Doctor Who_ Placebo Effect Part 24

'Where exactly is Sam and why isn't she rescuing me?'

Miles Mason watched the giant holographic chronometer floating above the Stadium Scoreboard. Fifty minutes and the Games would officially start. At which point a diversion would be created, the Games would be cancelled, the athletes would return to their respective planets and the Wirrrn plan would be into its last stage.

An electronic fanfare started up.

The d.u.c.h.ess of Auckland was being led on to the podium just in front of him.

Ethelredd grabbed De'Ath's arm.'Where in G.o.d's name have you been?'

The smaller man squirmed. 'Her Blessed Highness decided the dress she wore didn't match the colour of the stadium!' He was close to tears. 'I tell you, Ethelredd, I can't work with her. I can't cope any longer. I'm going to have to resign the very second we get home.'

Ethelredd patted De'Ath's shoulder."There, there, it'll turn out all right. At least she's here.' He looked at Gar, who moved up to take his place next to the Royal Podium.

The Axiss runner came into the Stadium, and the a.s.sembled crowd roared their approval.

Standing just behind the d.u.c.h.ess, Mason saw one of her entourage ease her out of her seat and whisper in her ear. At which point she squawked delightedly and began clapping. The rest of the Royal Party politely followed suit.

Mason was aware of someone standing beside him. A Teknix who had removed his name tag. Obviously needing to be incognito.

'I am interested in some samples of your pills,' he said.

Mason frowned. And inside, the Hive Mind probed deeper. There was something different about this Teknix from how he should have been according to the different memories he now possessed.

Then Mason understood. This was perfect. Without a word, he pa.s.sed a handful of blue and red pills to the Teknix, shook his hand, and turned away to watch the Stadium.

Their deal was completed.

The Teknix's ordeal was just beginning. And he hadn't even flinched at the slight burn he must have felt as Mason's mucus-topped fingers touched the palm of his hand.

The Axiss runner - he hadn't taken any pills yet: an omission that would soon be rectified - ascended the steps towards the Bowl, the fanfare and the cheering getting louder.

Finally, he threw the torch into the bowl, which erupted into flame. The crowd went wild.

After a few moments of cheers, the d.u.c.h.ess stepped forward to a microphone and began speaking. Immediately the crowd hushed and listened to her.

Ethelredd glanced at De'Ath and Aigburth. At least coaching her on the speech hadn't been his job. He noticed De'Ath was whiter than normal, and immediately knew something was bound to go wrong.

'h.e.l.lo, everyone. My name is d.u.c.h.ess. d.u.c.h.ess of Auckland, actually.' And she giggled.

Ethelredd wanted to strangle her on the spot and noticed that the few t.i.tters across the crowd were overshadowed by the deafening silence.

'No really,' she continued.'Everyone calls me d.u.c.h.ess, so I think that must be my name now.'

The crowd were conspicuously quiet. Ethelredd saw his pension conspicuously vanishing in his mind's eye.

'Anyway, one is proud to be here, representing not just the people of Auckland but everyone back home on Earth.'

'The Federation,' Ethelredd gasped, as quietly as possible, hoping she would hear and the microphone wouldn't pick him up.

De'Ath was close to fainting, Gar supporting him.

'Oh yes, my Lord Consort is of course correct. I'm here on behalf of all you aliens in the Federation. Everyone in Auckland loves you, too. Anyway, it gives me great pleasure to open these Olympic Games, the last Olympiad of this millennium, I imagine, what with this being 3999 and all that.' She giggled again.

There were no t.i.tters. Just astonished stares from the 'aliens'.

'I now formally declare the Olympiad open!'

A pause, then enormous cheers and applause, fanfares started up and the athletes from the various worlds began their ceremonial, pre-compet.i.tion jog around the circuit, waving their pennants and banners.

The d.u.c.h.ess moved away from the microphone, but not quite far enough.

'Can I please get to the shopping mall now? Before it closes?'

It was a matter of some pride to Ethelredd that, apart from a couple of Carrington Corp officials, ninety per cent of the a.s.sembled crowd chose to ignore that one and carried on enjoying the pageantry of the Games. At least they had taste.

Still, at least now nothing else could possibly go wrong.

No one was more surprised when the cell door opened than the Doctor. He had been thumping on it fairly regularly, but to no avail. Then suddenly it had slid back and he just managed to stop himself slapping Coordinator Sumner straight in the face. Behind him, a mixture of SSS agents and Teknix stared at him.

'Oops.' The Doctor almost toppled over but one of the Teknix reached forward and eased him back up straight. 'Thank you, Mr...?'

'Madox.'

'Mr Madox.' The Doctor straightened his cravat and ran and hand through his hair, trying to look dignified. 'So, you finally answered my calls and thumps then?'

Coordinator Sumner shrugged. 'The doors are soundproofed, Doctor.'

'Ah. Who are you?'

'I am Events Coordinator Sumner, appointed by the Federation to ensure the smooth running of everything on Micawber's World that doesn't involve the s.p.a.ce Security Service or the Carrington Corporation.'

The Doctor digested this. 'Which means you don't actually do very much at all, do you?'

Sumner smiled. 'No. But it keeps me in the office, away from my wife, and in turn employs a lot of Teknix to do all the bureaucracy.'

'What bureaucracy can you need? I mean, unless you create one level of bureaucracy to chase another level to chase the first level... Ah, I see. Very good. Very efficient way of staying away from home.'

'Exactly my point.' Sumner sauntered into the room. 'Madox here tells me that, according to your friends, you weren't asleep when I arrested you, but having a fit, or something. You seem to be all right now.'

'Yes, I am, thank you. I had a psychic moment. A sort of telepathic Mexican wave, lots of information uploading into my conscious mind at once.'

'Ah.' Sumner looked at Madox.'Do you follow any of this?'

Madox shook his head.

'Nor me. Are you a bureaucrat, Doctor? If not, you ought to be.' Sumner looked at Green Fingers and Ms Sox. 'Now, which of you is going to explain how Chase Carrington's PA, a Federation Amba.s.sador, and a "psychic" human all happened to be sharing a tete-a-tete with wanted SSS criminals?'

The Doctor frowned. 'According to whom? As far as the SSS were concerned, Sergeant Dallion and her entourage were on their way home in disgrace. And there was nothing to link Commandant Ritchie to them. He saw to that.' The Doctor suggested that Sumner get hold of Ritchie and bring him in.

Simmer was about to protest when he caught sight of Madox's face. He too was frowning, like the Doctor.

'Madox?'

The Teknix turned to two other Teknix and gave them an order.

The Doctor laughed at Sumner's outraged face. 'What?' asked the human.

'I just realised, you think the Teknix work for you, don't you?'

'Of course they do.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'The Teknix are an altogether different stratum within the SSS. Good technicians yes, but supreme strategists. Why do you think the SSS use them? Why do you think Commandant Ritchie employs one?'

'Ritchie? The SSS don't have any Teknix.'

'I have to agree, Doctor,' added Ms Sox. "The Teknix are limited on Micawber's World to just a handful of Coordinator Sumner's administrative staff. They are expensive to clone and maintain, and are only given to private executives who need them. The SSS couldn't afford one here. Even Chase Carrington couldn't swing being allowed to have any on his staff.'

Madox's fellow Teknix returned, along with Commandant Ritchie.

'Doctor! Are you all right?'

'Yes, thank you.' The Doctor threw an arm around Ritchie's shoulder, steering them both out into the corridor, followed by Sumner and his group.

'Tell me, Commandant. How many Teknix are on your staff?'

Ritchie glanced over at Sumner, then sighed. 'One. Kra.s.six. Personally appointed by SSS HQ on Earth.'

Sumner was furious.'But he can have no official status. I have no records of his presence here. This is intolerable...' He stopped and looked at Madox.

'Of course! Your mysterious ever helpful "source". It was another Teknix, wasn't it? You knew!'

'No. I'm sorry, everyone,' said the Doctor, 'but that's the latest piece of the puzzle. Kra.s.six cannot be a Teknix. They're too loyal. And I a.s.sume, Madox, it was Kra.s.six who told you of Commandant Ritchie's "betrayal".'

Madox nodded.

'Kra.s.six must be a Dark Peaks Foamasi as well,' interjected Green Fingers.

Ritchie breathed deeply as the realisation of this sank in.'Which means that every single plan, every high-level SSS command and instruction has been fed straight back to the Lodge. And, more importantly, every time I believed I had outwitted my blackmailer, I told Kra.s.six. Every confidential word I had with him...' Ritchie shook his head.'How stupid am I?'

'Pardon my self-congratulation, Commandant,' said Green Fingers, 'but not very stupid at all. With a mixture of pride and embarra.s.sment, I have to point out that Foamasi are superb operatives. Kra.s.six might have been with you for ten years, and still you would never have suspected.'

Sumner gasped. 'Do you mean that there could be long-term Foamasi infiltrators throughout the Federation?'

'Or the SSS?' added Ritchie.

Green Fingers nodded. 'Oh yes. And even if I knew who they all were, I wouldn't tell you. But I will say this. The Foamasi deal with their own. The Dark Peaks were warned away from Micawber's World and have broken that commandment. They have forfeited the right to continue operating here. When I get back to the Temple, I will call a meeting of the Lodge Patriarchs and put an end to their insidious underhand dealings.'

'I thought every Foamasi Lodge did insidious underhand dealings,' said Ms Sox, without any hint of sarcasm.

Equally stoic, Green Fingers nodded. 'But we still do it by the rules, Ms Sox. And, nine times out of ten, we do it with style, panache and a degree of pride.'

The Doctor looked at Sumner. "The ball is in your court, Coordinator. My suggestion is that you let us all go. Commandant Ritchie and his troopers can explore the tunnels, Mr Fingers there can sort his Lodges out and Ms Sox and I can investigate these drugs. Oh, and I don't suppose anyone has seen my young friend, Sam, anywhere?'

But Ritchie ignored him. Instead, he was staring straight at Sumner, a new understanding between them. 'And Kra.s.six?' he asked.

Kra.s.six walked through the empty offices of Carrington Corp, heading for the elevator to the Executive Suite.

If the few odd people scattered around, or any of the cleaning droids, registered its presence, they opted not to make a fuss. Obviously, a Teknix visiting from the Events Coordination Sector of Carrington City, with some request for Chase Carrington.

Especially as that was where it seemed to be headed.

Kra.s.six regarded a couple of the humans tapping at the datapads, uploading information from the live broadcast of the opening ceremony.

Pathetic creatures. How it hated wearing a human-shaped bodysuit, its hollow bones compressed into such a small form. If they were going to the bother of genetically engineering a race of subservient superbrains, the humans might at least have made the Teknix larger.

No. This was irrelevant now. Now this body, this mind, had a greater purpose. Now it... he... I... we...

Kra.s.six entered the private elevator and seconds later got off outside Carrington's lobby. Walking in, Kra.s.six pa.s.sed the desks and knocked on Carrington's door.

'Yes?'

Kra.s.six walked in, holding out the handful of pills Miles Mason had supplied.

'Excellent. Whoever is supplying these will soon be out of business. With the advantages Carrington Corp offers the Dark Peaks Lodge, we can ma.s.s-produce this and undercut them within days.'

As Carrington reached out for the samples, Kra.s.six whipped the proffered hand back and with the other hand tugged sharply at Carrington.

There was a tearing sound and the fake Carrington arm was pulled away, revealing the Foamasi flesh underneath.

'Whatever are you doing, Chwekitwpt?' The Carrington Foamasi was about to move back when the Kra.s.six Foamasi pulled off its own 'hand'. If the Foamasi replacing Carrington and Suki were expecting the familiar green flesh, they were surprised instead to see it intermingled with bubbling browny-green mucus.

And the Kra.s.six figure - part Foamasi, part Wirrrn - slapped the fake Carrington's green scaly flesh and then advanced on the one that had called itself Suki Raymond.

Sam dived back, tugging the shocked and mute Kyle with her. Bizarrely she realised she was still holding the paper bag with the stuffed Meep toy in it.