Doctor Who: Shining Darkness (21 page)

‘Don’t I get one too?’ came another voice – and from out of the darkness stepped Li’ian, her face and the blue dress she wore smeared with dirt and oil. There was a tear in one sleeve: she looked like she’d been through the wars.

‘Li’ian!’ cried Donna. ‘We thought you were dead!’

‘How did you get off the ship?’ asked Boonie incredulously.

‘Oh, I imagine she used the transmat,’ said the Doctor blithely. ‘Once she knew that
The Sword of Justice
was about to get its edge blunted. Why don’t you tell them, Li’ian?’ He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. ‘Tell them how you’re actually one of the Cult of Shining Darkness.’

‘What?’ frowned Donna, looking between the two of them.

‘Oh, there’s a lot of secrets round here, aren’t there?’ He flicked a glance at Boonie, but Li’ian gave a wry smile – before whipping a gun out of her pocket, grabbing Donna by the arm and pulling her close. She pressed the tip of the gun barrel to Donna’s temple and dragged her back to the edge of the platform, making sure she could see everyone clearly, and that no one could sneak up on her.

‘Ha!’ exclaimed Garaman, clapping his hands together triumphantly. ‘Well done, Li’ian!’

Li’ian threw him a scornful look.

‘Oh shut up,’ she said – and shot him, right between the eyes.

JUST WHEN SHE
thought she had the whole thing sussed, it went and got all complicated again.

The journey from
The Sword of Justice
to the space station had been a rackety, terrifying one, even with Kellique at the thruster controls. They had no idea whether Mother had damaged the pod as she’d freed it, though. Every second of the trip, Donna had been expecting the pod to suddenly spin out of control, or begin leaking air or explode or something. And they had no idea whether Mother had managed to cling on, or whether, even now, her atomised remains were mingling with the wreckage of
The Sword
.

A tiny videoscreen had showed them their approach to the station as, with deft hands, Kellique had spun the pod about and backed it up to the station’s own airlock. Fortunately, thought Donna, whoever had designed all these ships and escape pods had thought to fit them with adaptable ‘universal’ docks, something she wished were the case with her mobile, her camera, her mp3 player
and
her computer at home. When she got back, she’d be writing a few choice emails to the manufacturers…

But she needn’t have worried: by the time the pod had locked on and the airlock opened, Mother was already aboard the station, waiting to greet them like an oversized, metallic bouncer. She’d almost expected the robot to raise a hand and say, ‘If your name’s not down, you’re not coming in.’

It hadn’t taken them long to find the control centre – Weiou had interfaced with the station’s main computer to get directions – and here they were, waist-deep in intrigue and mystery.

Again.

Admittedly, thought Donna, she could perhaps have waited a few seconds for that little creep Garaman to explain his master plan; but strike while the iron’s hot, she thought. If the gun against her head went off, it wouldn’t just be the iron that was hot.
Way to go, Noble
, she thought.
Way to go
.

Only it was
Li’ian
holding the gun to her head, and Garaman lying dead at their feet. Could this galaxy get any more upside down?

‘You harm a hair on her head,’ said the Doctor, pocketing his specs and glaring at Li’ian, ‘and even the Andromeda galaxy won’t be big enough to hide in, believe me.’

‘What’s going on?’ wailed Weiou. ‘Oh dear, this isn’t good, is it?’

‘Not for you it isn’t,’ said Li’ian. ‘No.’

‘Donna’s on our side,’ Boonie protested, clearly not believing that Li’ian could be one of the Cultists.

‘She’s on
your
side,’ Li’ian corrected him. ‘Now shut up or I’ll drill a hole in her head like I did with Garaman.’

Stunned, Boonie could only comply. Donna noticed Mother shifting her weight from foot to foot. She wasn’t the only one that noticed.

‘If Mother makes a move,’ Li’ian warned, ‘Donna dies. Keep that in mind.’

‘What the Hell is going on, Li’ian?’ Boonie demanded. ‘We’re on your side.’

‘Oh, I don’t think you were ever on the same side, were you Li’ian?’ asked the Doctor, folding his arms.

‘So whose side’s she on?’ asked Kellique, her eyes on Garaman’s body.

‘I think Li’ian has her own agenda, don’t you? You were working with Garaman before, weren’t you? Planted with the anti-Cultists to keep an eye on them, find out what they knew – and make sure they didn’t get
too
close and at the same time thought they were right on it.’

Li’ian just smiled.

‘You were the one that took control of our little friend over there.’ He nodded in the direction of Weiou who pulled another astonished face. ‘Quite a robotics expert yourself. When you showed me those records, the ones of Khnu’s history, you did a good job of removing your name from them all. I might not have suspected anything.’

‘So what gave her away?’ asked Boonie, still clearly confused.

‘You might have edited out all the textual references to yourself, but you missed one of the pictures. There’s a very nice one of you and Khnu smiling together at a
cybernetics
conference on Cita. Lovely picture, too. And for someone so opposed to them, you were a little bit too admiring when you spoke of her achievements, as well as having rather too much knowledge about the segments of the can-opener.’ He caught sight of Donna’s puzzled face. ‘The thing that opened up the black hole and let this little beauty out.’

‘Very good, Doctor,’ said Li’ian. ‘Very clever. Still… too little, too late, really.’

‘So why kill Garaman?’ Kellique asked.

‘Because he was an idiot,’ Li’ian said simply. ‘And because he didn’t fully appreciate the potential of what we have here. Not like Khnu did.’

‘Oh yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘That. What exactly
do
we have here? Garaman was about to explain it all when you put the final full stop to his sentence, as it were.’

Li’ian manoeuvred Donna around to make sure no one could sneak up on her.

‘How much do you know about the mechanet?’ Li’ian asked.

‘Ooh!’ said Weiou, sticking one hand in the air. ‘I know! I know!’

‘Go on,’ said the Doctor, trying not to laugh at the little robot’s enthusiasm. ‘Tell us about it. What’s your name?’

‘I’m Weiou,’ said the robot, ‘and the mechanet is—’

‘It’s like the internet, but for robots,’ cut in Donna grimly, feeling Li’ian’s grip on her arm and the gun still against her head.

‘Oi!’ called Weiou. ‘I was going to say that!’ A pouty face appeared on his screen for a moment. ‘It’s like the internet,
but
for robots. Well,’ Weiou added. ‘For
some
robots. Us sensible ones keep away from it, apart from when we need to sync our internal clocks or download software upgrades.’ He pulled another face. ‘Generally, it’s just full of nerds and losers complaining about how machinekind’s not as good as it used to be, or circulating rumours about “organic agendas” and nonsense like that.’

‘And what’s your interest in it, then?’ the Doctor addressed Li’ian.

‘Our little appliance there’s selling the mechanet short,’ she said, ‘although it does have a point. Its main feature is that almost every mechanical in the galaxy – apart from the most basic servitors and appliances – hook up to it at least once a week. They claim that they’re all above it, like Weiou does, but they can’t help firing up their transspatial links and having a quick poke about.’

Weiou’s cartoon mouth had dropped open, as if in shock.

‘And don’t make out that you don’t, Weiou,’ Li’ian said. ‘Robotic communications is my field, after all. When I was pretending to run diagnostics on you before, I had a good old root around in your memories. If people knew some of the things you’d been, ahem, “researching” on the mechanet they’d be
very
surprised.’

To Donna’s surprise, two little patches of red swelled up on Weiou’s onscreen cheeks.

‘Oh stop embarrassing him,’ said the Doctor defensively. ‘So, this mechanet…’ He paused as the realisation of Li’ian’s plan hit him. ‘Ahhhh… I’m ahead of you now.’

‘Only just,’ said Li’ian dryly. She was manoeuvring
Donna
around the platform, towards the staircase up which Mesanth had disappeared.

‘This activator thingy,’ the Doctor continued, hands in pockets, ‘it’s going to give you the power to reach into the heads of almost every robot in the galaxy and turn it off, isn’t it?’ He pulled a face. ‘The Bishop convertors –
that’s
why you need them. To broadcast across the entire galaxy simultaneously takes more than a five-volt battery. Genocide at the flick of a switch.’

‘That would be just too easy,’ Li’ian said, cruel laughter in her voice. ‘That was
his
plan.’ She gestured, quickly, with the tip of her gun at Garaman’s body. ‘They had the right ideals, they just couldn’t take them the extra step that they should have done.’

The Doctor fixed Li’ian with a steely gaze.

‘That extra step… Aaaah… you don’t want to just turn off all the mechanicals, do you?’ He paused, narrowing his eyes. ‘You want to
control
them.’ He sounded almost admiring.

‘Finally!’ laughed Li’ian. ‘Yes – why waste such a resource. Robots, mechanicals, machine intelligences – everywhere, throughout the galaxy. If I just turn them off, someone will come along and develop new ones, ones resistant to the activator. Or they’ll find a way to reprogram themselves or cut off the mechanet’s signals. No, I can’t let that happen. Once I have control, Doctor, I have to
keep
control. I have to make sure that the machines can never again have the upper hand. And there are robot races out there that have no contact with the mechanet at all – I’ll need troops to overcome
them
.’

‘You take control of the galaxy, using non-organics as your army, your police force, just to make sure that your own little warped view of what’s right and what’s wrong prevails?’

He scratched the back of his neck thoughtfully.

‘As audacious schemes go, I have to give it to you – this one’s up there with the best of them.’

‘From you, Doctor, that’s quite a compliment.’

‘It isn’t meant as one.’ His voice hardened. ‘Have you any idea of the suffering and death you’ll cause when you turn on the activator, never mind the suffering and death you’ll inflict when you actually start to build your little empire of steel? All over the galaxy, maintenance robots, healthcare machines, aircraft, spacecraft –
cars
– the moment you take control of them, they’ll all stop working, like that.’ He snapped his fingers. ‘People will die in their millions, Li’ian. And that’ll only be a taste of what’s to come once you start.’

All Li’ian could do was shrug. Donna clenched her jaw and started to move, but Li’ian pressed the tip of her gun back against her temple. Slowly and carefully, Li’ian was backing up the staircase, taking her with her.

‘Don’t try anything,’ she whispered. And then, more loudly so that everyone could hear: ‘You’re probably weighing up whether it’s worth risking Donna’s life for the sake of however many it is you think will die. I’d dispute your figures, of course, but I rather suspect that my position’s getting weaker by the second. Mesanth should be well advanced with the installation by now, and – of course – I’d rather like to be the one that pushes the button.’

‘He’s a decent sort, Mesanth,’ said the Doctor. ‘A bit doolally when it comes to all this organic-versus-inorganic nonsense, but I reckon that when he finds out what your plan is, how much death you’ll be causing – to organics as well as non-organics – he might have a change of heart.’

‘No need for him to hear any of this. By the time I decide to tell him – if I do – it’ll be all done and dusted.’

Li’ian pulled Donna up a few more steps, twisting the pair of them around so that they were still facing the Doctor and the others, staring up at them from the platform.

‘You do realise,’ called the Doctor, ‘that I can’t let you do this. Donna or no Donna, I can’t let you use that activator.’

‘Yes, I do,’ replied Li’ian as they moved up another step. ‘And I know that the moment my attention’s diverted, you’ll be up these stairs after me. So I think that right now might be a good time for a little diversion – and a taste of what’s to come.’

Donna felt Li’ian shift behind her.

‘Lights!’ she shouted into the darkness, and suddenly, the entire area was flooded with painfully bright light. Donna raised an arm to shelter her eyes. As she blinked, she could see her friends, down on the platform, doing the same, looking around them, wondering what was happening.

But Donna had the best view: standing in silent concentric rows around the platform were robots. Dozens and dozens and
dozens
of the blonde supermodel robots. They stretched away to the far walls of the chamber, all dressed identically, each with its geometrically perfect
blonde
bob and its cold, emotionless eyes.

‘Mine,’ Li’ian said softly so that only Donna could hear her. ‘All mine. Say goodbye to your friends, Donna.’