Free Pirate Loop, The by Simon Guerrier Page B

nerve fibres at a rate of knots. Obvious really, isn't it?'
     
'If you say so, dear,' said Mrs Wingsworth.
     
'You disintegrate them,' said Archibald slowly. 'And they get better.'
     
The Doctor grinned. 'That's the gist of it, yeah. Glad you're keeping up. Must be a characteristic of the Balumin. But I hadn't heard of it before.'
     
'Is there ways to kill them?' asked Joss. 'So they don't come back?'
     
'No idea,' said the Doctor. 'And I'm not sure I want to find out.'
     
'You're boring,' said Archie.
     
'Well maybe I am. But at least I don't go round killing people for no very good reason.'
     
'They're quite indescribably brutish,' agreed Mrs Wingsworth. 'No manners whatsoever!'
     
'I'm warning you,' began Dash, angrily.
     
'Oh, what are you possibly going to threaten me with next, dear?' asked Mrs Wingsworth lightly. 'You stand there with your great big gun and yet we both know you're completely impotent.'
     
'Hang on, hang on,' said the Doctor, quickly putting himself between Dash and Mrs Wingsworth before things turned ugly again. 'Mrs Wingsworth, with all due respect, that's not really helping. And Dash, you know it does no good to kill her, so let's not waste everyone's time.'
     
Dash and the other two badgers glowered at him, but since they did not say anything it looked like they took his point. Mrs Wingsworth clearly wasn't used to being talked to like that either, but she too yielded with wounded grace.
     
'Good,' said the Doctor. 'Now, we're in a bit of a pickle, aren't we?'
     
He would have elaborated further, got the pirates and the prisoners working together to work out what had happened to the Brilliant. But Archie interrupted, muttering something gruffly under his breath.
     
The Doctor turned to him wearily. 'What is it?' he asked.
     
'Nothing,' said Archie.
     
'No, it was definitely something,' said the Doctor. 'Spit it out so everyone can hear.'
     
Archie glanced at his badger comrades, but they weren't going to help him with this. 'Well,' he told the Doctor, in an embarrassed tone. 'It was jus' different with that girl.'
     
'That girl?' said Doctor. He beamed. 'Archie, you've met my friend Martha!'
     
'Yeah,' said Archie proudly. 'She was good.'
     
'Oh,' said the Doctor. 'She's better than good.'
     
'Yeah,' said Archie. 'When we killed her she knew to stay dead.'
     
More than three hours earlier, Martha had stood in the same cocktail lounge watching the space where until a moment before Mrs Wingsworth had stood. The air was rich with a stink of roasted lemons, and wisps of ash floated from the ceiling. Martha felt sick to her stomach.
     
'That was murder!' she said coldly.
     
'Yeah!' said Archibald. But he saw the horror in her eyes and looked quickly away.
     
'She 'ad it coming,' said Dashiel, gruffly. 'Anyone else wanna be difficult?'
     
The alien prisoners quavered with fright, none daring to respond. Dashiel seemed delighted. He growled at them, he jabbed his gun at them, each time getting them to scream.
     
'Ha!' he said. This is good!'
     
'Let me kill one, Dash,' said Jocelyn, coming to his side. 'Go on! Archie got to kill one.'
     
'You can't!' said Martha.
     
'I didn't mean to kill one,' said Archibald quietly, still looking guilty.
     
'Yeah you did!' said Jocelyn. 'That was good!'
     
'Yeah,' agreed Archibald, though he still didn't seem convinced. Martha saw how he kept glancing at her, keen for her approval.
     
'All right,' said Dashiel. 'Which one you wanna kill?'
     
The aliens shrieked with terror as Jocelyn looked them over. She decided on a pale blue male, who wore several watches on his left tentacle.
     
'Please,' said Martha. 'We'll cooperate.'
     
'There's nothing to operate,' said Dashiel, seeming pleased with himself at using such a long word. 'Get on with it, Joss.'
     
Jocelyn grinned as she pulled the trigger and the pale blue alien vanished in brilliant pink light. Martha didn't think – she just ran forward and grabbed the gun from Jocelyn's paws.