Crisis On The Frontier

by Steve61

Jo is mortally wounded, as she and the Doctor visit a human/Draconian colony in the 26th century, unaware that two war fleets are approaching the planet.

"Listen to me very carefully, Jo; when I say 'run'-"

"Doctor-"

"-run! Understood?"

"A one-word command? Yeah, I think I've got it!"

The Doctor looked down at his pretty companion, and gave her a sour look. Really, why couldn't Earth people just obey a command that would save their lives without analyzing and dissecting his every remark or action? She was beginning to get as disruptive as the Brigadier!

"But do we really need to run? Wouldn't that attract attention in a place like this?"

The Time Lord opened his mouth and paused as he looked about their surroundings. Moon Base Endeavour, located within the Oceanus Procellarium region, in the year 2099. Modular walls protected them from the frozen void outside and the full range of cosmic rays that the sun was relentlessly blazing down upon Earth's lone satellite. The corridors were devoid of people, but many voices were heard shouting down the hallway within a meeting room, some threatening physical violence with another, objects thrown against a wall or lunar furniture in a fit of rage, more voices making serious threats.

The Doctor looked down at Jo and at his own clothes. She was dressed in typical 1970's wear, with bright pink bell bottoms, a floral blouse, chunky, stylish shoes that added a couple inches to her diminutive height, while he was sporting a ruffled shirt beneath a red smoking jacket.

"Unfortunately, we don't exactly fit in here, I'm afraid. Everyone present will be dressed in a regulation lunar citizen uniform."

"So? We've dressed the way we wanted to before with little problem or comment?"

The voices rose in the room down the hallway, and the Doctor's eyebrows clashed in concern, creating deep lines between them.

"Yes, but this really isn't a good time to be here. Not today, at least."

"Why ever not?" she questioned.

"You there! Who're you?" an angry, suspicious voice shouted from down an adjoining corridor.

"As I said-!" the Doctor began.

Jo finished with a panicked nod, "-RUN! Got it!"

On the run for the hundredth time in the hundredth location, Jo allowed the Doctor's hand to guide her back the way they came, while shouts down the corridor threatened them with injury, incarceration, prosecution in court and a whole host of unpleasant threats. They were only able to outrun their pursuer thanks to his own lack of physical fitness, and the fact that he was a lousy shot with a taser gun.

A wall 'pinged' and flashed several feet to Jo's right as the Moon-man fired on them, missing them, but who cared? He was angry and was pretty keen on shooting and asking questions later! Barely making it back to the TARDIS, the lunar citizen rounded a corner and was surprised to find a big blue box in a junction section that should have been clear of junk and supply cabinets. With his prey missing, he looked the TARDIS over and suspected that the box was just big enough to hide the two interlopers. He began to reach for its handle, when abruptly the box made a whooshing, grinding sound, became as immaterial as if a product of a dream, and then faded from existence.

It would go into Moon Citizen Carlington J. Hugget's permanent work record that he was barred from ever working on the Moon again, thanks to his peculiar obsession with blue boxes that soon followed the strange, inexplicable incident.

"Well! That was fun!" Jo smirked sarcastically, brushing strands of honey-colored hair from her eyes. "So tell me, what was that man's deal? Why was he acting like we were hostile invaders or something?"

"Considering the date we landed in, Jo, I suppose I can't really blame him from distrusting us," the Doctor replied, rubbing the back of his stiff neck, as he hovered around and circled his hexagonal control panel in the console room, setting and resetting buttons and switches. "Ah, you see? The Time Initializer was keyed to the Displacement Circuit! No wonder we landed in such a terrible day in history."

"Oh, well, that explains it all!" Jo giggled, continuing her string of sarcastic comments, in the hopes of getting the Time Lord's attention.

Realizing that she was still in the dark, the Doctor explained to her, "You see, Jo, had I set the controls properly, say for February 23rd, 2099, our visit might have gone much smoother. As it was, New Year's Eve on the Moon, in the year 2099 was anything but enjoyable! The Lunar cities, of which we just left, had been petitioning the Earth governments to treat them as a separate, unique, colony, and demanded the same rights and privileges as normal nations back on Earth."

"The way America wanted to break away from England in the 1700's?"
"Worse! They were a multi-national, multi-corporate entity, so while people back home in France, or Spain, or Brazil thought it jolly good for them to unilaterally proclaim independence, countries like the United States, Canada, England, Russia, and many other nations were more than a little annoyed! Not mention Nike and Microsoft!"

"Who?' Jo asked, blankly.

"It's not important," the Doctor dismissed with a small smile. "What you saw and heard was just a taste of the political and ideological troubles that the lunar cities were going to experience, and the first thoughts for any of them would have been that we were spies from back on Earth, sent to disrupt their meetings for independence. No, we're much better off leaving when we did."

"But...couldn't you have helped?" Jo wondered. "Made it easier for everyone?"

"Perhaps. But then I would have created a time paradox. The Independence of the Lunar Nations is a historical fact, Jo, and must be allowed to proceed without my specific help."

"'Your specific help'? What does that mean?"

The Doctor's mouth curled into a smirk. "Let's just say that I happen to know I will get involved. Just not me. Not this me."

Jo nodded, having previously met his other two incarnations. The way it sounded, was like he was speaking about either of them- she sincerely hoped it wasn't a future Doctor, since it would mean that 'her' Doctor, the tall one with the wavy white hair, impeccable manners and a mighty nose was gone, and replaced by who knew what!

Jo sighed and complained, "It's just too bad that future humans are just as bad as 20th Century humans! I would have thought we, as a people, got better! That sounded like any other argument in a court, or on the street from my time."

Doctor disputed this and got to work to change her mind. With his memories of time travel returned to him by the Time Lords, so too were loads of memories and information about the galaxy that he and his people had travelled from end to end over and over. Just to be sure, he accessed the navigational data and told her,

"I think I'll bring you to a planet called Vanarra, in the year 2551. The Earth-Draconian War is long over, and the two sides have colonized the same planet as a symbol of cooperation. You'll see, Jo- future human beings can be a remarkable people when they want to be, and it'll be a refreshing change to visit some place peaceful and representative of good will and intentions."

"And one that won't see us chased through endless corridors?" she wondered.

The Doctor shrugged, noncommittally.

They arrived and exited the TARDIS amongst a colorful green forest and the smells of countless flowers and plant life growing around them. Jo inhaled the clean air deeply, and smiled at the change from Earth air which wasn't the greatest in the '70's! Trees sporting all manner of leaves and fruit surrounded them and shot up into a crystal blue sky, soft, gleaming-white clouds gradually passing overhead, offering a small glance downward at them as they traversed the skies of Vanarra.

"The colony should be somewhere in that direction," the Doctor ascertained, squinting as he looked beyond the distant rows of trees, a glare of sunlight washing over his features and bringing out the red hues of his jacket from its intensity.

"How can you be sure?"

"I can just make out the sounds of a stream or river in the distance. It's logical to place a budding colony near water. If they should-" the Doctor replied, suddenly silencing himself.

"Something wrong?" she whispered, wide-eyed and looking about. Not more armed men threatening their lives? Not already?

"Something else is out there. I thought I heard a growl."

"Oh, great! First-"

"SH!" the Doctor admonished, his eyes darting every which way as he sought out the source of the animalistic sound. Jo thought this was a remarkable talent, considering how old the Time Lord was, and at just 24 years of age, her human hearing should have been much better by comparison. However, the alien Lord of Time had narrowed down the location of the animal and silently urged his friend to follow him down a man-made pathway. Be eaten or follow the Doctor...hmmm...no contest!

Unfortunately, the animal was able to smell both at even greater distances than they were from it, so a minute later it came barrelling out of the forest, all teeth and shaggy fur. Jo had enough time to scream in terror (mainly from the getting eaten part), while the Doctor had just enough time to whip out his sonic screwdriver at aim it at the furry, bear-like animal. The Doctor caught an unsettling glimpse of blood red and black eyes focused completely on him, before the world took a tumble and he and Jo were slammed to the grassy ground by the truck-like furred beast. They both yelped in surprise and pain as they hit the ground and tried to get their bearings, to get back to their feet, until a startling white flash and the sound of multiple man-made devices rent the air around them.

Jo's eyes were tightly shut, and her grip on the Doctor's arm was vice-like, but Death didn't visit her today. She cautiously opened her eyes to look in the direction of the attacking bear-like creature, only to find it dead and silent on the forest floor. Following the stare of the Doctor, she looked off to her right and found the welcome sight of a hunting party composed of four people- a white human, a black man, and two Draconians!

"Are you all right?' the white-skinned man asked.

"Yes. Yes, we are- thanks to you," the Doctor sighed, rising to his feet, and picking Jo up after him.

"Thanks to us," one of the Draconians corrected, hefting his wicked-looking energy rifle, as his comrade showed his own weapon.

"Yes, well, whomever killed this beast, we thank you," he replied, dusting himself and Jo off.

"You are welcome," the second Draconian said, all prim and proper, offering a slight bow, which the Doctor, then Jo returned. "And who might you be?" asked the black man.

"You may call me 'The Doctor'. This is my companion, Jo Grant."

"Pleased to meet you," Jo smiled, bowing again.

"My name is Jack Adler, and I'm the joint leader of the human/Draconian colony on this planet. My associate here is Othello Green, and your saviours are Tagareth and Vosnur."

"So, now that we all know who we are, would you mind explaining why you two are on our planet?" Green wondered, his bald coca-colored scalp reflecting the sunlight.

"Just passing through," the Doctor answered, harmlessly. "A short visit. I wanted to show my friend here the wonders and friendships that the 26th century has to offer on Vanarra. I just wasn't expecting our reception committee to consist of a very hungry, very big teddy bear!"

"They're not always so big," Tagareth noted, nudging the dead animal with his rifle to be sure it was dead. "But they're always hungry!"

"I'm sorry you had to kill it on our part. I hate seeing an animal, even one like this killed," Jo admitted. "What's it called?"

"We call them 'Angerons'," Adler replied.

"An 'Angeron'? Why is that?'

"Well...they're always angry!"

The Doctor was about to elaborate, and tell them that they'd like to visit the colony, only to watch as Jo began to gasp for air, clutch the Doctor's sleeve and fall to the ground dizzy and in spasms.

"The Angeron scratched her!" Adler said, noticing a small red gash in one arm, and quickly examined her for more scratches. "She's only got the one scratch on her left forearm, but trust me, Doctor- that's all that's needed to kill her in an hour! We have a supply of ant-toxin back at the main colony hospital!"

"Then let's not waste a moment, young man! I'll carry her and you gentlemen lead the way! And please hurry!"

Jo was treated by Doctor Athena Wildstar, whose name the Doctor recalled from somewhere, but couldn't quite place it. His travels had seen him from one end of the galaxy to the other and one galaxy to another, for that matter, so he could be excused for recalling a name but not the details. She was an attractive red-haired woman barely 40 human years old by the looks of her, and clearly a skilled practitioner.

She wasted no time in annoying questions as to Jo's identity or who he was, instead asking the correct questions a physician should ask in an emergency, such as drug allergies, family medical history that might complicate treatment, and such. She'd managed to administer the anti-toxin and get Jo's blood pressure back to normal, while sedating her and slowing her metabolism with 26th century technology and drugs to allow her body to heal, and save her brain from suffering from any form of toxic shock.

"We've had Angeron attacks before, so you can trust the anti-toxin to work. 24 hours and she'll be back to herself."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Adler says that you're a doctor, too?"

"I am The Doctor, of which my skills cover a wide variety of topics. Unfortunately the medical field is,, not one of the top ten ones!"

"The Doctor, hm? I'll have to keep an eye on you, if I want to keep my job around here! I consider myself The Doctor in this colony!"

The Time Lord returned her smile and replied, "I can assure you, madam, that your title and your job is in no jeopardy from my presence here! Jo and I are just visiting and by the time she's well enough to return to our Ship we'll be out of your hair."

"No rush. However, I could ask what kind of judgement you and your young friend here possess if you felt Vanarra was such a nice place for a vacation!"

"Really?"

A bearded Asian colonist arrived in the medical ward and approached Wildstar and asked, "Excuse me, Doctor Wildstar? We're just wondering if you'll be at the meeting? It's starting in a few minutes."

"Yes, Fuji, I'll be right there."

The colonist nodded and left.

"What meeting?" asked the Doctor.

"Why, the one to decide if we'll ally ourselves with either the Sontarans or the Rutans, of course!"

"What?" he gasped.

"We must decide quickly, Doctor. After all, their fleets will arrive at Vanarra in less than 2 days!"

A figure up on a nearby mountain watched the colony below as night set upon it, listening to the nocturnal bird calls. The glow of colony perimeter lights that encircled the numerous buildings denoted its boundaries, while windows glinted from interior lights of the various colonial homes and research buildings. Music wafted up towards him and he wondered if the annoying humans didn't ever go to sleep, and allow him enough peace and quiet to fall asleep, himself.

He spun on his heel and returned to his cave...but not before he stubbed his toe on a tree root, resulting in a litany of whispered curse words as he fought the pain of the bump..

Jo needed rest and at least 24 hours to recuperate, so the Doctor was forced to keep her at the colony hospital, but he couldn't help wondering why Vanarra even still possessed colonists if they were aware of the Sontarans and Rutans coming here?

Wildstar replied, "Seventy-five percent of the people have left, but the rest...well...Vanarra is home to the rest, with nothing back on Earth or Draconia for any of them. And as for me, I have valuable research I want to see to fruition. And as I said, I'm the only doctor left to care for everyone that stayed behind."

"Surely you know what both war-like races are capable of?"

Wildstar nodded, then shrugged. "I'm also aware of what an earthquake or monsoon can do, but I've endured both while here. Vanarra is big enough that there's no reason to expect either war fleet to show up at this very small, insignificant colony. The planet is rich in raw materials on the other continents as much as this one."

"I really think you and your people should be taking this much more seriously. Sontaran and Rutan sensors will register your life signs from a millions miles out in space and draw them to you!"

"Even if we wanted to leave, Doctor, all we have are a handful of atmospheric shuttles. We have no way of returning to space, let alone our home worlds."

The Doctor looked down at his ill friend and shook his head. "I'm going to at least speak to Adler and the leaders to get their input."

"Good luck," she shrugged, sounding as if she already knew their answers. He was about to question her further, but when she turned her attention back to Jo's care he bit his tongue and left.

The Doctor spoke to the joint colony leaders, Adler and the Draconian, Zavakar, and both agreed to stand firm on remaining. It was important to them as a show of solidarity to both of the formerly-warring worlds. 29 humans and 29 Draconians remained. Although Tagareth, the Draconian that had saved his and Jo's lives, was one of his people that wanted to leave, it was decided that the numbers had to remain equal.

The Doctor warned them, "Despite whatever stories you have heard about the brutality of both alien warrior races, it pales in comparison to real-life experiences. I've been both a target and an unwitting pawn for both the Sontarans and the Rutans, ladies and gentlemen, and I can assure you that your lives are in great danger if you don't evacuate this colony at once for somewhere else safe on the planet. One look at the technology of this colony and they'll both see raw materials and a ready-made work force! If on the other hand they see you as an obstacle, then neither fleet needn't even land to inflict carnage on the landscape and your homes! They can bombard this colony from 20,000 miles away in space!"

But to his utter disappointment, his warnings went unheeded.

The colonists pig-headedly insisted that they would take their chances and stay where they were.

Just before the vote was to take place, Doctor Wildstar checked in with Jo, and found her delirious from the venom. It was a common reaction to the toxins and the medicine fighting within her body, and only the most strong-willed of patients could find themselves semi-conscious. Wildstar was about to have her nurse hold the fort when Jo's drowsy droning caught her attention.

"Brigadier, what do you mean...you don't like to listen to...the Beatles? No, it doesn't mean you're groovy...or a ham sandwich! Just pick up a record and...dig it. No, I don't a ticket to ride the London Tube...got a Jefferson Airplane, though, will that do? I think the Doctor invented the Sonic Can-opener before his Screwdriver! Mike, if you're not going to wear the ruby red shoes to get back from the Land of Oz...you won't be home in time to see Benny Hill and the TARDIS on 'Top of the Pops!"

Jo left her colonial doctor completely confused, but Angeron toxin frequently scrambled one's memories and words. Her nurse arrived to relieve her, so Wildstar left.

Soon thereafter the meeting's vote was held with unexpected results

Sontaran support; 6 humans and 25 Draconians of which Adler, Wildstar, Zavakar and Nurzava made up the numbers, as Rutan support garnered 23 humans and just 4 Draconians, which included Othello Green, Tagareth, and Vosnurak.

That made the vote Sontarans 31, Rutans 27

The Doctor insisted, "Neither side will care. Slave labor to either of them is a very real possibility, I assure you!"

"Look, I'm beginning to think I've had enough of you!" Adler growled. "I allowed you to sit in here, Doctor, but don't think for a moment that since we're voting that you carry a vote one way of the other."

"Good heavens, man, I'm trying to help! I'm just saying you should evacuate this colony now if you really care about these people!"

"How dare you!"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" Zavakar said, separating the two just by his wide-shouldered presence. "The Sontarans and the Rutans are at war, not us! We appreciate your concern, Doctor, but we have remained behind at this colony on the frontier for a higher purpose and a strong belief in our strength as an alliance. Without it, the experiment that is the Draconian/human colony of Vanarra will have been a futile waste of time."

Jo's vision was blurry and even seemed to do weird things around the edges of her peripheral vision, while some small part of her mind told her that the Doctor was hungry and wanted her to get him something to eat. The dimly-lit unfamiliar room with its beds and computer panels didn't look familiar in the least, nor did it look like a kitchen, so she stumbled out of bed, and weakly tried to keep her balance as the room tilted again, as if she were on a ship on the high seas. The room was empty of people, but she saw a door made of corn flakes showing her the way out.

Staggering forward and knocking down the corn flake door, she chuckled to herself, "If the Doctor is hungry for cereal I'll be back! Might find a nice bowl of soup in the laundromat for him if I go this way!"

The ground tilted in the opposite direction as Jo left the colony for the mountains, in search of a snack for the Doctor.

Othello didn't like how the majority of the colonists supported the Sontaran war machine, and accused Zavakar and some of his friends of secretly bargaining with a Sontaran General. "Maybe you'll even join forces and attack Earth again!" he accused.

Zavakar replied angrily, "Absolute nonsense! There's absolutely no truth in such an outlandish accusation!"

"I don't like either race, Othello," Adler told his friend, "but at least the Sontarans are somewhat humanoid. The same can't be said for the Rutans, which are little more than amorphous, glowing blobs with tentacles and gurgling voices!"

Tagareth warned, "My friendship with you, Zavakar, is being strained. You're bringing to light some unsavory ideals that I had been previously unaware of. Might I remind you and the others gathered here that I lost my family to a Sontaran attack as a child? How else should I feel?"

Zavakar argued, "I grieve for your loss, Tagareth, but that was a long time ago and has no bearing on today. The Sontarans are not here yet, nor might they ever show up here."

As the group continued to argue sides, the Doctor noticed Wildstar was present and quietly asked her who was looking after Jo. "I only have one other person with me in the medical ward, so that would be Nurse Sutton."

His eyes widened as he scanned those gathered in the meeting room. "Nurse Sutton? But Sutton is present and has just taken part in the vote!"

The Doctor raced back to the med-lab followed by Wildstar, only to find the door to the infirmary wide open and Jo missing.

Night on Vanarra was full of nocturnal sounds and smells, but it was also creepy. Jo wasn't totally coherent, and was somewhat convinced that she was stumbling about in a dream, barely aware that predators were beginning to stalk her. And as real life had taught her, dreams couldn't harm her- just scare the beejeebees out of her! Still, she seemed to be full of something that was dulling her fear, so the sounds and muted growling in the background should have terrified her, but she simply made a note of where it might be coming from, and walked in another direction, trying to remember the words to Stevie Wonder's 'You Are The Sunshine Of My Life' as she staggered ever deeper into the forest.

The colony had been searched from one end to the other, and the sections directly adjoining it, but Jo was not to be found anywhere, much to the Doctor's concern. Parties were arranged to explore the forest, but not too deeply for fear of encountering an Angeron or two or worse. Assured that the colonists would handle this for him, the Doctor made it quite clear that his companion's life was too valuable to him to let others look for her while he sat back and drank tea and put up his feet, so he insisted in taking part. Paired with Othello Green and Nurzava, a female Draconian who voted for Sontaran alliance, it was anything but an easy search in the dark forest as Othello and Nurzava argued their sides of the vote.

"It's a fact that Sontarans boast about their military might to anyone within ear-shot! They see us down here and they'll use that opportunity to get us involved! The Rutans haven't, historically, been a burden or a trouble to humankind!" Green argued.

"The Rutans look nothing like us! They are completely alien in nature, and as such- dangerously unpredictable!" Nurzava countered.

"Sontarans are 'dangerously unpredictable'! Any war-like alien with a gun should be considered as such!"

"Certainly! But we're speaking about the, what is the human saying? 'The lesser of two evils'?"

"How can the Rutans be the lesser of two evils, when they've endured this war with the Sontarans for centuries? Any opponent that refuses to die, or maybe, can't die, is too dangerous to align ourselves with, Nurzava!"

"Human prejudice towards-"

"Stop it, the both of you!" the Doctor chastised, in a harsh, quiet tone as the nocturnal animals of the forest continued to go about their night time activities and conversations around them. "This is no place to debate politics or prejudice! I expected a search to take place by stealth not the equivalent of a televised political debate!"

"A what?" Othello asked him, confused.

"Never mind!" a frustrated Doctor sighed. "I came here to show Jo a strong human./alien alliance, but it seems to have been all in vain- in theory and reality! I would have been better off showing her the Americans and British in 1776!"

The shared look of confusion between Othello and Nurzava was about all they could agree on at that moment.

Jo awakened to find an old man dabbing cool water on her forehead, even though she didn't remember passing out or arriving in the place she now was in. She looked about and found what seemed like a ramshackle, survivalist-type of home, broken down equipment and old items strewn about like a college boy's dorm room, while the walls reflected a curved surface as a nearby fire crackled to itself. Okay, inside a cave, but with who else?

"So you decided to wake up, hm? Well, it's a bit early for a conversation and a fine how-you-do, so I'm gonna play doctor and insist that you rest. Judging by that injury it looks like you might have been hurt by one of those ghastly Angerons! I've been lucky enough to avoid them. Maybe my blood would taste funny to them, I don't know. Those are odd clothes you're wearing, missy. Not standard colonial couture, surely? Looks more civilian, or perhaps that's an example of Ninth Millennium Riboschic, I dunno. Still, the fire should keep you warm enough, since it's late Spring on Vanarra, but you already knew that didn't you? You really should rest and stop talking so much!"

She was about to say that for someone that felt she should rest and get some sleep, he sure talked alot! Instead, she asked who he was, and he told her

"Oh, you probably haven't heard of me, since I changed my name when I left my home planet. And even that's some place that you've never heard of."

"And what's that?" she asked, feeling drowsy and closing her eyes.

"A planet called 'Gallifrey'."

Jo passed out, the name ringing in her ears.

The search continued somewhat more peacefully, as the vote was not mentioned again, although both of his searchers felt their respective side had done more good for their colony than the other. An argument about who drank too much water and who bathed less was abruptly halted when the Doctor asked, "What's that?" as he trained his torch on a shiny silver object the size of a baseball in a clearing. He came within twenty feet of it, and kept his teammates back from it once he recognized it as a Sontaran motion detector. "And if it's here...so should at least a small number of Sontarans- a scouting party perhaps."

Nurzava suggested, "I feel we should ignore it and continue. There's little to gain from complicating our search by investigating baubles in the dark."

That made the Doctor's suspicious, but his loyalty to Jo forced him to keep his prerogatives in order and Jo's whereabouts were certainly the most important.

Nurzava's actions were now second in his mind.

Morning came and the old man that Jo had shared a few words with last night had made breakfast for Jo. It consisted of orange and blue fruit that looked like spray-painted grapefruits, as well as a selection of nuts and leaves.

"I hope you're a vegetarian! Or at least, not big on lots of bacon and sausages for breakfast. I can offer you only so much from the forest. Try the moogy fruit- it'll give you a shot of Vitamin C that'll last you until next week!"

"Thank you," she smiled, taking the colorful grapefruit-like item from him as he offered it. "I still don't know your name? I'm Jo Grant. From Earth."

"I figured as much!" the old man smiled, shoving a handful of what appeared to be maple leafs inside pita bread, and sprinkled a generous dose of salt and pepper in it.

He had wavy white hair that was combed back and bags under his eyes that were a testament to his long years of life, but crows feet at the corner of his grey-blue eyes seemed to recall years of laughter and smiling. He worse a tattered overcoat of navy blue that looked like it was the only outer garment he'd worn for years, while a striped cream colored shirt underneath was wrinkled beyond ironing. A cravat was sloppily tied around his neck, and checkered pants bore an opening for his left knee. Scuffed up boots, caked with bits of mud from a previous day's journey pointed towards her, the treads long gone and replaced by nearly-smooth soles.

"You surely wouldn't pass as a Draconian in that outfit!" He laughed heartily at her as he took a bite of his sandwich, while Jo stared back at him. He cleared his throat and added, "Bit of a joke. I can tell the difference between your human physiognomy and that of a Draconian. The clothing remark was my attempt at humor."

"Heh heh," she uttered, weakly.

He frowned at her. "You needn't offer pity laughter, though. Anyways, I've long rejected my birth name in exchange for a title. You may call me 'The Author'!" He added a beaming smile, a bow of his head, and a dignified look upwards towards another cave wall, as if posing for a portrait.

Jo paused and waited for more in the silent cave, the small fire crackling louder than any applause he was expecting. "'The Author'? That's it?"

"Not much more needed, when one's accomplishments are so galaxy-reaching that you can be known by a simple title rather than a birth name. Besides, I was inspired by others of my kind that elected to ignore their birth name in favor of a title."

She was grateful but suspicious of the hermit, who apparently wasn't part of the colony, and had uttered a name that had stuck inside her unconscious.

"I'm sure I heard you say 'Gallifrey' last night?"

"I did. Kinda roles off the tongue, doesn't it? Gallifreyyy! Galllli-freeeeey! What of it?"

Jo told the old man, "It's just that that that's where the Doctor is from."

"The Doctor? The Doctor?" the Author asked excitedly, jumping to his feet, his eyes wide and with trebling hands gripping her shoulders like a madman. "He's here? He's really here on Vanarra? Did the Doctor come here in a TARDIS? Did he could here looking for me? Did Gallifrey send him to bring me back?"

Jo said, "Well, not exactly. That is, we came here to visit the colony, but I suppose he just might have known you were here, but he didn't tell me. Have you been here long? And why are you even here, living in a cave if you're a Time Lord?"

He let go of her small arms, and dusted them off, reigning in his excitement and tried to sound casual, his voice just on the precipice of quivering with excitement. "I was just visiting! Just trying to get away for a little vacation! Don't worry, I'm not some kinda nut-job like the Master or the Rani! Oh, thank the billion galaxies! With the Doctor's help I can finally go home! Oh, yesyesyesyes!" His joy was suddenly cut short by a realization. "Oh, my!"

"What is it?" Jo asked, matching the concern on his face.

He looked at her, horrified. "I do hope somebody fed my fish while I was gone!"

After a long night of searching and evading nocturnal predators, the Doctor was back in the colony, frustrated by the failure of every search party, including his own. Unfortunately, as so many colonies did in the days of the human expansion, they embraced the simpler ways and didn't always employ advanced sensors or tracking equipment, preferring to 'rough it' like their ancient cowboy ancestors.

The Doctor made his way for Adler's office, seeing as how he was the human leader, but he found the man in an agitated state as a trio of humans and a pair of Draconians surrounded his desk, demanding answers to questions ranging from if there should be guards posted around the colony at night to insignificant trifle like a missing jar of olives from the kitchen dome.

Adler told him, "Look, Doctor, I've really done all I can Colony morale and alien occupation is just a little more important to me at this time, you understand? Nobody's stopping you from continuing your own search for your friend."

The Doctor looked down his nose at the besieged Adler, his fists propped against his hips as he hovered over the seated colony leader. "Than I suppose I shall have to do so. Thank you so much for your help, sir! Good luck with the missing jar of olives!"

The Doctor stormed out of the room, and nearly made it all the way to the door before he was forced to listen to the two female Draconians begging Adler to share the human's storehouse of peanut butter until the olives showed up safe and sound.

The Author told Jo, "So, planet Earth, huh? Good ol' Terra! You know, I've visited Earth in the past- both literally and figuratively. I've been to your 20th and 21st centuries, your 11th century and even the month of August in 2,141,784 B.C.!"

"Two million, one-hundred-and-forty-one-thousand, seven hundred and eighty-four? Why?"

"It's my lucky number!" he replied, making it sound obvious. "Nearly won the lottery on Metebelis 3 with it! If you're from the 20th century, then perhaps you've read some of my works? 'Drekkordoom The Paranoid Employee'? 'The Paliance Obfusgation'? 'An Askew Red Box Within An Angry Circle'?" Jo shook her head to every title. "'Biggity-Boogity The Zappity Catapultance'? 'Zookoostoos Meets The Clapper'?" Jo shook her head. "Howabout '99 Ways to a Better, More Selfish You'? That was during my self-help phase! And then there was 'I'm Okay, You're Okay, But I Hope You're Mother Gets Eaten By A Drashig!', and 'If You Drink This Poison, Will You Just Die, Die, Die, Die, Die?' which I wrote during my fourth divorce. I've also written 344 volumes of poetry, some it published by actual book companies from here to Tau Ceti!"

"I-I'm sorry, Author, but I haven't really heard of them. I'm sure they're all quite good. I tend to read romance novels and the like. Sometimes a good mystery, but travelling with the Doctor or helping out back at UNIT takes up most of my free time. How long have you been here?"

"Thirty Vanarran years! And it even cost me two regenerations thanks to the stupid Angerons and a grasshopper! I was here just three weeks before a cross-eyed Angeron saw me steal his fish, charged me, and killed my Fifth Incarnation with a bite from his poisonous fangs! Luckily for me, he seemed to like the taste of fish more than my old Time Lord flavor!"

"What about the grasshopper? Was it's bite poisonous like the Angeron's?"

"Nah. It landed in my salad suddenly, it freaked me out, I jumped up and fell off a cliff!"

"Oh, my."

"The fall didn't kill me, but the sudden stop sure did! So...good-bye Sixth Incarnation of the Author! You know, back on Gallifrey I once regenerated simply by falling off a ladder whilst hanging my own portrait!"

"That's terrible!"

"I'll say! I had to pose for a whole new portrait all over again!"

The Author was seemingly less and less a threat as she spoke to him, and more of a luckless sad sack, which she hoped the Doctor would see fit to send home. He certainly was a change from the malevolence of the Master!

"What made you come here to Vanarra all those years ago? What was so special about this planet?" she asked, tasting the fruit and finding her mouth shrivelling up from the ultra-sourness of the juice inside it.

"Actually, I chose Vanarra simply at random, because I just wanted to have some peace and quiet to write my books, only to have my stupid TARDIS dematerialize and return to Gallifrey without me!"

"How did that happen?" Jo asked, wide-eyed.

"Well...uh...I left the key in the outside lock. The built-in security feature sends it back to home base- Gallifrey."

"We're they worried on Gallifrey when your TARDIS returned home without you inside it? Without any indication of what had happened to you?"

"Apparently not!" the Author frowned deeply, still stinging from the insult. "I told them where I was going! All those old fogey chowder-brains could have surely checked the Time Vortex for clues to my whereabouts, but did they? Nnnnooooo! Imagine that! The greatest Gallifreyan author in the long history of my planet and they couldn't be bothered to look for me!"

"Why didn't you seek help from the local colonists?"

The Author looked back at her like she'd uttered the dumbest possible suggestion. "Would you seek help from a pack of turtles if you were stuck here alone? Both races of colonists are inferior species compared to myself and my fellow Time Lords. Uh...no offense!"

"None taken!" Jo frowned, sarcastically.

"You're more like a horse."
"I beg your pardon?"

"J-just that, you know, horses are smarter than turtles! You know?"

Jo could only roll her eyes.

The Doctor headed back to the TARDIS to use its scanners to locate Jo, since every patrol came back empty-handed, without even finding so much as her footprints (and thankfully, no remains). Green suggested he try off towards the west, where colonial mappers had noted the existence of a series of caves. Unfortunately, after long hours of wandering about the forest at night, everyone was tired and didn't want to re-join him on his quest, so the Time Lord was forced to go about it alone.

Until he was a half mile out of the outer colony perimeter, where he was stopped by an armed Nurzava

She didn't mince words, getting right to the point. "I don't trust you. I know you know about the Sontaran sensor out there, and what its presence means."

"Are you helping the Sontarans?" he asked, point blank.

"Yes."

"Now listen to me, young lady-"

"No, you listen, Doctor. The fact is...the Sontaran armies are already here on Vanarra!"

Jo thought she was healthy enough to travel, until she tried to get to her feet. Wobbling like a drunk, Jo was caught in time by the Author as her legs fell out from beneath her, and he laid her back on his bamboo and straw bed.

"No, no, no, no, this'll never do!" the Author told her. "The toxin is still affecting your motor skills, but you're doing well otherwise. You won't make it a hundred yards from here. Well. Looks like I'm just going to have to swallow my pride and go and meet the turtles in the colony, so that I can bring the Doctor back to the cave. It'll give you a chance to read some of the stuff I've written while marooned on Vanarra! Here! Start with this book of poetry!" He lugged a 500-page volume from beneath a man-made coffee table and dumped it in her lap making her squeak from its weight. "It's one of my best! Volume 17! I really began to hit my stride with that one!"

"Uh, um, sorry, Author, but I think-ughh!" Jo said, sliding the heavy book off of her and onto the cave floor, "I might be better off getting some sleep to regain my strength."

He grudgingly accepted her excuse and left her in peace, entering a pack of bushes to avoid creating a trail that would lead directly to his cave, before he wound his way around the forest and onto a man-made trail created by the colonists. It was exciting to have a visitor for the first time in years, even if she was from a backwards planet like Earth that lacked a single good writer. And as with many creative people whose mind is always 'on', the Author stopped in the middle of the forest to write down some ideas for a new poem, only to have a weapon jabbed in his back.

"You will restrict your movements, human, or your brains will fertilize the grass on the ground," the growling voice told him.

"A simple, 'Freeze, suckah!' would have sufficed!" the Author said, shooting his hands up into the air in surrender. He slowly turned around to face the owner of the voice and gasped at the sight.

"You are my prisoner as of this moment! A single misstep and you will die! Is this understood?"

The Author nodded rapidly. Led away and forced to travel in a direction that wasn't quite towards the human/Draconian colony, he was surprised to be forced to walk towards a collection of tall dead trees, which shimmered and then disappeared as he travelled right through them! Shielded by a holographic projector, the Author found himself a prisoner within an alien camp that in reality was a clearing, hidden within a life-like holographic forest.

'They're Sontarans!' he thought to himself, recognizing them from files back on Gallifrey. 'Smellier than the data logs indicated, though!'

Nurzava revealed that most Draconians knew about the Sontarans already being on Vanarra, and for that they voted for the lesser of two evils. They simply hoped that they and their mortal enemies, the Rutans, destroyed one another, despite knowing less about the other creatures and their motives and capabilities.

"Tagareth vehemently opposes the Sontarans? Is that just an act or-?"

"His pain is very real, Doctor, and I wouldn't dare reveal the truth to him about my alliance with the Sontarans. He would rather die a thousand deaths than support them. On the other hand, I have the promise of Field Marshall Gredge that the colonists won't be harmed, since Vanarra isn't a vital base along this frontier. It's hardly on the direct route back to Ruta-One or Sontar."

"Every planet is a vital base for both sides in their war, madam," the Doctor chided. "You're old enough to remember the Draconian/Sontaran conflict from 12 years ago, in the Targeelian solar system?"

"Different people were in power back then with different motives, Doctor. Come. Continue in that direction."

"And what's in that direction?"

"Gredge and his base. You won't be harmed. Just held long enough to prevent you from complicating matters."

The Time Lord shook his head, and continued on into the forest, not thrilled to be forced to encounter some old enemies again. This would be his fourth encounter with them from his point of view, but the actions of his futures selves dealing with the Sontarans in the past might have proved so injurious to the Sontaran war effort that he might turn out to be a much bigger prize for the Sontarans than Nurzava could imagine.

Sounds from deeper inside the cave forced Jo out of her slumber, and wondering if she'd dreamt them. She paused to listen carefully in the bed, clutching the woolen blanket. The cave had a main entrance out to the forest, but there was also a much smaller interior cave that a person could enter if he or she walked down on all fours. Concerned that a smaller Angeron had found its way into the Author's home, Jo started and looked about in wide-eyed fear as the echoing growling got closer and seemed to be directed to her. Like a wild bobcat or tiger, the growling was most definitely hostile!

Toxins in her system or no, Jo, jumped out of bed, clutched the cave entrance and fought the effects of dizziness, as if her life depended on it- which seemed like the case here! She heard one more mr-wowr-ing-growl and shoved her weakened body out of the cave and into the sunlight of the day. There wasn't a trail to follow, and from her vantage point, the forest was thick with tall trees that blocked out a large portion of the sunlight, so there was little clue as to which way she should run in. She hadn't even been conscious when she was brought to the cave, let alone coherent when she staggered out of the colony, so she was completely clueless in which direction to run.

'Away from the tiger, I should think!' she told herself in a rising panic.

With images of another Angeron attack forcing her even further into the forest, had she remained long enough she would have witnessed the Author's ten-pound, irritable, possessive shaggy fat brown Vanarran cat exit his small cave and climb up onto his bed. The only damage the alien monster cat managed to inflict was making the bed creak when it rolled itself into a ball for its regular afternoon nap.

The Author wasn't crazy about the way he was violently shoved into a concrete cell, but he was thrilled to see the Doctor join him as he was brought into his prisoner cell. Unfortunately, the Doctor was more than a little annoyed.

"You? What in blazes are you doing here?" the Doctor asked, using the Gallifreyan talent of being able to recognize a fellow Time Lord, even after multiple regenerations.

"Well, it all started when I wanted to travel some place to write my next book-"

"You're still writing? I should think your previous twenty bad reviews would force you to reconsider your chosen profession?"

"Not in the least! It made me stronger and a better writer! And by the way, I took your lead and dispensed with my old name, with all those repetitive consonants and and pound-key symbols, and took a title, just like you! Now I roam the galaxy known as...The Author! Brilliant, no?"

"Judging by your past endeavors, it's a bit of a misnomer, I should think! 'Author' indeed!"

"Oh, and I suppose you could perform brain surgery blindfolded...'Doctor'?"

"I'm not that kind of Doctor!"

"Really? You used to tell everyone back home that you were a 'doctor of practically everything'!"

"I was and still am, sir! Moreso now that I've gotten out and actually seen and done something with our time travel abilities. I hope the Sontarans aren't in possession of your TARDIS?"

"Um. No. It's gone back home, unfortunately. Bit of a boo-boo on my part," the Author shrugged, embarrassed.

"I've always hated your pretentious drivel and I'm not surprised by your ineptness! You sent seven publishers into bankruptcy thanks to your horrible books."

"Uh-uh-uh! Two went into bankruptcy the normal way. The third...exploded. Bankruptcy followed the others from their own incompetency in the business world!"

"You're probably related to the Meddling Monk, for all your bumbling."

"The Meddling who?" asked the Author.

"It's not important. Getting out is! And finding my companion."

"Jo! Jo's in my cave! I rescued her!"

"You found her?" the Doctor asked, urgently.

"Certainly! She was wandering the forest from an Angeron bite that was still making her sleep walk and such. I left her in the cave to find you- I just didn't expect to be found by a big potato-head and dragged back here. But now that you're here, our effectiveness is now-"

"-don't you dare say 'doubled'! It's more like 'halved' if you ask me."

The Author frowned and crossed his arms, insulted. "Well! Jo appreciated my help!"

"And I'll appreciate it, too, if you can think of a way to get us out of here. Alive!"

"Of course I'll come up with an idea! Evil fears me, and falls down in defeat from the words I write! I...am...The Author!"

The Doctor slowly shook his head, covering his face with one hand.

Nurzava returned to the colony and when others noticed that she was alone, she was questioned by Adler and Tagareth as to the Doctor's whereabouts.

"I am unaware of his exact present coordinates," Nurzava replied, which was the honest truth. She knew he was in the Sontaran camp because she had taken him there- just not which particular building or room.

"You just left him out there?" Adler snapped, wiping his face in frustration. "He's already met up with one Angeron- if its mate catches its scent on him..."

"He insisted on continuing the search alone," she countered, disinterested.. "I wished to return to the colony. He has no authority over me."

"True enough, Nurzava," Tagareth frowned, regally. "But he is new here. He could find himself lost towards the valley, the caves, or worse."

"Again, it was his own choice. I told him the general direction to return to the colony. We are visible from the Western Mountains, after all. At the proper altitude."

"Brilliant! So your suggestion is for him to go in the completely opposite direction, and a thousand feet up a mountain to find us?" Adler sneered.

Nurzava scowled, and watched as Adler left. The angry glare shared between her and Tagareth was matched by the venomous tones they shared next. "You would allow that human to speak to me as such? To your own sworn mate? If I say that I don't know where the human is, is that not sufficient reason to uphold my statement when questioned?"

"Perhaps because my instinct tells me you know more."

"Insult! You insult my honor!" Nurzava spat, pounding his chest once with a medium-powered punch from her fist.

"Do I? It's not like you to shirk a duty. Even to a newcomer."

Tagareth stared at his mate, to watch if her lying eyes fell to the ground, but they did not. Usually one could discern a lie when the eyes failed to continue to be joined, but Nurzava kept her glare on him. Either she was telling the truth or a very good liar. It didn't smooth things over for their arranged marriage, or give him a clear idea of where his mate's loyalties lay. With his intense look digging at her conscious, she almost told him about her deal with the Sontarans, until he spoke again.

"These days are fraught with emotions that boil over. Perhaps your truth is swept aside by the fears of the approaching alien fleets. My mind is elsewhere, despite my efforts. The whereabouts of the newcomers is secondary to my wish for our safety and the lust for revenge for my dead family at the misshaped hands of the Sontarans." He grasped her hands gently and kissed them softly, giving her a smile, which only broke her heart because of her knowledge of what she'd done. "You are my wife and I will believe your words. I shall do all that I can to see that you will live to see future days, unlike my deceased parents."

Unfortunately, her tears of regret were mistaken by Tagareth as tears of pride in him.

Jo wandered through the forest on weak knees, requiring the support of friendly trees every hundred feet or so to prop her up. The growling and tiger-like feline mr-wow-ring had long since passed, but now panic was setting in as all she saw were trees and more trees, grass and alien plants. Perhaps it had been foolish of her to leave the cave, her only frame of reference, as she realized that not only did she not know the way to the colony, but she didn't know the way back to the TARDIS, since she'd been unconscious when the Doctor had brought her to the human/Draconian encampment.

Gasping for breath in her weakened condition as she began to feel light-headed (her illness or a high sea level elevation?), she saw sparkles before her eyes and forced herself to rest and not continue until she felt stronger. With her head bent down on top of her arms, and her knees pulled in tightly to fight a wave of nausea, Jo's mind went blank and she collapsed from exhaustion right there and then, unaware that the trees she sat down in front of were beside the TARDIS.

The Doctor and the Author were being questioned by Field Marshall Gredge, and as expected, it wasn't going very well.

"Have you read any of my books?" the Author wondered.

"Sontarans do not read books! Military statistics and computer analyses are fed directly into our brains upon conception. We only read tactical displays and battle communiques."

"Not even a little poetry between air raids?"

For that the Author got a back-handed slap in the face that made the Doctor wince.

"Ow-chee."

"I will repeat my question; what do the colonist know about this secret base?"

"They haven't-" began the Doctor but he was interrupted.

"I'll handle this. Ahem! Could you repeat the question?"

Gredge slapped him again.

"Oh, great! Now my filling is coming loose!" the Author complained, rolling his tongue around his mouth, tasting blood.

"Your head will come loose if you do not cooperate!" Gredge warned, raising his thick hand again.

"Look this is getting you nowhere!" the Doctor admonished his fellow Time Lord. "I must insist, sir, that you believe us when we tell you that the colony is completely unaware of your existence!"

"All of them?"

"All of them!" the Doctor insisted. He shrugged and softly added, "Beyond the treacherous Nurzava, the existence of you Sontarans on this planet remains unknown to the populace.".

"And they are not planning to attack us?"

"How can they attack us if none of them know you're out here?" the Doctor challenged.

"I couldn't even see your camp from my cave!" the Author admitted. It made the Doctor bow his head and close his eyes with a moan. "Oh. Forget the part about the cave."

"I will not! You are not a colonist?"

"I'm many things! Primarily an author of great stature, which is why I took the nom de plume, 'The Author', just like he has a title instead of a name."

"I haven't-!"

"Silence!" Gredge snapped. He paused and looked the Doctor over from head to toe and leaned in to ask malevolently, "Identity yourself."

"I'm just a traveler. A tourist."

"Your name. Your name which is actually a title."

"I really didn't mean that, it was more like a-" the Author began, as he back-pedalled from his mistake, only to receive a vicious smash across the temple resulting in the Author being knocked unconscious.

Field Marshall Gredge removed a jagged knife from a nearby table and placed it against the Author's throat, yanking his unconscious head upwards so that his throat was wide open.

"Your name."

Threatened with death, the Doctor couldn't let his compatriot die from his secret, so he revealed his true identity. Gredge let go of the Author's head, which fell to his chest. The Field Marshall stood up and took a couple steps back, examining the humanoid before him. "I have heard of you. You have caused numerous setbacks for the Sontaran war machine, if you are the Doctor. Guard, remain on duty here, while I contact Home Base. I'll return after I have received orders from the High Command, since the Doctor falls under the category of 'Prime Action'. The mass landing of Sontaran forces might be postponed simply to ensure of your extradition to Sontar!"

"I thought you were already based here?" the Doctor asked.

"We are. The battle-wings that will engage the Rutans will also reside here, establishing this planet as a major base of operations along this frontier. By this time tomorrow, Vanarra will solely be a Sontaran planet."

Dusk found Jo waking up with a stiff back, but just a few feet from the TARDIS. She pounded on it and tried the door, but couldn't gain access, which surely meant that the Doctor wasn't inside it. She stood up and felt more like her old self- good ol' 26th century medicine! Unfortunately she seemed to have remained in one place too long because at least one Angeron had sniffed her out and come by to investigate. Running through the forest to avoid the beast, she did her best to lose the animal, zig-zagging and making herself even more lost, if that was possible, until she felt a weird, momentary sensation, as if she'd passed through a silken spider web.

She thought her eyes were tricking her as she discovered that the view ahead of her was different from that which she'd seen as she approached it! It was almost as if she'd walked into a movie on a theater screen! With movement near the doorway of a small house-sized building, she ducked down just in time to avoid being spotted by an alien scouting party. They weren't human nor Draconian, while their huge heads and militaristic gait seemed to suggest that they were warrior people. A commotion from off to one side caught her attention, and she watched as a confused and angry Angeron passed through the same photographic shield she'd wandered through!.

The animal roared and growled, bearing frighteningly sharp teeth as it challenged the trio of big-headed warriors. It rose on its hind feet in a challenge, as its Earth bear cousin would, towering over the aliens. To their credit the Sontarans weren't impressed at all, and simply fired on it with their hand weapons, killing it instantly. The creature's carcass fell to the ground with a muffled thump, making Jo almost feel sorry for the animal. She found the big-headed aliens creepy-looking- nowhere near the dignified appearance of the Draconians, and wondered if the Doctor had ever encountered them before..

She wasn't sure what to do, whether to leave and try to find the colony or spy on these new aliens when in the dimming dusk light she was barely able to see a groggy Author shoved into the command post building within the Sontaran camp. Against an army she was useless, and the motives of the big heads seemed pretty clear now.

Reluctantly, Jo left in search of the colony to warn them of the alien invaders.

The Author was examined by a pair of Sontarans and numerous scanning devices, giving Gredge some valuable information.

One Sontaran scientist stepped forward and reported, "The alien is unarmed, sir, except for this one article found on his person."

"Hey! My favorite pen! Give it back!" the Author complained, reaching up to retrieve it, before having his hand slapped away.

The soldier continued, "But more importantly; he is a Time Lord, Field Marshall! His scans are found to be a near-identical physiological match for our records on the one called 'The Doctor'.

"That's because, you potato-head ninnies, I am the Doctor!" the Author proclaimed, jumping to his feet.With their attention locked on him, the Author went for a full bluff.

"I'm a future version of the other Doctor you have locked up here. He was me a long, long time ago. Years, decades, a million days ago, I was he, and he was me! All of this, all of this running about here on Vanarra is ancient history to me! I suggest you surrender right now, before I get really mad...and set up a time-loop on you!"

It was the first time the Author had believed he saw anything else in the eyes of a Sontaran other than contempt for every other life form, and he played on that to his advantage.

"Think of it, Field Marshal. An eternity living and re-living the exact same motions and orders, five minutes from victory and then...BOOOMMM!" he warned, throwing his arms around as he jumped up, his eyes wide and manic. "Time is re-set and you're forced to re-live the same excruciatingly frustrating movements and actions towards victory again and then...KA-BLOOOEEYY! Again forced back in time! Over and over and over and over, always five minutes from victory! Never succeeding! Always losing against your greatest enemy that even the will of Sontar is no match for- good old Time herself!"

Gredge was nearly convinced, but unsure. Legends of the Doctor's vengeance and ruthlessness towards not just the Sontarans but a whole host of his enemies was the stuff of fact and legend in the cosmos. Unfortunately, no word had arrived from the High Command yet, so he acted in the only way possible as Field Marshall.

He smacked his prisoner in the other temple and knocked out the Author once again just to be sure.

A Sontaran Lieutenant arrived on the scene to report that the 84th Combat Wing had engaged a Rutan battle fleet one point seven parsecs away, and was maneuvering the engagement towards this system.

"And directly into the ambush I have waiting for those misshapen blobs if hatred!" Gredge said, almost amused. "Lieutenant, I want you to personally see to prepping our own Combat Wings. If they think they can seek refuge here or open an escape route from the battle, then we'll ensure that the Rutans will be ambushed upon entry into this star system. See to it!"

"Sir!"

"You and you; remove this alien and return him to his cell. Then bring me the other alien here- the one who admitted first to being the Doctor."

The Doctor was brought outside and back into a different building, but this one was just a facade for an underground entrance into the series of underground tunnels for the actual Sontaran base. Told that he was being taken in for further questioning by Gredge, the two Sontarans got only part of the way when one guard was given new orders to help remove the carcass of a large dead animal topside. Left with one Sontaran, the soldier told the Doctor to keep moving, until he noticed something strange.

"What is that motion you are performing? Why does your jawbone move but without you uttering words?'

"What, this? It's called 'chewing'. Don't Sontarans chew?"

"What is...'chew-ing''?"

"It's what people do when they eat something. For nourishment."

"Nourishment! Bah!" the Sontaran sneered. "A primitive weakness of the lower level biological life forms that require food for sustenance! The Sontaran race overcame that pathetic weakness a hundred thousand years ago in favor of the intact of pure energy through our probic vent!" he replied, offering a thumb pointing behind his head on the metallic collar of his uniform. "A Sontaran can survive for a week without a recharging, while you and your animal-kind require food and water within days of your last consumption!"

"Yes, I know of it," the Doctor nodded, looked over the shoulder of the alien and stiffened in surprise taking a step back. "Field Marshall Gredge?" The Sontaran soldier spun on his heel ready to salute, only to see a mere supply assistant wander down an adjoining corridor, unaware that the Doctor swiftly removed what he was chewing and jammed it into the Sontaran guard's back pipe. He spun around and sneered at the Doctor's mistake. "That was not the Field Marshall! You will con...continue to-towards...!"

The Sontaran found breathing impossible and tried to claw at his probic vent but Sontaran arms couldn't bend that way. Plugged up, the alien gasped his last breath as he fell to his knees, and tried to claw at the Doctor's legs, but he quickly lost all energy.

"I also know that that's the first time Watermelon Bubble Gum ever killed a Sontaran! Lots of flavor and the biggest bubbles in the galaxy!"

Dragging the dead Sontaran into a supply room, the Doctor followed the tunnel, aware that it was leading him directly into the mountain. Cracking open several doors along the way to explore the alien base, he came upon a storage compartment of spare uniforms and helmets. Finding one that was large enough for him, he put it on, confident that the helmet would allow him to infiltrate the base freely.

He discovered that the base was frighteningly large, and wondered how it could exist so close to the colony or if it had been constructed here first and then the colony placed above ground. One more turn down an intriguing corridor where multiple voices were calling out instructions, some of them over loud P.A. speakers, and the Doctor came face to face with an enormous hangar bay, filled with over a hundred Sontaran batlecruiser spheres, and twice as many soldiers, technicians and pilots.

Jo arrived back at the colony and eventually found Othello Green, whom she told about the old man in the mountain. "And that's not all I saw in the forest!"

Jo actually allowed the colonial administrator to touch her forehead and explain, "I'm not doubting you completely, , but recovering from Angeron toxin can sometimes lead to...unusual visions."

"I'm telling you there is a man from another planet living up in the mountains calling himself 'The Author', and that there's a second alien race living nearby! Alien soldiers with weapons that can kill an Angeron on the spot!"

Green made a concerned face and removed his hand. "You're not overly warm, which would have indicated a toxin-induced fever. Tell you what; let's go over to the Med-Lab where Doctor Wildstar can give you a quick check-up. If she gives you a clean bill of health, we'll discuss these...sightings."

Jo had no choice but to agree, noting that the all-too-human trait of suspicion and scepticism was alive and well in the 26th century. So much for the Doctor's claim of how great this time period was! She'd already been here with the Doctor once, where she'd met the Draconians for the first time, only to have it lead to dangerous encounters with the Master and the Daleks and the Spiridons.

Arriving at the Med-Lab, Wildstar leaped from her desk ask she rushed over to Jo. "! Where have you been? You've had all of us quite worried, especially your friend, the Doctor! He's out there looking for you this minute! Now, I want you back in bed this instant, so-"

"Please! There's too much at stake for me to just lie in bed! I'm perfectly healthy, I tell you!"

"Let my medi-scanner be the judge of that!" Wildstar told her with a friendly smile, picking up and activating a small paperback book-sized scanning device with flashing lights and a bleeping sound that rose in tone as it performed a medical scan.

"She's been talking about a stranger in the mountains and some aliens in the forest," Othello explained, making Wildstar's left eyebrow twitch ever so slightly. "I thought it might be a bit of-"

"Angeronus Toxisus Fever, yes...she's got it," Wildstar frowned, shutting off her device.

"But I tell you I feel fine! I have had a fever before you know!"

"Mm. And one of the symptoms of an Angeron toxin fever is claiming you don't have one!" Wildstar smiled, condescendingly.

"What's that?" Jo squealed, a second before Wildstar jabbed her arm with a silver pen-like instrument.

"Tranquilizer. It'll help burn off that nasty fever."

"But, I don't have-ZZZZZZZZ!" Jo insisted, before instantly falling asleep with a sonorous snore.

Othello wondered why the Doctor was so intent on knocking out Jo Grant, but checked it off as an over-eager medical practice. He told her that he thought he'd hang around by Jo's bedside, having nothing better to do. Suspicious of Othello's motives, Wildstar allowed it and went back to her desk to work. However, within a minute, she had quietly opened a drawer and removed a second hypo. Holding it close to her chest, she casually looked over her shoulder and saw Othello reading a magazine on a viewscreen-pad, his back to her. Biting her lip in concern (since he was several inches and a couple dozen pounds bigger than her), she rose from her chair with the silence of a breeze, and took a few steps towards the unknowing colony administrator.

"Doctor Wildstar! Forgive the intrusion-" a voice proclaimed from another entrance, forcing Wildstar to pocket her hypo in her long white doctor's coat. She spun around and found the Draconian, Tagareth, appear before her, holding his left hand. "- but I possess a minor injury requiring immediate aid."

Othello Green was on his feet and by Tagareth's side to see what was wrong, while Wildstar scanned the cut. "How did it happen?"

"A careless cut of my dinner knife when I used the blunt edge to cut my noosh root."

"Not serious. But I'm sure it's painful."

"Yes, and I would prefer not to bleed upon your floor any longer than is necessary," he replied, curtly.

Drawn away from the unconscious Jo and the nosey Green, Wildstar got to work on her latest patient.

The Doctor, incognito within a smelly Sontaran uniform, examined the alien warships, and found that every one that he checked was powered-up, set on stand-by and ready for a fight. There were just too many of them to deal with on a one-to-one basis, and too many technicians about to commit enough acts of sabotage to disable the entire fleet without gaining their unwanted attention.

Suddenly a coarse blaring wheeze echoed off the cave walls and within his metallic Sontaran helmet, making him cringe from its abuse of his ears.

"Alert! Alert! Alert! An alien prisoner has escaped from the holding cells! He is considered dangerous and may be armed! The alien is the Time Lord known as 'the Doctor'! He must be captured alive! Repeat; captured alive! He is human in appearance with a mane of white fur on his head! Capture of the Doctor is imperative!"

'White fur indeed!' the Doctor scoffed.

"You! Come here!" an angry voice commanded him from off to one side. The Doctor complied and saluted to the helmet-less Sontaran who was accompanied by a trio of others. "This base will provide no escape for the Doctor, so long as I am a Quadrant Lieutenant! You will join this search party! Go!"

Led about by two soldiers and a Star Sergeant, the four-person search party rounded numerous spherical battlecruisers, a pair of equipment bunkers, and perhaps most importantly, a huge fuel bin storage area, which the Doctor took note of.

Wildstar excused herself to get some night air as Nurse Sutton arrived for her shift. Seeing that Jo Grant was still asleep, Othello told her that he was going home and would visit Jo in the morning. At first travelling through the southern living domes and nodding to her fellow colonists, Wildstar made it as far as the stream, under cover of the night and a lack of colony perimeter torches. With eyes that seemed to be attuned to the darkness like a cat's, she removed her boot heel, and turned it over to reveal an embedded small black disc. She tapped it once, then held it to her mouth as she whispered,

"This is Wildstar; beta-three-oh-six -neon-four. Status report; research is now completed, but untested. Request further instructions regarding the plan and colonist disposition. Awaiting reply..."

Nurse Sutton hovered over Jo as she awakened, and felt a wave of panic wash over her as she found herself strapped down in her bed.

"It's for your own good, miss," Sutton insured, plumping up her pillow. "According to Doctor Wildstar you still have trace elements of the Angeron toxin in your bloodstream. We've had cases that acted violently in the final hours before they've ridden out the fever."

"I must see the Doctor!"

"Doctor Wildstar is unavailable at this time. Sorry. Can I be of assistance?"

"Not that Doctor! My Doctor! The Doctor! I have to tell him about the Author and the Sontarans!

Sutton picked up the nearest hypo and nearly sedated her again, when Tagareth appeared from another ward and slapped away the hypo. Terrified that the alien had gone mad, Nurse Sutton ran from the Med-Lab in a panic. Tagareth looked down at the restrained Jo, and much to her chagrin he didn't immediately release her

"You claim another alien race is on this planet?"

"Yes! And I'm not imagining them! They have a hidden encampment nearby, and I know for a fact that they've captured the man that rescued me- a man calling himself 'the Author'! Please! With the Doctor missing I'm positive that he's found the aliens and for that he's probably in great danger! He has an uncanny knack for getting into the most terrible situations!"

Tagareth nodding, considering her words, until his eyes locked on hers and he asked in a low voice, "Describe these 'aliens'?"

"Well...stocky...in metallic, militaristic uniforms. Some wore huge helmets and others didn't."

"'Huge helmets'?" Tagareth hissed, instantly interested beyond belief, as he hovered over her, and trained his hard stare down into her features. "What of their faces? Tell me!"
"I will if you'd just calm down! They were just as large! Twice the size of yours and mine, with no neck to speak of."

Tagareth's hands moved in a blur as he deactivated the restraint mechanism, and nearly yanked Jo out of bed in one fluid motion. Convinced that his own suspicious regarding the Sontarans was confirmed, he told her that she must follow his orders if she wished to accompany him out of the colony, which Jo had no problem with.

"We will be a covert operation of two, then," Tagareth told her, plopping a meaty Draconian clawed hand on her small shoulder, making her wince slightly. "You will show me the way to their secret camp, once we're armed with some weapons."

Jo agreed, wishing that she could have gotten more numbers behind her, but if the other colonists were as sceptical about her claims as Doctor Wildstar was, then the Doctor would be in worse trouble than he probably already was!

The Doctor found the Sontaran uniform increasingly hot and awkward, but did his best to appear to be interested in the search. Perhaps Sontaran eyes were more adaptable to the crescent-shaped slits in the helmet, but his Time Lord eyes were restricted in their vision, to say nothing of his nose which required more than the small eye slits to breath air. He almost wished for the schnoz he'd worn in his Second Incarnation, which might have brushed against the cold steel of the Sontaran helmet a little less than his third nose!

The lighting in the underground base wasn't the greatest in several areas, either, so when he was instructed to ascend a gangway, he stumbled on the rickety stairs, and nearly fell backwards in the diluted light, except that his thick-gloved hands flew about found the hand railing in time, which drew the attention of his small group of searchers.

His helmet was not so lucky, unfortunately, as his awkward flailing caused it to fall off his smaller head, and crash with repeated metallic 'ping-pong-poong!' echoes, spinning around and around in smaller circles along its edge like a coin, until it came to a stop round side up, the eye slits staring back at his Sontaran search party.

"It's him! Shoot to detain!" the Star Sergeant commanded.

The Doctor hefted his weighed-down bulk up the gangway and across an iron bridge above the heads of confused and trigger-happy Sontarans below. Multiple hand weapons whirled and fired at his back and his boot tips, but none struck him, the metal railing creating an effective shield for him, although the flash of sparks and putrid smell of ozone was uncomfortably close. They gave chase. He found a useful distraction in a fuel bin, and tipped it over the railing, making the Sontarans separate as it crashed to the floor.

He tried to dash back the way he came, except that a pair of Sontarans had begun to ascend the gangway, their weapons trained on him. A second group on a gangway further from him had already made it up to the edge of the bridge he was on, blocking his exit route. The only way to go was to make like a monkey and climb overhead of everyone across a series of girders that acted like the backbone of the cave ceiling. He ditched the awkward three-fingered gloves and jumped off the bridge, grasping the rough metal bars almost a dozen feet from the bridge. All he had to do was climb upside down about fifty feet and try to gain access to a life support inspection tunnel on the other side of the fuel bin storehouse.

Unfortunately, several weapons discharges sparkled and shattered the metal and rock ceiling around him, halting his progress. Shouts below him and a full power blast up into the rocky ceiling by a Sontaran weapon told him that they were serious about getting him. The soldier that had fired full power at him was killed by the Star Sergeant, himself, seconds later!

"Fool! The Doctor is to be brought to Sontar alive to stand trial for his crimes against the Great Sontar!"

The chase continued with the Doctor almost making it all the way to other side of the hollowed-out facility, until he came within a few feet of a ladder which was melted by the Star Sergeant. The Doctor lost his footing and fell to the ground, out of sight.

"Oh, well," the Star Sergeant grunted with an innocent look at his Lieutenant. "I supposed 'bruised' and possessing a 'minor concussion' is still as satisfactory as 'alive'!"

His body wracked with pain, the Doctor crawled behind some fuel bins, as the Sergeant ordered some of his men to remove the intruder. A trio bounded forward, eager to accept the duty and potentially be rewarded for it, and expected to find a cowardly, wounded humanoid amongst the fuel bins. Instead a high-pitched device was located, which turned out to be...

"A time-delayed sonic grenade!" shouted the hapless soldier that found the bleeping, flashing device. Before he could disarm it, the weapon dis-armed him, as it blew up and took all of the fuel bins in the area with it. The grenade created a devastating chain reaction, taking out a large portion of the hangar, damaging and destroying dozens of Sontaran war craft, and killing any Sontarans that weren't fast enough in their chunky uniforms.

Tremors beneath their feet told Jo and Tagareth that the base was nearby and the Doctor was probably responsible for the rumbling.

"Let us hope he is still alive...and enough Sontarans are still alive so that I can be the reasons they breathe their last breaths!" Tagareth growled at her, leading the way.

Gredge had received his orders just prior to the tremors and damage to his base; he was to launch his fleet, but leave enough behind for a proper extradition escort squad to bring the Doctor back to stand trial on Sontar. It was unfortunate that the damage to some of his ships and personnel wouldn't ensure a full battle-wing at his disposal, but the Rutan ambush plan would go forward.

He told his Lieutenant, "Our orders must be put into motion no matter how many ships we have to offer. The wretched Rutan ships are now at the system boundary, some 900 million miles away and closing."

"A single Sontaran battlecruiser is superior to ten Rutan vessels!" the Lieutenant barked, standing at attention.

Gredge glared at his assistant. "I do not share your overactive imagination! And don't even think that mere compliments to the War Machine will garner a medal for you! I want immediate action, not empty words! Find the meddlesome Doctor before he causes any more serious damage! And get me an up-to-date status report regarding the number of ships we still have. The number of pilots we have are secondary in importance."

"Sir?" the Lieutenant question, curious. "If we have fewer pilots left than warships-?"

Gredge stepped forward and came within a few inches of the Lieutenant's flat nose. "Then new pilots will be assigned from the remaining personnel...Lieutenant!"

The soldier saluted and quickly left his superior officer, too fearful of the consequences of being forced to fly amongst the battles with less than two hours combat training programmed into his potato brain.

The Doctor discarded the cumbersome Sontaran uniform, which was useless to him if he couldn't cover his head with the matching helmet. Finding his way back to the holding cells, he found the Author in the same cell that they'd been interrogated inside. Using his sonic screwdriver, he unlocked the cell to find the old man alert and quite happy to see him.

"I must say that this adventure has given me dozens of new ideas for a whole series of novels! With a bit of creativity I might even insinuate myself as a major character!"

The Doctor groaned and quietly pleaded, "Please, don't! The universe is depressing enough as it is!"

The Author frowned. "Don't tell me you want to share co-authorship of one of my books?"

"I would prefer the list of ingredients on a can of soup than read one of your books...Author!"

His fellow Time Lord shrugged and clapped his hands together in expectation. "Well! No matter! More credit for me! All I really want to do is leave this cell, this base, and this whole crazy planet!"

But the Doctor had other plans. "The ambush must be stopped, Author! To say nothing about ensuring the safety of the innocent colonists trapped on this planet!

"It's not our war!" the Author complained. "I just want to go home!"

"I can't tell you how staid and boring Gallifrey is! It's why I left! Why on Earth would you ever want to return to that crotchety, old, antiquated dust ball?".

"Maybe you don't miss it, because you do this kind of fighting evil thing all the time, but I haven't had a decent shower in thirty years! Besides, upon my return I'll be even more popular than ever! Just imagine how my novels and poetry will liven up Gallifrey!"

"Mm. Yes. You're certain to turn our boring little planet into a galactic Mardi Gras!"

"Exactly! Uuh...what's a 'Mardi Gras'?"

"Oh, never mind! Listen to me; either you help me stop the Sontarans and the Rutans, or I'll leave you here on this planet, alone, and let even worse...I'll make sure you run out of paper! You'll never be able to write anything again!"

"Th-that's blackmail!"

"Yes. Yes, it."

"Is that part of 'Mardi Gras'?"

"Oh, no. That involves a delightful amount of music, food and people hurling plastic beads at one another!"

"Sounds better than the Panopticon back home. All right, all right...I'll do it."

"Good chap!"

"And maybe you can show me this 'Mardi Gras', so that I can use it as a setting for my next mystery novel!"

"Oh, just let's go!" the Doctor sighed, shoving the Author down the corridor.

Jo and Tagareth found themselves at the alien base boundary and passed through a holographic energy field of fake trees into a large clearing, and found cover behind some real bushes bearing unripe green fruit. Tagareth's hand twitched and his eyes squinted in utter hatred as he beheld a pair of Sontarans from their hidden vantage point. He looked like a man with an itchy trigger finger that wanted to shoot every Sontaran, but even he knew that that would be suicide, so he calmed himself with a few meditative breaths, much to Jo's relief.

"I don't even know who to trust back at our colony," he lamented softly. "What was I thinking, believing that you and I alone could wipe out these invaders? And the colony is just as pathetic! We're just a collection of scientists and farmers, not warriors! I possess the fury of revenge in my heart, but not the fortitude to carry out my own savage dreams. And what of the others? Would any of them be as willing as I to lay down my life to take on even one Sontaran?"

Jo thought about his words, and knew that he was her only hope of aiding the Doctor. She told him, "My people have been fighting wars since they were cave men, Tagareth. Sometimes, it seems like it's all the older generation on my planet is capable of, but beneath all that wanting to strike at enemies and kill them, some have strong beliefs that they're right to fight. Some things are worth fighting for, and it usually involves protecting your home and your people. Your wives and children, and the generations to come."

He looked her straight in the eye and offered, "You are very brave."

She shook her head nervously. "Oh, no. Not me. Just really determined. I'm actually scared out of my head. But nobody in our situation should be overly confident. That could get somebody killed as easily as cowardice. And frankly, I'd like to stop the Sontarans with a minimum of killing- it's what the Doctor would want."

They ducked behind their bush cover as they heard a series of high-pitched engine squeals overhead, then watched as the first wave of Sontaran cruisers rose from the mountain top nearby and streaked higher and higher into the dark blue sky, , heading for space.

"They're leaving!" Jo whispered excitedly.

The Draconian stared hard at her, and corrected, "They are attacking."

At gun point, Adler, Zavakar and three others were led to the outskirts of the colony and brought before a spaceship that decloaked before their eyes. Wildstar and Nurse Sutton had them covered with a pair of high-tech alien rifles that looked like they could blow up a starliner. The two medical practitioners barged into the main administration room and forced those present to obey their orders and exit the colony. When an alien vessel of unknown design and origin came into being before their eyes it only created more questions.

"Who are you really, Wildstar? A traitor to Earth? A Sontaran sympathizer? What?" Adler demanded, only to get a shove from Wildstar.

"How can you do this to your own people, Doctor?" Zavakar the Draconian demanded, receiving a shove as well.

No explanations were given, just monotone instructions to enter the ship, walk over there, and stand inside silver and glass vertical cocoons. With the helpless prisoners locked within cryogenic chambers, each was shocked to hear a voice on a communications panel report that the Doctor, Jo, and Tagareth were still missing.

As the freezing system was activated, the last words Adler, Zavakar and the others heard muffled through the cryogenic glass was Wildstar replying, "The plan will remain on schedule. Continue to search for them...time is...give me their...Wildstar..."

Grounding the fleet was the only choice as far as the Doctor was concerned, and it was only a stroke of luck thanks to the Author that they managed to locates a control room.

"I never knew you could read Sontaran code?" the Doctor marvelled, offering a morsel of respect for his fellow Time Lord.

The Author shrugged his thin shoulders and smiled, "Um. I can't. I just liked the way the metal letters were giving off a neat prismatic shine! If I look at them from here they look forest green, from over here a bright blue, and from over here-"

"Oh, never mind!"

"-fushcia."

"Let's just get inside!"

They found out a minute later that the equipment panels here were just what they were looking for, since they would allow them to lock the Sontarans cruisers within their mountain hangar bays. The flashing sections on the left side indicated a 'stand-by' mode, so shutting them off would effectively lock the ascension tubes and prevent warships from leaving.

The Author swallowed loudly. "Trapping us in here. With them."

The Doctor smiled mischievously, but his tone sounded deadly. "Correction- trapping them in here...with me!"

Gredge was as upset as his alien emotions could allow him to act. He commanded search teams to investigate and repair whatever was necessary to allow his warships to leave their hangar bays. As flashing lights and computer data displayed horrendously low numbers, he was frustrated beyond reason when he discovered only fifteen ships out of his 119 battlecruisers had been able to launch.

"Dozens have been damaged while others have had their exit points sealed shut by computer error!" his Lieutenant reported.

"The remainder of the fleet, excluding a ship for the Doctor on board and a single escort fighter, must be launched at all costs! It will be the only way for me to save face in this disaster! Blow out the sides of the mountain to create a launch tube if necessary, but I want my battle-wing sent out as requirrrred!"

"Understood!" his Lieutenant barked, saluting and leaving.

Monitor screens on the other side of where the Doctor was creating havoc, showed Jo and the Draconian, Tagareth outside, attempting their own secret attack, taking out one and then a second Sontaran with an energy weapon as they entered the underground alien base. Unfortunately, another viewscreen showed Sontaran guards approaching the invader's corridor. The Author's eyes bugged out in fear and wandered all over the control panel in an effort to help.

"Sliding doors...sliding doors...gas outlets...life support...where're the door controls?" he mumbled to himself in a panic.

Taking the microphone, the Author entered the same numerical digits into it that the Sontarans were marching down and spoke into the microphone, contacting the guards in Gredge's voice.

"Attention! You are ordered to head for the opposite side of the base, going back the way you came and stand by for further orders."

The Sontarans only paused momentarily, then spun on their heels and turned back, oblivious to the two intruders just a couple corridors away. The Doctor stared at him, incredulous at the perfect mimicry. making the Author shrug modestly. "I was the greatest ventriloquist on Gallifrey a couple regenerations ago! Nice to see I haven't lost it!"

Jo and Tagareth found the perfect location to create a diversion. By blowing up a munitions bunker, the Sontarans would be thrown into a panic and pulled away from launching their warships, or so it was hoped. Neither was a munitions expert, and could only guess to the usefulness of equipment that may or may not be a detonator and a timer. The plan may have worked had they not left the supply section door open for anyone to look inside.

They were instantly manhandled and thrown to the cold floor to be disarmed by four Sontarans soldiers. The leader of the small war party gloated, "Success! Your efforts to undermine the Great Sontaran War Machine have been in vain and you will pay with your lives! And we will all be greatly rewarded! Take them to Field Marshall Gredge"

Fortunately, the Doctor and the Author saw this happen on a monitor screen, but they couldn't contact the warriors to stop them, as the Time Lord duo quickly lost their visual feed, and as such, the Author's ability to trick these other Sontarans with Gredge's voice.

"Mm. Pity. Now what do we do? Back to Gallifrey?" the Author suggested innocently, and then withered under the Doctor's harsh glare.

The Doctor arrived under guard at Gredge's office to surrender himself in the hope that Jo and Tagareth might have been able to escape their guards, or intercept them and turn the tables on the Sontarans, but this was not to be. He was brought to Gredge's office a minute after his companion and the Draconian had been brought before the base commander.

"All right. You have me. I'm the only real prisoner of substance here, so why not let these two go? They can't harm you now."

"Oh, really?" Gredge challenged, walking up to the Doctor and glaring up at him. "The two of them caused severe damage to a section of my base, a crime punishable by death. You are obtuse beyond belief if you believe I would allow either of them to be spared."

"A wise decision, Grand Marshall," a voice said from the entrance. All eyes followed the voice, which led to a great deal of surprise from every non-Sontaran in the room. "It's true. I've had a secret alliance with the Sontarans all along, and will be instrumental in their war against the Rutan monsters."

"Doctor Wildstar?" Jo gasped before anyone else could identify the traitor.

"You would ally yourself with these soulless monsters?" Tagareth growled, struggling against a pair of soldiers that held him back, then kicked his feet out from under him to force him to his knees.

"Watch your Draconian tongue, Tagareth," Gredge warned, grabbing Tagareth's prominent chin in one pudgy hand and yanking it upwards to stare down at him. "What you say will dictate the level of pain and duration of your death!"

"Leave him alone!" the Doctor demanded, almost sounding like he was in command. Surprisingly, Gredge complied, and released the alien. The Doctor levelled Wildstar with a frown and asked simply, "Why?"

She shrugged with her own frown. "Why not? The Sontarans are the superior race in this quadrant and I want to live. In payment for my continued existence, I've formulated a new enzyme that'll allow Sontarans longer periods between regenerations, resulting in a new Sontaran race that never tires in the battlefield or in space. They are already the ultimate, the apex of the warrior species, refusing to die or be stopped, but imagine one that truly doesn't tire! The Rutans will be outmatched and never know what hit them."

"Your parents must be very proud of you, young lady," the Doctor scornfully suggested.

"Of course, they are. They were xeno-biologists themselves."

The Doctor allowed a momentary rise of his eyebrow at that bit of data.

Using Gredge's voice again, the Author got the status of the battle in space from a command center communications operative. Still locked away in the deserted control room where the Doctor left him, the Author was told that Sontaran ships were being destroyed one by one, but they were still forcing the Rutans in for an ambush near Vanarra. If the ambush was to be successful, then battlecruisers would need to be launched immediately to make it an actual ambush.

"Attention fleet; perform standard attack procedures until you reach Sector 5, then break into two groups. One will perform General Order Number...Six, and the other will initiate General Order Four...teen. That's Number fourteen! Compliance to these directives is imperative for success! Confirm!".

The Sontarans on the other end of the line sounded confused, but agreed to carry out the orders.

The Author nodded to himself, and continued to access the monitor cameras throughout the base and was satisfied to see that the base was in disarray, what with fires raging and damaged areas, and finally came upon the room that the real Gredge was holding the Doctor and the others hostage.

He bit his lower lip, unsure what to do next.

Gredge had three of his soldiers come forth to accept the enzyme as test subjects. Injected with a hypo each from Wildstar, it took nearly a minute before it seemed to work. They both reported feeling immensely powerful, as if they'd been given a double energy dose in their probic vent.

"This is magnificent, Field Marshall!" one Sontaran claimed, his eyes bulging, his voice deep and full of power.

"I feel like I could smash a mountain with my own fists!" the second one proclaimed., flexing and unflexing his fists, his shoulders hunched like mounds of muscle were developing beneath his uniform.

"I can actually feel my energy within my body! Coursing! Racing! Travelling throughaaaahhhh!" the third Sontaran reported until he doubled over.

His fellow test subjects also began to show signs of distress and lack of coordination, as their eyes began to glow bright red, and white foam erupted from their mouths. Gagging and screaming from internal pain, the trio of Sontarans actually began to glow from the inside out as if a furnace of power was ignited within them. Gredge and the Doctor each leaped forward and instinctively shoved the subjects out of the office where seconds later they exploded in the corridor! Everyone was thrown to the floor, shocked, and began coughing from the noxious fumes that floated back into Gredge's office, allowing the Doctor, Jo, and Tagareth to escape.

The fumes felled Gredge, who lost his balance and clung to his desk, firing off a couple off-target shots at his escaping prisoners. He staggered forward to follow them out into the corridor to chase them, but the noxious fumes from the decomposing test Sontarans coated his own skin with the enzymes, which began the gruesome task of melting the Grand Marshall then and there, his arms and legs and falling apart within his uniform..

The Author had the Sontaran fleet in disarray, ordering the remaining ships on a direct heading towards a distant system moon and then back towards Vanarra, which gave the Rutans enough time to come around the other side of the lunar surface and destroy the Sontaran battlecruisers. Sensors showed that there were perhaps five or six confused Sontaran ships left when the door to the control room was blasted open by an energy weapon, startling the old Time Lord away from the control panel.

His hands shot up in a sign of surrender and he clenched his eyes tightly as he mumbled to himself, "Well...here it is...my epilogue."

"Who're you? What're you doing here?" a female voice demanded of him.

He opened one eye slightly and then both as he beheld the unexpected form of Doctor Wildstar. It was a surprise, but it also meant a complication in his plans, since she had him covered with a laser gun, and had a distinct hatred towards locked doors by the looks of things!

"Um...not much. Catching up on sensor scans and what not. I guess I'll be going and let you take over!"

The Author took a few steps forward to walk around her, but she lunged forward and pushed him back against the control panel. "Not so fast! Tell me what you've been doing here!"

"Well...besides pretending I was the character of Yakolar Fligg from a action/adventure book series I once wrote decades ago, I was just...you know...helping the...Doctor and stuff...Transmitting mixed up orders to the Sontaran ships..."

Wildstar kept him covered and looked at the sensor readings, arriving at an obvious outcome. "The Rutan ships vastly outnumber the Sontaran ones. You're...you're helping the Rutans!"

"Doing my little part. Been kinda fun, actually. Guess I'm to be put to death for it?"

Wildstar shook her head, nearly smiling, and holstered her weapon. Locating a life support junction in the wall, she removed an enzyme canister from her connected it.

The Doctor, Jo, and Tagareth found her and the Author moments later, forcing her to point her weapon at them and warn them away. "The chemical is lethal to Sontarans, but as you can see, it can be harmful to you, as well. Don't even think of stopping me."

"I wouldn't dream of it, young lady. That is, if you're even of the female sex," the Doctor said, seemingly knowing more than he let on.

"Obviously, I never supported the Sontarans, and used their gullibility and hunger for new weapons to get close enough to them to strike. I even protected the colonists by having them brought aboard my ship and put in stasis, so the Sontarans couldn't find them and use them as bait or bargaining chips."

"Lies! Lies to save her skin!" Tagareth snorted. "You find yourself outnumbered and switch sides to be allowed to live!"

"I can't believe I trusted you!" Jo complained. "She's just a spy, Doctor, working for any side as long as she gets to live, just as Tagareth said!"

"No, I don't believe so, Jo."

"The proof is before your eyes, Doctor!" Tagareth argued.

"Is it, my friend?" The Doctor smiled as he beheld Wildstar and calmly stated, "I know for a fact that you can't possibly be here.."

"What are you talking about, Doctor?" the Draconian asked.

"Because, my good man, this is the year 2551. When I questioned her about her parents, my memory of her name returned to me. You remember, Jo? I said her name sounded familiar to me. That's because Athena Marie Wildstar was a brilliant doctor and xeno-biologist...in her time. Unfortunately, she was a victim of a Draconian attack against the Earth Outpost 2540. As of now, Doctor Wildstar has been dead for the past 11 years! The alternative is that we're in the presence of a ghost."

Wildstar began to glow and in seconds had morphed onto a glowing ball with slithering tentacles, surprising everyone but the Doctor as she transformed into a Rutan!

"As I said, your colonists are safe, and in suspended animation aboard my ship at the colony perimeter," the Rutan's gurgling voice told them, even though a mouth couldn't be seen on the creature. "I rather like you humans. And I bear no ill will against Draconian life. Perhaps my years in human form have thrown my judgement off-kilter, but...I only wished to protect my fellow colonists."

A stumbling, Sontaran, melting and falling apart from the airborne poison appeared from the doorway and fired blindly into the room, destroying the control panel in a chain reaction explosion, making the Doctor's party scatter from the energy discharges, and blasting the Rutan that had posed as Wildstar. The creature screamed as its atoms were shattered, even as the Sontaran collapsed from the enzyme poison, dying seconds later.

The Doctor, Jo, and Tagareth waited until the coast was clear from the suicide attack before they looked up from their cover, and found three bodies on the floor- the Sontaran, the Rutan...and the Author. Tagareth recovered the Author from the control room floor, not bothering to check to see if he was alive or dead, as the Doctor led the way out of the base and up to the surface. Sontarans were dying all around them, thanks to 'Wildstar' connecting the deadly chemical into the life support system. With no guards or security features to stop them, they made it all the way outside, just short of the holographic field, where Tagareth gently lowered the limp form of the Author onto the grass.

"He...saved my life," a teary-eyed Jo whispered, looking down at the still man.

"He saved all of us. The whole world," the Doctor admitted softly.

The cheerful chirping of birds was a stark contrast to the lone figure that had fallen in battle, until his eyes twitched and his mouth frowned as he gradually realized what was happening...

...and what had happened while he'd been unconsciousness.

The Author looked up at the Doctor, and softly murmured, "So weak...but it was worth it. How...how do I look?"

The Doctor looked down at the Author, his eyes running up and down his dirty, dishevelled clothing and replied gently, "Well enough. You'll be ship-shape in no time. Still old and crinkly, I'm afraid."

"'Old'? Old? Oooold? I've regenerated into an old man?"

The Doctor's thin mouthed curled into a smirk. "My dear chap, you haven't so much as regenerated a new pair of ears! You've survived this little adventure completely unblemished! Which is more than can be said about your weather-beaten clothes!"

"After allll thaaat? I'm still in this dumb, old body? Oooh, flibble-stinkers!"

"Watch your mouth, sir! There's a lady present!" the Doctor admonished.

"Oh. Sorry."

The Author led them back to the colony, even though the Doctor was sure it was in a different direction. They found the colonists safe and unharmed in the Rutan ship, just as 'Wildstar' had said. Once informed of the existence of a former Sontaran base a few miles from their location, and the Rutan defeat of the Sontaran ships, the vote on who to support was pretty well moot. Long range scanners showed every spacecraft in their solar system was leaving, apparently rendering Vanarra unimportant.

And with the divisive argument irrelevant, the colony could get back to normal functions, serving as an example of humans and Draconians living in peace together.

Within an hour the colony was slowly getting back to normal and populated again with everyone that had been in suspended animation. All that is, with the exception of Wildstar.

"I just can't believe she was an alien! And how I was unable to see through her disguise," Adler said, shaking his head. His face turned white as a memory hit him. "Good gosh! I nearly asked her to marry me!"

The Doctor switched conversations and suggested, "You'll need to allow the Sontaran enzyme to burn itself off inside the mountain. I've sealed the access points, but it'll be best if all of your people avoid it for the next couple of years. Otherwise, you should all be happy and healthy in this colony that you've put together. You should also recall your friends and family that left before the crisis forced them off world."

"I look forward to bringing my family back here," Tagareth told Adler, who patted him on the back. "Back home," he clarified.

"And speaking of home..." the Author said, looking at the Doctor, "I still want to go home!"

Othello Green reported, "You shouldn't have any trouble leaving in your ship. The sensors show that the status of the battle in space is winding down with fewer and fewer ships registering. Fortunately, the action, of what's left of it, is moving away from Vanarra, but it looks confusing and without any form of precision. Almost as if...there are two strategies at work."

"I'll take credit for that!" the Author beamed. "I fed the Sontarans conflicting instructions. I have no idea what I told them to do, and left them completely clueless!"

"Mm-hm," a bemused Doctor said, nodding. "Much like anyone who's ever read one of your books!"

"Heyyy!"

"Be nice, Doctor! After all, he did save all of us and the whole planet."

"He saved-? Jo, I did have a little something to do with it!"

The trio bid their good-byes to the colonists and returned to the forest, where the TARDIS was waiting for them. However, the Author wanted to return to his cave and retrieve all of the novels and poetry he'd written while marooned on Vanarra, but the Doctor would have nothing of it.

"The galaxy is in disarray enough as it is without you adding to it! You're coming along now or we'll leave you behind. Simple as that!"

Not even Jo could change his mind. "Oh, really, Doctor, can't you give him a break? he saved us all! He saved you!"

"And for that I'm very grateful. But the universe will have my head if I willingly allow him to publish his books again! So, what about it, Author? It's now or never."

"Oh, well. No problem, Jo. I don't need to get the hard copies- they're all in my head, anyway! I might be old, but I have every single word I've ever written memorized! I'll be publishing my latest novels by the end of the week!"

The Doctor sighed, defeated, and asked, "Hasn't the universe suffered enough?"

They entered the TARDIS, which dematerialized moments later.

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