Part 18 (2/2)

'Goodbye, Dad,' she sobbed. 'If I'm lucky, you'll never have to watch this. I love you, remember that. I love you...'

She stabbed at the recorder controls, though her eyes were blurred with tears and she couldn't even see them.

<stop>.

nd>.

Miles fumbled for the right controls, and eventually stopped the simularity. His eyes glittered with unshed tears. 'Piper, I'm sorry,' he choked, and reached out for her.

'Thanks, Miles. You really know how to inspire confidence in a woman.' She turned and walked away.

'No, wait! You don't understand. That's what Paula thought, not what I '

It was too late. He was talking to a closed door.

Bernice knocked at Miles Engado's door. There was no answer, but then, she wasn't expecting any. She had seen the Adjudicator leave a few minutes before.

The door wasn't locked, and the simularity crystal was still in the desk reader. Whatever evidence Bishop had on the Doctor, she had to check it out. And then... Well, all archaeologists were thieves, of a sort.

She pressed <run>, glad now that she kept forgetting to take her simularity contact lenses out. Two heads appeared in mid*air: the Doctor's and Paula Engado's. Judging by the settings, the scene was being told from Paula's point of view. As the conversation replayed, Bernice felt herself go cold.

'Did Cheryl really say that?' Paula's voice was shrill, disbelieving. 'She loves me, but she can't leave Sam?'

'That's what she told me.' The Doctor's voice was harsh.

'It's all so stupid!' Paula said, on the verge of tears.

'It doesn't matter what you you think,' the Doctor sneered. 'It's Cheryl's feelings that count.' think,' the Doctor sneered. 'It's Cheryl's feelings that count.'

A sudden hatred of Sam Russell welled up within Paula. 'I know how Sam is going to feel,' she hissed.

'Don't be stupid.'

'You're right,' she sighed. 'It's Cheryl's decision. I can't argue with that.'

'And are you still going down in the starsuit?'

Paula gazed into the Doctor's bleak eyes. What is there left here for me? she thought. I might as well end the pain now.

He nodded, as if he could read her thoughts, and moved to leave.

'I might not be coming back,' she said.

He nodded, and left.

'd.a.m.ning, isn't it,' said a voice from the doorway as the scene cut off.

Bernice looked up. Bishop was watching her.

'Superficially,' she admitted.

'It's Paula's own simularity diary. It was still recording when the Doctor walked into the lab on Moloch. It looks to me as if the Doctor manipulated Paula Engado's feelings with a faked message from her adulterous lover Cheryl Russell to the effect that Cheryl wouldn't leave her husband, Sam. The Doctor suggested a method of suicide. Paula, distraught, took his advice. Some time later, Krau Ace discovered the crystal and accused the Doctor of manipulating Paula's suicide. The Doctor arranged for Ace, and all potential witnesses on Moloch, to die. Am I missing any salient events?'

'The death of the Energy Policeman, Moshe*Rabaan, and the disappearance of Sam Russell?' Bernice replied snappily.

'Oh, Krau Rabaan controlled the security drones. Perhaps the Doctor suspected she too might have evidence against him, and killed her. Sam... Well, a cuckolded husband I'm sure I can fit him in somewhere.'

'A trifle thin.'

'It's all I need.'

Bernice thought quickly, trying to remember her history. Like lag*s.h.i.+ps and vargol generators, simularities had died out pretty quickly in historical terms. The fad hadn't lasted to her time, but she still remembered articles in the learned techno*archaeology journals.

'These simularities, they can be set to interpret body language and voice inflection, can't they?'

'That's their main function,' he said, inclining his head. 'The neural net records all details of a scene body posture, words, tone of voice, movement and when the scene is replayed it enhances certain features to make the record less ambiguous.'

'Enhances?' Bernice was on to something.

Bishop didn't seem discomfited. 'Yes. For instance, if somebody shows evidence of being tense whilst being questioned, that can be emphasized in order to make their behaviour clearer.'

'But any characteristic can be enhanced.'

'In theory, yes.'

Somewhere at the back of her mind, it occurred to Bernice that Bishop was giving her an awful lot of rope.

'May I try an experiment?' she asked.

Bishop gestured to the table. 'But I do have copies of the simularity,' he warned.

Bernice tried to recall the initial lessons that Cheryl had given her, soon after the TARDIS had landed on Belial. Her fingers danced over the keyboard, uncertain at first, then more sure.

'Let's try it from a different perspective,' she said, and pressed <run> again.

'Did Cheryl really say that she loves me?' Paula asked ecstatically.

The Doctor nodded.

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