Doctor Who_ Warlock - Andrew Cartmel [150]
‘No thanks,’ said Creed.
The old Texan didn’t bother asking again. He simply whipped his gun around and fired.
Across the kitchen the kettle bounced off the stove and fell jangling into the sink, smashed into an ugly metal deformity by the impact of the bullet.
‘We only just replaced that,’ said Ace bitterly.
The old man ignored her. ‘I can shoot a few more kitchen appliances, Creed, or I can move straight on to the womenfolk.’ He pointed the Colt revolver at Justine. ‘And I think I’ll start with the pregnant one.’
Creed stepped forward, picked up the capsule and swallowed it.
‘That’s real good. Now just relax, son,’ said Harrigan, ‘and let it happen.’
‘It’s happened before, hasn’t it?’ said the Doctor. He tapped the book. ‘It’s all in here.’
‘Well, I guess it is, if you read between the lines.’ The old man picked the book up and squinted at the spine. ‘I really need my glasses for this.’ He smiled. ‘But not for long.’
‘Are you familiar with that book?’
‘I ought to be. I lived through the times it talks about. After the war the CIA started fooling around with all kinds of weird drugs. LSD, MDMA, and warlock. I was in charge of the warlock experiments.’
‘And you began to see the possibilities of the drug?’
‘A Russian girl called Ludmilla had already told me some interesting stories about it.’ The Texan rubbed his wrinkled face. ‘Stories that became more interesting to me as I got old.’
‘For the first time,’ said the Doctor.
‘That’s right. When I grew old for the first time. I was stuck in a desk job for the CIA, my ass was getting fat, I was bored.’ The big man sighed. ‘And I was getting old. Beginning to miss all the things that I used to be able to do when my body was young and strong. So I decided to make my body strong and young again.’
‘Was it easy?’
‘Sure. It was like trading in a used car. I just revived some of the CIA drug programs. Got a bunch of young recruits and chose the best candidate.’
‘You must have taken warlock yourself.’
‘Oh yes. I’d been experimenting with it on and off for years.’
‘And you transferred your consciousness into a new body.’
‘Yeah. A new, young body. Army recruit who was an orphan. No close friends. No one to miss him. I moved inside his skull and booted him out.’ The man tapped his forehead. ‘Took up residence. A squatter, you might say. And I arranged a heart attack for my old body.’
‘It was still alive?’
‘But, you know, like blank. Nobody at home. A vegetable. Hardly a person at all. Still gave me a mighty strange feeling, though.’ Harrigan frowned at the memory. ‘When I slipped a syringe into that arm. My own arm, if you like. Killing my own body. Killing my old self.’
‘And you faked a new identity?’
‘Fake? It was for real. I’d been working on it for years. The mysterious son comes back from overseas for his old man’s funeral. Meets the old man’s friends. Starts looking for a job.’
‘You had to begin your life again.’
‘My career, anyhow. It was easier than you might think. I had a head start, you might say. A load of important government contacts. People my “daddy” knew really well. So of course I knew their strengths and weaknesses. In a few years I was just about back where I wanted to be.’
‘Fighting the war against drugs,’ said the Doctor.
‘That’s right. I’d discovered for myself what could be achieved through drugs. Plus the money was good.’
‘I imagine it was.’
‘Don’t be so frowny‐mouthed and disapproving, Doctor. It ain’t the money.’ The old man grinned and saliva gleamed in a long strand between his big teeth. ‘It’s the things money can buy.
‘And of course I wanted to keep tabs on what was happening. Particularly on warlock.’ He looked up at Creed. ‘You feel anything yet, son?’
‘Maybe.’ The liquorice smell was rising in the room. Benny shuddered. She remembered the ‘seance’ conducted by the Mayan brothers.
Ace felt her stomach heave. She was remembering a laboratory and a flapping bird and a cat.
For Justine, all the smell brought back was memories of Creed. Sitting