Doctor Who: The Also People (39 page)

The sharp sounds of the pieces hitting the board was like the report of a clockwork machine-gun. Kadiatu sat hunched over the table, her hands moving so fast that they were almost impossible to see. Chris noticed that although the Doctor appeared to move far slower he none the less seemed to be placing his pieces, if anything, faster than Kadiatu. The game was over in less than two minutes.

'You cheated,' said Kadiatu. 'You played to win this time.'

'Again,' said the Doctor.

Another flurry of movements. Less than a minute.

'Twelve,' said the Doctor.

Kadiatu frowned and bit her lip. She replaced the pieces slowly, turned the board around and glanced down.

'Fifteen,' said the Doctor.

'Hey,' she said, 'I haven't even moved yet.'

'You were going to open with King's pawn,' said the Doctor, 'weren't you?'

'Yes.'

'Mate in fifteen then.'

Kadiatu stared at the Doctor, her eyes narrowed, then opened wide in understanding. The Doctor smiled smugly back at her.

They stopped moving the pieces. After another twelve 'games' they stopped looking at the board at all.

Chris and Dep watched on in fascination as the Doctor and Kadiatu faced each other across the table, the chessmen standing forgotten between them.

And the Doctor was still winning, rattling off his predictions before Kadiatu could open her mouth.

'Twenty-one,' said Kadiatu.

The Doctor hesitated and actually glanced down at the board. 'You beat me,' he said, 'I don't believe it.'

'Cheer up, Doctor,' said Kadiatu. 'It was bound to happen sooner or later.'

'Not to me it doesn't,' he said. 'You just said the first number that came into your head.'

'Ah,' said Kadiatu, 'but it was the right number.'

Muttering, the Doctor swept the chess pieces into the case and closed the board. 'Right,' he said, rolling up his sleeve and thumping his elbow down on the table. 'Arm wrestling, best of five.'

'The Doctor beat Kadiatu at arm wrestling?' said Bernice.

'That's what I said,' said Chris. 'Three falls to nothing.'

'I don't believe it.'

'That's what she said.'

The sky over the aerodrome had been overcast until saRa!qava had a little chat with God; after that the clouds simply evaporated in the space of ten minutes.

The ornithopter was parked at the end of the landing field closest to the clubhouse. AM!xitsa had airlifted it from saRa!qava's roof that morning, lifting the one and a half tons all by itself, showing off again.

The maiden flight had attracted a large crowd, mostly friends of Dep's from the Weird Aviation Interest Group and a scattering of older people from iSanti Jeni. Even beRut had turned up with a vidpad, ostentatiously sketching away whenever he thought someone might be watching. God had manifested itself as a perambulating tree.

The crowd burst into loud applause when Chris and Dep walked onto the field. They were dressed in heavy flying jackets and leather trousers against the cold; the ornithopter's cockpit was nothing but an open framework at the centre of the machine. Bernice smiled to see Chris blush from the attention. The applause died away as the two intrepid aeronauts clambered awkwardly into the cockpit and lay down amongst the bizarre tangle of machinery.

The Doctor asked Bernice what she thought of it.

'It looks like something Leonardo da Vinci and Heath Robinson designed,' she said, 'while under the influence of some really serious acid.'

'You know,' said the Doctor, 'I've never seen an ornithopter that actually flew. At least not in this dimension.'

There was a coughing sound from the back of the ornithopter and a plume of white vapour rose into the still air.

'What the hell is it running on?' asked Roz.

'Steam,' said the Doctor.

'Oh Goddess,' said Roz.

'You do know your partner is completely bonkers,' said Kadiatu.

God waved a few of its branches around. 'You try and create a safe and stable environment,'

muttered the tree, 'and then they go and do
this
.'

'The things men do under the influence of testosterone,' said Bernice.

'Don't worry,' said the Doctor. 'I've got a parachute standing by with a friend.'

With an alarming clanking sound the metal and plastic wings opened to their full extent. There was a spluttering noise that sounded to Bernice exactly like that made by a lawnmower engine.

More steam was vented from the chrome exhaust pipes. The wings began to beat, slowly at first and then faster and faster until, with all the grace of an epileptic vulture, the unlikely contraption lurched off the ground.

The crowd cheered, Roz scowled and saRa!qava bit her lip until it bled.

Clanking, coughing and stuttering, the ornithopter rose vertically to a height of two hundred metres and hung in the air like an ode to human stupidity.

'The tricky bit,' said the Doctor, 'is the transition to horizontal flight. They have to adjust the pitch of their artificial feathers just right or the whole thing will fall out of the sky.'

'Thank you so much for sharing that with us,' said Roz.

Bernice gasped as the ornithopter slipped sideways, dipped suddenly and then, miraculously, lurched into forward flight. As it picked up speed, Bernice thought she could hear the sound of children laughing.

'God,' said the Doctor, 'I think it's time for your party piece. Before they get too far away.'

God perambulated out in front of the crowd. 'Ladies, gentlemen, machines and friends of the Doctor,' it boomed. 'As you can see I have nothing hidden up my sleeves, sorry, my branches.' It thrust its largest limb upwards until it was pointing at the sun. 'Regard this stellar object, with whom I have never worked before, and watch very, very carefully.'

The sun moved, falling out of the sky towards the distant ocean. As it fell it changed colour, deepening first to a brilliant orange and then darkening further, until by the time it reached the notional horizon it was a deep red that lit up the clouds in a display of amber and gold.

'I really hope God's doing that with mirrors,' said saRa!qava.

The sphere experienced, for the first time in its history, the glories of a full cinemascope Technicolor sunset.

Just so Chris and Dep could fly off into it.

The post-flight party quickly spilled out of saRa!qava's house and spread to the rest of the town.

The Doctor quickly fell into the avuncular persona that he kept stored away for such rare occasions. He talked mostly to children and amused them by pulling scarves from their ears and miscellaneous junk from their noses. After a while he noticed that someone was missing.

'Where's Roz?' he asked Bernice who shrugged and said she hadn't seen her. Concerned, the Doctor wandered out onto the esplanade where he quickly spotted a lone figure leaning against a bollard and staring out over the harbour. A strong wind was blowing in from the sea and once out from the shelter of the small streets he began to feel the chill.

As he walked out to join Roz at the bollard he wondered what had drawn her away from the party. Following her gaze he saw another figure standing out at the end of the breakwater. Ah, he thought, of course.

'He was talking to the fish earlier,' said Roz, her eyes never leaving the figure.

'Fish is a bit isolated,' said the Doctor. 'I doubt he's heard yet.' He put a hand on her shoulder.

'I'm sorry how it turned out.'

'Wasn't your fault, Doctor,' said Roz. 'I expect hearing that makes a nice change.'

'No,' said the Doctor, 'not really. Are you coming back to the party? People have been asking after you.'

'Maybe,' she said, 'in a little while.'

'Roz,' said the Doctor gently, 'why don't you just walk over there and talk to him, no one will care, everybody will understand. This could be your last chance.'

He thought he saw a desperate hope in her face that quickly subsided into an expression of regret. He realized with a pang that he had merely caused her more pain. 'No,' she said, 'it wouldn't be right.'

'When you're ready,' he said, 'we'll be waiting.'

He left her then and walked back towards the noise of the party. When he reached the entrance to the street he turned back, hoping that she wouldn't be there, that perhaps he might see her running down the breakwater towards the figure standing by the lighthouse. That they might embrace and hold each other tightly and say something, anything that would lessen their pain.

Go on, Roslyn, he urged her in his mind, don't you know that life is fleeting and so what if he is a murderer, so am I. Don't you know that we have to snatch our best moments from the jaws of chaos and in the end we are all dust, the best as well as the worst of us?

He closed his eyes tight and imagined them together with all his might. Their hands and faces touching, a tentative smile, tears, sharing a moment of human warmth amongst the wind and the spray. He imagined them together as if by the power of his will alone he could make it happen.

But when he opened his eyes Roz was standing where he'd left her, a lonely figure watching another lost soul across the darkened gulf of the harbour.

Bernice awoke to the sound of the sea, the smell of fresh coffee and the Doctor standing beside her bed. He smiled and handed her a steaming mug. Her carry-all was packed up and waiting by the door. A newer and larger bag containing her souvenirs sat next to it.

'It's time we were going,' said the Doctor.

'Yes,' she said, 'I suppose it is.'

They ate a last breakfast on the balcony. Roz put away enough eggs and bacon to last her several years while the Doctor nibbled at the corner of his toast. Bernice sipped her banana-flavoured orange juice and stared out at the virtual horizon.

Chris arrived with Dep in tow just as Roz mopped up the last of her egg yolk. 'We were beginning to think you were, staying,' said Roz.

Chris said nothing but Bernice saw Dep's hair tighten around his waist. She hoped the young woman wasn't going to make a scene and then immediately felt guilty for thinking it.

They picked up their bags and walked down to the foyer. Before they stepped through the doors the Doctor turned and said: 'Goodbye, House, thank you for having us.'

'My pleasure,' said House.

Kadiatu and aM!xitsa were waiting outside to help them carry their bags. The big woman picked up Roz's suitcase and set it on her head. Bernice caught Roz looking thoughtfully after the woman as she walked ahead, the suitcase in perfect balance.

All that was visible of the TARDIS was a square of crushed grass in the centre of the clearing. The Doctor walked around it a few times, trying to remember which side the door was on.

'Once it arrives,' he said, 'we have to get in as fast as possible to stop God getting one of its bugs inside.'

Bernice shook Kadiatu's hand. 'Take care,' she said.

'Got any last-minute advice?' asked Kadiatu.

'Start small,' said Bernice. 'Overbearing postmen, malfunctioning traffic-lights, that sort of thing. And take care of aM!xitsa, it doesn't know what it's letting itself in for.'

'Don't worry,' said Kadiatu, 'I'll be modest and meek . . .'

Bernice punched the tall woman in the face with all her strength.

The blow never connected. Kadiatu simply lifted her hand and caught Bernice's fist on her palm.

Bernice winced at the pain in her knuckles. It was like punching a brick wall.
Paper wraps
stone
, said a little girl voice in her head.

Kadiatu released Bernice's hand and looked at her strangely. 'That was very dangerous,' she said quietly.

'I had to be sure,' said Bernice.

'Look after him,' said Kadiatu.

'I'll do my best.'

The Doctor looked at Kadiatu. 'When you get round to building your you-know-what, make sure you build it away from here so that you-know-who doesn't find out the precise details of how it's done. Otherwise those that shall remain nameless will be a bit annoyed that I've broken the treaty and do unspeakable things to my head the next time I'm you-know-where. Got that?'

'No problem,' said Kadiatu. 'Trust me.'

'When you're quite ready, Christopher,' said the Doctor.

Dep let go of Chris with extreme reluctance and then, without saying anything, turned and ran up the path. Chris watched her until she vanished out of sight and then told the Doctor he was ready. Roz put a companionable hand on his shoulder.

'On a count of three,' said the Doctor.

The familiar wheezing groan of the space-time continuum reluctantly conceding to superior technology echoed around the clearing. With its flashing blue lamp becoming visible first the TARDIS materialized.

'One, two, three – GO!' said the Doctor.

They found Wolsey curled up in his usual place on top of the time rotor. The cat opened one incurious eye as they charged in through the main doors, as if to imply that it was supremely indifferent about their very existence. Exactly the attitude you'd expect, thought Bernice, from a cat who had been left alone for a while with an automated food dispenser.

The Doctor banged the door control down and immediately started punching in co-ordinates.

The time rotor began to rise and fall: Wolsey started to purr. The Doctor relaxed.

Bernice thought of Kadiatu and aM!xitsa who even now were probably building their own TARDIS analogue, unless they'd already built it or hadn't even started, or didn't even exist yet.

She wondered what their TARDIS would look like on the inside.

'I can't believe you left them behind,' said Roz. 'They were the only pair of uniform boots that fit properly.'

'I thought you had them,' said Chris.

'Do you know how long it took me to wear them in? It's not like we can pop back and get them, is it?'

Home again, home again, thought Bernice, jiggidy jig.

By far the cleverest animal in the forest was Tsuro the hare and a list of his many adventures would take a storyteller many years to recount. He travelled far and wide in the world and the fame of his tricks grew with every telling. So great was his fame that Tsuro was often welcomed into villages that were beset by troubles or under evil influences. 'Help us, o clever Hare,' the people would cry and Tsuro would help them but not always in a manner that they liked.