Doctor Who_ Trading Futures - Lance Parkin [20]
‘I was expecting to speak to Baskerville, and only Baskerville,’ the Doctor said haughtily.
‘You’re the British scientist?’
‘That’s right. The Doctor. Cosgrove couldn’t make it – he had a small boating accident.’
‘And you’re his assistant…?’
‘Malady Chang,’ the Doctor said quickly, stepping between Dee and Anji.
‘Chang? But that’s a Chinese name and you’re –’
‘Is that a problem? You have a problem with my skin colour?’ Anji asked brusquely.
‘No!’ she said quickly. Then, after a moment’s reflection, ‘Wait here a moment.’
Ms Gordon disappeared through the door.
Anji and the Doctor stayed silent, kept up the act, but Anji was buzzing with questions. All would be revealed shortly, she assumed.
Dee came back in with neatly printed name badges, with their names – or rather the Doctor’s name and Malady’s – and photographs on.
‘Follow me through, please.’
The Doctor stood, held out his hand, indicating that Anji could go first.
They stepped along a short corridor, into a lift, which climbed an indeterminate number of floors (there wasn’t anything that indicated which floor they were on), before discharging them into a small circular room, done in the quasi‐futuristic style that had gone out of fashion while Anji was still at primary school – all moulded plastic, round TV screens and primary colours.
The man sitting behind the circular desk was in his sixties, with a high forehead and aquiline nose. He indicated that they should sit down on the plastic chairs. Dee took her place, standing, behind her employer.
They were very high up here – twenty or thirty storeys, Anji guessed. The city beneath them was a stark contrast to the modern decor of the office. Anji had been a little disappointed by Athens on the way over – there was the Acropolis, of course, but other than that, the rest of the city seemed to be concrete and anonymous apartment buildings. From this vantage point, she could see she’d been a little unfair, there were older areas, there were plenty of churches. There was a lot of scaffolding, too – perhaps there was a renovation programme underway.
‘This is the Doctor, and his assistant Ms Chang,’ she announced. ‘And this is Baskerville.’
‘Lady and gentleman, thank you for coming,’ he said softly.
The Doctor looked suspiciously over at him for a moment or two.
‘Do you know why you are here? Have your superiors told you?’ the old man asked. A refined English accent.
‘Of course,’ the Doctor said huffily. Anji could almost hear him regret the false bravado it as he said it – if he’d told him ‘no’, then perhaps Baskerville would have explained it all to them.
Baskerville nodded, smiling. ‘You don’t seem to have brought any equipment. I would have thought you would have brought instruments of some kind.’
Anji briefly wondered if they’d been booked to play a gig.
‘I have a few tricks up my sleeve,’ the Doctor assured him.
‘Good. Now, as you will know, Doctor, Mr Cosgrove has had a demonstration. I take it that you require a further test, with Ms Chang –’
‘– call me Malady,’ Anji cut in.
‘– with Malady as the test subject. Dee, could you prepare the sending chamber?’
‘Of course, Baskerville.’ She left the room.
‘Er… “test subject”?’ Anji asked, a little nervously.
‘Nothing to worry about, my dear. While we wait for Dee, you might like to think about a destination.’
‘Right,’ Anji said, in a tone she hoped was decisive.
‘Mr Baskerville,’ the Doctor began.
‘Just Baskerville.’
‘Baskerville. Clearly we know exactly what you’ve got here. And it all sounds very impressive, from what we’ve heard, doesn’t it, Malady?’
‘What? Oh yes. Desperately impressive.’
‘But what we don’t understand, if you’ll forgive us, is what is in it for you. You’re offering us something that I’m sure is wonderful. Desperately impressive, to coin a phrase. But we’re not sure what you want in return.’
Baskerville looked at him coldly for a moment. ‘You are at a crucial point in the history of this planet,’ he told them. ‘Europe and America, poised on the brink of a war that would