Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner Read Free Book Online Page A

are warlike and possessed of great guile.’
    â€˜And what is this planet?’ said Frinel.
    The screen cut to an image of a very familiar blue and green globe.
    â€˜It is . . . the Earth!’ said the Quevvil.
    â€˜Now there’s a turn-up for the books,’ said the Doctor to Rose.
    There was a whirring noise and a jump in the image, and suddenly they were with another Quevvil. A counter in the top right corner read ‘0’.
    â€˜Starting the game proper,’ said the Doctor.
    â€˜Thank you for rising to the challenge, human,’ said the Quevvil, holding out a disruptor. The Doctor pressed buttons, and the Quevvil took back its hands, now empty. In the bottom of the screen, a little icon appeared, labelled ‘Disruptor: primed’. Then the Quevvil moved aside, revealing a window beyond which was a stretch of desert. In the distance was the enormous truncated pyramid of the Mantodean stronghold. ‘The fate of our race is in your hands,’ the Quevvil said, pulling a lever on the wall. The image shimmered, and suddenly they were looking at a completely different wall, containing a door. As the Doctor manipulated the controls, their point of view moved forward, towards the door.
    â€˜Nice when the villains present you with their whole plan in semi-animated form,’ said the Doctor. ‘Saves you having to be tied up and about to die before they’ll reveal anything.’
    â€˜You really think they’re telling the truth?’ said Rose. ‘About the force field, and why they need humans and everything?’
    â€˜Wouldn’t be at all surprised.’ The Doctor pressed a button, bringing the door into sharp relief. ‘After all, no one’s going to suspect it’s true for a second. And even if they did, even if some human sat down to play this game and thought, “Hang on, maybe these are real aliens telling us about their real enemies,” what are they gonna do about it? Try to tell anyone and they’d get locked up, trust me.’
    â€˜And I suppose no one on Earth would even care,’ said Rose, thinking about it. ‘What a bunch of aliens get up to on their own planet is hardly going to bother anyone.’
    On the television, the first puzzle filled the screen. It was different to the mathematical one from last time the Doctor had played the game, but he solved it just as quickly. Once inside, he had to climb through vents, jump across chasms, and negotiate twisting and turning mazes.
    â€˜I can see why those fat porcupines couldn’t manage this,’ commented Rose, as the Doctor pressed a combination of buttons to navigate a series of long jumps on to tiny platforms. ‘These are definitely meant for jumping insects.’
    A couple of Mantodeans appeared at the end of a tunnel. The Doctor, leaning forward eagerly, pressed down hard on the controller’s blue button. An icon appeared on the screen, a tiny pistol. ‘Gun selected,’ the graphics read. The Doctor’s finger hovered over the red button.
    Rose caught at his arm. ‘You can’t! You can’t shoot them! They’re real! You’d be killing them.’
    The Doctor hurriedly pressed another button, and the Mantodeans snapped out of view as he ducked down a side tunnel. He sat back, looked at her. ‘I was getting a bit carried away there.’
    She gave him a half-smile. ‘Yeah, me too. I mean, I wanted you to shoot them, for a second. Kill or be killed, and all that.’
    He nodded. ‘Only it isn’t, you’re right. Even if I have to start again, half an hour here or there probably won’t make much difference to Mickey.’
    She hadn’t thought of that, and frowned. But although she’d have gunned down a dozen aliens to get to a Mickey being threatened in front of her, this was different. If the Doctor was right, he was just being made to play video games somewhere. Who knew, they might