpose of your visit,’ yelled one, pointing