Doctor Who: The Also People

THE ALSO PEOPLE

DOCTOR WHO – THE NEW ADVENTURES

Also available:

TIMEWYRM: GENESYS by John Peel

TIMEWYRM: EXODUS by Terrance Dicks

TIMEWYRM: APOCALYPSE by Nigel Robinson

TIMEWYRM: REVELATION by Paul Cornell

CAT'S CRADLE: TIME'S CRUCIBLE by Marc Platt

CAT'S CRADLE: WARHEAD by Andrew Cartmel

CAT'S CRADLE: WITCH MARK by Andrew Hunt

NIGHTSHADE by Mark Gatiss

LOVE AND WAR by Paul Cornell

TRANSIT by Ben Aaronovitch

THE HIGHEST SCIENCE by Gareth Roberts

THE PIT by Neil Penswick

DECEIT by Peter Darvill-Evans

LUCIFER RISING by Jim Mortimore and Andy Lane

WHITE DARKNESS by David A. Mclntee

SHADOWMIND by Christopher Bulis

BIRTHRIGHT by Nigel Robinson

ICEBERG by David Banks

BLOOD HEAT by Jim Mortimore

THE DIMENSION RIDERS by Daniel Blythe

THE LEFT-HANDED HUMMINGBIRD by Kate Orman

CONUNDRUM by Steve Lyons

NO FUTURE by Paul Cornell

TRAGEDY DAY by Gareth Roberts

LEGACY by Gary Russell

THEATRE OF WAR by Justin Richards

ALL-CONSUMING FIRE by Andy Lane

BLOOD HARVEST by Terrance Dicks

STRANGE ENGLAND by Simon Messingham

FIRST FRONTIER by David A. Mclntee

ST ANTHONY'S FIRE by Mark Gatiss

FALLS THE SHADOW by Daniel O'Mahony

PARASITE by Jim Mortimore

WARLOCK by Andrew Cartmel

SET PIECE by Kate Orman

INFINITE REQUIEM by Daniel Blythe

SANCTUARY by David A. McIntee

HUMAN NATURE by Paul Cornell

ORIGINAL SIN by Andy Lane

SKY PIRATES! by Dave Stone

ZAMPER by Gareth Roberts

TOY SOLDIERS by Paul Leonard

HEAD GAMES by Steve Lyons

THE ALSO PEOPLE

Ben Aaronovitch

First published in Great Britain in 1995 by

Doctor Who Books

an imprint of Virgin Publishing Ltd

332 Ladbroke Grove

London W10 5AH

Copyright @ Ben Aaronovitch 1995

The right of Ben Aaronovitch to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

'Doctor Who' series copyright © British Broadcasting Corporation 1995

Cover illustration by Tony Masero

ISBN 0 426 20456 5

Typeset by Gal eon Typeset ing, Ipswich

Printed and bound in Great Britain by

Mackays Paperbacks Ltd.

Al characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shal not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Scanned by The Camel

THE ALSO PEOPLE

Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... 7

Notes on the Pronunciation of Proper Nouns ............................................... 8

Prologue ....................................................................................................... 9

1 Delete Where Applicable ........................................................................ 11

2 Life's A Beach ......................................................................................... 22

Hyper-lude .............................................................................................. 34

3 Party Games .......................................................................................... 36

4 Policeman on the Corner ........................................................................ 47

Hyper-lude .............................................................................................. 56

5 Al the Answers ....................................................................................... 58

6 Faces in the Water ................................................................................. 71

Hyper-lude .............................................................................................. 81

7 Screaming for Ice Cream ....................................................................... 83

Hyper-lude .............................................................................................. 96

8 Gardens of Stone ................................................................................... 97

Hyper-lude .............................................................................................. 107

9 Cult Status .............................................................................................. 109

10 Unsmiling in the Darkness ...................................................................... 123

Hyper-lude .............................................................................................. 135

11 Tears of Rust .......................................................................................... 136

12 Travel ing Man Blues .............................................................................. 148

Epilogue ....................................................................................................... 157

I would like to thank Kate Orman for reminding me how much fun this is. Rebecca and Peter for putting up with my total lack of grammar, punctuation, spelling and my somewhat loose perception of linear time as it pertains to deadlines. Nick Chatwin and Muhmud Quayum for their help. And my family for their support. I'd like to remind everyone that while talent borrows and genius steals, New Adventure writers get it off the back of a lorry, no questions asked.

Notes on the Pronunciation of Proper Nouns

!x
is an aspirated consonant pronounced by clicking the side of the tongue against upper right-hand teeth.

!q
is an aspirated consonant pronounced by 'clucking' the tongue.

!c
is an aspirated consonant pronounced by placing the tongue against the front teeth and sucking them explosively back.

a
is pronounced
ah
as in car.

e
is pronounced
eh
as
in leg.

i
is pronounced
ee
as in leek or keep.

o
is pronounced like the
a
in walk.

u
is pronounced
oo
as in look or cook.

Stress is on the second syllable from last: aM!xitsa is pronounced am-
!xit
-sah; saRa!qava is pronounced sah-rah-
!qah
-vah.

I have chosen to use the simplified (personal) versions of people's names throughout the text as the more complex (use) designations would be cumbersome and serve little purpose. An example is the drone aM!xitsa, whose
use designation
incorporates the diminutive of his construction point and generation; thus:
aM!xit-i!xa!xi-sa!Qa!cisa
.

To avoid meaningless and ugly neologisms and to avoid unnecessary descriptions I have translated certain commonplace nouns into their closest English equivalents; thus: hours, minutes, days, months, monkeys, apple trees, caramel, coffee, chocolate, pastries,
etc.

To avoid further confusion I have rendered all Xhosa, Themne, Shona, Martian and Gallifreyan words in their accepted English forms.

One further note: in order to err on the side of political correctness I refer to
Indigenous
Terrans
rather than
Earth Reptiles
or the archaic
Silurians
.

According to the old women there had once been a Leopard that fell into a trap. She lay there in the bottom of the trap, her powerful body bruised and sore. It was hot and dusty. She felt miserable.

'Let me out of this trap,' the Leopard cried. 'Let me out!'

But nobody came to let her out. All the other animals were afraid of the Leopard and were secretly glad that she might die. After many hours a woman walked past the trap. The woman had a kind face and smiled when she met people on her travels.

'Let me out, let me out,' the Leopard whimpered, her voice weak with thirst and captivity, the bruises on her body throbbing with pain.

The woman walked over to the trap. When she saw the Leopard inside she was frightened.

'Let me out,' called the Leopard, pathetic in her misery. 'If you do not let me out I will soon die.'

The woman looked down at the Leopard for a long time. She had travelled far and wide in the world and knew that leopards were the most dangerous of animals. More cunning than Chief Lion who was lazy and let his wives hunt for him. Stronger than cousin Cheetah who ran like lightning but for only a small distance. More vicious even than sister Panther who could smell the wind and run for ever. 'If I let you out of the trap,' called the woman to the Leopard, 'will you promise me one thing?'

'Whatever you want,' replied the Leopard, 'only let me out of this trap.'

'You must promise that you will not harm me once I release you,' said the woman. 'You are a powerful animal. Your sharp claws could tear me to pieces.'

'I will not harm you,' promised the Leopard. 'I want only my freedom.'

The woman pulled away the branches which covered the trap and bent down to help the Leopard out.

'Aha!' roared the Leopard as she stretched her powerful body. The woman watched fearfully as strong muscles rippled under the Leopard's fur. 'How hungry I feel now that I am out of that dreadful place. Soon I must eat my supper.' She looked at the woman. 'You, my friend, will be my supper.'

When the woman heard those words she trembled with fear. 'You promised that you would not harm me. Let me go. It is late in the day and my friends have brewed beer for me. Tonight we are giving thanks to our ancestors and the village relies on me to talk to the dead for them.'

The Leopard laughed. 'You fool,' she snarled, 'you should not have believed me. Now that I am outside the trap there is no reason why I should keep my promise. Now, however, I am going to have a short rest. Do not worry about your ancestors, for once I have finished my sleep I shall send you to meet them directly.'

The woman looked round desperately for help. A short distance away she saw a small Musasa Tree.

'Musasa Tree,' she called, 'help me to escape this ungrateful Leopard. I let her out of the trap and now she wants to eat me for her supper.'

The Musasa Tree grew angry at the woman's words. 'Why should I help you?' she replied.

'You've never done anything to help me. Every day I shade you from the hot sun and keep your house cool and pleasant. Yet all you want to do is cut me down and use me as firewood.'

The woman sighed unhappily. She knew that what the Musasa Tree had said was true. Sadly the woman turned away, searching the veldt for something that might help her.

Her gaze fell upon the Path, along which she had walked.

'Nzira,' she called the path by name, 'help me to escape from this horrible Leopard.'

But Nzira was even angrier than Musasa Tree. 'I will not help you. What have you ever done to help me? I give you safe passage through the forest, but all you ever do is kick me with your heavy feet and press me further into the ground.'

The woman sighed again because she knew that Nzira was speaking the truth. Then she remembered the River who was called Rwizi.

'Rwizi,' she called, 'help me escape from this evil Leopard who promises to eat me for her supper.'

But Rwizi would not help her. 'Think of everything I do for you,' said Rwizi. 'I give you water to grow your crops. I bring water for your cattle to drink in the evening. Yet all you do is use me to wash your dirty body and your soiled clothes.'

The woman sighed for the third time for she knew that Rwizi was speaking the truth.

Finally, in desperation she called upon the spirit of her Grandmother.

'Mbuya,' she called to the heavens, 'save me from this wicked Leopard.'

'I cannot save you,' replied the spirit of her grandmother. 'You should have listened more carefully to the stories I told you as a child. The Leopard is not wicked, she is only being what she is. It is in her nature to eat when she is hungry, to kill when she is threatened. You should have remembered this
before
you released her.'

On hearing this the woman fell to her knees and covered her face with her hands. Bitter tears fell from between her fingers and watered the earth.

Just then a small sprightly animal came hurrying through the forest. He had long narrow ears and a small bushy tail. It was Tsuro the Hare.

'Whatever is the problem?' asked Tsuro when she saw the woman weeping. 'Why are you looking so miserable on this lovely day?'