"It is a great honor for me to stand before all of you," said the Brigadier standing at the podium before the crowd of UNIT officials, past and present. "Really, I am rather humbled to see so many faces, stirring memories from bygone days. And to know that my actions have been remembered with appreciation... well, it does make a man feel good about himself. Thank you all."

There was a round of applause as the Brigadier regained his seat at the table next to his wife Doris. Former colleagues came up to him, shaking his hand and giving him congratulations.

"Brigadier?" said a woman, approaching shyly. She had short blond hair and large, bright eyes.

"Miss Grant?" said the Brigadier. "Is that you? I mean, Mrs. Jones."

"Oh, Brigadier!" she smiled, leaning in to give him a hug. "How are you? Cliff is sorry he couldn't come, but sends his best."

"Tell him thank you for me," he said. "And I'm just fine. Doris here is always keeping her eye on me."

"I need to," said Doris. "Or else who knows where you'll run off. Once you can manage to defeat the bad guys without being late for supper, then we can talk."

"The little woman stopping you from fighting the alien menace, Brig?" said a familiar voice.

"Lieutenant Benton," said the Brigadier. "It's been a long time."

"I didn't know you were promoted?" said Jo.

Benton turned to her and his eyes opened wide. "Jo! Is that you?"

"I know it's hard to tell under all the wrinkles."

"No," he said. "You look prettier than ever."

She smiled and gave him a big hug. "Well," said Jo. "This really is a reunion."

"Yeah," said Benton. "Too bad the Doctor isn't here."

"With all the commotion he'd bring right along with him?" said the Brigadier. "It's probably better that he didn't show up."

"Oh, you don't mean that," said Jo.

"No," he said. "I suppose not."

"Well," said Doris. "Instead of acting all depressed over the people who aren't here, why don't we-"

But she was cut short by a loud crash in the middle of the banquet hall. A large pyramid-shaped object came out of nowhere and hit the floor. Smoke emerged from the sides. The door opened and a woman ran out, coughing, as it appeared more smoke existed on the inside. The unknown woman raised her arms in surrender when she noticed dozens of rifles pointed at her.

"I'm not going to harm you," she said. "My ship broke down."

"Ship?" said one of the top officers. "As in spaceship?"

"Sort of."

"So you're an alien, then?" said the officer.

"Yes," she said, a bit annoyed. "But do you mind telling me which xenophobic planet I've landed on?"

"Earth."

She audibly groaned. "Of course it would be Earth..."

The Brigadier rose from his seat, deciding to take command of the situation. "Excuse me, Miss...?"

The alien stood tall and said resolutely, "My name is 'The Rani.'"

"Pardon me, Rani," he continued. "But by your remark, you seem to suggest a familiarity with Earth?"

"I've been here before, yes. And I don't really care for it."

"Oh," said the Brigadier, a little thrown off by the last comment. "I'm sorry you feel that way."

"I find the dinosaurs quite fascinating creatures, though," said the Rani. "It's quite a pity, really."

"Believe me," smiled the Brigadier. "I've met some dinosaurs, and they're not that entertaining to have around."

"I do know what you mean," she said. "Trust me when I say that you never want to be stuck in a confined area near a rapidly aging Tyrannosaurus Rex embryo."

"I'll take your word on it," he said.

There was a moment of silence. No one had been expecting an alien encounter today. Well, when does one usually? It was getting a little awkward to see her just standing there with her arms crossed, waiting for someone to do something. At least the soldiers had lowered their guns by this point. The tension was suddenly broken as a whooshing sound was heard in the distance.

Several faces lit up, knowing exactly what was about to happen. The Rani's face, however, developed a look of panic. But nobody noticed because a blue police callbox suddenly materialized out of nowhere. The door opened, and a man stepped out. "Sorry I'm late," he said. "Just found out about this event in tomorrow's paper. Popped in to say hello. Hope I didn't interrupt anything important." He ran up to the Brigadier. "Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart! Good to see you." He noticed the people standing next to them.

"Hello, Doris."

"Hello, Doctor," she said. "Nice to see you again."

The Doctor turned in happy surprise towards Jo. "Hello, Jo," he said, smiling. "It's been a long time."

"Yes," she said. "I would never have recognized you if it weren't for the TARDIS. Well, at least there's only one of you this time."

"Let's keep it that way."

"Hiya, Doctor," said Benton.

"Sergeant Benton, is that you?" exclaimed the Doctor.

"Lieutenant Benton now," he said, flashing his insignia.

"Congratulations."

"Ahem," interrupted the Brigadier.

"Right, sorry."

"Doctor," said the Brigadier. "You always manage to find the best times to show yourself."

"What do you mean?" asked the Doctor with a confused expression.

"You're not our first surprise guest of the evening," said the Brigadier, motioning towards the quietly panicking woman still standing in the middle of the room.

The Doctor took one look at her and suddenly went pale. "Rani?" he said, taking a few strides in her direction. "I've been looking all over for you. Where'd you go?"

"Hello, Doctor," said the Rani. "I know I left in somewhat of her hurry that night-"

"I'll say."

"But it just wouldn't have worked."

"And how do you know that?" he asked.

"Doctor," she said. "I killed you once."

"I'm willing to let bygones be bygones."

"There was something that I didn't tell you about that day," she continued. "You didn't have post-regenerative amnesia."

"What?" he said, very confused. Of course he had post-regenerative amnesia; he remembered it quite plainly.

"You were perfectly fine after you regenerated. But you were starting to get a little too nosy and were refusing to help me, so I had you knocked out again and injected you with an amnesia serum that I concocted. It worked pretty well, as I recall."

"I can't believe you did that."

"Why can't you?" she said.

He stared at her for a moment. "Good point."

"Doctor," interrupted the Brigadier. "I take it you two know each other?"

"All my life," he said. "She's a fellow Time Lord."

"Well, Doctor, you found me," said the Rani. "And I'm guessing there's something you want to discuss. I think if we're going to do so, we should do it in a more private setting."

"By all means then," said the Doctor, motioning for her to lead the way to a less crowded area of the building. Dozens of confused faces watched as they left.

"Well," said Benton. "That's not something you see happening every day."

"And did you expect otherwise?" said the Brigadier, sighing as he slumped back into his chair.