Doctor Who_ Father Time Part 40

'Sir, I beg you, please '

Ferran pointed the wand at the subcommander's head. There was a low hum.

The man backed away, clutching his head, screaming.

'What are you doing?' Miranda yelled.

'Simple pain induction,' Ferran said. 'It keeps my subjects in line. They all have receivers.'

'Stop it!' Miranda insisted.

Cate stood very still.

Ferran glared at Miranda. The slaves and the technicians were clearly shocked to see the Prefect's authority challenged. Cate wasn't sure how Ferran would react and, to judge by the Prefect's face, Ferran was unsure himself.

Ferran lowered the wand. 'Subcommander, find them in the next hour.' Then he turned to Miranda. 'Come with me,' he said.

Ferran said nothing on the journey back to Miranda's room. He hadn't needed to say anything to make it clear that their tour was over. Miranda faced him all the way back, her arms crossed over her chest. She'd challenged him to justify what he had done. His silence had just seemed to make her more and more angry.

Cate remained silent, knowing it was best not to intervene.

They arrived back at Miranda's room. The Deputy followed them into Miranda's chamber, and made sure the door was closed before Ferran spoke.

'The strong prey on the weak. It is the natural order,' Ferran explained, impatience in his voice.

'It most certainly is not,' Miranda said. Cate was surprised to hear such anger and defiance. Despite herself, Cate found herself siding with Miranda. But the Last One was stating what ought to be the case, not how the universe truly worked.

Ferran glared down at her. 'You are not a leader, you never have been.'

'True leaders don't rely on punishment. They lead by example, they reward success.'

'In this primitive, compliant age perhaps. Not in mine.'

Ferran turned to Cate.

'Kneel,' he ordered.

She did, without hesitation.

'You would have me lead by example?' Ferran spat. 'Have me kneel down before she did, to show her how it is done? Or have me throw her some food to thank her for doing it?'

'I wouldn't have her kneel at all.'

Cate looked up at the young woman, but Miranda was staring over her at Ferran himself. Cate lowered her head again.

'I feed her,' Ferran said. 'I give her clothes, I give her food and shelter. I protect her from those who would destroy our kind. She benefits from the achievements of the scientists and engineers I employ, she enjoys the arts of which I am a patron.'

Cate's head stayed bowed.

'She is a human being.'

Ferran laughed. 'No, she is not.'

Miranda glared at him. 'You know what I mean. She's a person. She has rights. Stand up, Cate.'

The Deputy remained on her knees.

Ferran smiled. 'She has only that which I grant her.'

'It's not fair,' Miranda said, surprised how upset she was that Cate wouldn't stand. 'There's no justice here.'

Ferran shook his head. 'There is law. The law of the strong. We have our obligations, too we look after our subjects, if they remain loyal. People demand strong leaders.h.i.+p. This is the natural order of things. My family fought for and won their lands and t.i.tles.'

'But you didn't,' Miranda said. 'There's a story from Earth. A working man is caught poaching in the wood by the owner of a great stately home. "What gives you the right to steal the game from my land?" the lord asks. "What makes it your land?" the worker asks. "My ancestors fought for it," the lord says. The working man puts his fists up and says, "OK then, let's fight for it."'

'Then what happened?' Ferran asked.

Miranda sighed. 'It's a story. An allegory. A reminder that the status quo hasn't always been the status quo, that true leaders.h.i.+p is not simply conferred on whoever owns the most property.'

Ferran shrugged his shoulders. 'Deputy, fight me. Win, and you get my t.i.tle and all that that confers.'

Cate looked up. 'My Lord?'

'No conditions. This isn't a trick. Win the fight and you'll be the Prefect.'

Cate looked between him and Miranda, but stayed down on her knees.

'You see?' Ferran said, faintly disappointed. 'When she was created, I knew she would spend a great deal of time alone with me. I toyed with the idea of placing a limiter in her brain, a device that would prevent her from trying to a.s.sa.s.sinate me. In the end, I decided not to I command loyalty. It hasn't even occurred to this property property to try to hurt me. I am her master.' to try to hurt me. I am her master.'

Miranda's eyes flashed at Cate. Try it. Try it.

Somewhere, in among the micro-relays and neuronitecture of her brain, Cate found herself agreeing.

And the Deputy leapt at Ferran, hands out like talons.

Ferran batted her out of the way, kicked her in the stomach. While he did that, he reached to his belt.

He took the wand from it, pointed it at Cate and pressed a control. The Deputy collapsed on the floor, doubled up, clutching her head. She kept her mouth closed, trying so hard not to scream.

She couldn't think, she couldn't think, she couldn't think. It was the only thing her mind was telling her, an endless loop of the same error message.

'You've made your point, now stop it,' Miranda demanded.

'She likes it.'

Cate cried out, finally.

'She tried to depose the Prefect,' Ferran said. 'A traitor deserves to die, not just suffer.'

Cate looked up to see Miranda looking down, unsure what to do. Then the girl tried to grab the control from Ferran. He pulled it up out of her reach. Cate watched them, unable to do anything more.

There was a chime, then a voice. 'Prefect, this is the flight deck. Computer is reporting a development.'

Ferran started towards the door, stepping over his Deputy as he went. As the door opened, he turned back to look at Miranda and tossed the wand at her.

'Use it wisely,' he advised.

The door slid up.

Miranda quickly found how to turn the device off.

Cate lay there for a moment, trying to get her breath back.

Miranda leaned over her, tried to comfort her, but Cate shrugged her away. 'I deserved it,' she said.

'No one deserves that,' Miranda said. 'Have you really never even thought about hurting him before?'

Cate shook her head. 'I do only what he commands.'

Miranda hugged her. 'We have to get out of here,' she said. 'If Ferran wants a fight, then he can fight me.'

Cate shook her head. 'Fight us us,' she said. 'He will have to fight us us. I can get you to a saucer, return you to your father.'

Miranda hesitated. 'I can't fly a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.'

'You wouldn't need to: one pilot can. I can. I could come with you.' There was a tremble in her voice that undercut the defiance she was trying to convey.

'But Ferran would come after us.'

Cate was happy to lie there, debating the point it gave her a chance to get her breath back. 'No. You heard what he said there are no records of you. He wouldn't know where to look for you.'

'But he has those records of Dad. I couldn't go home without showing up on those.'

'Perhaps they were faked.'

'Or perhaps he destroys the saucer to prevent us from landing.'

'He would kill me, but he wouldn't kill you. He needs you alive.'

Cate was surprised to see that Miranda was starting to cry.

'I want to see my father more than anything else at the moment,' she said, voice full of anger. 'I want to go back to my bedroom. I want to walk round the garden and touch that rea.s.suring, stupid police box. Take me home.'

'What is it?' Ferran asked as he came on to the flight deck.

'A human s.p.a.ce craft has been detected. Its markings indicate that it is Atlantis Atlantis, a vehicle belonging to the National Aeronautical and s.p.a.ce Administration of the United States of America,' Computer said, without emotion. 'It is on a powered intercept course.'

A hologram appeared in a bubble underneath the apex of Computer's pyramid. It was a primitive thing. Aerodynamic, with rocket engines.

'Weapons?'

'None detected.'

'Force fields?' Ferran asked as he stepped down into the centre of the room.

'None detected. The airframe is stressed aluminium, the cargo doors are graphite and epoxy resin, the outer skin is coated felt.'

If Ferran didn't know, he would have asked if Computer was joking. He couldn't help but laugh.

'Crew?'

'Detectors register six life signs.'

'Is it signalling us?'

'No.'

'Do we have a targeting solution?'

'Yes.'

Crosshairs appeared on the hologram.

Ferran stepped over to one of the control seats. The pilot moved his hand out of the way of the weapons panel.

Ferran reached for the firing control.

'Radio signal from the Earth craft.'

'Ferran? Ferran I know it's you.'

Ferran's eyes narrowed.

'Voice-pattern recognition,' Computer reported. 'The voice is that of '

'I know who it is,' Ferran snapped, moving round to the communications panel. The officer handed him a microphone. 'Doctor,' he continued. 'Show me his face.'

The screen rippled and became a close-up of the Doctor's head. He showed no signs of ageing, he looked just as he had at their last encounter.

'h.e.l.lo, there,' he said. 'I've come for my daughter.'

'You haven't a hope, Doctor. Supremacy Supremacy is the most advanced s.h.i.+p in the universe, even in my time. Computer, calculate the odds of the Doctor's attack on is the most advanced s.h.i.+p in the universe, even in my time. Computer, calculate the odds of the Doctor's attack on Supremacy Supremacy succeeding.' succeeding.'

'There is no possibility of an attack succeeding,' Computer intoned. 'If Atlantis Atlantis were to ram the s.h.i.+p at maximum attainable speed it would not breach the defence cloak.' were to ram the s.h.i.+p at maximum attainable speed it would not breach the defence cloak.'