Less then an hour ago, the Duke of Manhattan had been dying.
His entire body, as big at was, had slowly and painfully been turning from flabby pink flesh into solid stone as Petrifold Regression ravaged and consumed his colossal mass. But to look at him now, that could have all been a fanciful dream. A nightmare that never was.
The celebrations where in full swing by the time the Doctor returned, having been drawn in by the raucous laughter and the sound of a cork flying out of a bottle.
As he neared the Duke, the Time Lord quickly glanced up length of the wing where he could see Peter staring back with curiosity from where the Face of Boe and Novice Hame were situated.
Beckoning the younger man with a subtle nod of his head, the Time Lord waited until he had ventured over before approaching the aristocrat's bed.
He was glad to see that Peter looked just as surprised as he was.
"How is that possible?" The soldier asked quietly. "Didn't you say that -"
"This isn't right." He replied, frowning. "Not right at all."
Not that the Duke of Manhattan had any such concerns over his miraculous recovery. Propped up in his bed and drinking a glass of freshly poured champagne, he beamed at the two men as though they were old friends.
"Ah, it's those men again!" He chortled, waving them over. "They're my good luck charms. Come in. Don't be shy."
His formidably scary aid, Frau Cloivs, was still stood at his bedside. Her own glass of champagne looked as though it had not been touched at all, but pearly white teeth could be seen peeping through the dark purple lipstick.
Though she did not protest as the Doctor and Peter came over, she was swift in reminding them of the conditions that this had been permitted.
"Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of legal contract." She told them through her smile. "Nothing said or seen here must be made public without the expressed permission from the Senate of New New York."
The Duke let out another bellowing laugh.
"Didn't think I was going to make it!" He announced. "Winch me up."
Nodding obediently, Frau picked up a small remote control from the bedside table and pointed it at the bed as she pressed a button. The top half of the Duke's bed smoothly rose up so that he was now sitting completely upright. "Up!" He giggled. "Look at me. No sign of infection."
Peter wondered how many glasses he'd had as he spotted a butler stood in attendance just a short distance away.
Dressed in a crisp black suit complete with a bowtie, tailcoats and brass buttons, the man was expertly balancing a silver tray with two very fine looking crystal champagne glasses sat upon it, each filled to brim with the expensive pale gold bubbly liquid.
With a lazy flicker of the wrist from the Duke, he swiftly came over to Peter and the Doctor and offered them the drinks.
"Champagne, gentlemen?" He asked politely.
"We're good, thanks." Peter declined, frowning as he held up his hand.
The Time Lord didn't even seem to register the servant as his attention remained on the Duke and his remarkable recovery.
He knew this man should have been on his way to becoming a solid stone monument to his own portly figure. The fact that the ample man was not was completely incomprehensible.
"You had Petrifold Regression, right?" He questioned. "That was your diagnosis?"
"'Past tense indeed!" The Duke laughed. "I am completely cured."
"But that's impossible." The Doctor reiterated. "You can't be…"
One of the nurses had joined them at the Duke's bedside.
She was mature-looking and perhaps only a few more years old than Sister Jatt. However, her angulated face gave Peter the impression of a narrow-eyed siamese type rather than a podgy-faced moggy.
If Sister Jatt was the drill sergeant, then this feline was almost certainly the major general.
"It is always so nice to see patients on the mend." She stated, smiling at the Duke. "A pleasure to be able to assist."
The Doctor was in no mood for such pleasantries and wasted no time in getting to the point of his enquiry. Mouth still slightly agape from the impossibility of the Duke's survival, he turned to the attending nurse.
"How on Earth did you cure him?"
"How on New Earth, you might say?" She replied, smiling at her own joke.
He did not laugh back, and his furrowed brow only drew down further as he pointed to the medicine that was being fed into the Duke's arm.
"What's in that solution?" He asked, eyeing it was suspicion. "What have you given him?"
Through the transparent bag, it was clear to see that nearly all of the pale blue liquid had already been pumped into the patient's system.
The feline dismissed the question with a shrug of her shoulders.
"It is nothing more than a simple remedy."
"Then tell me what it is?" The Doctor insisted. "Surely you can -"
Taken aback somewhat, the nurse was quick to refuse him.
"I am sorry, sir." She replied. "But that would breech patient confidentiality."
"Of course it would." Peter jumped in. "That's the last thing we'd want to do, isn't it?"
The Doctor was on the verge of arguing back when he caught the look Peter shot his way. The disarming smile the lieutenant then turned onto the nurse could have almost fooled him and his own suspicions.
"Thank you for understanding, sir." She said with a bow of her head. "Now, if -"
"You see, my friend and I here are just simply amazed that you've managed to cure anyone of Petrifold Regression." Peter continued, feigning complete astonishment. "My mother is nurse herself, and she lost so many to it over the years."
The Doctor was impressed.
Peter had been listening well enough to remember that the disease would not be cured for another millennia. Additionally, he was able to make such a leading question sound innocent enough that surely it would result the feline giving away vital information without her even realising it.
"I sure you are." The nurse replied, smiling back. "Primitive species would accuse us of magic, but it's merely the tender application of science."
"Well I don't know about magic, but that's a lot of science in one little bag." Peter stated cheerfully. "You wouldn't know if you're rolling this out, would you? The hospitals back home would die for results like this."
Immediately Peter knew that he had tried too hard.
The nurse's eyes had narrowed with suspicion as her polite facade slipped away just enough to reveal her irritation. Regarding the man in front of her for a moment, her nose twitched slightly as a hint of a smirk slipped across her lips.
"As I said, primitive species would not understand our methods."
The implication was clear enough even if it had not been said.
Peter knew that these felines would almost certainly be able to tell that he wasn't human, just like those giant bats had done back on Earth.
Could they detect his wolf side, he wondered. Perhaps the Doctor hadn't entirely been wrong back down in the lobby when he'd warned him about such species being in close proximity to one another.
Catching himself just in the nick of time, his response was not the one that had initially formulated in his head.
"Excuse me?" He asked her through gritted teeth.
The nurse did not repeat herself.
But it was not out fear or embarrassment. The satisfaction brought by the thinly veiled attack was obvious to see in her yellow eyes.
Perhaps suddenly sensing that Peter's next words would be anything but polite, the Doctor spoke up before anything else could be said.
"What I think he means to say," he said, smiling. "Is how effective your cure is."
"Despite it being an incurable parasitic illness that turns you to stone." Peter retorted, folding his arms defensively. "The human trials must have worked a treat if it's being used in a hospital as big as this one."
Unimpressed with his knowledge of medical procedures, the nurse had recovered some of her professional facade.
"I don't believe we've met?" She said evenly. "My name is Matron Casp."
"Lieutenant Peter Argent," Peter told her authoritatively. "This is the Doctor."
Matron Casp's slit eyes narrowed with apparent distain as they jumped to the Time Lord.
"I think you'll find that we're the doctors here."
Fortunately for the peace of the ward, Sister Jatt reappearance put a halt to any further exchanges as she walked directly over to the Matron and spoke quietly into her ear.
"Matron Casp." She stated. "You're needed in intensive care."
Matron Casp nodded once to show she understood before turning back to the Doctor and Peter.
"Gentlemen." She announced with a shallow bow of her head. "If you would excuse me."
Whilst the Doctor politely nodded, Peter did not budge an inch and watched with a glare as Matron Casp and Sister Jatt walked away.
He carried on watching them as they continued towards the end of the wing and vanished from sight. Concentrating his hearing on the two felines, he was rewarded as Sister Jatt's voice reverberated back into his eardrums.
"It's happened again, one of the -"
"Not here."
The tone of Matron Casp's swift response was one Peter had heard countless times before. Whatever had just been about to be said was clearly something they didn't want anyone else knowing about.
Usually, in his experience, this meant they were up to no good.
"I'm going to follow them." He told the Doctor. "See where they go."
Stepping forward, Peter was surprised when the Time Lord caught hold on his arm and pulled him back.
"No, you are not." The Doctor told him, firmly. "I said it before, don't start anything."
"Oh come on, Doctor! They are clearly hiding something."
"Yes, but until we have proof of that, lieutenant." He reminded him. "We can't do anything, now can we?"
"But if said proof appeared…?"
The Doctor merely smiled back as he pulled out the sonic screwdriver from his pocket.
Sister Jatt had not dared to say anything else as she and Matron Casp walked towards the most isolated part of the ward.
it was down a narrow corridor which led only to a dead end where a single plasma screen hung upon the stark white wall, and they were now completely on their own.
"Now, tell me what had happened." Matron Casp suddenly promoted. "Is it one of the patients?"
Sister Jatt hesitated and peered over her shoulder as though someone was stood listening in on them.
"Yes, they're conscious."
"Oh, we can't have that." Matron Casp tutted. "Very well, show me."
Intensive care was a burden that had to be tolerated.
However unpleasant it was to venture down to this dark, dank and foreboding place, Sister Jatt knew it was vital to their work.
Her pink nose wrinkled up at the overwhelmingly sterilised air as she guided Matron Casp down the narrow metal passageways, dozens of exposed and steaming pipes lining the walls and ceiling all around them.
She had long since given up on trying to estimate how many containment cells were spread across the dozen or so floors which made up the ward. Sealed shut with large bulkhead doors, the green lights within each of them shone through heavily frosted glass and cast the entire place in a eerie glow.
As they continued to walk, Sister Jatt update her superior of the situation she had summoned her here for.
"It was having a perfectly normal blood wash, and all of a sudden it started crying." She explained as they turned a corner. "It's this one."
Leading Matron Casp over to the indicted door, she quickly imputed the correct security code into the small control panel next to the cell and stepped back as the door unlocked itself with a loud clunk and slowly swung open, allowing the two cats to see the inside.
The cell's occupant was weak, and it took considerable strength to even lift up an arm as the limb feebly and desperately stretch out towards the two nurses.
"Please, help me." The wheezing voice begged. "Please…"
Matron Casp gasped with disbelief.
Sister Jatt nodded with agreement. This had been her reaction upon seeing it herself.
"Look at its eyes." She pointed out. "So… alive."
"Positively sparkling." Matron Casp replied, taken aback. "How curious."
"Please, where am I?" The cell's occupant begged them. "Help me."
"Speech too!" The Matron continued, shaking her head in amazement. "How can it even have a vocabulary?"
Sister Jatt considered for a moment, pondering the notion as she watch the figure uselessly attempting to reach out for them. To ill to even move, there was no risk in it being able to lift itself away from the metal frame that was supporting it.
"Sister Corvin has written a thesis, it is based on the migration of sentience." She replied. "It's rather worth a read."
"Help me."
Matron Camp shivered at the sight of the cell's occupant.
She hated these creatures almost as much as the ward they were stored in. But she knew that she must tolerated them both because of what they were able to provide for this hospital and mankind.
"I've seen enough, thank you." She muttered as she turned and walked away from the cell. "Close the door."
Obeying her superior, and ignoring the continued cries for help as she shut the door on the man, Sister Jatt quickly caught up with the Matron.
"This is not the first time this has happened." She pointed out. "The responsiveness too has increased."
"Yes," Matron Casp agreed. "If this happens again, we might have to review our brain stem policy."
"What should we do with the patient?"
"Standard procedure. Incinerate."
At the end of the row of doors there was a large fuse box which had been welded onto the wall. There was only one lever, which Sister Jatt pulled down on upon reaching it.
Instantaneously, huge charges of electricity found their way into the inspected cell just down the corridor from her as a bright white light flash against the green light coming through the door.
The occupant's screams where horrifically loud but did not last long. Once they had faded away completely, Sister Jatt pulled the lever back up. Satisfied that it had been successful in dealing with the problem, she left the now silent ward and headed off to rejoin Matron Casp and the rest of the hospital.
Cassandra had forgotten how much of a bore Chip could be sometimes.
Despite him being her sole source of companionship for quite sometime now, she had almost become immune to his many flaws, and had actually started to tolerate his opinions and innocent, almost child-like demeanour.
"This Doctor man is dangerous." Chip begged her. "Please mistress, don't go!"
Cassandra resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
Her little pet found anything outside of the basement dangerous, even though he himself had ventured beyond its perimeter dozens of times in order to retrive whatever she had needed from the hospital above.
Come to think about it, Cassandra doubted very much that Chip wouldn't do anything at all if she wasn't there to command him.
But then again, she did make him.
"He may be dangerous, but the Doctor is also clever." She told him. "I might need a mind like his."
She had discarded the awful jacket Rose Tyler had been wearing and unbuttoned the topmost buttons of her shirt. Now she was massaged her fingers through her hair until it was satisfactorily and seductively volumed.
If she was going to tolerate being in this body, then she was going to make it look decent.
Examining herself in the mirror, Cassandra purred with delight.
"What about this other man?" Chip ventured. "We know nothing about him."
Looking back upon Rose's memories, Cassandra nodded in agreement as she found what information was available.
"Yes, they've only just met. He's called Peter Argent." She replied. "A soldier, but… Oh! He's one of those creatures. An actual mongrel. But nevertheless, he's strong enough should things turn ugly. Rather handsome too, wouldn't you agree?"
Chip stared at her blankly.
With a tut, Cassandra waved the thought away. "In any case, between them both I can find out what's going on here." She continued. "The Sisterhood is up to something. Remember that old Earth saying?"
"Which one?" Chip asked, suddenly looking worried again. "There are so many… I get confused."
"Never trust a nun, Chip." Cassandra told him. "Never trust a nurse, and never trust a cat. Perfume?"
Chip had been listening so intently, hanging on her every word, that it took him a moment for him to realise that she had stopped taking.
Jumping as he saw his mistress was holding her hand out towards him expectantly, he quickly rummaged through the pockets of his scrubs and pulled out a tiny vile of translucent liquid.
Taking it from him, Cassandra smiled as she tucked it securely down her décolletage.
With her new body ready to go, it was time to enact her plan. The Doctor had already revealed where he was in the hospital and would have no idea that she was anything but Rose Tyler.
Checking her reflection one last time, Cassandra turned on her heel and strode confidently out of the basement.
With complete fascination, Peter had watched as the Doctor had systematically gone around each and every patient on the wing, examining them and their ailments and the unknown medication that was so efficiently curing them.
"Fascinating." The Time Lord concluded. "Except for the Face of Boe, there isn't a single person here who isn't going to make a full recovery."
"With proper treatment, hospital deaths aren't actually that common." Peter pointed out. "But I'm guessing that some of these people shouldn't be getting better?"
"Not really, no." The Doctor responded. "Very suspicious, don't you think?"
Peter took a moment to consider this as he looked around the patients.
"Marton Casp definitely doesn't want people knowing how they're doing it." He agreed. "Could be just a trade secret, of course."
"Not wanting to let the competition in on the secret formula, you mean?"
"If you like, yeah." Peter said with a nod. "But if that's the case, then maybe medicine really just has evolved enough to cure these people."
The Doctor sighed with disappointment.
"Oh, that brain of yours has gone to sleep today, hasn't it?"
Peter responded with a stern expression.
"Hey, I'm not a doctor." He countered. "Before jumping into this we have to be sure that you've not just got your millenniums mixed up."
"No I haven't." The Time Lord stated firmly. "It's not a mistake I would make."
Staring down at the younger man, he braced himself for a snide remark as Peter smirked back at him.
"Okay."
"I'm sorry?"
The lieutenant shrugged and softened his expression a little.
"I believe you." He told him. "Five billion years into the future, on an alien planet. I would be crazy not to."
"Oh, good. That's…good then, right."
Standing their awkwardly for a moment, the Doctor didn't quite know how to proceed.
"But for the record, you do know that I am probably one of the most observant people you could have brought here, right?" Peter then said casually.
"Oh yes," The Doctor agreed wholeheartedly. "I just wanted to… check that you… Yes, that you knew that yourself."
Peter hummed in a way that showed he didn't entirely believe him.
"Right, thanks for that." He said hesitantly. "I think."
"But something is wrong here, Peter." The Doctor told him. "We just need a starting point to begin from."
"Why aren't there any charts?"
Peter jumped as the Time Lord whirled around to face him.
"Say that again?"
"There aren't any charts on the ends of the bed." He repeated. "Or any labels on the medicine come to think of it."
The Doctor beamed at him and nodded encouragingly.
"Now, why point that out?"
"Because how that hell would they keep track otherwise?" Peter responded. "Do they just bring up a ready made cure they've got stored on a shelf somewhere?"
"Well, look who's noggin just woke up."
Peter's eyes rolled but he did not retaliate back.
"So we're looking for a lab, then." He deduced. "A place where they can develop cures on site."
"Full marks all round, lieutenant." He praised. "Yes, that would be the place to start looking. Even if we might be more than a little unwelcome to do so."
Peter shook his head at the Doctor's gleefulness.
"It's like you actually enjoy getting into trouble."
"Says the man who used a table to take on a great big alien bat?"
"I was just doing my job." Peter countered. "You just do it for the kicks."
Laughing, the Time Lord was about to reply when he caught sight of a familiar blonde figure in the corner of his eye.
"Rose!" He greeted warmly. "There you are."
Cassandra fought down a smirk as she confidently strode onto the wing and over towards the two men.
It was obvious by their reactions that neither of them had any clue whatsoever that anything was wrong. Rose Tyler was still in the driving seat as far as they were concerned.
"Perhaps you should get her up to speed, Doctor?" Peter stated.
"Absolutely," he agreed. "Rose, come and look at this patient."
Cassandra quickly found herself being steered by the arms over towards a woman whom was suspended in midair above her bed, her skin bright red like the colour of wine.
"He's been busy examining everyone here." Peter informed her. "There's a chance something isn't right with their recoveries."
"Marconi's Disease. She should take years to recover." The Doctor said, pointing at the woman. "Two days. I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced. And this one…"
Cassandra was again pulled along by the arm.
This time it was over to the man in the bed directly opposite the tomato shaded woman.
The man's skin was as white as his sheets, but unlike his neighbour he was sitting up in his bed and seemed fully awake. "Pallidome Pancrosis." The Doctor stated, waving cheerfully at the man. "Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine."
"They've also managed to stop someone from turning into stone." Peter added, nodding in the direction of the Duke of Manhattan. "Literally within the last hour, he's gone from dying to drinking champagne."
"I need to find a terminal." The Doctor decided, looking around. "I've got to see how they do this. Because if they've got the best medicine in the world, then why is it such a secret?"
"I can't Adam and Eve it."
Cassandra winced the moment she said it.
The horrendously common accent had come out far too strongly, and even she knew that Rose did not speak that way.
The Doctor frowned at her.
"W-what's with the voice?"
For a moment Cassandra was unsure of what to say, but then a simple solution stuck her.
Act dumb and laugh it away as though it had all been a bad joke.
"Oh, I'm just larking about." She replied with a giggle, waving her hand dismissively. "New Earth, new me."
She saw Peter give her a quizzical look, but the ruse had at least worked on the Doctor as the Time Lord smiled back at her.
"Well, I can talk." He laughed. "New new Doctor."
Cassandra smiled back at him.
So, that was her way in. Play the pretty blonde, smile and bat her eyelids at him as she acted ever so impressed by his brilliance.
But this wasn't going to work with Peter.
Rose's memories told her that he wasn't an easy one to deceive and could pick up a lie extremely easily. His four legged side also made him just as dangerous as the Time Lord.
Then again, he was a man. A species that Cassandra had plenty of dealings with and plenty of experience of knowing how they operated. Already she had an idea of how she was going to quash any lingering suspicions he might have of her.
Cassandra's lips twisted into a smile as she turned back to the Doctor.
"Mmm, aren't you just." She purred.
Before the Doctor could respond, she grabbed hold of his coat's collar and pulled him down towards her into a fiery and passionate kiss. Feeling his initial shock wear away, Cassandra wasn't in the least bit surprised that he did not pull away from her.
Daring to peep out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Peter had already turned away from them and seemed to be intently focused on anything but her and the Doctor kissing one another.
Men! They were so predictable.
Finally, just as they were both on the verge of running out of oxygen, she released the Doctor from her grip.
Stood facing one another for a moment, completely breathless from the exchange, the Doctor was the first to react.
"Oh… that…" He tried to say. "Okay..."
"T-terminal's this way." Cassandra breathed, pointing over her shoulder. "Come on."
Stood watching her go, the Doctor found himself completely dumbfounded by what had just happened.
Aware that the very public display of affection was now thankfully over, Peter felt able to at last take his eyes away from specific spot on the distant wall he had been staring at.
"I'm not one to judge." He began. "But what the hell was that all about?"
The Doctor shrugged in response.
"Looks like I've still got it."
Smirking, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and wondered off after Rose as she led the way off the wing.
Now stood on his own, Peter rolled his eyes.
"Well," he said, catching the eye of the icy white man. "That wasn't awkward at all."
The man blinked at him, blankly as though unsure of the situation himself.
With a long, exasperated sigh, Peter turned away and followed after his fellow travellers. With any luck an investigation might tone down the public displays for the rest of the day.
The terminal turned out to be a large screen mounted onto the wall at the end of secluded corridor some distance away from the wing that was housing the Face of Boe.
Fortunately, this meant that no one else was around as the Doctor began to hack into hospital's mainframe with the help of the sonic screwdriver. In no time at all he was searching through dozens of floors and the detailed readings about their contents.
"Nope, nothing odd." He tutted. "No sign of a shop. They should have a shop."
Peter watched as The Doctor pulled out a pair of thick tortoise shell framed glasses and slipped them on as he peered at the screen almost to the point that his nose was mere inches away from its surface.
Having seen the man read a dozen complicated ordinance survey maps and strewn notes from a good distance away with little difficulty, he doubted that the Time Lord really needed them.
Then again, maybe they were merely part of his deducting process. Along with the suit and tie, they could almost give off the impression of someone who knew what they were actually doing.
Stood besides the Doctor, and peering just as intently at the screen, Cassandra scanned over every detail of the large blueprint.
"No, it's missing something else." She insisted. "When I was downstairs, those nurse cat nuns were talking about intensive care. Where is it?"
"You're right." The Doctor acknowledged. "Well done."
Cassandra could have laughed. For such an intelligent man, the Doctor was so very stupid sometimes.
"ICU units shouldn't be too far away from the main part of the hospital." Peter added, peering over her as he looked at the screen. "But I don't see it anywhere."
"It's got to be there somewhere." Cassandra told the Doctor. "Search the sub-frame."
The Time Lord was surprised by this. Since when did Rose know about sub-frames? Had he previously taught her about them, or had he just been talking about them at one point and she had obviously been listening well enough to understand about them?
Still, he could not recall mentioning them, especially ones that were located in a building five billion years into her future.
Nevertheless, he obliged and pointed the sonic screwdriver once again in the direction of the terminal.
"What if the sub-frame's locked?" He asked as he began to scan the screen.
"Try the installation protocol." She told him. "Obviously."
"Yeah. Of course. Sorry, hold on..."
After a moment more of hacking the system, the Doctor felt the sonic screwdriver judder slightly as he managed to trip the security protocols.
Somewhere beneath their feet there was a loud clunk of a sound as, rather incredibly, the entire section of the wall the screen was attached to then began to slide down and vanish into a conceded opening in the floor.
"Well, that's something I wasn't expecting." Peter muttered. "They didn't want this found, that's for sure."
The wall had been hiding a dimly-lit corridor, one with a rough concrete floor and metal walls lined with exposed pipes. The complete opposite of the rest of the hospital, it did not look as though it led to anywhere a critically ill patient should be taken to.
Undeterred and smiling at her brilliance, Cassandra stepped over the threshold and confidently led the way inside.
"Intensive care." The Doctor commented as he and Peter followed after her. "Certainly looks intensive."
The wall behind them was already starting to slide back up, and it would soon conceal them and the corridor to all but those who knew it was already there. Novice Hame arrived just in time to see the wall obscure the Doctor and his companions from view as the wall continued to rise up click back into place.