Part 25 (2/2)

'Aloysius Station,' said Compa.s.sion. 'We made it.'

'Great,' said Fitz. 'Now let's find the Doctor and get out of here.'

He strode away across the s.p.a.cedock towards the exit, his booted feet ringing on the floor.

Compa.s.sion followed more slowly. Something was stirring within her forest, a slow wind rustling the branches. She could feel an emptiness deep inside. Only now was she beginning to realise what it meant.

As she caught up with Fitz alarms cut in.

'Do you think that's for us?' yelled Fitz over the noise. 'It usually is.'

Compa.s.sion briefly scanned Aloysius's AI network. 'No. the station's about to come under attack from the Anthaurk.'

Fitz stopped dead and groaned. 'How long have we been here? Two minutes. That must be a record.' Despite his chirpy manner, there were dark rings around his eyes. He'd been crying a lot over Arielle. He must have really loved her. Stupid thing to do. At least she, Compa.s.sion, was free of such emotional millstones.

Fitz was looking impatient. 'The Doctor?' he said.

Compa.s.sion nodded. 'Let me concentrate.'

She reached out with her mind, searching for the Doctor's biodata trace.

There was nothing. No trace. That was what the empty feeling had meant, what her forest had been trying to tell her. The Doctor was dead.

She opened her eyes, looked away from Fitz. Started off up the stairs that led from the s.p.a.cedock.

'Hey!' Fitz caught up with her, grabbing her arm. She shook him off, but he stood in her path, blocking her way. She sighed. She hated having to cope with his feelings sometimes.

'Are you going to b.l.o.o.d.y well tell me or not?'

She fixed him a look she knew would unnerve him. Strange feelings were pulsing through her systems, as though they were missing the Doctor. A TARDIS bonds with its tenant. What would happen now that bond was broken? 'He's gone, Fitz. He's dead.'

She pushed past him, continued up the stairs. No clear plan at the moment, just walking.

'How do you know? He might be in danger somewhere in a Time Lord coma or something!'

She whirled round to face him. 'Even if he was in danger, even if I could detect exactly where he was, I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. He could be surfing into a black hole and I would just have to stand and watch!'

A look of gloom clouded Fitz's face. 'The Randomiser.'

Compa.s.sion nodded. 'Ironic, isn't it? They very thing he fitted to me prevents me from saving him. If he wasn't dead, that is.'

Fitz winced. 'So what do we do now? It's all over,' he said, fatalistic as ever.

The floor heaved underneath them, and a second later they heard the dull crack of an explosion. The scream of the station's atmosphere rus.h.i.+ng out into a vacuum followed, and the air around them began to s.h.i.+ft uneasily.

Compa.s.sion flexed her fingers. 'No. It's far from over.'

President Vargeld was woken by the screaming of alarms. He was out of bed and dressed in minutes, his body performing the actions automatically, his mind still caught up in a dream of Arielle.

Still couldn't believe she was gone; maybe she was still alive somewhere; she could have escaped from Muath Shaking his head as if trying to dislodge such futile hopes, he entered the command centre of the station, a circular two-tier room manned by technicians and communications officers.

The station chief, Keri Eperdu, saluted as he approached.

'Status report,' barked the President.

Eperdu was a tall, dark-skinned woman from the tropical Amerd Archipelago on Yquatine. A home she would never see again, the President realised. She looked tired and her voice was hollow. 'The Anthuark s.h.i.+ps, sir. They're preparing to attack.'

No time to react. He'd been waiting for this. 'Alert all troopers. Contact every available Alliance s.h.i.+p in the sector.'

'Incoming transmission.'

'On screen.'

The circular screen on the far side of the room flickered into life. Staring out was the image of the ancient Anthaurk leader, the Grand Gynarch.

'President Vargeld,' she hissed slowly. 'You are surrounded. We have drafted a new treaty, an agreement which replaces the now sadly irrelevant Treaty of Yquatine.'

'Nice to see you've been keeping busy,' said President Vargeld, exchanging a wry glance with Eperdu. 'Order your s.h.i.+ps to stand down.'

'I will not!' hissed the Grand Gynarch. 'You will agree to the terms of this treaty, or be destroyed!'

President Vargeld swallowed hard, cursing the unswerving callousness of the Anthaurk leader. Millions dead, and she had taken the opportunity of the lull after victory to make her counterstrike. 'What terms?'

'Rule of the Senate is to pa.s.s to the Anthaurk Inner Circle. New Anthaur will be the centre of the System.'

The President almost laughed aloud. 'How can you hope to maintain such an agreement? Every other sentient being in the System will resist you.'

'You have no choice. I suggest you surrender immediately or we will bombard this station until it is totally destroyed.'

'She is right. We have no choice.' Eperdu's eyes were on him. Their message was plain. No more fighting, no more death.

This was the worst part of being President. Taking the long view, making sacrifices for the future. He turned back to the screen. 'No surrender. Cut the connection.' Technicians obeyed and the screen went blank. 'Raise all s.h.i.+elds, maximum power. Activate the defence grid. Contact the rest of the fleet, tell them to rendezvous at Aloysius a.s.a.p. in full battle readiness.' Many Alliance s.h.i.+ps had been destroyed in the first abortive attack on the Omnethoth and the s.p.a.ce Alliance lay in disarray, the fleet scattered between Yquatine and Aloysius, licking its wounds. But there were still enough of them to fight. He was almost glad of the challenge.

'Sir.' Eperdu's voice showed signs of panic. 'The s.h.i.+elds won't hold out for long under continual plasma barrage.'

'I know,' said President Vargeld. 'But we have to make a stand. How long before the others s.h.i.+ps get here?'

Eperdu consulted one of the technicians. 'Two hours.'

'And how long before the s.h.i.+elds fail?'

Eperdu shrugged. 'Hard to say. Depends on where they hit us first.'

There was a distant booming sound and the command centre floor shook beneath their feet.

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