Another Girl, Another Planet

230 Pages·2011·1.11 MB·English

by  Day Martin

ANOTHER GIRL, ANOTHER PLANET
T H E N E W

A D V E N T U R E S

ANOTHER GIRL,
ANOTHER PLANET
Martin Day and Len Beech
First published in Great Britain in 1998 by
Virgin Publishing Ltd
Thames Wharf Studios
Rainville Road
London W6 9HT

Copyright © Martin Day and Len Beech 1998

The right of Martin Day and Len Beech to be identified as the Authors of
this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Bernice Summerfield was originally created by Paul Cornell

Cover illustration by Fred Gambino

ISBN 0 426 20528 6

Typeset by Galleon Typesetting, Ipswich
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Mackays of Chatham PLC

All 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 shall 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.
My thanks and gratitude to Martin Day for introducing me to
Benny and suggesting the project. Thanks also to my long-
time friend Laurence Sumeray for co-ordination skills, his
bag of goodies and a love of guanacos and related camelids;
to Sue Baddiley, Dave Brawn, Barry and Heather B. and to
John Little for info and SW tazo 24; to Ben Leech, Phillipa
Stephens (don‟t call me babe!), and especially to Steve
Bowkett, whose intelligent and lively contribution made this
book half possible.

Dedicated to Jon Pertwee, whose hand I was proud to shake
just two weeks before he moved higher up and farther in.
LB

Thanks to (random order) Trina, Elsa, Ben, Audra, Mark,
Felicia, Paul, Dave, Gary G., Jac, Keith, Gary R„ Helen, Andy,
Lisa, Judi and Steve, for a party I won‟t forget in a hurry, and
to everyone at or behind the scenes of Gallifrey Nine; to
Helen, for bravely letting me go (without whom, etc.); to Mum
and Dad, Pete W„ Sarah (and Phil), Marianne (and Colin), for
practical and material help; to Paul and Keith (X-treme
patience (groan)); to Time Team for making „research‟ such
fun; to Roland Barthes, Julian Cope, The Lover Speaks and
the Only Ones; and to Steve Bowkett, John McLaughlin and
Simon Winstone.

Dedicated to Lisa Gaunt, Felicia O‟Sullivan and Audra
McHugh. You know why.
MD
[START]

The statue of embracing lovers was the colour of a burning
sunset, marbled with filigree shadows of burnished gold.
Deep blue water cascaded over entwined hands, urgently
pressed lips, eyelids closed in adoration.
Visitors circled the square, seemingly ignorant of the
fountain at the centre. Only Assan sat at the feet of the
lovers, familiar and comfortable with their passion, staring
into their abandoned faces as flecks of cooling water ran
down his neck. He revelled in the honesty of the carving – the
almost touchable texture of the skin, the hinted-at muscle
and bone beneath, the florid flush that seemed to grip the
couple‟s cheeks and torsos - and the timid embarrassment it
engendered in those who averted their eyes and quickly
passed by.
For Assan, his weekly supplication at the feet of the
statue was something to be enjoyed, a brief release from
the constraints and demands of the project. The obsession of
his colleagues knew no bounds, bar the ultimate sacrifice,
the final step into the unknown that scared them all. In every
other regard the negotiators had so lost a sense of self, of
individuality, that Assan thought they were in danger of
ceasing to exist, of becoming mere machines. Only Assan,
and his beloved Kaygish, held on to life in all its fullness.
It was beneath the statue that Assan felt truly alive, truly
at one with his emotions and passions and fears. Here he
was able to watch the sun glinting on the fountain water and
the shattered rainbows that danced over the faces of the
people that passed. To them, he was an anonymous young
man, enjoying the fine weather and the hubbub of the city.
No one would recognize him as a negotiator or would have
guessed the vital nature of the work he did. Even Kaygish,
the project‟s leader and public face, was able to achieve a
degree of anonymity in the shadows of the embracing
lovers.
Assan was fully alive, and the teasing excitement, the
nervous anticipation, was part of the pleasure.
But not today. Something was wrong.
He closed his eyes for a moment, striving to analyse his
thoughts. There had been nothing in Kaygish‟s behaviour
recently to indicate that her feelings for him had cooled,
although it was difficult to be certain, as they spent most of
their time together in formal meetings with their cold, emo-
tionless colleagues. And Assan was sure his own behaviour -
and certainly his incandescent passions and desires - were
unchanged. What, then, was the source of the depression
that had gripped him this morning?
It was irrational paranoia, the natural insecurity of a lover,
heightened by his fears for the project and its implications
for his entire world.
It had to be. He prayed that it was.
Kaygish came towards him through a crowd of fevered
traders, a self-conscious grin of apology on her face. And
how beautiful she was, her blonde hair cut short to frame her
features, her eyes bright with impish grace. Every time
Assan saw Kaygish it was as if he was seeing her for the first
time.
She did not relax into his embrace, her features softening.
Instead, she held him tightly, awkwardly. And in that
moment, Assan knew that he was right.
„We need to talk,‟ she murmured.
They walked in silence from the square. Kaygish allowed
Assan to hold her hand, lightly, as if a last concession to the
past.
They found a seat by the river. Assan‟s senses were
heightened by his hurt, the wood and stone beneath his legs
feeling alive with the sun‟s warmth. He watched the water-
fowl dancing and diving on the choppy surface of the water,
blissfully ignorant of events on the bank. Ignorant of the
fact that Assan was already dead, and that only an outer
shell remained.
Assan wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere else.
Anywhere.
„This can‟t go on,‟ Kaygish said simply.
„But..,‟ Assan paused. But what? How could he tell her
that his life had no meaning without her? If she didn‟t
realize that then their entire relationship had been a tired
sham, a fiction of Assan‟s own invention.
Kaygish reached for the small knapsack. She always
brought it with her, and it was usually crammed full of bits
of old bread and animal fat bought at the market. Assan let
his fingertips brush against the bag, as if he could touch her
through it.
Kaygish sat and fed the birds, looking anywhere but
into Assan‟s eyes. If she had shed tears over her decision,
it had been some time ago. Cold logic enveloped her
now.
„What have I done wrong?‟ Assan wanted to know.
„You‟ve done nothing wrong,‟ she said, a hint of anger in
her voice. Perhaps she was angry at herself, for allowing it
to end like this.
„I can‟t believe this is happening.‟
Kaygish shrugged. „I‟m sorry... But it is important that we
clear up these matters. There is still much work to be done.‟
„Damn the work!‟
Kaygish sighed, ignoring Assan‟s outburst. „The project still
needs you.‟
„No,‟ said Assan, with spiteful finality. „Don‟t you under-
stand? It was you I fell in love with. Not the project.‟
„But you have put so much time - so much of yourself -
into our negotiations. To pull back now, to work elsewhere,
would be to deny yourself. To deny your people!‟
Assan stared with unfettered contempt at the men and
women who passed. How could they even begin to guess
that their futures, their fate, lay in the hands of the lovers
arguing on the bench overlooking the river?
„Damn them all,‟ he said. „The decisions we have taken
have been yours. I‟ve merely given your ideas substance. I
have merely obeyed.’
„It wasn‟t like that.‟
„No? Well, there‟s only one course of action open to me
now.‟
„You cannot... You should not be the first.‟
„A sign of trust between our peoples. They said they
needed a volunteer.‟
„But the unknown...‟
„The unknown no longer scares me,‟ he said. And he was
right. Even death, in that irrational instant, seemed
preferable to the half-life that he was about to return to.
Kaygish seemed almost shocked by the absence of fear in
Assan‟s eyes. Perhaps alone of his race, he was prepared, in
that instant, to stare into the pit of the unknown and not
flinch.
„I had better go,‟ she said, getting to her feet. „There is
much to do.‟
„Indeed there is,‟ Assan replied with stiff formality.
Kaygish reached out to hold Assan one last time. And he
knew nothing but tears.

Minutes turned to hours. Assan found himself back at the
lovers‟ fountain, feeling alone in the teeming, happy city.
The shadows stretched and branched as the light of the sun
gave way to the glow of the twin moons, and the lovers
were transformed. The male figure was now forcing himself
upon the woman, choking her cries for help into silence
with his own lips. Her fingernails, deep in her lover‟s palm,
were tiny daggers. Her arched back was an expression of
disgust, not ecstasy.
The faces of the people walking past the fountain were
alive with expectation, with a sense of carnival. But the
foolish innocents, fed whatever scraps Kaygish felt were
appropriate, knew only that they were not alone in the
cosmos, and that the future was bright.
No one even stopped to enquire why the young man, who
had seemed so happy earlier in the day, was now sobbing
beneath the statue.
Assan watched the shadows lengthen across the square.