Part 16 (2/2)

He shook his head. If he shook it hard enough, he could almost hear things rattling around inside. Sometimes he couldn't remember who he was or how 101he'd ended up living in the Undertown. Other times he remembered with frightening detail, despite . . . despite . . .

A glowing light, and a complex mechanism unfolding from a doctor's eye socket. A wrenching pain. A voice. 'You won't feel a thing.' socket. A wrenching pain. A voice. 'You won't feel a thing.'

Sometimes, remembering hurt.

He took a last look up at the window, and turned away. Doc Dantalion could help him. Doc Dantalion had done this to him in the first place.

Sometimes, you just had to let it hurt, and remember anyway.

Bernice closed her eyes, waiting for death.

Even through her eyelids, she could see the flash of light. She counted heartbeats. Two, three, four. She was still alive!

A feeling of relief washed over her and receded, leaving her weak and shaking. She took a deep breath, eyes still closed, and caught the tang of burning on the air. For a moment she was back on Oolis, sharp stones gouging into the flesh of her knees, watching sparks fly up from Homeless Forsaken's singed flesh. Just for a moment, but her heart cried out.

She opened her eyes, half expecting to see a purple sky and orange dust, but she was still standing on the fringes of the fleshy pink jungle of Ybarraculos Epsilon. The Landsknecht was standing in front of her, still holding the blaster with which he had killed his comrades. Smoke was issuing from a small hole in the centre of his battle armour, just beneath the name tag that read FAZAKERLI.

He fell untidily to the blood-soaked ground, still grinning.

Behind him, three people were leaving the shelter of the jungle. Provost-Major Beltempest was one of them. The others a dark-skinned woman with a lined face, and a tall teddy bear were dressed in the blue-gold armour of Adjudicators. The teddy bear was holding a gun.

'Well,' the Doctor murmured, 'that was a close-run thing.'

'Can we leave a larger margin next time?' she asked, still not quite believing that the short explosion of violence was over.

'If the choice was up to me,' he replied, 'I would happily accede to your wishes. However . . . '

Seeing Beltempest approaching, stepping over the bodies of the Landsknechte without even a glance downwards, Bernice was suddenly filled with a rush of fury.

'Oi, four arms!' she yelled. 'Something go wrong, did it? Or were your troops supposed to shoot one another and leave the targets intact?'

Beltempest stomped over and stopped by her side. 'This wasn't supposed to happen,' he said. 'My apologies.'

'Your apologies aren't enough. What the h.e.l.l happened?'

102.His trunk swung from side to side with barely suppressed anger. 'These are trained men,' he seethed. 'They don't fire without orders. They don't fly off the handle. They don't go off the deep end. They don't '

'Enough with the metaphors. What happened happened?'

'I don't know!' he trumpeted.

'Would you have been so worried if he'd killed us and left them alive?'

He had no answer to that.

The female Adjudicator walked over and glanced impa.s.sively at her. Her furry companion was eyeing the bodies. He was looking a little green around the gills.

'Bernice Summerfield?'

'Who's asking?'

'The Order of Adjudicators.'

'Oh. Well, in that case, very probably. Unless I'm not. Which happens.

Sometimes.'

'Whatever. You're under arrest in any case.'

Bernice groaned, and threw her arms up. 'What is this? I've been accused, tried and sentenced for this already. Look around you. The execution was just taking place!'

The Adjudicator shrugged. 'Nothing to do with us,' she said.

'Then what's the charge?'

'Murder.'

'Murder?'

'I am obliged to inform you that your words, gestures and postures are being recorded and may form part of any legal action taken against you. Under the terms of the data protection act 2820, as amended 2945, I am also obliged to inform you that you and any appointed legal representative will be able to purchase a copy of all recordings upon payment of the standard fee. I'm obliged to tell you that, but I won't bother. Just don't p.i.s.s us around.'

She beckoned her companion over. He looked pleased to be dragged away from the bodies.

'Cwej,' she said, 'take them back to the shuttle.'

'Hang on!' Bernice cried. 'Just hang on a doggone minute! Who's dead?

Who the h.e.l.l are we supposed to have killed?'

'You'll see the charge sheet when we get you back to Earth. Cwej! Get the guy.'

'Er, boss.'

There was something in his tone of voice that attracted Bernice's attention.

She turned to follow Cwej's gaze, and felt her jaw drop open at the sight that met her eyes.

103.The Doctor was bending over Fazakerli's body. He had opened the Landsknecht's skull with a small buzzing device and was quite calmly probing about in the man's brain. Bernice couldn't believe it. He looked as if he were searching for something, like a little kid running his hands through the Christmas pudding mix looking for the s.h.i.+lling. He was whistling.

Provost-Major Beltempest was crouched beside him, his trunk dangling almost to the ground. He seemed fascinated by what the Doctor was doing.

Cwej very quietly turned around and threw up against the force wall.

'Doctor . . . '

Without turning his head, he said, 'Yes, 'Bernice?'

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