Part 12 (2/2)

'”Boney,” I said, ”an army marches on its stomach.”'

Reaching down, Iaomnet once again got a grip on the Doctor's shoulder straps and started dragging him along. The corridor was an octagonal cross-section, three meters across, lined with some kind of smooth black stone that gleamed in the beam of her suitlights. Ahead it stretched into the darkness, straight and featureless. And behind? Iaomnet had stopped looking behind some time ago.

'Just routine,' muttered Iaomnet. 'Keep an eye on some academics. Just routine.'

The Doctor was beginning to get heavy, even with Iphigenia's 0.09 gravity. She wished she could remember 104 how far they had walked on the way in. Were they even in the same corridor? And if they made it to the surface what then?

The suit recycling packs were good for another sixty hours at a pinch it could utilize everything from her sweat to her urine to keep her breathing. But it was going to get d.a.m.ned uncomfortable.

If Chris and the Hopper were gone then the only option would be the emergency stasis b.u.t.ton and the screamer beacon that said, 'I'm dead, come rescue me.' Given that Agamemnon was a rim system and a war zone, that gave a statistical survival probability of sixteen per cent.

Her instructors at Loki had been big on statistics.

And mission priorities. Whatever it was that resided in the central chamber, it was truly alien and powerful in a way that she couldn't understand. And if Martinique was right, there were thousands just like it, scattered throughout the Empire and beyond.

Which made getting the Doctor back a mission priority. Never mind that the Doctor wasn't making a whole lot of sense.

'Balderdash, my dear Professor Blinovitch,' said the Doctor.

'I've met myself dozens of times and I haven't exploded yet.'

Walk for two hours, thought Iaomnet, then rest for ten minutes, then walk for another two hours. It was important to get into a routine early, that way, with any luck, your body might keep going when anoxia started closing down your brain cells.

'Beware the memories of the compa.s.sionate tent,' said the Doctor. 'I'll have your eyes for that.'

A little over an hour later they reached the first intersection, a hemispheric chamber with the same featureless corridors leading off in six directions.

'Is it time already?' said the Doctor. 'No, go back to sleep it's nowhere near time yet.'

Iaomnet dropped him and slumped down against the wall. It didn't make much difference in the low gravity but it made her feel as if she was resting.

'Just because you're paranoid,' said the Doctor, 'doesn't mean they're not out to get you.'

Now that made sense. 'Doctor?'

105.

'Aspidistra baby!'

She put her faceplate close to his and snapped her head back, when she realized his eyes were focused on hers. 'Are you feeling better?'

'Better is a relative term,' said the Doctor. 'Better than what?'

'Better than you were?'

'How was I?'

'You were unconscious, talking nonsense, rambling.'

'Of course I was rambling,' said the Doctor testily. 'It's not easy putting your mind back together after it's been systematically scrambled by a probability intercession. I'd like to see you do it.' The Doctor looked around, his movements comically exaggerated by the bulk of his HE suit. 'Where's Chris?'

'We left him on the Hopper remember?'

'Of course I remember,' said the Doctor. 'I also distinctly remember his being torn to bits by an N-form in Northern England.' He paused. 'Or was that me? Got any dice? I need to test my luck.' The Doctor got to his feet, too fast for the low gravity, and put his gloved hand on Iaomnet's shoulder to steady himself. 'Listen,' he said, 'I need you to do something for me.'

'What?'

'I need you to pretend that you're my friend. That we have a history together.'

'Doctor, you're not making any sense,' said Iaomnet. 'What the h.e.l.l is going on?'

He beamed at her. 'Good,' he said. 'You're getting the hang of it already. You see, I need someone linear to keep it all together.

It's very important. The whole thing could collapse.'

'What whole thing?'

'The universe, or at least the important bits.'

'The important bits?'

'The bit we're in, for example.'

'Stop it.'

'Didn't we have fun at Bernice's wedding? I thought Da Vinci's cake was the high point of the reception, didn't you? At least try to agree with me, it's terribly important. If you can't answer, nod your head.'

106.

Iaomnet nodded her head.

'Trust me,' said the Doctor. 'There's madness in my method.

And now we have to get going.' He pointed down one of the corridors. 'This way I think.'

Iaomnet blinked. They had stopped.

'How long have I just been standing here?' she asked the Doctor.

'About five minutes,' he said. He was leaning against the wall of the chamber, a six-sided room. There were bits of scored metal embedded in the dark stuff of the floor, as though some kind of machinery had been ripped free, long ago. 'You're all right, it's just that your brain switched off and let your legs get on with it.

Einstein said you only needed the spine for marching.'

'Where are we? Do you do you know where we're going?'

'We're somewhere close to the surface. Don't give up hope.'

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