Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. This story is based on the Doctor Who characters and universe.
Science Assassin: Chapter nine
The atmosphere in the board room was tense and silent. The scientists were staring at the Doctor in disbelief.
"No," said Arthur Dales eventually. "That's impossible. The walls are two and a half feet thick, and made of solid metal. I checked the plans of the hotel. No one can get inside."
The Doctor stared at the screen in front of him. "Sssshhh. I think that motroid can hear everything in this room."
"No!" Sir Robert stood up. "He can't. This room is completely soundproof."
"Oh no!" The Doctor groaned as the red light faded and disappeared. "You've scared him off. He can hear what's going on."
"This is outrageous!" Sir Robert thumped the table in anger. "Our board meeting was supposed to be top secret! And especially secret from the motroids! If that motroid knows what we said, the motroids could start a war against humans! And with their power over certain military bases..."
He sat down, holding his head in his hands. "It's my entire fault! I should never have followed that tunnel on Mars. Think of all the trouble it led to. And the death of one of our colleagues!"
"Now listen," said the Doctor sternly. "It wasn't your fault that Apricot was killed. We don't even know the assassin's motive. But now, you've given me an idea. Let's say the motroids found out about your plans. They would obviously not want to leave earth, and their way of stopping the plans: to kill the people in charge!"
"But how would they find out about our plans before hand?" asked Mr Long. "All our previous meetings have been in top secret locations."
"If I know something about the motroids, it's that they're extremely clever." The Doctor pocketed his machine. "They have very good tracking skills, and have probably followed the committee ever since it was founded. They know the humans are angry with them, and they know you want to get rid of them. Do you really think that all these years they have been oblivious to humans' dislike for them? No. Knowing what the humans think only makes them more determined to take over. And now that motroid has heard you speaking. He has probably confirmed his suspicions, even possibly recorded it, and will go to his leader and report."
"No!" cried Gus Roland.
"Yes!" replied the Doctor sternly. "Now, no matter how clever you scientists are, I think I shall have to be in charge from now on."
"You?!" asked Arthur Dales in disgust. "You?!"
"Yes, me. Any argument about that?"
"How do you know so much?" queried Arthur Dales suspiciously.
The Doctor stood up. "Because I'm clever!"
Sir Robert stood up. "I believe you. You are very clever. Clever enough to deceive us. Clever enough to be a motroid in disguise."
"What?!" It was the Doctor's turn to be surprised. "Don't be ridiculous! I'm not a motroid. See! Brown eyes!"
"I have heard of contacts," said Mckenzie. "Being an eye expert."
"I have no contacts!" The Doctor rubbed his eyes. "See! I'm NOT a motroid. You have to believe me!"
"I once heard that motroids sometimes dye their eyes a different colour," spoke up Roland. He stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled it, as if clearing out ear wax. Then he tapped his head, frowning slightly.
"The Doctor didn't dye his eyes!" shouted Donna. "And besides, he isn't sickly pale."
"Motroids could put stuff on their face, to make their skin darker," Prumble spoke for the first time.
"Now listen." The Doctor was beginning to get angry. "I am not a motroid, and I can guarantee, if I don't help you, one by one you are going to get assassinated."
"We can look after ourselves!" shouted Sir Robert. "We don't need you!"
Suddenly Gus Roland grabbed his ear, yelling. The scientists crowded around him. "What is it?" demanded Sir Robert. Roland was rolling around on his chair, clutching his ear. His face was distorted in pain. The Doctor ran to him, and pulled away his hand, peering into his ear.
"His microscopic hearing aid is expanding!" he cried. "Quick, I need vinegar! It's going to explode!"
The scientists ran around in confusion. Flinging open the door, Mckenzie ran out, shouting at the top of his voice. Everything was confusion. Donna turned away. She didn't want to see what happened next. The thought of an ear implant growing and expanding while inside someone's ear sounded too horrible for her to imagine. The Doctor was giving instructions at top speed.
Mckenzie ran inside with a bottle of vinegar, but just as he threw it to the Doctor, Roland gave one last shudder and collapsed to the floor.
"No, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor opened the bottle and poured the vinegar onto the black lump protruding from Roland's ear. But even as the lump began to recede, shrinking smaller and smaller, the Doctor realised the horrible truth. Roland was dead.
The Doctor stood up. "Microscopic ear implants. Great devices, except for one thing. Made with a chemical called positive silicon-E. Now when large amounts of negative atoms approach this chemical, it expands. The atoms grow larger, one by one. Of course, the negative atoms would have to be focused in extreme quantities, with a density of almost solid. Very unlikely to come across these in everyday life. The atoms expand and expand, never stopping. Roland's grew inside, until they attacked his brain and killed him. The only thing capable of stopping this is vinegar, or other acids. Their high acidity level dissolves the negative charge and reverses the growing. In Roland's case, it was just too late." He turned to Sir Robert. "I thought you said you can look after yourselves?"
Sir Robert was staring at the body on the floor. Then he looked at the Doctor. Donna held her breath. Was he going to admit that the Doctor was on their side?
Suddenly, there was a loud clattering of footsteps, and a whole squad of policemen entered the room. They surrounded the Doctor, pointing their guns at him. The officer in charge, the one who had spoken to them only that morning, took a piece of paper out of his pocket.
"We have a warrant here for the arrest of the Doctor," he read aloud. "And also someone by the name of Donna Noble." Half of the policemen turned and pointed their guns at Donna.
"This is all a mistake," said the Doctor. "I just tried to save a dying man."
"Yes, he's just as innocent as I am," defended Donna.
"No." Sir Robert stuck a hand inside his pocket. He brought out a small device almost identical to the Doctor's. There was a red light blinking. "This man is not human. He's not a scientist. He's an alien."
The police officer's mouth shot open. "You? An alien? What was all that about a detective from Scotland?"
The Doctor was staring at Sir Robert's machine. "Where did you get that?" he asked in amazement.
Sir Robert shrugged. "I've been head of the science committee for a long time. I like finding out little things scientists have invented. I saw you taking your machine to your room last night. When you left, I was so intrigued that I went in to have a look at it. I found the device remarkably simple. It simply has a detector for human breath. Any non human breath detected sets off a flashing light. I spent last night making one of my own. Useful thing to have really. Tells you if there are any motroids around. Of course mine didn't have sound, or any of those fancy buttons or screen. I didn't expect to use it so soon."
"I'm a time lord." The Doctor was growling. "Much better than any motroid. So get that out of your mind."
The police officer was staring at them. "What's all this? This has nothing to do with the arrest. Was something stolen?"
"No."
"Then I shall continue. Doctor and Donna, anything you say will be recorded and can be used as evidence against you ."
"Hang on, where did you get this arrest idea from?" the Doctor was puzzled.
"Oh, from some very useful information." The police officer dug into his pocket, and pulled out a crumbled piece of paper. It was Wanda Great's witness report.
More to come...
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