Doctor Who_ Warlock - Andrew Cartmel [48]
If they didn’t get out, she knew they were in serious trouble. Dieter and his friends struck Ace as people who meant business. Ace hadn’t had a proper opportunity to look at him earlier, when she’d seen him sitting on his bed playing with his sweaters.
Dieter was a slender man with spectacles and a high forehead receding to a tangle of chestnut curls. She guessed he was in his late forties but he was very youthful looking: dishevelled but handsome, his eyes gleaming with energy and intelligence.
Ace wondered if he was on something. She realized that he was looking at her with those bright, piercing eyes.
‘Let me explain briefly about ourselves and our role here.’
Ace was surprised to hear Jack replying. ‘I think we’ve worked that out,’ he said dryly.
Ace felt a stirring of hope. If Jack could pull himself together Shell might be able to lean on him. Ace wanted them both back in a useful state. Their lives might depend on it.
‘Perhaps, perhaps not,’ said Dieter. ‘We are an independent research unit funded by a rotating group of pharmaceutical concerns. Our job is testing drugs before they reach the consumer market‐place. It’s painstaking research that can take years. We do important work and we need to experiment on animals. Sorry, did you have something to say, young lady?’
It took Ace a second to realize that he was speaking to Shell. The tattooed girl was trembling visibly as she tried to force the words out.
‘I think,’ she said, ‘I think that I understand now.’
‘Good. But what do you understand?’ said Dieter.
‘Your point of view,’ said Shell. Jack was staring at her in astonishment.
‘In regard to what?’
‘Experimenting with animals. I can see that you genuinely believe that it’s right.’
Jack couldn’t keep quiet when he heard this. ‘For God’s sake, shut up, Shell.’ But the tattooed girl ignored him and hurried on. ‘I can see that I was wrong. It is sometimes necessary to do experiments on animals.’
‘Shell, this isn’t you talking. You’re just scared.’
‘No, please, let her complete the thought,’ said Dieter. He smiled at Shell. ‘You now feel that you’ve seen the error of your ways.’
Shell nodded eagerly. ‘Yes.’
‘For Christ’s sake, Shell. Have a little dignity. He isn’t going to let you go. He’s just playing with you.’
‘On the contrary, I am willing to believe this is a genuine shift in ideology. Such things happen under pressure.’ Dieter suddenly got up and went to the door. He held it open as the woman came in carrying a tray of coffees and teas and a plate of Danish pastries. ‘Thank you, Maxine.’ He sat down at the table again with a cup of coffee. ‘Look at these marvellous almond‐studded pastries. Maxine is a wonder. An angel. Anyway, I most certainly agree with what Shell was saying. Experiments on animals are absolutely necessary. As, sometimes, are experiments on human beings.’
‘Oh God,’ said Jack.
‘Of course, there is a certain amount we can accomplish with paid volunteers. But this has its limits. We need other subjects as well. Now, you are asking yourselves, where might we find such subjects?’
‘I’m way ahead of you,’ said Jack.
‘If you were to remain quiet, please, you might actually find this quite interesting.’ Dieter nodded at the blond man. ‘You see, we can’t just have Sean going around culling people with his van the way he culls dogs or cats. Of course, a dog or a cat may be intensely missed by its owners. But there is not going to be a police search, even for the most beloved household pet. In contrast, people who vanish generally create problems.’
Dieter picked up his coffee and blew on it before sipping it. ‘So what we need are people who won’t be so acutely missed. The perfect profile for one of our test subjects would be a person who’d dropped out of regular society, into the counter‐culture. How do we find such people? Well, we don’t really need to find them. They find us. Animal rights activists. Eco‐terrorists. Tribe members.’ Dieter’s face shone with boyish enthusiasm.