Part 36 (1/2)

'What's the sitrep?' Forrester said, approaching the door. Behind her, Bernice could see a number of Hith warriors and a number of half-melted or half-exploded bots. Provost-Major Beltempest was sifting through the robotic remains. A great knot of tension seemed to unwind in her chest. If Beltempest was there, the Doctor couldn't be too far behind. a.s.suming, of course, that he was still alive.

'The what?' she asked, distracted.

'The sitrep. Situation report.'

'You mean, ”What's happening?”?'

Forrester frowned, and nodded. 'That's what I said,' she growled. 'Don't waste my time.'

'Well,' Bernice said, glancing across to where Powerless Friendless was un-curling himself, 'I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that we're all in one piece.

How about you?'

'Fine for the moment,' Forrester replied, 'but I'm not counting on the condition remaining permanent.' She glanced out into the corridor. 'Whoever's controlling those bots will know they've been destroyed. Reinforcements will be on the way.'

Cwej nodded. 'We need to get this show on the walkway. Have you discovered how to turn the engines on yet?'

Bernice walked across to the puckered area of panel into which, according to Powerless Friendless, the nexus was supposed to fit. Without really thinking about what she was doing, she hefted Krohg in her hand for a moment, then placed the creature gently in the recess. It gazed up at her with its three stalked eyes, its lipless mouth seeming to her to stretch into a smile, and then it was gone, melted into the panel until it was just a k.n.o.b of flesh with three small nub-like switches on top.

The walls of the control room began to throb and, all around, panels blossomed with fleshy controls. In the pit of her stomach Bernice could feel a slow, subsonic thump, like the beat of some gigantic heart. 'Well,' she said brightly, 'Geniuses-R-Us strike again.'

228.Powerless Friendless's eyestalks dipped in acknowledgement. 'I had forgotten so much,' he said. 'How did you know that Krohg was the nexus?'

She shrugged. 'Little details and a ma.s.sive amount of guesswork.'

He nodded. 'Then you guess well.'

'I had a good teacher.' And that reminded her. 'Beltempest!' she called, 'is the Doctor all right?'

Out in the corridor, Beltempest glanced up from his investigation of one of the bots and gave a thumbs-up.

'He's out looking for something called the TARDIS,' he said. 'But he asked me to pa.s.s on a message.' It looked to Bernice as if he was frowning. 'I think he said, ”Ashtray the ipshay.” Does that mean anything to you?'

She thought for a moment. Ashtray the ipshay. Pig latin. Take the ays off, then move the last letter or two to the front of the word.

Trash the s.h.i.+p.

Bernice took a deep breath, then nodded slowly. 'Yeah,' she said. 'Thanks.'

She let her gaze roam over the corridor, and the armed Hith troops. They were setting up blaster emplacements, preparing to dig in for a siege. One of them, in an ornate body-sleeve, was glancing over towards her. Although he was engaged in conversation with a number of his troops, he looked as if he might be heading over at any moment.

'Powerless Friendless,' she said, 'what will your people do if they get this s.h.i.+p back?'

'With the engines on, the icarons are getting more energy, aren't they?' Cwej interrupted. 'I mean, that was the point. The Hith can take the s.h.i.+p away and junk it. I mean, it's dangerous.'

'Don't be a fool,' Forrester snapped.

Powerless Friendless sighed. 'It's a weapon,' he said, 'and my people have been wronged. Grievously wronged. If somebody kills your friends and family, and takes your planet away from you, and then you find a weapon, what do you do with it?'

'You use it,' Forrester said levelly.

'But we can't let them.' Cwej sounded outraged.

'No,' Powerless Friendless agreed. Forrester and Cwej both looked surprised. 'There's been too much killing. Too much hurting. Too much pain.

If the Hith are going to get anywhere, it has to be through talking. Diplomacy is the only solution.'

Bernice nodded. 'Right on,' she said, '”Jaw-jaw,” as the Doctor once told some fat old man who smoked cigars and tried to pinch my bottom, ”is better than war-war.” As I see it, our priorities are: firstly, to destroy this s.h.i.+p; secondly, to defeat whatever evil b.a.s.t.a.r.d has been trying to kill us; and thirdly, to get out alive.'

229.'But not necessarily in that order,' Forrester added.

'And,' Bernice continued, shooting Forrester a dark glance, 'we can do it all in one fell swoop.' She turned to Powerless Friendless. 'Can you set the controls so that this s.h.i.+p appears in real s.p.a.ce?'

'In real s.p.a.ce?' Powerless Friendless looked stunned. 'I thought you wanted to fly it away in hypers.p.a.ce?'

Bernice shook her head. 'We've got a whole load of your people on board.

They'd just take the s.h.i.+p off our hands. And even if we could defeat them, or lock ourselves in here, they must have arrived in something. All they have to do is follow us through hypers.p.a.ce. No, the best course of action is destroy it here and now; bring the whole thing cras.h.i.+ng down, and the INITEC building with it.'

Powerless Friendless shrugged. 'I have bad memories of this building,' he said. 'I'm game.'

Cwej opened his mouth to protest, but Forrester elbowed him in the stomach. 'Sign me up for it,' she said as he bent double in pain. 'I'd like to shove this s.h.i.+p right up the a.r.s.e of the person who runs INITEC. After what he did to me . . . ' She paused, and swallowed. 'After what he did to Martle.'

Cwej nodded. 'Fine,' he said, still trying to catch his breath. 'Whatever you say. But what about the people in the building?'

Glancing out into the corridor, Bernice could see the Hith commander slithering towards them.

'If the congruities are preserved,' she said, 'then the s.h.i.+p will appear in mid-air outside the building. I think. I hope. It'll drop down to the Undertown. Is there anything in particular underneath us here?'

'Mostly deserted buildings and water,' Powerless Friendless said, moving over to the controls. 'The INITEC building is above the area where the old Sc.u.mble s.h.i.+p crashed, years ago. It's a wasteland. And, let's face it, if we can stop the icaron radiation, we'll save more lives than we squander.'

'I see you've got the Skel'Ske Skel'Ske working,' the commander said, addressing them all from the doorway. 'Good work. How long before the s.h.i.+p is ready to go?' working,' the commander said, addressing them all from the doorway. 'Good work. How long before the s.h.i.+p is ready to go?'

'Five minutes,' said Powerless Friendless, without turning. 'But it's only going in one direction.'

'What do you mean?' the commander hissed. 'Which direction?'

'Lingerie, stationery and kitchen utensils,' Bernice said with a smile.

The Doctor slipped a hand into his right trouser pocket, frowned, and brought it out empty. He repeated the process with his left pocket. Still nothing.

Pulling them out like an elephant's ears to check their depths, he shrugged.

Next he checked his jacket pockets, one by one, but they were empty too.

230.'Doctor, your juvenile sense of humour is proving to be a little wearing.'

'You've waited this long,' the Doctor snapped, slipping his shoe off and up-ending it. 'Impatience doesn't suit you.' The key dropped into his palm, and he grinned. 'Obvious place!' he cried, and slipped it into the lock. The TARDIS door swung open, revealing a dark interior.

'Follow me,' the Doctor said, limping towards the darkness.