Part 11 (2/2)

Darnak scowled and made to leave, but the Superior stopped him with a glare. 'I want you to do something, if you're capable. Enros has requested the presence of two prisoners: the alien and the rebel leader. You can arrange for both to . . . shall we say, fall into his hands, can't you?'

Darnak coughed nervously and inspected his toes, remembering Mortannis's face as it twisted in alarm and vanished in the cubicle's red glow.

The Superior groaned with overstated impatience. 'What have you done?'

Chris sucked his knuckles and wished he could drop dead where he sat.

Kat'lanna, conversely, burst into laughter. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I forgot the truth drug.'

He couldn't meet her eyes and he knew that his cheeks were crimson. 'That's twice I've done that today,' he whispered.

'Oh, I'm not special then?'

'I didn't mean . . .'

'Come on, give.'

'My partner, Forrester. But that wasn't real, it happened in the crystal. And . . . I don't really love her anyway. Not like that.'

The drug's requirement fulfilled, Chris looked at Kat sternly.

'Look, do you mind not asking me that sort of thing at the moment?'

'Sorry,' she said again.

A long silence ensued, during which Chris stared at his feet and wondered if the drug had revealed a few home truths to him too. He felt he didn't want to consider that yet and, with an effort, he returned his thoughts to immediate concerns.

'What are they likely to do with us?' he asked.

Kat answered solemnly. 'Anything from a caution to hanging, depending on what mood the Superior's in.'

'Hanging?'

'The Ruling Family restored capital punishment when the Great Darkness began. It means we waste less power on 91 criminals. Or rather, on those who have been labelled ”criminal”.' Kat thought for a moment. 'Mind you, I imagine that Enros will want you.'

'Who's he?'

'Our local religious freak. He believes that the universe exists for his pleasure and that, when he dies, it will all go with him.'

'Should be easy to prove wrong.'

'Not in his lifetime. He practically controls this planet now.

The Superior and her Family rule in name, but Enros tells them how. They like that - belief keeps people in line more effectively than deterrents.'

'But why is he believed?' Chris asked. 'There were plenty of people like him on Earth, but no one commanded that much of a following.'

'He predicted that a Miracle would save us. Right on cue, it did. Just lucky, I guess. The thing is, Enros has always claimed that pink men would come from the sky and wors.h.i.+p him.'

'Aha. So if I don't . . .?'

'You'd shake a few faiths, that's for sure.'

'Perhaps he will want a word, then.'

'Or he'll have you disposed of in secret. It has happened.'

Chris scowled. 'The more I hear about this planet, the less I like it.' He knew from bitter experience how corruption could breed within the inst.i.tutions of power.

'Then you'll help us,' Kat said, more as a statement than as a question. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the forehead. The sensation was enjoyable. 'Escape from here, I mean.'

He wasn't sure. The Detrian authorities, he considered, had every right to detain him - and he had only Kat's word that they weren't benevolent. Was he letting her manipulate him into doing something rash?

Right or wrong, though, Chris decided, he did want freedom.

Unanswered questions burnt in his chest. He had to find the Doctor. Until he had spoken to him, he couldn't fully believe his betrayal.

It was for that reason, more than any other, that Chris at last 92 answered: 'Okay. Let's go.'

Frankly, he was glad too of an excuse to tear his thoughts away from that kiss.

Mel watched in fascination as the Doctor laid out a collection of bric-a-brac on the gra.s.s, from stray paper clips to rubber bands to an apple core and a child's yo-yo with a tiger face painted on it. 'It never fails to amaze me how much junk you keep in those pockets,' she commented.

'I never know when I might need it,' the Doctor said, triumphantly producing a small green cube with a flat-screen display.

'Oh, Doctor,' Mel groaned, 'you must have been able to feel that thing. It's three inches square!'

He was already prising the box open with a screwdriver. 'As you have observed, Mel, my pockets are extraordinarily capacious.'

'What is it?'

He held the screwdriver between his teeth and rummaged in the object's internal wiring, answering through one side of his mouth. 'A rather clever device of my own devising. It generates a force field. Unfortunately, it was intended to work in conjunction with two other units.'

'But you can modify it, right?'

His eyes gleamed. 'Right.'

Stationed by the cell door, Kat'lanna could hear footsteps approaching. 'He's coming,' she whispered. Chris rolled off the bed and joined her. 'How are you feeling? No, don't answer. I don't want to hear the biological details.'

It's all right,' he said. 'The drug's almost worn off now. I should be able to join in.'

A black-clothed guard appeared at the door and stared suspiciously through the bars. 'What are you two doing?'

It's all right,' Kat said. 'My alien friend here has communicated with Enros. We have been summoned to His Presence immediately.'

'n.o.body came through here.'

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