Part 3 (1/2)

He reached out to touch them.

'Ick,' he said, and s.n.a.t.c.hed his hand away.

It was bright and s.h.i.+ning. Glistening. Fitz swallowed hard. His skin was seeping colour like thick sweat. Without thinking, he wiped at it with his other hand. Now that one was smeared and pulsing with the unearthly light.

'Oh sod sod.' Fitz staggered out of the room, feeling giddy and sick. Never mind finding Trix. He needed to find the Doctor. Or a a doctor anyone, really. doctor anyone, really.

He needed help.

He'd caught s.p.a.ce lurgy from an alien wall!

The Doctor, aware his luck may well not hold, had decided to push it to the limit. He'd head for Falsh's office. With Falsh currently out schmoozing his VIP, perhaps the Doctor could fake an email from the boss to the supplies manager, demanding ten millilitres of mercury be brought at once to Docking Bay Two. . .

Disguised in his smock, studying the ladle in his hands with professional fascination, the Doctor reached the station's highest floor unchallenged. A man like Falsh would doubtless need to place himself above everybody else, and as a matter of course would require the best view in the place magnificent Saturn, of course. So that view didn't slip, it seemed logical that the station would be orbiting in synchronous rotation, presenting the same face to the 17 planet at all times. The Doctor therefore stuck to the general area above the main boardroom.

He was right: soon he discovered that Falsh had an enormous portion of the third level given over to his own private domain. The Doctor knew he was getting warm when carpeting suddenly appeared, azure, deep-pile and luxurious. The clincher was when the walkway ended in a big locked door saying: ROBART FALSH.

DIRECTOR'S SUITE The Doctor studied the locking mechanism, and was just pulling out his sonic screwdriver when the door slid open. He dived aside out of view, as a young man walked out at speed cursing under his breath. 'Why does she have to send me? Why do I I have to go?' have to go?'

The door started to close behind him. The Doctor threw his ladle into the gap between door and wall it landed on the carpet without a sound and when the door hit the obstruction it obligingly opened again.

The Doctor held his breath, but the man didn't look around as he stomped off out of sight. Thanking his lucky stars a couple of red dwarves in Pavo he retrieved his ladle and crept into Falsh's sanctum.

Inevitably, it was big. There was an orderly workstation presumably belonging to the young man (whose name was Nerren, judging by the virtual memos glowing in his in-tray), positioned in-between various works of minimalist sculpture. At the far end of the room was another ma.s.sive door, this one made of teak by the look of it. There was a handle but it wouldn't turn without a whirr of the screwdriver.

The door opened smoothly. He dropped the ladle, pocketed the screwdriver and went inside for a gander.

It was a vast rectangular office, the size of a playing field. On one long wall bubble-shaped screens cl.u.s.tered to create a ma.s.sive compound-eye effect. They played newscasts, stock prices, sports, though the sound was muted now. . . Synthetic canvases had been mounted around the place; the half-dozen seascapes generated soothing sounds of surf and gulls. But it seemed that when Falsh sat at his ma.s.sive mahogany desk his back was turned to all this. He sat facing the wall opposite: a long stretch of tinted gla.s.s looking out on to s.p.a.ce.

The view was overwhelming in its expanse. Saturn loomed so close you could see great whorls and swirls in its striped custard clouds. The tip of the rings seemed to stretch right up to the window like a dazzling yellow brick road leading to some secret Oz out among the stars. Grey moons sidled past, their stark, devastated faces unsettlingly beautiful: Tethys, Mimas, ragbag Iapetus and over there, the bashful orange fizz of t.i.tan.

18.The Doctor tore his dreamy gaze away and turned to the bank of bubblescreens. Fitz and Trix needed finding, as well as the mercury. Surely some of these must offer internal feeds, they couldn't all be showing stock prices, newscasts and. . .

Oh.

The woman from the boardroom Tinya was standing in the doorway.

'I wasn't expecting to see you here,' said the Doctor.

Tinya came in and closed the door. 'I think that's my line.'

'Nerren's indisposed, I'm afraid.' The Doctor beamed at her. 'Can I make an appointment for you with Mr Falsh on his behalf?'

'Falsh is entertaining Aristotle Halcyon, Doctor.'

'How jolly. Juggling beanbags, perhaps? A touch of tap-dancing?' He paused. 'Are you going to scream for help?'

'No.'

'Then could I try?' He peered behind her. 'Ah, no need, here's Fitz.'

Tinya smiled coldly. 'He's not, you know. He ran into the loading bay and hasn't come out again, there's a lockdown in process. Security are searching systematically.' She took a careful step towards him. 'Make it easy on yourself and give up peacefully. I'll make sure you're well treated.'

'Very kind.'

'But you must tell me everything you have learned.'

'Very predictable.' The Doctor shoved his hands in his coat pockets. 'Your security people won't find Fitz now, you know. Our craft is there, he'll have got inside.'

'Your craft?'

'Mmm, big blue box. I'll show you if you like, and get out of your hair for good. Well, as soon as '

'So now you're happy to leave, are you?' She smiled. 'That tells me you've got what you came here for.'

His voice hardened. 'Believe me, I've got precisely nothing from my visit here besides a pleasant view. All I'm after are a few drops of mercury. What do you you think I came for? Proof of this conspiracy against who were they, now think I came for? Proof of this conspiracy against who were they, now Blazar Demolition? Evidence of whatever it is you've destroyed on Carme?'

He paused, suddenly thoughtful. 'You know, actually I wouldn't wouldn't mind knowing a little more about that.' mind knowing a little more about that.'

'Why else would I find you in Falsh's office?' She sneered, her cheeks straining tight against the blades of her cheekbones. 'People like you will always try to stand in the way of progress.'

'Well, progress would be wonderful if only it would ' He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at her 'stop.'

She regarded it warily. 'Be reasonable, Doctor.'

19.'Reasonable people adapt themselves to the universe; it's the unreasonable who seek to change it.' He gave her an apologetic smile. 'And it's often the raving idiots who try to stop them, but I find myself among their number.

Now, I'd like to check the internal camera feeds would you oblige?'

'Do you know what I'm wondering, Doctor?' Tinya said. 'I'm wondering why you didn't use that weapon in the boardroom.'

'Back then I had a perfectly good executive in a chair at my disposal.' Suddenly he saw over her shoulder and broke out in a grin of relief. 'Ah! Perfect timing!'

Tinya looked at him almost sympathetically. 'I thought we'd been through this, Doctor.'

'You like private views?'

Tinya spun around just as Trix whacked her on the crown with the ladle.

'Try these these stars.' stars.'

Trix felt a slightly guilty relish as Tinya slumped to the floor, unconscious. She grinned up at the Doctor and waggled the ladle. 'Just call me Aiken Drum.'

'I call you borderline homicidal with that thing,' said the Doctor, offering only a grudging smile. 'Nice outfit.'

'Nice disguise disguise.'

He crouched to check Tinya's pulse. 'Probably looks better on you than on that feller you ladled earlier.'

'No probably about it.' The s.p.a.cescape through the window had started drawing in her senses.