Pirate Loop, The (19 page)

Later, Martha's watch said three in the afternoon but it felt like late at night, maybe even into the next day. She had fallen over while teaching the badgers how to do the Conga, she had slow-danced with Archibald and then surrendered him to Zuzia, and she'd been the Doctor's assistant when he'd done card tricks in the cabaret. All in all, she was exhausted. So she sat in the cocktail lounge, sipping her hydrogen hydroxide and watching everyone else enjoy the party.

The Doctor slumped down in the chair beside her, a stupid grin on his face. 'Isn't this...' he gestured at the happy throng of tentacled Balumin, badger-faced former pirates, mouthless men from the engine room and the rest of the starship's crew. 'Isn't it just...' But he couldn't quite think of the word.

'Brilliant?' Martha suggested.

'Yeah!' said the Doctor laughing. 'That's exactly what this is.'

'You want to stay, do you?'

His grin faded, and in his eyes there was that terrible alien loneliness. He tried not to show it when he turned to her. 'Nan,' he said, all false cheer and ease. 'We'd get bored. Well, I'd get bored. And that'd be boring for you. So yeah, we'd both get bored. What I said the first time.'

'Doctor,' she said seriously. 'What about everyone else?'

'What about them?'

'They might get bored, too?'

'What?' he said. 'On a ship with everlasting cheese and pineapple on sticks?'

Martha held his gaze, saying nothing. She knew he knew better than that. It was just that sometimes he needed reminding.

'OK,' he said at length and got to his feet. Then he climbed unsteadily onto the chair beside her, and started clapping his hands. 'Attention!' he called. 'Oi, you 'orrible lot, lend me your ears!'

The noise of the party died down and people came in from the ballroom to hear what he had to say.

'Speech!' called Mrs Wingsworth.

'Speech!' agreed Captain Georgina, who looked a little tipsy and was wearing a paper hat.

'Speech!' joined in the rest of the party. The Doctor let them work themselves up a bit before calling for some quiet.

All right, a speech,' he said, and earned a massive cheer. 'The party here never ends,' he said – again a massive cheer. 'And there's nobody who can tell you otherwise,' he went on. And then, after a dramatic pause, he added, 'except you.'

The party-goers glanced round at each other nervously, not sure what the Doctor meant.

'Me and Martha,' he told them. 'We're leaving. In an hour.'

The audience booed good-naturedly.

And when we're gone,' said the Doctor, 'that's it. There's no way out of here. You stay here for ever.'

The background rumble of chatter died suddenly away. Everyone stood transfixed by the Doctor.

'So,' he told them. 'You can come with us. We'll drop you off somewhere, and you continue your lives as you were. With a war coming. With real stuff to deal with. With food that runs out and people who die and things never quite the same any more.'

He let them take that in. 'Or you can stay. For ever. The party going on and on, never getting old. But it never being any different. Never getting outside. Never seeing anyone else. But safe.'

They hung on the words, awed by what he was saying. 'No one owns any of you. No one else gets to decide. You each have to make your own choice. My ship's the blue box in the engine rooms,' he said. 'You've got an hour to decide. Come on, Martha.'

He jumped down from the chair, took Martha's hand in his and led her through the crowd. The party-goers gaped at them in silence, the only sound coming from the
Brilliant's
hidden speakers as a pop tune came to an end.

Martha let the Doctor lead her to the centre of the ballroom, the passengers and pirates and crew all around them. The Doctor took Martha's left hand in his, put his right hand on her waist. Realising what he meant to do, she put her hand to his shoulder, so close to him she could feel the buttons of his suit against her chest, so close she could feel his hearts beating.

'But what if they want to stay?' she asked him, looking around at the various friends they had made and those she'd not even got to know.

'Then they stay,' said the Doctor. 'But they have to choose.'

From the Brilliant's speakers, a new pop song began. It took a moment for Martha to realise what it was, by which time she and the Doctor had already started dancing.

'Grace Kelly!' she laughed.

'The song,' the Doctor nodded, wheeling her around the floor. 'Got it off your iPod. Thought you wouldn't mind. Good old Mika.'

Following the Doctor and Martha's lead, others joined the dance floor: Jocelyn and Dashiel; Thomas and Captain Florence; Mrs Wingsworth and one of the mouthless men; Archibald and
both
Kitty Rose and Zuzia, Martha could see the same look on all their faces; the same determination to enjoy themselves, the same terror and confusion as they tried to make their choices.

Martha looked away quickly, torn on their behalf. She kept her mind on the music and not treading on the Doctor's toes. At least she didn't have to make that choice herself, she thought. But really she already had, a long time ago. And one day he'd take her back to her own time, and she'd have to choose again...

She hung on to the Doctor and let him lead.

The party ab oard the
Brilliant
would go on for ever. Yet for those who would choose the one chance to escape, the last dance had begun.

Thanks to Justin and Gary for thinking of me in the first place, and to all those people who listened to my odd ideas and answered my odd questions. Special mention to the experts Scott Andrews, Simon Belcher, Debbie Challis, Richard Flowers, Tim Guerrier, Tom Guerrier, Danny Kodicek, Joseph Lidster, Amanda Lindsay, Nicholas Pegg, Steve Tribe and Alex Wilcock. The best bits are probably theirs.

Thanks also to my pals at Big Finish for all they've let me get away with recently.

And lastly thanks to my nephews, Luke and Joseph, to whom the badger-faced pirates owe something of a debt.

Coming soon from BBC Books
featuring the Doctor and Martha
as played by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman:

MARTHA IN THE MIRROR
by Justin Richards

SNOW GLOBE 7
by Mike Tucker

THE MANY HANDS
by Dale Smith

Also available from BBC Books
featuring the Doctor and Rose
as played by Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper:

THE CLOCKWISE MAN
by Justin Richards

THE MONSTERS INSIDE
by Stephen Cole

WINNER TAKES ALL
by Jacqueline Rayner

THE DEVIANT STRAIN
by Justin Richards

ONLY HUMAN
by Gareth Roberts

THE STEALERS OF DREAMS
by Steve Lyons

Also available from BBC Books
featuring the Doctor and Rose
as played by David Tennant and Billie Piper:

THE STONE ROSE
by Jacqueline Rayner

THE FEAST OF THE DROWNED
by Stephen Cole

THE RESURRECTION CASKET
by Justin Richards

THE NIGHTMARE OF BLACK ISLAND
by Mike Tucker

THE ART OF DESTRUCTION
by Stephen Cole

THE PRICE OF PARADISE
by Colin Brake

Also available from BBC Books
featuring the Doctor and Martha
as played by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman:

by Stephen Cole

ISBN 978 1 84607 225 3

UK £6.99 US $11.99/$14.99 CDN

The TARDIS lands the Doctor and Martha in the Lake District in 1909, where a small village has been terrorised by a giant, scaly monster. The search is on for the elusive 'Beast of Westmorland', and explorers, naturalists and hunters from across the country are descending on the fells. King Edward VII himself is on his way to join the search, with a knighthood for whoever finds the Beast.

But there is a more sinister presence at work in the Lakes than a mere monster on the rampage, and the Doctor is soon embroiled in the plans of an old and terrifying enemy. As the hunters become the hunted, a desperate battle of wits begins – with the future of the entire world at stake . . .