Back in the center of the spaceport, the TARDIS sat waiting for the doctor to return. Not far away, another human entered the scene. Dennis Martin had also been plucked off of Earth by the Aoppians and had half expected to be sold for slave labor on some world he'd never heard of. Dennis was a quiet individual. At 5'7, the scrawny blond young man was soft spoken but plenty strong. He only hoped that he would manage to escape somehow.
Fortunately, fate provided the opportunity in the form of the strange man in the vest and fedora. He had been an imposing man, standing over six feet with shaggy light-brown hair and broad shoulders. His green eyes had a look of someone who held many secrets and he acted as if he carried a great deal of authority. He had simply swaggered into the room and talked the aliens into letting him and the other captives go.
Dennis could hardly believe it, nor could he believe it when he saw the human girl crouched behind the cargo containers as he was leaving the hangar. She was a pretty redhead holding a laser pointer while the other man spoke of having a team at his disposal. He almost laughed at the simplicity of their clever con but simply walked out quietly, thankful to be free.
His only problem now was how he was going to get back home. He knew he wasn't on Earth any more, but had no clue how close or how far away he was from his home world. Looking around, he knew he was in some manner of spaceport. Maybe he could convince someone to give him a lift, but first he would have to learn their strange languages.
From nearby, he heard a strange humming sound and looked over to see a bright blue police box sitting in a tiny alcove off to the side. It looked so out of place in this alien setting and, yet, so at home at the same time. He approached it, drawn to it somehow. Drawing nearer, he noticed that the door had been left slightly ajar. He hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to proceed, before taking a deep breath and stepping inside.
"Unbelievable."
Meanwhile, Rebecca and the Doctor made it out of the hangar and the Doctor used his device on the door, sealing it shut and stopping the aliens from pursuing. "That won't hold them long," he quickly said. "We have to get back to my ship. There's something else going on here. They shouldn't have been able to smuggle that many captives without drawing attention. We need to find out what's going on."
"How are we going to do that?" she asked.
"With this," the Doctor replied, pulling out a familiar looking device. It looked like the device the Aoppians were holding when she had first arrived.
"That's the thing they used to bring me here! The-what did you call it?"
"Multidimensional wave transducer. And I can find out where they got it from. That might tell us who they're working with. Come on." He ran off back towards the main concourse. Rebecca took a deep breath and followed. It seemed like she had barely stopped running since meeting the Doctor and it didn't look like it was going to stop soon. He seemed to be the restless type, always running about. Fortunately, he had mentioned a ship. She was relieved at this. She could take a moment to catch her breath while the Doctor dashed about his ship.
A few moments later, they arrived back in the main concourse where the Doctor immediately ran towards what looked like a blue police box. He dashed inside but left the door open for her. She stared after him, dumbfounded. This couldn't possibly be his ship, could it? No, she reasoned, it has to be some kind of cloaking device or something. The real ship is behind it. She ran towards it and entered, finding herself inside a large round room. In the center of the room, on a raised platform, was a circular console with a large tube extending from the center of it towards the ceiling. The Doctor had the transducer in his hand and was connecting some wires to it.
"Just a few more connections and we'll be able to scan this baby," he said. He finished his tinkering and set the device down on the console. He turned to Rebecca with a wide grin on his face. "So what do you think?"
"Nice ship, but I'm not sure about the cloaking device."
"What cloaking device?"
Her eyes widened. "You mean that isn't a cloaking device? This ship really is a police box?"
"Well, it is on the outside. Haven't you ever seen a chameleon circuit before?" He stopped and looked into the distance for a moment. "Oh, wait. Human. Of course you haven't. Never mind."
"So, wait, what is this place then?"
"This is my TARDIS. Best ship in the entire universe."
Rebecca groaned in frustration. "Enough, already. I give up. Every question I ask just leads to a dozen more."
The Doctor chuckled to himself. He knew that the people he encountered often found him confusing, but he had rarely heard someone express frustration over it like this. It was a nice change of pace. Rebecca questioned so many things, never satisfied unless she had all the answers. He liked that about her. "Tell you what, then. If we get through this in one piece, I'll answer any question you have."
She joined him next to the console and looked around, taking in the TARDIS. "Guess I'll have to make sure you get through this, then, because I have a lot of questions."
"Good answer," he grinned. "Let's get to work."
Elsewhere in the spaceport, the Aoppian leader pulled out a communications device and sent out a call. His superiors needed to be notified of this development. The man had looked unfamiliar, but the device he carried was one known to many people in his line of work. If he was right, the people he worked for would want to know about this. He received a reply and began hissing to the being on the other end.
"Are you sure it's him?" a voice was heard replying. The admiral hissed back in an uncertain, yet firm, tone.
"You're right. We can't take any chances. We should commence with the next phase immediately. You have your orders, Admiral. You know what to do."
Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor continued working on analyzing the transducer. Rebecca stood nearby, looking at the console and its unusual mishmash of components. There was all manner of strange, alien looking devices across the surface. However, she could also see a typewriter, a desk bell and a 1980s style telephone scattered amongst them and other distinctly human touches. "Why did you build it like this?"
"I didn't. She did," the Doctor replied.
"She?"
"The TARDIS. She rebuilt herself. It was a while ago, now. I barely remember it."
Before Rebecca could say anything about a ship that rebuilt itself, a young man stepped into the room and said "This place is amazing. Where's a video camera when you need one?"
Rebecca and the Doctor both looked up at this sudden intrusion. Rebecca was surprised to see another human here but simply presumed he was with the Doctor. Until, that is, the Doctor replied with a very stunned "What?"
