Doctor Who_ Wetworld - Mark Michalowski [14]
Candy almost laughed at the expression on Pallister’s face. He seemed totally thrown – not by the Doctor but by Ty.
‘This is none of your concern, Professor Benson,’ said Pallister through gritted teeth.
‘Oh, I think it is,’ countered Ty, planting her hands on her ample hips. ‘Remind me, Councillor Pallister,’ she said, stressing his job title,
‘but unless there’s been a military coup overnight, Sunday’s still a democracy, isn’t it? And I’m pretty sure that the colony’s constitution says that any armed action needs to be approved by the entire Council, not just one member.’ She raised an eyebrow at the two guns. ‘And I think waving guns around at a complete stranger in my lab probably comes under the heading of “armed action”. Or has the constitution changed overnight too?’
‘This man is a stranger,’ replied Pallister, his words almost strangled in his throat. ‘And as such he presents a potential threat.’
‘Threat?’ The Doctor’s face lit up and he whirled around to face Ty and Col. ‘Threat? Me?’ He grinned. ‘Well, I’ve been called a fair few things in my time – but the only people who’ve called me a threat are people who are up to no good.’ He tipped his head back and looked down his nose at Pallister. ‘Which would rather suggest that you, Mister Cannister, are up to no good, wouldn’t it?’
Pallister opened his mouth to say something, but the Doctor just breezed on: ‘Anyway,’ he said simply. ‘I think you need me. And I need you. I have a friend out there that I have to find, not to mention my spaceship. Wouldn’t it make sense for us to work together, eh? A friend in need and all that? Helping hands. . . ? Too many cooks. . . ?’
Pallister just stared at him – and waved the two men forwards, as if instructing them to arrest him.
‘This is mad,’ said Ty as Pallister gave orders to one of the men to escort him to the detention centre. ‘When the Council hears about –’
‘When the Council hears about this,’ Pallister finished her sentence,
‘they’ll back me up. We don’t know where he’s come from or what he’s here for and, until we do, I have no intention of letting him run around the settlement.’
Ty clenched her fists, outraged at the man’s audacity. ‘They’re not going to let you get away with this,’ she warned him. ‘You can’t just go around pointing guns at people.’
‘Desperate times call for desperate measures, Professor Benson.’ He smiled crookedly. ‘Believe me, you’ll thank me when it turns out that this Doctor is here to cause trouble.’
Ty made a sharp tutting noise with her teeth and folded her arms over her bosom. ‘But look at the state of him!’
As they argued, Candy noticed that the Doctor had pulled out the little black wallet that he’d shown to Ty and Col before, and was gently wafting it around behind his back.
‘We only have his word for that,’ Pallister thundered on. ‘And, if you don’t mind my saying, Professor, you seem very keen to believe his story. If he’s just arrived in a spaceship – if-then how come we didn’t see it land? No one’s come forward to report anything, have they? We don’t know how long he’s been here. Maybe he’s been sent from some other colony to interfere with us.’
‘You’re paranoid, Pallister! What if he’s an adjudicator, sent from Earth for some reason? How’s that going to look on your record, eh? Arresting and locking up an official from Earth – that’s going to make you very popular, isn’t it?’
And as if on cue, the Doctor’s hand appeared between them, holding the black wallet he’d shown her earlier. She took it from him before Pallister could, and opened it again, expecting to find the card proclaiming the Doctor’s status as ‘Madame Romana’. Instead, she grinned at what she saw and thrust it out in front of Pallister.
‘See!’ she said, as he read it. Pallister’s jaw dropped. ‘Doctor,’ he said smarmily, motioning instantly for his two assistants to lower their guns. ‘Please, please accept my apologies.’
Ty could see that the Doctor was clearly trying to hold back a grin.
‘Why didn’t you say you were an adjudicator?’ fawned Pallister.
‘Well,