Doctor Who_ Trading Futures - Lance Parkin [93]
The best thing to do was sit tight and wait for the planes that would be heading for them.
Malady had handed Mather one of the ray guns. If it came to it, they could outgun the RealWar robots.
‘There’s a time machine somewhere on this base,’ Mather said. We have to get it. The opportunities it would give us… well, I can hardly imagine them.’
Malady smiled, and pulled a short silver tube from her pocket. ‘This isn’t Baskerville’s time machine, sir, but it’s a time machine.’
Mather took it, and as he did, he must have touched something, because the controls swirled out and lit up.
‘It’s recharging,’ she told him. ‘I don’t think it’s fully charged, yet, but it’s getting there. It’s smart – it needs a lot of power, but it can tap into any energy source.’
Mather held it, amazed. ‘Where did you get this?’
‘We were attacked by time travellers in Athens.’
‘Big creatures, like rhinoceroses?’
Malady frowned at him. ‘No, sir. People. They looked like people, anyway. They wore purple uniforms. They were humans, from the future.’
Mather laughed. ‘Did they have American accents, or did they sound European?’
Malady tried to remember. ‘Honestly… I don’t know. The boy sounded like a Dickens character. The woman…’ What had her voice sounded like?
Mather put a hand on Malady’s shoulder. ‘I don’t think it matters. You’ve done an excellent job, Malady.’
‘What now?’
‘We sit tight and wait for our airlift.’
A moment later, a light aircraft began taxiing down the runway.
‘Someone’s making a getaway,’ Malady said.
* * *
Baskerville turned the corner, and ran straight into one of the aliens.
It growled at him, snarled. It was speaking to him.
‘I don’t speak your language,’ he said, as calmly as he could manage. ‘We need a translator.’
Baskerville backed away, into another of the creatures.
He was holding out his hands, acting as meekly as he could, speaking so softly they couldn’t possibly interpret his intent as hostile.
One of the aliens produced a small, square box and held it over its snout.
It growled. A moment later, a pleasant male voice began: ‘Where is the time machine? We have come for the time machine. Show us the time machine, or we will kill you.’
It was his own voice, Baskerville realised. Or at least a good synthesised version of it.
Baskerville straightened. ‘I contacted you, remember?’
They glowered at him. He couldn’t tell them apart, they almost certainly couldn’t tell individual humans apart.
‘I contacted your ship. I arranged this meeting.’
One of the creatures stepped forwards and grunted.
‘Are you jamming our communications? We are unable to contact our ship.’
‘No,’ said Baskerville, genuinely puzzled. ‘I wouldn’t know how to…’
‘You could communicate with our ship. Therefore you could block our signals.’
‘It isn’t me. My name is Baskerville, I have the time machine. You have technology that I am interested in. That translator alone would be worth… let us negotiate.’
The nearest creature sniffed the air. ‘Where is the time machine?’
Baskerville was never one to miss an opportunity. ‘My… headquarters here are under attack by rival human forces. This is a primitive, warlike planet. There are three human factions who are also after my time machine. One, I regret to say, has stolen vital components from the machine. They were in a silver case. He is called the Doctor, and –’
The creature grabbed him, almost tearing him in two. ‘The Doctor is here?’
‘Yes.’
The creatures looked at each other, warily. ‘The Doctor has tricked us and escaped from our ship. He will attempt to interfere with our plans. Our top priority must be to locate him and kill him.’
Baskerville dusted himself down, annoyed to find the creature had gashed the jacket of his suit with a claw. ‘You took the words out of my mouth.’
* * *
The Doctor, Anji and Fitz