Doctor Who NA39 - Original Sin by Andy Lane

Author:Andy Lane [Lane, Andy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Published: 2011-07-13T01:04:45+00:00

‘And that is why we need your help.’

‘You realize,’ the Doctor persisted, ‘that this man is a murderer?’

‘He killed other humans?’ Hater Of Humans sounded amused. ‘And you think that we should disapprove of that?’

176

‘He would kill you, if you gave him a chance.’ The Doctor scowled at Pryce, who smiled slightly and closed his eyes.

‘Indeed I would,’ he murmured.

The guards shifted slightly by the tent flap.

The Doctor sighed in exasperation. ‘Professor Pryce has been driven mad by icaron radiation. Whatever you want from him, he isn’t in any condition to provide it.’

‘You are mistaken.’ Hater Of Humans’s voice held the unmistakable tone of command. ‘It is Professor Pryce’s knowledge of icaron radiation that we need.

That is why we have been waiting for him.’

Pryce’s interest was aroused. Beltempest watched as his fingers began to scratch the surface of the table. ‘Please explain,’ he said.

Hater Of Humans continued: ‘In the dark days towards the end of the War, as the Empire sent in its terraforming ships while we were still on our planet’s surface, our scientists made a breakthrough. They learned how to harness the power of icaron radiation, and how to use it in a new generation of ships that could outrun and outgun anything the Imperial Landsknechte had got.’.

Beltempest felt a tension growing in his chest. Nothing could outgun the Imperial Landsknechte.

‘But icaron radiation is extremely dangerous!’ the Doctor protested. ‘There are laws prohibiting its use! The Fourteenth Resolution of the Armageddon Convention clearly states –’

‘Icaron radiation is only dangerous to life-forms whose body chemistry is based upon carbon,’ Hater Of Humans snapped, ‘and even then, there have to be certain specific modifications. I suspect it is this degenerate human habit of “body-bepple” that has made them vulnerable; but, to be frank, we didn’t care about any risk to humans.’

The Doctor’s expression was thunderous as he prepared a verbal broadside, but Hater Of Humans interrupted him.

‘Save your misplaced concern, Doctor,’ Hater Of Humans said, shaking its head in sorrow. ‘Before we could build a fleet capable of defeating humanity, Hithis was destroyed for us, and we were dispersed. We were a race without a home, but we still had our pride. We had to rebuild our fleets, regroup our forces, reclaim our heritage. Apart from a few old cargo ships, all we salvaged from Hithis was one craft with the new power source: the Skel’Ske. It was to be the flagship of our new fleet. Sleek, fast, armed and armoured, it was to spearhead our attempts to regain our home and defeat the Empire.’

‘What happened?’ the Doctor asked.

‘It was stolen,’ Hater of Humans spat, a grey flush spreading across its skin.

The male Hith beside it, the one who had been introduced as its scapegoat, suddenly extruded a pseudo-limb and began to tug upon one of its eye-stalks 177

in penance. ‘On its test flight, it was hijacked. The captain – one of my most trusted aides – and the navigator vanished along with it. Perhaps they were paid to take it and are now living in luxury somewhere.

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