DOCTOR WHO - The Enemy of Eternity
Written by Huw Davies
Chapter 4
Welcome to N.A.S.A.
The Doctor's psychic paper again granted the three friends access to the inner workings of America's space programme – this time, however, they were right in the nerve centre of the operation – Mission Control. It was a colossal building, stretching many hundreds of feet into the air. The Doctor noted – albeit mentally – that he thought it beyond humans of this age to construct such a creation. In the event he said nothing – to Victoria this was pretty much established history and Jamie – well he was confused enough as it was.
Victoria interrupted the Doctor's train of thought, not for the first time that day. "Doctor – where exactly are we going?" she asked, rather louder than the Time Lord would have liked.
"Keep your voice down," the Doctor quickly retorted, "we don't want to arouse suspicion!"
"But I thought that magic paper of yours would keep us safe?" said Jamie.
"It allows the person who sees it to see what they expect to see. If they suspect us, they may be expecting deliberately forged papers – and if so, that's just what they'll find!"
"Well fat lot of good that thing is!" Jamie said.
"On the contrary," the Doctor replied, "it's our lifeline – but we must remain composed."
They continued to walk through the entrance hall, with no clear purpose in mind. An idea popped into the Doctor's mind as they passed an information desk, and he signalled to Jamie and Victoria to remain in the middle of the hall while he made a brief inquiry.
He sidled up to the desk and smiled sweetly at the young girl who was manning the station. "I wonder if you could help me," he said, in his kindest voice.
"What can I do for you, sir?" the girl asked. The Doctor breathed a mental sigh of relief. Her jovial tone of voice suggested that she didn't suspect a thing.
"I wonder whether you could direct me towards the management," he said, "it's just that I would like to find out a little more about the inner workings of this fascinating organisation…" he tailed off, offering another kind grin.
"May I ask your business here, sir?" the girl asked. A mental sigh passed over the Doctor's synapses. Still, he thought, she's just doing her job.
"I'm a… British diplomat, come to see how N.A.S.A. functions. We're thinking of devising a similar group over in the U.K., you know, but we'd like to check on the scale of the operation before we start putting anything into motion." The Doctor's smile this time was not just to pander for cooperation. He was genuinely pleased at how bona fide the rubbish he had just spouted had sounded.
"I've no record of an appointment…" she said, flicking through a notebook.
"No, you wouldn't," the Doctor said, "the embassy appeared to have made another blunder. You'll see that I do have top security clearance, signed by the ambassador himself…"
The girl paused to glance at the psychic paper. "Yes, you have a Level 5 pass – that figures, I guess. And don't worry about the embassy issue – it's happened before. You're free to go up if you wish, the management reside on the thirty-eighth floor – the Director's on the thirty-ninth, though I'm afraid you really will need an appointment to see him."
"Worry not," the Doctor said, "you have helped me right to the degree I required; thank you ever so much." He turned and winked to his two friends, before they stepped into one of the elevators, and set the controls for Floor 38.
"Where are we off to, Doctor?" Jamie asked.
"I'm going to tackle this problem head-on, Jamie," the Doctor said, "we're going straight to the top, the boss. We need to find out exactly what's going on here.
The Administration department of N.A.S.A. on Floor 38 didn't often have visitors – indeed it was staffed by only fifteen people – so most were surprised to hear the lift ding noisily and three strangely-dressed people step out. Most of the secretaries and P.A.s in the room quickly ignored the arrival and returned to their work – except one.
Jason Trent was fascinated by the eldest of the party. He was almost exactly… no, it couldn't be, he thought; he's just showing round visitors, that's all. But no – it wasn't. This man's skin was too fair to be him. And yet they looked so alike. He wondered why no-one else noticed, but then realised that Mr. Lieder never took visitors, not even from within the company. Only the board and he, Jason Trent, P.A., ever saw him. But the likeness was uncanny – in fact, it was more than that. The two men were identical.
Compelled to satisfy his curiosity, Trent stood up from his desk and approached the strangers. He went straight up to the older man.
"Mr. Lieder?"
"I'm sorry?" was the reply.
"Samuel Lieder, Director of N.A.S.A.?"
"I'm sorry," the man said, "but I think you are mistaken."
Jason just didn't understand it, and neither did the man or his two younger friends. It was the girl who questioned Trent.
"What's he on about, Doctor?" the girl said to the older man.
"What I mean, miss, is that this 'Doctor' friend of yours, bears a startling resemblance to our director here, Mr. Samuel Lieder."
The man they called the Doctor's eyes widened considerably. It was as if a great revelation was dawning on him.
"What did you say," he asked, "you mean, I look exactly like this man?"
"Yes, completely," Jason replied, "though you speak differently, your accent I mean, you are English, yes? But Mr. Lieder – well, he sounds German most of the time but I could have sworn I get Spanish or, maybe Mexican sometimes…"
"Mexican!" Even the younger man, who was dressed rather incongruously in a kilt, seemed to be having an epiphany also. "He doesn't mean to say…"
"I'm afraid he is, Jamie," the Doctor said. He turned to Jason. "What is your name, my boy?"
"Trent, Jason Trent, I'm Mr. Lieder's P.A."
"Then you can take us to him?"
"Yes, I can, but…"
"Just do it, man!" the Doctor was shouting now.
"Well come on," Jason said, gesturing into the lift. The girl he had heard referred to as 'Victoria' seemed confused.
"I don't understand, Doctor!"
"Well don't you see! Mexican, exactly like me, and now these temporal anomalies!" the Doctor was almost shrieking. Several of the office workers had been disturbed. "And a name like Samuel Lieder?" Victoria's face was as blank as a sheet of paper.
"It's Salamander, Victoria!" Jamie shouted, as the lift doors closed. All the secretaries could hear from the ascending lift were three words, loudly whined by the girl.
"Oh not again…!"