Chapter 2

The Doctor and a group of others were watching quite a spectacular film on a console near the Tardis of the power station Zeebra exploding. The station collapsed in a ball of flame, smoke and falling debris with considerable destruction. Especially for one bomb. Although looking at it, the Doctor thought that there was something odd happening but couldn't quite place what it was. Martha did, 'You know what it looks like to me. It looks like the building is starting to shake before the explosion takes place. Something wrong with the camera?' asked Martha.

'No, you are right.' The Doctor froze the camera and zoomed in on some details and moved on frame, by frame closely. 'Yes, those pipes are moving before the explosion. That explains some of the damage.' Especially the fusion rupture. Well, that was caused by the pressure of the building collapsing which was caused by itself as much as the bomb. Someone was controlling the structure with devastating effect!'

'How? The Autons?' asked the Castallin. The Castallin and the Doctor had met before. On the Doctor's first visit to Gallifrey after a long exile in the Doctor's 4th incarnation. The Castallin had regenerated as well, but only the one time.

'The Autons definitely. And how, by controlling the plastic in the building. You have plenty in there. The place didn't stand a chance. Plastic, plastic, plastic. Remember that the Nestenes control anything plastic. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if they have a in place there. That's another common tactic of theirs. Coffee, thanks, Dan,' said the Doctor as one of his companions, a young man called Dan, handed him a mug. The last of the Earth stuff as it happened from a tin in the Tardis. 'In fact, I think we need to take a little trip to that power station. I would like to see things for myself.'

'That's good. I'd like to see more of this home planet of yours,' said Dan cheerfully.

'Ah, not in your case, I'm afraid,' replied the Doctor. 'I have a little job for you. But the type of thing that you enjoy. Here,' The Doctor handed Dan a datadisk. 'In here there is information on a lot of my old adventures. Most of which I have forgotten. They were in past incarnations a long time ago. But at the time I did make notes on them. Or other people did at least. I was going to categorize them, but sadly I forgot to do that as well. But I am sure I encountered them before. I want you to see if you can find any references and if they have any weaknesses we can exploit. Feel free to drink tea if you want to!'

'Tea, I think I might have a glass of beer, but not too many,' said Dan with a cheeky wave and with his dark, wavy hair and jeans and shirt, slipped inside the Doctor's Tardis.

Then the Doctor sat back with a sigh, 'That should keep him busy! I will be as well soon, but still... it is nice to be back home for a while. The red, red, grass of Gallifrey!' Gallifrey was famed for having fields and fields of tall, bright, red grass. It also had lush, dark purple trees. And peculiar purple sheep which climbed and lived in their branches. 'I didn't think I would be back for a while. Not after that incident upon Sirius. Very nasty. And more than a bit embarrassing. But it seems a common enemy has thrown us together,'

'It's a strange thing,' said Martha, 'But I could swear you said you home planet had been destroyed!

The Castallin laughed, 'Not much chance of that,'

'Don't be too sure on this occasion,' said the Doctor looking at him with a glare. 'But no, I think you must have heard me say that relations between myself and Gallifrey were destroyed. Irreparably, I thought. But if they need me, they need me. I wouldn't say that I was a patriot but it's nice to be needed. And now... I think it's time to take a trip to that power station. Shouldn't take too long, less than a few hours. Let's go,' The Doctor sat up and marched off, followed by Martha, the Castallin and Susan.

The power station, Zeebra was out of action when the Doctor came to it. It was also a bit of a mess, to say bomb site would be about accurate. There was debris throughout, a big hole in its walls and much of the windows had been smashed in the explosion. Smoke still rose out of some of the fallen and twisted metal that was strewn across the ground. Many experts were working on the site. The Doctor had a chat with the chief of security that was present. He was given useful information, then he moved to the site itself, seeing were the explosion had taken place, looking at things closely, analysing what he saw with his sonic screwdriver. He frowned at the results of this information.

'That looks like a useful device, were on Gallifrey did you make it?' asked Susan of his sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor sighed. He did find the Gallifreyean assumption that anything of technological worth had to be made by Timelords to be rather an irritating trait of them. 'This was not made on Gallifrey sweetheart. All right, maybe the basic design was, but I have made rather a few modifications myself. You wouldn't find something like this on this world.' The Doctor took a look at the device. 'And now it is telling me information. I can see the subtle residue signature. Quite a lot, this stuff will be good to trace to other signs of Autons. Plus I can see that there has been deliberate sabotage. Strange that no-one noticed this happening. Unless...

The Doctor turned and asked the Castallin, 'You said that there was something odd about the head of this station?'

'Yes, odd behaviour. We are actually holding him. He has a rather unbelievable story. Also, he was seen near the Neutron pipes. Just before they exploded. Some assume he was checking them, yet it apparently is not his normal area of expertise. And he was supposed to be in a meeting at the time. But he claims to be elsewhere, well, its all rather strange,' said the Castallin, looking at some data about the events at the power station after the explosion.

'All the more reason to see him!'

Stevens was a rather fussy, little, bald and unimaginative manager of the station. But the Doctor was glad he had interviewed the manager. Stevens needed his job and even liked it at times and had no reason to sabotage the plant. And he certainly wasn't the type to resort to such matters anyway, the Doctor thought. And he had a strange tale to tell. 'I was just on my way home, across the bank of the Lake here, When I was hailed by someone. No-one I recognized, but he pointed a light at me. I don't know what happened, but I seemed to hear a voice in my head ordering me to move. Normally, I would tell such a command where to go, but this time, I just couldn't fight it. I felt a searing pain in my chest and I lost conscience.'

'Then when I woke up I was in a strange place indeed. Full of plastic, people, but all silent. They made Fred, my security guard well known as the strong and silent type appear chatty. But I was kept in tight bounds and unable to escape. I didn't know at the time for sure, but I felt I was underground, it was hot with little light. Something kept pricking into me, it felt a little like been in hospital. I was unaware of time but I was more scared than hungry. I think I must have been tube feed with something.'

'As I say, how long I was there for I don't know. But one time I woke up and my bounds were free. Why, I don't know, but also I was alone. I wriggled out of my bounds and saw an exit and made for it. Just as I escaped, I heard a blast from a ray-gun from way behind me. It was night when I left, but I thought I just recognized were I was. I ran, in my condition, from there all the way to my home and contacted security. Only to find that I had apparently been here anyway and my power station had been blown up in my absence. Strangely, no one will believe my story. What do you think, am I going mad?'

The Doctor patted Stevens shoulder. 'Not at all. In fact your tale makes sense to me. Once I get some information I will explain things to you, it will only be fair.' The Doctor strongly suspected that the Autons had made a facemile of poor Dr Stevens which explained the confusion. To do this, the Autons often kept the original alive so that further copies could be made if necessary. Stevens had been lucky to get out, however.

Martha rushed into the office. 'Doctor, there's a Dr Stevens on the base's perimeter. He says he's looking for you, oh, that was quick,' said she seeing Dr Stevens.

'A bit too quick,' smiled the Doctor. 'One minute,' he walked outside, making sure that his sonic screwdriver was safely in his pocket. Walking across the planks and mud of the grounds, The Doctor met with Dr Stevens, or at least someone that looked just like him. The Doctor walked towards this Dr Stevens and raised his hand. 'Ah, Dr Stevens,' coughed he for want of a name. But his conversation this time was quite different. 'I wonder if we could have a chat. You have caused quite a stir here. But I wonder if you are aware of whom you are dealing with. This is Gallifrey. The Timelords are the most advanced technological race in the Galaxy. They have more than you might know. Why don't you negotiate? Say what you want, in peace and we will sort out something.'

Brave words. Unfortunately the creature, or its Nestenes master with whom the Doctor was trying to negotiate with wasn't impressed. It stared at the Doctor for a while with unblinking eyes. Stevens raised one of his hands. Hands which had no fingernails or lines! It fell away to reveal a squat, plastic cylinder. Out of it he fired a blast of deadly heat at the Doctor. It nearly hit. The Doctor realized his peril at he last moment and sprang away, behind a plank of fallen wood.

The Doctor then held up his sonic screwdriver and fired it at Stevens. Dr Stevens, or rather the Nestene facsimile of him, crumpled to the floor, lifeless, though it was never really alive. The real Dr Stevens felt a twitch at the end of his facsimile back at the shed, but that was it. The Doctor looked at the device, thinking hard upon his next move. 'Doctor, are you all right, I heard shots,' said Martha, rushing up to him.

'Yes, I am fine now,' the Doctor replied. 'But I need to make a move. Thanks to Dr Stevens, not this one, the real one, I have some information on the whereabouts of the Nestene. I need to do a little work to find out the exact location. I need to go to the Eversham lake to see. Fancy accompanying me?' Martha was happy to agree. 'Oh, and I'd better tell Stevens about his doppelgänger. And there are bound to have been others,' The Doctor and Martha stepped into a motor vehicle that was parked nearby.

Before he left, he was approached by the Castallin. 'There you are, neat work on that Auton,'

'Thank you, I try my best. I did try talking to them, but I don't think they are in much of a mood to negotiate.'

'No matter, if we see them, we will blast them,' said a Major of the guard.

The Doctor sighed. It was strange, he thought that were ever he went in the Universe, even back home, the basic attitude of the military mind was much the same. 'Find your target, then. And then, if you hit it with anything less than a full blown Nuclear device it will have defenses. And it is carefully hidden amongst some tunnels underground if the information I have is right. They aren't stupid you know. But I have an idea of were to find them, what in space is that thing?'

The Castallin handed the Doctor a small, plastic, device. A Gallifreyean mobile connection device. A bit like a mobile phone but rather more sophisticated. It was also rather outlandish , brightly coloured with wires hanging out from it. 'That must be one of the ugliest things I have ever seen in my life! That is not part of a major line, surely!' The Doctor himself had little use for such things, but he had found that his companions often did as a way of keeping in touch with home.

'Well, no these are not for sale, it's fairly new for the security services. It has some special features, hence the signaling system,' the Castallin explained. The Doctor looked at it, shook his head and threw it into the vehicle. With a farewell wave, he and Martha set of on the short journey to the caves were Stevens had said the Nestene was near.

The Doctor drove for around 5 hours. He parked the vehicle near the shores of a lake with green water and he and Martha alighted. The Doctor put up his sonic screwdriver and listened for a signal, 'Ok, I have a signal that matches the Nestene base around this area ahead of us to the left. But I need a more precise definition. Some kind of relay. That mountain should do it, aaaa,' The Doctor waved his screwdriver around a bit. 'Can I borrow your phone for a minute, Martha I need to do a little calculation, thank you, now lets see the descent was this, the distance is thus, the angle so much,' the Doctor waved his screwdriver a bit more, 'There we are, I reckon in some caves around a mile or so distance, come on!'

The Doctor and Martha walked on until they came to a group of caves. The sonic screwdriver was beeping like a mobile phone on an automatic PPI call system. On one of the caves were a couple of people on guard duty. Not speaking and with very rough features, Martha thought. The Doctor again looked at his screwdriver, 'Autons,' he whispered at her. They avoided those two but the relief didn't last long. Just after they stepped into the dark, rocky caves - grey rock as it happened - one other Auton stepped out and raised a gun at them. The Doctor deactivated it with the screwdriver. Martha had been given a Timeblaster as she did have a good aim.

Other Autons were avoided as they crept in quietly. Martha had a sense of going upwards in the tunnels. They then came to a cavern. In it was a strange, but dangerous creature. The Nestene itself. It looked, Martha thought, rather like a Martian from one of the old fifties Sci-fi films. The size of a bear, green and orange, with octopus like tentacles pointing high. It was not very mobile but it did have control of the Autons by the power of its mind. The Doctor sighed, he came into sight, deactivating on Auton guard and spoke to the creature.

'Hello,' he said for want of a better word. 'I will try again. This is Galllifrey, one of the major worlds in the Galaxy. You are on you're own. I don't know what your plan is, but such aggressive actions as you have taken will only backfire upon you. Or at the very least taking on such a powerful world is a very risky venture for anyone. Why don't you take the sensible option and negotiate? Call off your Autons, retreat and try saying what you want.' The Doctor looked. He felt that he had a reply from it.

The reply was...'NOOOOO,' responded by a blast of light energy from the Nestene. The Doctor shrugged. Slowly, and reluctantly he pulled out his sonic screwdriver, in an instant got a good aim and fired at the thing.

And... Nothing happened. Nothing at all. The Nestene was surrounded by some kind of electric force-field and even the Doctor's sonic screwdriver couldn't get through it. the Nestene fired again at the Doctor's hand causing his sonic screwdriver to fly out behind him. The Doctor looked curiously at it. 'Well, I suppose that's evolution,' he commented as last time he had tried that, the screwdriver had caused a Nestene to explode. He looked around, some Autons were now walking slowly towards him to defend their host.

As did Martha, given him back his screwdriver. 'Here,'

'Thanks, Martha, but I'm afraid that thing is invincible to this,' said the Doctor indicating the Nestene.

The Autons marched slowly in, too many for the Doctor and Martha to take out, though they seemed reluctant to fire near their host But they were strong enough to rip the Doctor and Martha apart. They backed away. Martha said, a note of panic in her voice, 'So, I take it we are surrounded by one of the most dangerous alien creatures in the Galaxy and to top it your normal get out of jail free card,' commenting upon the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and his frequent use of it, 'Doesn't work'

'A rather accurate summing up of our situation,' said the Doctor.

'So, what do we do?' asked Martha as the Autons now moved them away and were aiming to fire the last blast...