"Get out of here! Come on!" the Doctor ordered the newly arrived police officers.

"Why the rush? What happens here? What are you trying to hide here?" the commanding officer asked, peering into the basement and discovering the bodies of Juun and her employees. "What's happened? What have you done?"

"I'll explain later, now get out." His voice brooked no discussion

The commanding officer obeyed the Time Lord and gave the order to retreat. Outside the house a young pregnant woman was running towards them.

"Michael!" she said. "Thank God you're alright"

"Iness!" Michael exclaimed, going to hug her.

"Don't touch her," the gallifreyan said again with imperative voice.

"Why not?" the man asked.

"Isbor could be hiding in your body and move to hers with your contact."

He was right, so Michael moved away from his wife.

"Is this your missing husband, madam?" the commanding officer asked Iness.

"Yes he is," she replied.

In the arms of Doctor Sarah began to come round.

"Sarah," the Doctor whispered tenderly. "Are you alright, darling?" he asked, leaving her gently on the ground and helping her to stand.

"I'm hungry," the girl answered dizzy.

"Do you want ...?" the gallifreyan started asking, pulling away the scarf from his neck.

"Doctor, you taste delicious but I want a real sandwich," she said smiling. He smiled and kissed her forehead. That meant that the journalist was not under the influence of Isbor. "Hey, where are we? This is not the basement," the girl said to see that they were on the outside. "What's happened?"

"That's what I want to know," the commanding officer said. "I counted nine bodies in there and I demand an explanation immediately."

"What's your name?" the Doctor asked.

"Captain Coppens," the officer began to respond.

"Well, Captain Coppens, the first thing you should know is that we are the victims, not the perpetrators, okay?" Coppens nodded without being convinced. "In that house lived an alien parasite, Isbor was his name, which was hidden inside a bonsai and had brainwashed some poor and desperate people whom he had become a sort of life sucker vampires who worshiped him as a god. Those who refused to worship him were eaten. That was our destiny but we managed to stop them and run and now, could you please give the order to burn that house? The parasite may still be alive, hidden there ... or in any of us." He explained briefly and clearly.

There was silence. Among the police gathered there no one dared to say anything, perplexed by the words they had just heard.

"Do you realize that this makes no sense?" Coppens asked angry at such a crazy story.

"My friend, don't make the mistake of thinking that you are the only inhabitants of the universe," the Doctor said taking the captain's hands and placing them on his chest. Coppens's face paled when he felt the double beat of the Time Lord.

"Lieutenant Nilis, order to burn this house. Immediately," the Captain commanded.

"Yes, sir."

"As for you, come with me to the station. You have to tell me the whole story, no matter how absurd it is," he told the Doctor and his companions.

"Could you give her some food there? The poor girl has not taken solid food for three days," the gallifreyan asked referring to Sarah.

"Yes, no problem."

Marie timidly approached the Doctor and made gesture of wanting to touch his chest to find out why the captain had changed his mind so quickly. The gallifreyan smiled at the woman and placed her hands in such a way that she felt his two hearts.

"Definitely you are not like us," she said in amazement.

When they reached the police station the Doctor apologized and walked away, leaving Sarah there, eating a sandwich they had brought her. He had gone to the TARDIS, where he sought in a couple of closets until he found what he wanted: A rod a little thicker and longer than his sonic screwdriver which emitted a flashing red light accompanied by a soft beep. He ran the rod over his body, making sure that neither the light nor the beep varied in their rhythm and intensity.

"You aren't inside me Isbor. It's very foolish of you, I was the best option," he said smiling.

With the rod still in hand he left the TARDIS and went to join the others.

"I'm back. How was your sandwich, Sarah?" he asked his partner.

"Delicious: an exquisite blend of flavours. I really enjoyed it," she said happily.

"I'm glad."

"What's that?" Coppens asked pointing to the rod.

"This is a scanner of alien life. It serves to detect if any of us is the new host of Isbor. I already checked it in myself and I'm clean. Now I will check if you're well too. I'm going to set it to 'human'," he said by turning a small knob of the rod. At the moment the red light stopped flashing and became brighter, and the beep became louder and faster.

"What happens?" Sarah asked.

"It's set to 'human' and I'm not human," he answered. "Do me a favour, Sarah. Take this and run it over your body. No fear, it's harmless."

When Sarah took the device it returned to its original state. The girl ran it over her body looking for some trace of the odious parasite without the rod change. She sighed with relief.

"Good girl. Now do the same with the rest."

"Who's first?" the girl asked.

"I myself," Coppens said. "It's my job to set an example to others."

The officer let the reporter do what the Doctor asked for, with good results for him.

"Next," Sarah said.

One by one, the prisoners of the house and the police officers were subjected to the scrutiny of the rod without anyone showed signs of having the parasite inside. There was only one person to be examined. Iness Rur took a hesitant step towards the girl.

"You too," the Doctor said to see that the young woman didn't dare.

"Is it necessary?" Michael asked.

"Do you want to be Isbor's father?" the gallifreyan answered. Don't worry; this is not bad for your baby."

Iness went to Sarah and let the journalist examine her with the device. She was also clean. Both women smiled. Michael approached and gave his wife the hug that he could not give her when they reunited.

"Very well," the Doctor said. "If Isbor survived he stayed in the house."

"They're proceeding to its destruction," Coppens said.

"Glad to hear this."

"Doctor, during your absence I have been told what happened in that house," the Captain said.

"And now you need my statement to complete the report."

"What your partner has told is enough. Don't worry, in the report you appear as mere tourists that you found with this by chance."

"And that's what we are ... more or less."

"Some of those who died had families who once reported their disappearances. How do I explain this?" Coppens asked bitterly.

"Tell them that they were caught by a sect and they committed mass suicide. Unfortunately these things happen," the Doctor said with the same bitter voice. "Captain, we had not gone to the house if not for Casper Mermans and Abir Maes. I want to place on record the credit they deserve in the report."

"It shall be done," Coppens said.

"It's been thanks to them and the revolution of the food ... well, you can omit this latest from the report."

"Doctor, there are many things that I have to omit from the report."

The End