"Hello, Dr. Martha Jones," said the Doctor with a small smile as he stepped out of the TARDIS.
"Thanks for coming so quickly," she grinned in reply, then checked herself, "or, I guess it doesn't really matter for you, does it? What with the time machine and all," she waved a hand awkwardly at the blue box behind him. "you can pretty much take your time."
"Well, I'm here now," he said, stepping out into the gray London day, closing the door behind him.
Martha looked expectantly at the TARDIS and he followed her gaze with a slight shake of the head. "Nope, I'm alone," he said with just the tiniest hint of a sigh. She gave him a searching looking, but he waved her off, studying the ground.
"No, it's fine. Really. I'm fine. I'm fine and it's fine. Everything is fine," he stopped himself and took a deep breath, "So, what's the trouble? Something alien I'm guessing?" He started walking towards the large unmarked warehouse behind her, coat tail flapping in the breeze.
"We're not sure," she said, as she fell in along side, matching his quick pace. "It's like nothing we've seen before--," she stopped short, cocking her head to one side, "which seems to be the case more often than not, doesn't it?"
He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Let's have a look then." A familiar mischievous grin flashed across his face for a moment, "I'm always up for seeing something new."
"How about some one old?" came a new voice from behind them.
They both whirled around. Martha broke into a smile and rushed forward while the Doctor hung back.
"Jack!" Martha threw her arms around him, then stepped back and gave him a swat on the shoulder. "What are you doing here? Not even Torchwood should know about this!"
Jack shrugged. "I met this guy in a bar--"
She gave him another swat, trying to frown. "Don't you dare-- you have us bugged don't you? Or we have a leak..."
"We just thought it might be a good idea to keep, you know," he grinned mischievously, "open communications between UNIT and Torchwood."
"So there is a bug then," said Martha triumphantly.
Jack put a finger to his lips and gave her a conspiratorial wink. "I hung out over there and scanned for alien technology. Got two readings-- one from the warehouse when I arrived, and then a second one, from the TARDIS."
Jack turned to the Doctor and saluted. "Doctor, good to see you as always."
"Jack." was all he said before nodding towards the warehouse. "Let's see what we've got." He turned and started off.
Jack threw Martha a worried look, mouthing the words "What's with him?" She shrugged, mirroring his look. Jack pursed his lips and looked back at the TARDIS, then took Martha's hand as they headed towards the warehouse.
Inside it was all the usual UNIT pomp and circumstance-- stern faced men and women in smart uniforms and red caps moving purposefully about with clipboards and various pieces of technology. The room had been divided into a work spaces and laboratories with long sheets of plastic that rustled as people moved between them. The people and the plastic both got denser as they crossed to the far right corner. Martha returning various salutes with a nod and professional smile, Jack meeting the occasional curious stares with his usual wide-eyed guilelessness, and the Doctor ignoring everyone, obviously lacking even his usual strained patiences with the uniforms.
He pushed through the last sheet of plastic and gave a low whistle. "Here we are now. Aren't you interesting," he said appreciatively. The small crowd of UNIT scientists made way for him as he strode up to the alien device. It was about four and a half feet tall, cylindrical, with a console panel running around the top.
The Doctor pulled his glasses out of a pocket and put them on. Then he ran a finger along the panel as he circled the device and knelt down for a closer look. He put a hand against the side, then his face, eyes half closed as if listening for something. His eyebrows crept higher and higher until he paused to pull his stethoscope out of an inside pocket. He leaned in close again, listened for a moment, then popped back up, making Martha and Jack take a step back so as not to bump heads.
"Well, Dr. Jones, what have you got so far?"
Martha stammered for a moment, "uh, well, uh." then grabbed a clipboard off a near by scientist. She flipped through the pages. "It's definitely alien. Metal. Maybe part of something larger..." she trailed off. She sighed and looked him in the eye, throwing up her hands. "Really, we got nothing."
The Doctor nodded as if that told him something useful.
"What about you Jack-- does it remind you of anything?"
Jack looked the device up and down as if trying to decide if he was going to buy it a drink. "The TARDIS," he said finally. "It kinda reminds me of the TARDIS control."
"Yes it does," said the Doctor, leaning over it. "Just the right hight for a humanoid-- or Timelord, just the right size for a couple of operators-- four wouldn't you say?" He didn't wait for an answer, "Yes four. Four to operate it properly, but you could get by with two in a pinch I think." He busied himself poking and listening to the control panel. Martha even saw his tongue flick out for a second as he licked a button.
"Weeeell," he said finally, drawing out the word. "Seems harmless enough I guess," he gave it a few pats.
"We thought so too," said Martha, stepping up to the consol. "Until we stumbled on this," she pressed two of the buttons and stepped back. A hologram popped up, projected from the center. It was a giant clock and it was counting down.
The Doctor pursed his lips. "Well now, that's ominous, isn't it?"
