If the Doctor had a plan for entering the military bay, it was still swirling around in his head and he hadn't gotten around to sharing it by the time the lift stopped. Thus it was that he found Amy's hand on his collar, abruptly dragging him to the ground behind a stack of bins. He landed roughly and unevenly against Rory's knees, and Amy's spare hand clamped over his mouth to stifle his hiss of annoyance. The clang of boots on metal silenced any further protests, and the four of them waited until the troop of soldiers had marched by.

After a moment's silence, the Doctor peered over the top of the bins, shortly joined by Amy, Rory, and Polly. "All clear," he said. He turned to Amy. "You know, you could have just said 'Get down, there are soldiers coming'. There's no need for all the unnecessary roughness."

"Sorry. It seemed quicker," Amy said, not sounding sorry at all. "Got a plan yet?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. We'll need to find the holding cells. That'd be the first place to look, and they're obviously not up here—this is basically parking," said the Doctor.

"They should be off that way," Rory put in, nodding at a door leading away from the landing bay. He noticed the other three staring at him. "What?"

"What makes you think they'll be in there?" asked Amy, instead of answering his question.

"Well, we're at the back of the bay, and you'd want to keep prisoners as far away from the front as possible, in case there's an escape, but you don't want them too far away or you'd have to waste resources transporting them after getting them off the ships. Seriously, what is it? Stop looking at me like that!"

"How do you even know something like that?" asked Amy.

"I—" Rory began and stopped, looking confused.

"It's basic military logic, Pond," the Doctor said. "Most countries, most planets even, have armies that think along those lines. Even the Romans."

Rory said nothing, but nodded thoughtfully as Amy said, "Oh."

"And quite right he is, too," the Doctor went on. "That would be just the place to start." He scanned the vast landing bay, and, once confident that no one was looking, crossed to the door. The other three followed, Polly easing the door quietly shut behind them.

"Well, this certainly looks like the right place," Polly said. She cast her eyes out from the small landing where they stood. Below them was a vast room, crisscrossed with landings, staircases and floor after floor of cells, dimly lit and gloomy. "Shouldn't there be guards?"

"Not necessarily," the Doctor said, clicking his screwdriver at a lonely computer terminal in the corner. "They probably come patrolling through every now and then, but everything is locked by computer, and this should be the only exit." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the door they had just come through.

"Any sign of him?" Amy asked, staring over his shoulder as data flew by on the screen, too fast for her human eyes to catch.

"No, but it was a long shot that the name 'Ben Jackson' was actually going to be in the computer. Let me try searching 'human'." He made a face at the computer and clicked the sonic at it a few more times, changing the frequency. "I tell you what; this is a bit odd, though."

"What?" said Polly.

"Well, given the size of those ships we saw in the bay, it's next to impossible that the Teridans went all that way just to grab Ben. But if they were taking other prisoners, where are they? They're not in those cells." He pointed out at the honeycomb of cells behind him. "It says less than a quarter of those are occupied. And none of them by humans."

"Which makes it even weirder," said Rory, his eyebrows raising as he took a look at the screen when the data stopped moving. "'Five hundred thousand humans registered'," he read.

"Five hundred thousand?" repeated Polly. "Where would they all have come from?"

"At this point in history? Earth," the Doctor said grimly. He tapped a few keys and began the data scrolling again.

"So they've stolen five hundred thousand people from Earth, and Ben just got caught in the middle of it? But why?" wondered Polly.

"More to the point," said Amy. "Where are all of them? 'Cause if they're not here…"

The Doctor was glaring coldly at the computer screen. "We've got a bigger problem here. Who knows why the Teridans kidnapped people from Earth, but that isn't the last they were planning on going there."

"What do you mean?" asked Amy.

"The Teridans aren't that different from you lot, but they've advanced far enough technologically that they've been doing some colonizing of nearby planets. And it looks like Earth is next up on the list."

A long silence followed this statement. At last Rory said, "They're planning on taking over the Earth?"

"Yep. And right now, in 1971, they could do it, too. Of course, the human race would put up a good fight, but based on what they've got, and if they have the right numbers, the Teridans could pull it off."

"It always does seem to be the Earth, doesn't it?" sighed Polly. "Hang on; what you said about numbers—Ben's in the Navy, do you think they've been kidnapping Earth military people so we won't have as many to fight against them?"

"That's not a bad thought," the Doctor mused. "But the disappearance of five hundred thousand soldiers would have sent up one hell of a red flag. Alerts and panic all over the world—no, there's no way the TARDIS would have missed that."

"Wouldn't the disappearance of that many civilians cause panic as well?" wondered Rory.

"Well, maybe, but not necessarily right away. Not if they've taken their time about nicking them. Or even if they just spread themselves out a bit around the globe. Once someone realized what was going on, probably, yes. Eventually."

"So then we're back to question one, aren't we?" sighed Amy. "If it wasn't to weaken the Earth's military, then what was it for?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again, frowning thoughtfully. Before he got any farther, three soldiers came through the door behind them. For a moment, nobody moved, but the soldiers quickly overcame their surprise and raised their guns. "Ah. Now, just a minute," the Doctor started, raising his hands and smiling reassuringly. The next thing he knew, the butt of a rifle was connecting with the side of his head. He was out before he hit the ground.

After arriving at the training base, Unit V-246 and his comrades had been directed to the docking port. The first wave would be moving out in just a few days' time, and they were to be assigned to their various ships immediately.

"Exciting, isn't it?" said the small ginger girl standing next to him in the lift. "Just think, in a few days we'll be going off planet!" Her eyes sparkled, and she stuck out a hand. "I'm T-417, by the way. My friends call me T-4. You?"

V-246 shook her outstretched hand. "V-246. Don't really have a nickname."

"You got a specialty?" T-4 asked him. "I'm part of the Med-corps."

"No. Just a regular ground soldier, me."

"Well, that's the kind that wins the war, isn't it?" she said with a smile. "Don't really see a lot of medics in the middle of the action."

V-246 smiled back. "I suppose so. Still, makes me feel better, knowing your lot has got our backs."

"Aye, and your fronts, as well. That's the bit that gets shot at the most."

Laughing, he decided he quite liked T-4. "So is this your first time off-world?"

She nodded eagerly. "I'm quite excited. What's the Earth like, d'you reckon?"

"They say it's quite a big place," he said, moving forward as the lift came to a stop. "The sergeant was telling me there's more water than land."

T-4 shook her head. "I'll believe that when I see it. Though if it's true, I'd imagine that's why we're after it. You know they're on water rations, out on the Eastern Continent?" She stepped forward to follow him out of the lift.

His reply was cut short as a captain stepped out in front of them. He pulled a data pad from his jacket and began barking out a list of names and orders. T-4 waved cheerfully at him as her name was read and she departed for her assigned ship. Soon after, he found himself assigned to the same and rushing after her, hardly daring to believe his good fortune. He'd been assigned to the largest of the Conquest-class ships. Top of the line, leader of the fleet—he really would be right at the front of the action.

"Ow."

"Doctor! Are you alright?" Polly asked.

The Doctor opened his eyes to find Rory staring down at him, mere inches away from his face. "Hello there, Rory. Miss me?"

Rory continued to stare a few moments longer then pulled away, satisfied with whatever he had seen in his eyes. "Well, I don't think you have a concussion. Can you see me alright?"

"I'm fine, Rory," the Doctor assured him. He sat up, wincing a little as he did so. Rory seemed unconvinced. "Really, I'm fine. We've been doing this for ages now. You must have noticed I sort of get knocked out a lot."

"That's certainly true enough," said Amy from behind Rory's shoulder.

"So, now that that's settled," the Doctor clapped his hands together. "What did I miss?"

"Oh, the usual," Rory said with a sigh. "Got arrested, thrown in a cell—not one of those ones in the holding area, by the way, but somewhere on the other side of the landing bay. There was lots of shouting, we were accused of several things, and I think the word 'human' might have been thrown out in a derogatory manner." He shrugged. "Pretty much your average Thursday."

"It's only been a few minutes since they hit you," Amy said. "They haven't been back to say what they wanted yet." She turned to Polly. "Are you alright? It's a bit much for a first trip back out."

Polly waved a hand as if to say it was nothing. "I'm fine. This is practically nostalgic. Of all the times I've been locked up…Actually, all things considered, this cell isn't half bad. At least it doesn't smell." She settled down to sit on the floor in the corner, folding her hands protectively over her stomach and leaning back against the wall.

The Doctor stood and moved to inspect the door. "Hmm…fairly standard electric lock. Shouldn't be much trouble to sonic that open." He peered out the tiny window set in the top of the door. "Although the guards just outside may prove a bit more problematic." He turned around and looked over the cell. It was a small, unfurnished room with no windows, but it was clean, well-lit, and the floor was even carpeted. "Polly's right—it's not a bad place to wait. Let's see what they want, shall we?" With that, he sat down next to Polly. Amy and Rory looked at each other, shrugged, and joined them. The minutes ticked away, and still no one came, and they continued their musings on what the Teridans might want with five hundred thousand humans, and where they could all be. Nothing they could come up with seemed particularly satisfactory.