Doctor Who_ The Last Dodo - Jacqueline Rayner [52]
She’d forgotten that. And Frank had a gun.
Try to calm him down, that was what she had to do. Try to paper over those hasty words, make him forget them. ‘Well, why don’t you help me to understand, then,’ she said. ‘You say I don’t understand. So tell me why you did it.’
He shrugged. ‘Ever been to Kinjana?’ Martha shook her head. ‘Don’t blame you. It’s a pit. I knew that when I lived there. Had to get out, and I got a job here. Same body‐type as Earth, so that’s where I got assigned. I could blend in there. And after a bit, I realised I could. Blend in. I could live there. I could be one of those stinking rich, not a care in the universe. I could wear silk and fur and eat caviar and cream, and be waited on day and night. I’d get women to peel grapes for me, and boys to shine my shoes, and no one would ever tell me what to do. That’s what I could have. And if a few stupid animals had to die to give it to me, then, duh – a few stupid animals would die.’
‘And a few people too? Tommy’s in the infirmary because of you, sliced up by a sabre‐toothed tiger, and all so you can have shiny shoes and peeled grapes! And you know what? Most of the nutrients are in the skin, so you’d be the loser there.’
Frank seemed unconcerned. ‘Yeah, right, people. Like I care. Even the other Earthers’d agree that people don’t matter – not next to their precious Last Ones. No one’ll blink an eye if I kill you – when I kill you, to stop you blabbing. I mean, losing one human don’t really matter when there are billions of others still around.’ The smile turned into a laugh. ‘Well, for now.’
Martha didn’t have time to reflect on what he meant by that. She could see nothing but the gun. Nothing but the way it was pointing straight at her. Nothing but the way it shook very slightly as Frank’s finger tightened on the trigger…
The door crashed open. ‘Frank!’ Eve sounded astounded and furious. ‘Don’t kill her!’
Martha had never been so pleased to see someone she hated. ‘Eve!’ she cried. ‘Frank escaped somehow, he’s been cloning these animals and…’ She tailed off. Eve was still addressing Frank.
‘I don’t want her dead, Frank. If she tries to escape you can wound her, but keep her alive.’
Oh.
THE ISPYDER BOOK OF EARTH CREATURES
STELLER’S SEA COW
Hydrodamalis gigas
Location: Commander Islands
This giant sea mammal can reach up to eight metres in length. It has thick grey skin and small, bristly forelimbs.
Addendum:
Last reported sighting: 1768 AD.
Cause of extinction: hunting by man.
ISpyder points value: 1000
FIFTEEN
Martha had been tied to a chair. It felt vaguely unreal, the sort of thing that happened to heroines in books or silent movies. She should be wearing an enormous frock, and Frank should have a pointed moustache.
And as for Eve…
‘You really thought Frank here was behind the cloning?’ she said, leafing through a file and not looking at Martha. ‘He can’t even boil an egg, let alone manipulate DNA.’
Martha tried to shrug, but it didn’t quite work. ‘Never judge a criminal mastermind book by its cover, that’s what I was always taught,’ she said. ‘You, on the other hand, though – I should have guessed. The murderous tendencies, the callous disregard for life, that top with that skirt…’
‘I had to do what I had to do,’ Eve said unemotionally. ‘The collection was losing money. Subscriptions, entrance fees, a few pounds spent in the gift shop – do you really think that’s a drop in the ocean compared to the cost of running this place?’
‘So you came up with a plan to make big bucks by selling stuff you couldn’t buy in the gift shop. The Last Ones.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Eve spat. ‘I, sell the most precious things in the universe?’
Now Martha got it; just a subtle shift making everything fall in place. ‘Oh, right. Cos you’re the fanatic. But Frank