Doctor Who_ Warlock - Andrew Cartmel [87]
The Doctor opened the gate and Benny followed him into the foggy early morning church yard. He strolled among the mossy headstones, pausing to kneel down and inspect one. ‘Forgive me for not letting you rest,’ he said and it took Benny a moment to realize that the Doctor was addressing her.
She chuckled with relief. ‘I thought for a moment you were talking to whoever was buried there.’
The Doctor brushed dead leaves off the grave. ‘No. The dead don’t have any problems. They don’t have to make decisions. They don’t need to weigh up good and bad and always find they’ve caused more bad than they’d expected in the end.’
Benny knelt beside the Doctor and touched his arm. ‘Look, don’t worry about me. I’m just a little jet‐lagged. I’ll be fine. I know this is important.’
‘Yes. We have to talk to Justine and Vincent. Enlist their help.’
‘Because they know where to find what’s‐her‐name.’
‘Mrs Woodcott. Yes, Justine was a crony of hers. She can help us find her. And we must find Mrs Woodcott before someone else does.’
‘Someone else?’
‘For example, your erstwhile comrades at IDEA.’
‘Do you really think they’ll send an IDEA team after poor old Mrs Woodcott?’
‘Well, they were inside our computer.’
‘It makes me feel all creepy‐crawly thinking about that,’ said Benny. ‘Like having bedbugs. Ugh. Did they learn much?’
‘I’m not sure how long they were in there before I caught them and cut them off. But they certainly know I’m after Mrs Woodcott, so no doubt they’ll be after her as well.’
‘I’m kind of insulted. They didn’t send an IDEA team after me.’
‘That’s because you don’t know the secret of the most lucrative new drug in the world.’
‘I might do,’ said Benny, somewhat indignantly.
The Doctor smiled. ‘Be glad that you don’t. What do you think we should do now?’
‘Get back in the car and put the heater on.’
The Doctor sat beside her in the Mercedes as Benny got the radio to scan the airwaves for something she could endure. It finally found some jazz and Benny listened to it until an ad cut in and a moronic voice started trying to sell her something. ‘Switch off,’ she said and the car computer killed the radio. Benny looked over at the Doctor. The liquorice smell was heavy in the car. ‘Why haven’t you tried to analyse that pill?’
‘I think we’ve learned about as much as chemistry can teach us about warlock. The only way to find out something new is through subjective experimentation. And I wouldn’t ask anyone to take a drug as dangerous as this.’
‘But you could take it yourself.’
The Doctor smiled. ‘That might be very unwise. Because warlock is as likely to give rise to external effects as internal ones. The mind of the user begins to affect the environment in subtle ways. Have you ever been next to someone who is very tense? In an elevator, say?’
‘Sure.’
‘You know the way their uneasiness communicates itself? It makes one tense, and soon the whole group is infected with what was an internal mental state of one member.’
‘I know what you mean.’
‘Warlock is like an awesome exaggeration of the same effect. Internal mental states can affect the external environment.’
‘Like Vincent. Vincent and Justine.’
‘Yes, something like that. If I was to take the drug, well… To say the least, the results would be unpredictable. And quite possible dangerous.’
‘Of course there is also the possibility that you’re just being boring and unadventurous.’
The Doctor flashed his snaggle‐toothed grin at her. ‘Of course, there is also that possibility. Now, I’m not sure the smell of this pill is doing us any good. I think I’ll go and wait in the open air, in the garden. You stay in the car.’ Before she could protest he got out, closing the door behind him.
Benny leaned across the gear‐stick and opened the window so the Doctor could hear her. ‘What are we waiting for?’
The Doctor came back and leaned on the car door, peering through the window at her. ‘I think we should let Vincent and Justine sleep in a bit longer while they can. At the moment their life is safe and normal.’ He turned to look at the quiet house.