General Blackburn was not a possum to be trifled with. He'd seen a lot of things in his years of service: the war with the Dillos from the southern part of the continent, two major floods that threatened to wipe out major cities, and aliens.

Aliens.

He'd been there when the first Twolegs visited, almost fifty years ago. Those had been dark times. A lot of good possums had died, but mercifully it hadn't lasted long. So many possums had been traumatised by the first wave of aliens that a massive cover-up had been arranged. Witnesses were bribed, cover stories concocted, and a great effort made to explain away the earth-shaking events. After a few years, society preferred the lie. It was necessary, after all, to prevent total anarchy. Bekberry simply wasn't ready to handle the fact that possums weren't alone in the universe, and they especially weren't ready to contend with creatures far more technologically advanced than themselves. It was all in everyone's best interests.

Sure, there was the odd Truther, possums who tried to set the story straight, but they were widely regarded as nutters. It helped that nowadays there were few possums who could remember what had actually happened, and fewer who wanted to. The only written record of what had actually occurred was left in the possession of the Archivist, who had passed away several years ago, taking the secret to his grave. He'd hidden the papers in a secure location, and now there was nothing at all available to remind the public of those events.

But now the Twolegs were back. Surely this should have brought about a mass panic, but instead the people had celebrated! They threw a festival for a bunch of Twolegs! Four of them, travelling in a magical blue box. A box which coincidentally fit the description of the one that had brought their salvation the first time it had appeared. Blackburn was wary, though. As he recalled, the records only accounted for half of these aliens. Two of them fit the descriptions of the ones that had arrived before. (Well, as close as he could tell. Twolegs all looked the same.)

The other two, though, now they could pose a real threat. There had been strange things happening again. It started out with seemingly mundane events: odd noises in the woods, unidentifiable tracks on the ground, and then things started getting serious. Properties on the outskirts of town had been damaged and people had been reported missing. General Blackburn believed in learning from the past, and since Twolegs had been responsible for this sort of thing the last time, it stood to reason that they were the cause of the problem this time.

Blackburn wasn't about to let history repeat itself, which was why he'd sent out a small platoon to capture the two undocumented aliens. Unfortunately, the Twolegs were a lot stronger than he'd expected and had given his troops the biggest challenge of their lives. They'd only had enough resources to subdue and retrieve only one. It had been kept sedated all the way to a secret underground facility just on the edge of the Capitol.

Now the General was having his top scientists examine the alien. They needed to learn all they could about these creatures if they wanted to have the advantage. It was still unconscious, locked up inside a special holding room with a large observation window. "Dr. Stiller!" he barked at a group of researchers crowded around the window, "Report!"

One of the possums broke free of the group and scurried over, reading glasses askew on her nose. "Sir!" she saluted, "We've only managed a cursory examination, but we're almost certain that it's an adult female, although she doesn't seem to have a pouch."

"Anything else?"

"We won't know much else until she wakes up, sir." she said apologetically, "Besides, we've only got a skeleton crew for the day shift. We can't get the rest of the team in here until nightfall. Union rules, and all..."

"Hmph! Very well, then. What's that thing Jiff and Squigly are holding?"

"It appears to be a cardigan, sir. People usually wear them when it's cold out."

"I can see that, Stiller!" Blackburn snapped, "What's the other thing? Did it shed its pelt?"

The other possums held the item up for a better view. "It looks like a blouse, sir. We believe that these aliens wear them daily to cover their baldness."

They'd walked over to the window by this point, and the General pointed at something in the observation room. "That band of cloth around the upper torso, is that more clothing? How many layers does one need!"

"We're unsure of the purpose of that particular garment, sir. Visual examination revealed it has metal hooks in the back. We're leaving it alone for now, as it might be a trap."

"Good thinking, Stiller." Blackburn sniffed, "Awfully big, these aliens. They're not carnivorous, are they? If they are, we're going to need additional security in here."

"Botch is performing the dental exam now, sir."

There came a loud scream, and then Botch flew into the window with a resounding SMACK. "It's awake!" somebody shouted. A mad scramble broke out as the possums on guard duty dashed into the room to retrieve the fallen scientist while fending off the now very aggressive alien. Botch was safely evacuated, but he'd gone into a defensive coma. The General started to shout orders, but was interrupted by Dr. Stiller.

"With all due respect, sir, we're not going to learn anything with her agitated like this. The best course of action is to let her cool off for a few hours and go from there."

Blackburn was reluctant to agree, but he eventually gave in. He left the research station with instructions to keep an eye on the creature and to have a full report by the time he returned. Dr. Stiller breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing he's out of the way." she said to one of her colleagues, "I was afraid he was going to find out that everything we know about these aliens, we learned from reading sci-fi!"

For a long time, Barbara had just relaxed and enjoyed the pretty colours that danced through her dreams in her drug-induced slumber. A few times she had come close to wakefulness, but she'd felt another wave of exhaustion come over her before she was conscious enough to care about anything happening around her. Eventually, she'd worked her way into a light sleep and her muddled thoughts began to sort themselves out.

She'd been moved to someplace else. She supposed she should be more concerned, but she was very tired and whatever she was resting on was very comfortable. Five more minutes couldn't hurt...but what was that noise? It was a mix of scrabbling and squeaking. Was something moving around? As she slowly regained consciousness, the memory of the previous events came back to her. Her eyes snapped open in the dim light, and she was greeted with the sight of a possum in a little hazmat suit sitting on her chest, trying to get its paws in her mouth.

Barbara expressed her displeasure by chucking it across the room as hard as she could.

It collided with a window, and she saw that she was in some sort of observation room. A group of possums stood on the other side of the glass, watching her. With a sudden shock, she realised that most of her clothes were missing. She covered herself with her arms as several possums burst in through a little door, armed with tiny swords, in order to retrieve their fallen colleague. The door was too small for her to escape through, but she was at least able to vent some of her anger by shouting at them. (Something along the lines of "Furry little perverts!")

They hurried out of her cell and she moved to the window, stooping slightly due to the low ceiling. The possums in the other room were certainly excited about something. Probably her, she guessed, judging by the way they were chittering and pointing. Some of them wore lab coats while others wore brown sashes decorated with pins and insignias. Scientists and soldiers, most likely. Some wore nothing at all, like most of the possums on this planet. It was difficult for Barbara to tell them all apart from one another, but two of them stuck out: a scientist with glasses, and a soldier with a beret.

That one looked to be a much higher-ranking officer than the others. After what appeared to be a hurried discussion with the other scientist, it marched purposely out of the room, leaving Barbara alone with the rest of them. She studied her cell, if only to pretend to avoid all those eyes on her. It was a small space, but large enough for her to lie down and walk around a bit. The floor was covered with some kind of moss. Wiggling her toes in it, she noticed they'd taken her shoes as well. In one corner, there were bowls of fruit and water.

Perfect. Just perfect. She was stuck in a primitive lab as a specimen for all these scientists to study, with no way to communicate with them. And things had been going so well yesterday. She eyed the possums. Well, surely they realised she was an intelligent being. Even if none of these possums had been at the party last night, they certainly would have heard about it. Perhaps if she showed them she could speak, they'd release her.

She knocked on the window and said "Hello? There's been a misunderstanding, will you please let me out? Or at least give me back my clothes?"

"She can talk!" exclaimed Dr. Stiller. "Quick, someone grab a paper and pen! And get some linguists in here! I want this language deciphered so we can make her feel more welcome." She pointed at two of the interns. "You two, try and get her to say more things."

This wasn't the reaction Barbara had wanted. It had only made the possums more excited. She tried several more attempts at talking to them, but they just scribbled more notes while two of them tried to mimic the words she spoke. Trying hard to remember that modesty was not very high on her list of priorities at the moment, she used her arms to signal that she wanted out of there. All that accomplished was making a roomful of possums copy all of her gestures. Feeling like an aerobics instructor, Barbara groaned in frustration and sat down.

Seventeen possums did the same.

It had taken a long time, but through gesture, scribble, and carefully worded translations, Ian finally managed to explain to the Doctor and Susan what had happened. It had taken even more time for them to show him that they understood what he was trying to say. At some point in the conversation, Maude had gone back to town. She returned with the mayor and several police officers in tow.

"Don't worry, I've got it all under control." she said as the Doctor quickly switched his translator to Bekkish. Susan switched Ian's for him, since these things only did speech and not writing. "We're almost certain that they've taken your friend to the Capitol, since that's where they'll have a space to put her. She won't be harmed, it's all military posturing. Probably just overreacting. You all haven't caused any trouble since you've been here, so there's no reason for this. Anyway, we're all going to go down there right now to sort this out once and for all."

What they heard was "We certainty will be to a place the Capitol friend. Each will not be hurt, all military locations. Maybe just react. This will cause problems, so there is no reason to, but now we want to go to resolve the issue." At least the last bit was understandable. They set off immediately, possums scurrying ahead on all fours.

"Grandfather," Susan began, "Shouldn't one of us stay behind to look for the translation circuit?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I believe that would only invite more problems, since we're currently unable to communicate with each other or anyone on this planet. No, better to stay close, child. I don't want you getting kidnapped, either."

"What about Ian?"

"Hmm? Oh, he's a strong, young man. He can take care of himself." he said dismissively.

Susan started to reply, but saw the twinkle in his eye and realised he was joking. "Oh, Grandfather!" she giggled.

He smiled. "First we'll get Barbara back, then we'll find the circuit. It's likely that the general Maude told me about last night has jumped to conclusions about our presence here. Fortunately, since Maude and the mayor already know us, they can vouch for us and get Barbara set free. Once this whole matter is out of the way, we ought to be able to search for the translation circuit properly."

Ian had tried to ask Maude about what they should expect when they arrived at the Capitol, but the portable translator garbled their words so much that it was pointless. He tried to switch it back over so he could talk with the Doctor and Susan, but he couldn't read any of the settings on the dial. After a while, he just switched it off. Listening to two incredibly different-sounding languages was odd enough without it being mixed with a vague approximation of an English accent.

Come to think of it, the language situation was the strangest thing about this whole business. Racing to the rescue with talking possums? Surprisingly normal. Well, that was his life now.

They'd been walking for a while, when Susan felt the slightest tug at the edges of her mind. She dismissed it as nothing at first, then felt it again. Looking around, she saw a figure following them at a distance. It was a possum wearing a dark orange hooded robe. When it saw that she'd spotted it, it motioned for her to follow it.

When she shook her head no, it beckoned again. She pointed it out to the rest of the group, at which point it dashed away. The other possums didn't seem to be too worried about it, so they walked on.

It was twilight by the time they made it to the Capitol. With the glare of the sun gone, the possums removed their sunshades and led the way into the city. The residents of Capitol City reacted with varying degrees of surprise at the sudden appearance of aliens in their midst, but many of them seemed to have been expecting this. Apparently, a group of possums from the other city had come along to help. Susan recognised Philly waving at her from across the street. As they walked through the city, more and more possums started following them: some out of curiosity, others to show their support.

When they arrived at what was presumably the place where Barbara had been taken, they found that a lot more possums had turned out to help the cause. In the clearing before a large, official-looking tree was a huge crowd of protesters. Many carried signs with scribbly slogans. A few were leading others in rousing chants.

Ian was amused to see that the majority of them were wearing tiny cardigans.

"Now, see here General," said the mayor. "You can't just go around arresting people just because they happen to be a different species." The two were situated in a conference room that overlooked the crowded town square.

"It's a matter of national security." General Blackburn replied, "And quite frankly, I'm shocked at the way you've been handling the situation! Why didn't you report these creatures as soon as they arrived?"

"They seemed nice enough."

"Nice?! Murray, you don't even know who they are! Or what they are. You don't know their intentions, or what damage they could cause, or-"

"Now just a minute! I'll have you know they personally assured us that they have no hostile intentions." At Blackburn's raised eyebrow, the mayor added "Well, that was when they could talk. Apparently some young hoodlum vandalised their ship and it did something...look, the point is these are the first aliens to visit and they've been perfectly nice. I don't see what all this fuss is about!"

Blackburn moved to the window. "The point is that I'm responsible for the safety of all those people out there. And when things like this happen, it's my job to keep a close eye on any possible threats."

"But they're not a threat. See? All those people out there love the aliens!" said the mayor. "Er, except for that one group in the back. Moral values protestors. But then again they've never liked Maude's books anyway."

The General turned to look at him. "Maude's books?"

"Yeah. That lot's always going around trying to get them removed from school libraries. They really get up in arms about the ones she wrote about the orphan and the magic school, but no one takes them seriously anymore."

"No, I mean what do books have to do with anything?"

"What, you've never read any of Maude's stuff? She's very popular with the science fiction crowd, you know."

"Science fiction?"

"Yes. See, she's got this trilogy in progress..." the summary the mayor gave provided a shockingly accurate description of the alien encounter that had been covered up fifty years ago. But that information was classified. How had she found out?

"Murray, you go and inform those Twolegs that they're currently under investigation until I am satisfied that they pose no threat to this society. And while you're at it, I want to see Maude in my office immediately."

Back in the observation room, the researchers who had been working the day shift had gone home, leaving only a few guards to wait for the arrival of the night crew. Seeing as things had been pretty quiet for a while, they had gathered around one of the desks to play cards. Another sentry came in.

"You're all needed outside," he said, "We're short on officers to help with crowd control."

"What about her?" One of the guards asked, pointing, "We're not supposed to leave her alone."

"Look, it's getting pretty bad out there. We've got a few hundred protesters blocking traffic, fights are breaking out, and some of the Concerned Mothers have gone and attacked another Twoleg. We desperately need backup!"

"But-"

"They can't see in the dark like we can, right? Just turn off the lights! Maybe she'll go to sleep or something, just get out here!"

Barbara perked up as she saw the possums leave the room. She'd spent the past hour sitting in the corner being as uninteresting and uneducational as she could manage. Now, though, it seemed like it was finally her chance to escape.