Doctor Who BBCN17 - Sick Building by Doctor Who Read Free Book Online Page B

words.
    But could robots really shiver with fear? ‘The very bottom,’ Tiermann added, as the robots started dragging the Doctor towards the elevator doors. ‘Level Minus Thirty-Nine.’
    41

    Martha felt Solin jerk in surprise at this. ‘What’s Level Minus Thirty-Nine?’ she asked.
    ‘None of us go there,’ Solin said. ‘It’s where we put old stuff. Useless stuff. Stuff we’ll never need again.’
    ‘Oh great!’ cried the Doctor, as the elevator pinged and the doors whooshed open. ‘I heard that! So, what? You’re going to shove me in your old lumber room? Your basement dump? Your junk room at the centre of the world? And then you’re going to conveniently forget about me, eh?’
    The robots dragged him into the small lift.
    ‘Doctor!’ Martha cried.
    ‘Don’t,’ Solin told her. ‘At least he’s still alive.’
    ‘What?’ Martha gasped.
    ‘We’ve got other things to concentrate on, Doctor,’ said Tiermann.
    ‘We need to plan our departure. We don’t need to hear any more from you, thank you. Some posturing know-it-all. . . ’
    ‘Martha!’ The Doctor yelled, as the doors started to close. ‘I’ll –’
    And with that, the doors closed on him.
    The lift plummeted down the shaft. They could feel the vibration of it through the living room floor as it whizzed down thirty-nine levels.
    Martha hated to imagine the place they were taking him.
    She whirled round to face Tiermann: ‘You’ve got it so wrong about the Doctor. And you’re going to regret this.’
    Tiermann tutted at her. ‘I shouldn’t think so, my dear. And you should be glad that I’m not banishing you down there with him. You are his friend. You are not to be trusted, either.’
    Martha sensed that Amanda was behind her. She touched the girl’s arm in support as Martha faced up to Tiermann’s crazy, vengeful leer.
    ‘This house will watch you,’ Tiermann promised. ‘If you lift a finger to help your friend, the Dreamhome will know. It will tell me! And I’ll have you sent away, too! Deep, deep, deep under Dreamhome!’
    And then Tiermann stormed off back to bed. With an anguished glance at Martha, Amanda scurried after him.
    Martha was left looking at Solin, who seemed quite shaken, himself.
    ∗ ∗ ∗
    42

    ‘He’s cracking up,’ Solin said hollowly. ‘I told you he would. It’s the pressure. He’s really losing it.’
    The two of them were sitting in the kitchen now that Solin’s parents had vanished to their rooms again. The kitchen was an incredible, spacious area filled with devices Martha couldn’t even begin to guess the purpose of. There was a corner with soft cushions and settees, and here she sat with Solin in the very early hours. Solin had one of the kitchen robots dial up some hot chocolate as a peace offering.
    It was taking Martha some time to cool down. ‘You don’t understand. It isn’t right. You can’t just lock the Doctor up. . . !’
    Solin kept his voice soft and calm. He said, ‘Just let my father compose himself, Martha. You see, he reacts like this sometimes. It is possible that he might see things differently in the morning. . . ’ Solin noticed that Martha wasn’t drinking her hot chocolate. He realised why, when he saw her eyeing the kitchen robots warily.
    ‘You don’t have to be scared of them, you know.’
    She looked at him narrowly. ‘Hmm?’
    ‘The Servo-furnishings.’
    ‘They were pretty rough with the Doctor. The way they had a hold of him. . . ’
    ‘They are our servants. They do as we tell them. They can’t hurt us.’
    Martha pulled a face like she wasn’t convinced. She sighed deeply.
    She wasn’t convinced by any of it any more. The welcome they had received here at the Dreamhome. All the polite manners from Tiermann and his wife. It all just disguised the rottenness underneath.
    Anyone who could treat the Doctor like a criminal; like a saboteur and a thief in the night. . . well, Martha didn’t think much of them.
    ‘I’m sorry, Martha,’ Solin