Doctor Who: Shining Darkness (23 page)

‘You have a very dry sense of humour, you know that?’ He reached up high and slapped her on the back. ‘Come on – let’s go and sort Li’ian out before she plunges your galaxy into a somewhat less-than-shining darkness!’

The others were waiting for them when they arrived: Mother had found it easier to clamber up the
outside
of the spiral staircase because of her bulk. The corridor, though, was high enough for her to stand upright.

It didn’t take them long to find Li’ian, Donna and Mesanth: they were in a brightly lit room, a laboratory, with a huge window facing out onto the corridor. Li’ian gave a start when she saw them, and the Doctor could see the fury flare in her eyes.

‘Mother didn’t take kindly to her grandchildren running amok,’ the Doctor called through the intercom set into the doorframe. ‘Had to have a quiet word with them. They’re taking a nap.’

‘Doctor!’ called Donna, waving.

‘Destiny seems to want to keep us apart,’ said the Doctor. ‘Like Romeo and Juliet.’

Donna flashed a none-too-convincing smile.

‘Don’t push it,’ she said.

‘Fair enough. Anyway, Li’ian, I take it you’re holding Donna at gunpoint and will threaten to shoot her if we don’t go away and leave you in peace. That about sum it up?’

‘It’ll do,’ agreed Li’ian, showing the Doctor her gun.

A few metres away, Mesanth busied himself with the activator, risking a nervous glance over his shoulder. He was visibly shaking.

‘You don’t have to do this—’ the Doctor started to say.

‘Been there,’ Donna cut in. ‘Done that. Got the brush-off.’

‘And in case you’re thinking of getting Mother to smash her way in,’ called Li’ian, ‘I should point out the reinforcement that’s gone into this room’s construction. Nothing short of a bomb will get you in here. And in, ooh, about ten minutes, the activator will be ready and it’ll be too late.’ She smiled, almost sadly.

The Doctor shoved his hands deep in his pockets and shrugged.

‘Well it’s a good job that we’ve
got
a bomb, then, isn’t it?’

‘We’ve got a bomb?’ said Weiou, who kept jumping up and down in order to see what was going on in the activator room. ‘Where?’

The Doctor looked at Boonie.

‘Are you going to tell them, or shall I?’

‘What?’ Boonie suddenly looked very evasive. ‘What bomb?’

‘A
bomb
?’ echoed Kellique.

‘And not just
any
bomb,’ said the Doctor. ‘An
antimatter
bomb
. An antimatter bomb that will take out this whole station.’ He paused, his eyes wide. ‘That’s a
big
bomb.’

‘You’re bluffing,’ laughed Li’ian. ‘And not very well.’

‘A
bomb
?’ repeated Kellique pointedly.

‘Tell her, Boonie,’ said the Doctor.

Boonie just looked from the Doctor to Kellique – and then to Mother, where his gaze stayed.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said.

‘Oh, I think you do,’ countered the Doctor. ‘I think you know exactly what I mean. Go on, Boonie – tell us all about the bomb. The one that you hid inside Mother.’

There was a stunned silence: everyone’s eyes flicked to Mother and then back to Boonie.

‘What? I don’t know what he’s talking about. He’s mad.’

But there was a tremor, an uncertainty in his voice that kept everyone’s eyes on him.

‘You might as well tell them, Boonie,’ said the Doctor. ‘In a few minutes, Li’ian’s going to turn that thing on and millions and billions of the machines that you’ve devoted the last few years of your life to protecting are going to die. It might be the only way to stop her, mightn’t it? That’s why you put it there, after all. No need to be a retiring bride on the day of your wedding.’ He glanced through the window at Donna and pulled a face. ‘Not my best metaphor, but still…’

Boonie looked at them all, and his shoulders sagged. ‘I was going to tell you,’ he said awkwardly, looking up at Mother.

‘What?’ twittered Weiou, turning this way and that to
try
to follow the conversation. ‘Tell who what?’

‘Were you?’ asked the Doctor of Boonie. ‘When were you going to find the right time to tell Mother that you’d hidden a bomb inside her? Not the kind of thing you can just throw into the conversation, is it? “Oooh, look at that beautiful nebula – oh, and by the way, there are a few grams of antimatter tucked away inside you waiting for me to detonate them.” Bit of a showstopper, that one, isn’t it?’

‘How did you know?’ asked Boonie, his eyes narrow and suspicious.

‘When I was aboard your ship, me and Mother had a bit of a chat – and I happened to notice it.’

Boonie looked shocked – understandably, thought the Doctor.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, falteringly, to Mother. ‘I didn’t think I’d ever have to… use it.’

>THAT IS HARD TO BELIEVE, Mother flashed in crimson letters. YOU MUST HAVE CONSIDERED THE POSSIBILITY THAT YOU
WOULD
HAVE TO USE IT.

‘It’s not like that,’ Boonie said, clasping his head in frustration. ‘It was just an insurance policy. I didn’t know what the Cultists were up to – I had no idea what was going to happen. I had to…’ He shook his head, realising how weak his own arguments sounded. ‘I had to be able to stop them.’

>WE WERE FRIENDS.

‘We were – we
are
.’ Boonie shook his head, unable to make eye contact with Mother.

>FRIENDS DO NOT TURN EACH OTHER INTO BOMBS.

‘If I could have implanted it in myself, I would have done.’

>THAT MAY BE TRUE. BUT YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME.

‘I was scared you’d say no,’ Boonie said. He blinked away the beginnings of tears and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

>THAT IS A RISK WITH TELLING THE TRUTH. BUT IT IS ALWAYS PREFERABLE TO A LIE. THAT YOU WOULD BE WILLING TO KILL ME, EVEN IN THE PURSUIT OF PREVENTING THE CULT FROM ACHIEVING THEIR ENDS, IS A DISTURBING THOUGHT. PERHAPS YOU ARE CLOSER TO THE CULT OF SHINING DARKNESS THAN YOU BELIEVE.

‘No, no. I’m nothing like them.’

>WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN SO WILLING TO IMPLANT THE BOMB IN AN ORGANIC? MY MACHINE NATURE MAKES ME DIFFERENT. DISPOSABLE?

‘It’s not like that,’ Boonie pleaded again. ‘If I’d ever had to use it, I would have been there by your side, right at the end. I couldn’t have put it in myself – it would have shown up on all sorts of scanners. Inside you, no one would have been able to tell that it wasn’t part of you.’

‘What’s going on?’ called Li’ian, and the Doctor realised that from where she stood she wouldn’t be able to see Mother’s display screen: all she would have heard would have been Boonie’s side of the conversation, relayed through the intercom.

‘Oh, just talking amongst ourselves,’ the Doctor said airily. ‘Antimatter bombs, friendship, that sort of thing.
Getting
a bit soapy to be quite honest, but hey, what can you do? With you in a mo.’

‘Explosions always make me feel bilious,’ muttered Weiou. ‘There’s not going to be one, is there?’

>THAT IS BOONIE’S DECISION, Mother said. HE HAS THE ACTIVATION CODE FOR THE BOMB. IF HE CHOOSES TO USE IT, I CANNOT STOP HIM.

Boonie looked from Mother to the Doctor.

‘What do we do?’ he asked, almost in a whisper. His face was blank, streaked with tears that cut pale tracks through the dirt and grime of their escape from
The Sword of Justice
.

‘Dunno,’ said the Doctor casually, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘You’re the one with the code for the bomb.’ He rapped on the window. ‘Mesanth – sorry to bother you, but how long have we got left before your little Armageddon-o-matic kicks in?’

‘Five minutes,’ said Mesanth. He didn’t look happy. Li’ian threw him an angry look.

‘Doctor!’ called Donna. ‘I’m sure you’ve got everything well in hand out there; but all this talk of bombs and stuff is making me just a
bit
edgy.’

‘He’s bluffing,’ said Li’ian. ‘I know his type.’

‘And you’re very good at that, aren’t you,’ the Doctor said sarcastically, ‘knowing
types
. That’s how you think, isn’t it? Forget individuals, forget people – everyone’s just a
type
to you.’

The Doctor noticed the look of concern that passed across Li’ian’s face. Keeping the gun aimed at Donna, she moved over to join Mesanth at his workstation and whispered something to him.

‘Whisperers tell lies,’ the Doctor taunted.

Li’ian ignored him.

‘By my watch,’ the Doctor said, looking at his wrist, ‘I’d say we’ve got about four and a half minutes before Mad Mary in there flicks the switch. How long is the timer on the bomb?’

Boonie lifted his eyes from the floor. ‘A minute.’

‘Okaaaay,’ said the Doctor. ‘So we’ve got three and a half minutes to bicker and argue and point blaming fingers before we have to decide.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Good – plenty of time then – off you go: bicker away!’

He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. Everyone stared at him in silence.

‘Go,’ Boonie said suddenly. ‘All of you, go, find a shuttle – me and Mother will stay.’

The Doctor’s shoulders fell.

‘Not the heroic sacrifice bit?’ he said wearily. ‘Isn’t that a bit old hat?’

‘Just go,’ Boonie repeated. ‘We’ll finish this place off, won’t we, Mother?’

He looked up at her, and the Doctor could see that there were tears in his eyes again.

>YES, she said, after a moment’s consideration. I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT THE DECEPTION, BUT YES, WE WILL. THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EITHER OF US.

‘All of you,’ Boonie said urgently. ‘
Go
.’

The Doctor took a deep breath.

‘Well it’s very nice of you to offer to blow yourselves up, but we’re all in this together, aren’t we?’

‘Are we?’ squeaked Weiou worriedly.

‘We are,’ said the Doctor firmly. He looked through the window at Donna.

‘You ready to be blown to smithereens to preserve galactic peace, Donna?’

‘Oh yeah,’ she called back blithely. ‘Always. Just like Pompeii all over again, isn’t it?’

‘Go on, then,’ said Li’ian, smiling again. ‘I dare you.’

‘D’you hear that, Boonie? Mother? Li’ian’s daring you! Not going to let her get away with that, are you?’

Boonie looked up at Mother and then around at the little group gathered in the corridor. He caught the Doctor’s eyes.

‘Activation code,’ Boonie said, his voice audibly trembling. ‘Shining Darkness 111.’

Mother’s virtual screen flickered: >CODE ACCEPTED. CONFIRM?

For a moment, Boonie paused, and the Doctor wondered if he was actually going to go through with it.

‘Confirm,’ he said.

Abruptly, Mother’s screen flickered again and turned blood red. In large digits, the number 60 appeared in white, and as they watched, flicked over to 59. Mother turned so that Li’ian could see the display

‘It’s a bluff,’ she said, although the Doctor could see that she suddenly wasn’t so sure.

‘Your choice,’ said the Doctor. ‘Fifty five seconds to decide whether it is or it isn’t. You might be right – it might all be a clever plan cooked up between us.’ He examined his fingernails. ‘Or it might not.’

Li’ian leaned in close to Mesanth and said something urgently, although the Doctor couldn’t catch the words. Donna, he saw, was looking for a chance to grab the gun from Li’ian, but when she caught sight of him, he gave a tiny shake of his head.

‘You’re right,’ said Li’ian suddenly, moving to another control panel. ‘It might – and it might not. And the moment I surrender, I imagine you’ll cancel the countdown.’

‘It can’t be cancelled,’ Boonie said grimly.

‘What?’ wailed Weiou. ‘But I thought that was the plan! Oh my!’

‘Seriously?’ asked the Doctor, his eyes wide.

‘Seriously,’ Boonie said.

Kellique’s eyes matched the Doctor’s.

‘We’re going to die,’ she gasped, grabbing Mother’s leg for support. ‘What about escape shuttles?’

‘Sorry,’ said the Doctor. ‘I don’t think –’ he checked his watch again ‘– eighteen seconds would be enough to get to one.’

There was a flurry of movement from within the room. Li’ian and Mesanth were unplugging bits and pieces from the console and gathering them up, including the waspy cylinder of the activator.

‘Probably not,’ Li’ian said grimly. ‘But it’ll be enough to transmat back to our ship. With this.’ She held up the activator as she jabbed at a control panel and spoke at it.

‘Bring us back!’ she said, her eyes glinting triumphantly.

‘Oh great!’ enthused the Doctor – without much enthusiasm. ‘Just when the party’s getting started!’ He
folded
his arms grumpily. ‘Go on then, off you go. Leave us here to clear up the cans and empty the ashtrays.’

‘I still think you’re bluffing, Doctor,’ Li’ian said, making sure she had all her bits and pieces. ‘But if the station hasn’t blown up in a few seconds, we’ll be back. And if it
has
…’ She gave a great big shrug. ‘It might take us a few weeks or months to hook the activator into another transmitter powerful enough to do the job, but we’ll get there. We’ve come too far to be stopped now.’ A shimmering, snowy glow enveloped her and Mesanth. ‘And when we’ve finished in our galaxy,’ she called, her voice fading into sizzling static, ‘maybe we’ll pay a visit to yours…’

The glow built to a crescendo and then faded abruptly. Li’ian and Mesanth were gone. Everyone turned to Mother and her countdown.

>5, it said.

‘Stop it!’ cried Weiou. ‘Stop it! Go on – I know that’s your plan. I
know
it is!’

But the Doctor just looked down at the little robot and shook his head.

‘Sorry, Weiou. Boonie was right. I can’t.’

>4

>3

>2

Inside the room, Donna rushed to the door, jabbing at the buttons to open it.

>1

>0