Doctor Who_ Transit - Ben Aaronovitch [16]
'Second stop,' called the conductor. 'Sporting goods and leisurewear.'
Again the train coasted through a station with its doors jammed open. This time two Vriks jumped on, a boy and a giri high-caste Brahmin types with short black hair and grey eyes The girl stacked her long board along the seats, the boy kepi hold of his beatbox, hefting it like a weapon.
'Who are they?' asked the Doctor.
'Free surfers,' said Kadiatu. The Doctor must really be outsystem not to know that. 'What's the matter,' she called to the Vriks, 'cracked board or has the music stopped work ing?'
The girl snarled at Kadiatu who kissed her teeth in return.
'Manners,' said the Doctor to no one in particular.
The Vriks grabbed their straps as the train lurched off into the next tunnel. The Vriks had wild eyes from too muct unshielded transit, the rich kid's lifestyle, live fast and die flat against an oncoming train.
'Third stop,' called the conductor. 'Catamites, courtesans and computer processing.'
'Time to get off,' Kadiatu told the Doctor as the doors opened. With a brief wave at the Vriks she jumped from the carriage. She came down harder than she meant and stumbled; behind her the Doctor landed on the platform like a cat.
There were no stalls set up on the station platform, instead flickering holograms above the exits pulled at the eye. Looking at them made Kadiatu feel hot and bothered. Probably packed with subliminals, thought Kadiatu and glanced back to see how the Doctor was doing. He'd stopped to look at one of the holograms. It showed a woman in abbreviated Ice-Warrior armour chained against a wall of folded neon. The thrust of her hips promised aggression and imminent violation. 'Ice Maiden's' famous logo, the iconography of the thousand days war. The Doctor's face was intent as he examined the hologram, not aroused, merely curious as if the writhing figure was an anthropological exhibit.
'What about love?' said the Doctor.
What about love? Love was a black rose and a missing moneypen, a rip off waiting for you to drop your guard.
'Sex and death are pretty close. I guess,' said Kadiatu.
'Only in humans,' said the Doctor.
Ice Maiden's entrance was through the far exit and up a ramp. At the door a joyboy in leather skintights stood in their way. 'Buying or selling?' he asked.
'What do you think?'
The joyboy nodded at the Doctor. 'What about Daddy?'
'Who knows?' said Kadiatu and walked past.
The original Ice Maiden had been an R&R stop in Jacksonville - halfway up Olympus Mons. A good place for the grunts to chill out after their duty tours in the chaotic terrain and shrieking winds of the Valles Marineris. And Francine, who'd done two and a half tours with the 31st, had recreated it under the ocean, right down to the puff concrete walls and rusty blast doors.
'Interesting place for a drink,' said the Doctor.
'Not here,' said Kadiatu, 'Drinks later, business first.'
Behind the bar was a big woman, almost as tall as Kadiatu and dressed in the same stylized Ice-Warrior gear as the joyboy outside. 'Tasteless,' said the Doctor.
'Where's Francine?' Kadiatu asked the woman.
'Who wants to know?'
'A friend of the family.'
'I didn't know that Francine had a family.'
'That's why you're working the bar,' said Kadiatu, 'and I'm asking the questions.'
The antechamber round the back had a gun hanging from the ceiling like a chandelier. It was an electric autogun, a cluster of rotating barrels suspended on a gimbled stanchion. An unnecessary mass of pressure leads at the top hissed as the gun tracked Kadiatu and the Doctor around the room. Francine could have installed hidden lasers in the light fittings, but she wanted her visitors to know that they were under her sights. The gun was a fashion statement.
A door opened in the far wall.
Kadiatu told the Doctor to stay where he was and went in. Francine