Doctor Who_ The Room With No Doors - Kate Orman [64]
‘And imprison him in a Room like this one.’
The Doctor nodded. His eyes pleaded for her to understand. ‘He hates me.
He’d tear me apart if he ever got out. I know it., Penelope shook her head. ‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Don’t blame me,’ said the Doctor. ‘It’s your nightmare, remember.’
‘Then you have two choices.’
‘Oh yes?’
‘You can stay in hell.’ He looked at her in astonishment. ‘Or you can win.’
∗ ∗ ∗
129
Penelope woke up with a start. Someone was timidly knocking on the frame of the paper door.
‘Who is it?’ she yelped, sitting up. Her head was blurry with afternoon sleep, the dreams already fading.
The door slid open an inch. ‘It’s me,’ said Mr Mintz.
‘Mr Mintz!’ Penelope scrambled to her feet. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Fine,’ said Mr Mintz. ‘I’m fine.’ He slipped into the room and shut the door.
‘Are you all right? They didn’t, you know – you’re OK?’
‘They treated me with courtesy, as far as it went in the circumstances,’ she said. ‘The Doctor said you were kept here as a hostage. I expect I’m to he another.’
‘Yeah, well, things have changed a bit.’ He hesitated. ‘I need to talk to you.’
She realized he was waiting for her to sit down first. She picked up a cushion and sat on it with her legs sideways. He sat, Japanese-style. ‘I’ve made a deal with the daimyo,’ he said.
Penelope felt her heart sink. ‘What sort of deal?’ she asked, reluctantly.
‘OK,’ said Mr Mintz, ‘I’m going to be completely honest with you.’ She nodded, waiting. ‘I’m planning to stay in this time period,’ he said.
‘Was this what you intended from the beginning?’ She took his wrist, suddenly, startling him. ‘You used me!’
‘No!’ Mr Mintz shook his head. ‘Look, Penelope, I mean Miss Gate, let’s just skip the whole blaming and angst session. This is the way things are. I’m going to teach the daimyo to make computers.’
‘ Computers,’ said Penelope. ‘Analytical Engines? Mr Mintz, this is such a basic villainy that I cannot believe you would even contemplate it!’
Mr Mintz blinked at her. For a moment, she thought he was holding back tears.
‘It’s too late now,’ he said, pulling his hand out of her grip. ‘I’ve made the deal with the daimyo.’
‘It’s not –’
He held up a hand. ‘It’s done. Don’t bother arguing about it, OK? There isn’t time. The question now is – what about you?’
‘What about me?’
‘If I can convince the daimyo that you’ll work with me, he’ll probably let you live. Otherwise you’re just a foreigner with no right to be here. No rights at all.’
‘Unless I can lead him to the pod,’ said Penelope.
‘You know where it is?’
She looked at him. ‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I do not.’
‘Well, do you know anything more about it? Did the Doctor find anything out?’
130
‘I don’t wish to have anything more to do with him.’
Mr Mintz said, ‘Then you’ve got all the more reason to cooperate with Gufuu-sama. We’ve got no choice.’
‘You planned this from the beginning,’ said Penelope. ‘You chose to –’
‘Yeah, and you chose to leave the Doctor.’
‘To find the Kapteynians, not to pervert history! Imagine if, using your computer, Gufuu –’
‘Don’t start,’ said Mr Mintz. ‘I’ve thought about the consequences, OK? I’m not going to “pervert” anything.’
Penelope sat back, glaring at him. ‘How can I persuade you to abandon this foolish and dangerous path?’
‘It’s too late,’ he said again. ‘Listen, Miss Gate, think about this. Back in your own time, no one took your invention seriously, did they? Well, imagine if you could build a better one! A faster, bigger Engine.’
‘With sixteenth-century engineering?’
‘Don’t be fooled. Their metallurgy is streets ahead of what Europe’s managing at the moment. And they’ve got me to give them a push in the right direction. Think about it, Miss Gate. We could really make it happen.’
She got up and walked away from him, arms folded, head down. He watched her, the corner of his mouth twitching up in frustration.
‘I had thought,’ said Penelope, after a long interval, ‘that time travellers would share certain common characteristics. A desire to