Doctor Who NA45 - Shakedown by Terrance Dicks

Author:Terrance Dicks
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-07-13T01:05:28+00:00

Attack

Sails furled, the solar yacht Tiger Moth moved through space looking oddly ungraceful, like an insect with far too many legs...

Jacket slung carelessly over her shoulder, Lisa Deranne marched grimly along the ship’s narrow metal corridors, Robar at her side. The very beginning of the cruise and already there was trouble.

Without speaking, Lisa strode into the control room, tossed her jacket onto a nearby console and threw herself into the command chair. Robar sat beside her in the co-pilot’s seat. For the next few minutes Lisa’s hands moved expertly over the controls, checking readings.

When she’d finished she looked at Robar. ‘It’s perfect.’

‘Nope,’ said Robar stubbornly. ‘There’s a fault.’

‘Nothing shows on the checks. Nothing!’

‘Comes and goes. Ever since we left Alpha One.’

‘ What comes and goes?’

‘Power. Fluctuations at irregular intervals.’

‘Which unit?’

He shrugged. ‘Any of ‘em. All of ‘em.’

Lisa thought for a moment. It was infuriating to have engine trouble so soon, but if Robar said there was a fault...

‘All right. Make a full power check, every unit.’

‘Aye, aye, Cap’n. Have to shut down the drive, though.’

‘Then we shut down. I’ll give them their first sail drill while you’re checking.’

‘They’ll like that,’ said Robar, straight-faced.

Lisa grabbed the ornate uniform jacket and strode out.

Robar grinned and started checking the power console.

The crew’s quarters on the Tiger Moth were little changed from the ship’s space-freighter days. There was a dormitory with bunk beds, a recreation area complete with gym bench, and a small automated kitchen. The main crew room was a drab, functional place with bench seats covered in blue plastic, a table and a few chairs.

There were three people in the crew room at the moment, and a certain amount of grumbling was going on.

The source, as usual, was Zorelle.

She was wearing one of her own creations, an exotic black and silver gown that would have looked better in a ballroom.

She checked her extravagant eye make-up and lavish lip gloss in the minor and returned to her grievance.

‘How much longer?’ she said sulkily.

‘She’ll come when she’s ready,’ said Mari. For someone who’d been spoiled rotten since birth, she was surprisingly good-natured.

‘She treats us like nobodies,’ complained Zorelle.

Kurt wandered in from the sleeping quarters and sat down at the long bench-seat.

‘She’s the best solar yacht captain in the galaxy,’ he said, adding infuriatingly, ‘To her, you’re a nobody.’

Nikos laughed. ‘A nobody with money,’ he protested lazily.

‘Exactly,’ said Zorelle. ‘We’re the ones who bought this ship, we paid for its conversion to a solar yacht, we pay all the racing expenses –’

‘All useless without Lisa,’ Kurt pointed out placidly.

‘If it wasn’t for us she couldn’t afford to race, let alone win,’ said Zorelle. ‘I just don’t see what gives her the right to treat us as she does.’

Mari snuggled up to Nikos, who began massaging her bare shoulders. ‘That’s not fair, Zorelle, she’s always polite.’

‘On the surface, maybe – we’re a necessary evil. But you can see she despises us.’

‘Maybe it’s because she earned her reputation,’ suggested Kurt blandly.

Zorelle went off like a rocket. ‘I built up my design business until it covered three planets.

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