CHAPTER 20

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WILL THE REAL KATE STEWART PLEASE STAND UP?

Sergeant Chris Benton was just going through what he thought was just another ordinary day as a security guard in the Black Archive (although to be honest he was never quite sure just how many days he had actually worked there never mind if they had all truly been ordinary or not) when the first of what would become a series of extremely weird events started to happen to him. He had barely registered the presence of his boss Kate Stewart at first when she first walked up to him showing her security pass and was just about to let her go through to the Archive without hesitation when his eyes suddenly widened in horror as a sudden sickening realization hit him like a sledgehammer.

He had already let her inside the archive not ten minutes earlier.

"Well, what is it, Sergeant? Is there a problem?" Kate asked in an impatient voice.

"Ma'am, how did you get back out without my seeing you?" Chris asked in confusion.

"What on Earth are you talking about, Sergeant? I've only just gotten here and I'm already running late. I need to get inside the Archive in order to attend a very important meeting so if you could please just open the door I would greatly appreciate it," Kate said with an annoyed look

"There's something very wrong here then if you're just arrived, Ma'am, because I just let you in there ten minutes ago just as the meeting was starting," Chris insisted.

Kate immediately looked completely surprised and alarmed as she said, "That's impossible. Are you sure that it wasn't just someone who looked similar to me?"

"No, I saw your security pass, Ma'am. I mean the other you's security pass that is. It looked absolutely identical to the one that you have now," Chris said without hesitation.

"I can't take any chances. I'll have to assume that we've just been infiltrated by alien shape shifters of some sort. Sound an alert and lock down the entire area immediately, Sergeant. Don't let anyone in or out," Kate said in a stern voice.

"Ma'am, ordinarily I'd love to do that but . . . Well, how do I know that you're really you and the other Kate Stewart wasn't the real one?" Chris asked in a hesitant tone.

Kate began to smile now even as an exact duplicate of Chris emerged from the shadows as she said, "Very clever, Sergeant. You're definitely far more intelligent than I expected one of your species to be. Too bad that won't do you any good in the end though. You're going to be just as dead either way I'm afraid."

The duplicate of Chris now held his hand up and part of it opened to reveal a gun inside of it as Chris said in a horrified voice, "Autons."

Auton Kate immediately gave him a look of renewed appreciation then as she said, "That's good. Always know your enemy, Sergeant. Like I said, you're very intelligent for a human. Either that or I've greatly underestimated your entire species. Not that it really matters either way I suppose since you're all going to be extinct soon. Kill him."

Auton Chris now pointed his hand gun directly at the real Chris and was just about to quickly carry out his orders when suddenly a strange electronic buzzing sound filled the air behind him. Auton Chris immediately slumped over like a puppet that had just had its strings cut a second later as Auton Kate practically growled in frustration.

"Doctor!" Auton Kate hissed.

"I'm going to take that reaction as proof that you're not the actual Kate Stewart. Either that or I've down something even worse than usual in the future that you're none too happy about," The Doctor said with a grimace.

Missy snorted with derision as she said, "Knowing you it could easily be either option."

"Oi! I thought you were supposed to be nicer now," The Doctor said with a frown of disapproval.

Missy shook her head in amusement as she said, "No, no, dear. You just returned me back to my original personality. That's all. Nothing more or less I'm afraid. And let's face it I was never that nice to start with, was I?"

The Doctor's frowned deepened as he said, "No, you used to be a bit of a jerk actually."

"What can I say? You asked for it, didn't you? Still happy you changed me?" Missy said with a wry grin.

"I'm not so sure about that at the moment. As long as you're not trying to kill me anymore though, I suppose that'll have to do for now," The Doctor said in an uncertain voice.

"Yes, we must thank heaven for small mercies I suppose," Missy said with a smirk as she pointed her laser screwdriver at a still furious Auton Kate.

"I know you despite that ridiculous outfit that you're currently wearing. You're the Master. You should be helping us against him as you did once before. Don't throw away a golden opportunity here. Soon this entire planet will be ours. If you help us now, you'll have power beyond your wildest dreams once we're successful," Auton Kate promised.

The Doctor looked at Missy warily now as she actually seemed to be considering this before quickly saying with a wicked laugh, "Power beyond my wildest dreams, huh? Somehow I seriously doubt that, poppet. My dreams can be pretty wild, you know? So can I really in case you were wondering. Care to find out just how wild?"

"Surrender now or I'll kill you both where you stand," Auton Kate ordered as her hand opened to reveal a gun.

"Oh, please! Me being killed by an Auton? I'd never let that be my epitaph. I'd never live it down. Everyone in the universe would be snickering at me for the rest of eternity," The Doctor said with a pouting look.

"I know I certainly would," Missy said with a chuckle.

The Doctor immediately winced in response to her teasing as he said, "See? It's already started. No, that is definitely not going to happen."

"I'm afraid that there's nothing that you can do to stop it now, Doctor. I can assure you that my superior reflexes are far faster than you are with your sonic screwdriver and whatever that is that she has there. Say good bye, Doctor. Perhaps you could suggest a more fitting epitaph to me while you're at it. Don't worry. I'll make certain that it's used," Auton Kate said with a malevolent grin as she pointed her hand gun straight at the Doctor's chest.

"I just bet you would," Clara suddenly said from behind the Auton in an angry voice.

Then before Auton Kate could even begin to turn around to defend herself Clara instantly disintegrated her with a staser set on full power. Clara actually blew on the barrel of the gun as she gave the Doctor a triumphant smile afterwards.

"Alright, I'm afraid that's it, Clara. No more hanging around with River for you. You're becoming way too much like her lately," The Doctor said in a stern voice.

"And what's wrong with that?" Amy said in an annoyed voice as she and Rory quickly joined Clara.

"Nothing, Pond. Nothing whatsoever," The Doctor quickly said with an over-exaggerated smile.

"Okay, what is up with you lately, Chin Boy? Have Jenny or Susan been giving you lessons on how to hold your tongue or something? You just kept yourself from putting your foot in your mouth for the second time in two days. I'm seriously beginning to suspect that you might be an Auton now," Clara joked.

"We should be so lucky," Missy said with a frown.

"She's definitely holding a grudge against him for changing her isn't she?" Amy said as she gave an obviously irritated Doctor a sympathetic look.

"I'm not sure. You see she always treated him like this even before she became the Master so it's kind of hard to tell," Clara admitted with a shrug.

"And you wanted her to return to being like this for what reason exactly?" Amy asked the Doctor in disbelief.

"Well, having her being extra snarky and grumpy all of the time is still much better than having her actively trying to kill him," Rory pointed out.

"Sounds like you speak from experience there, Mr. Pond," Clara couldn't resist saying.

"Hey, watch it, Shorty! I'm still your grandmother, you know?" Amy said in an angry tone before briefly flashing Clara a quick smile that let her know that she was just joking with her.

"I can still never figure out when she's actually mad and when she isn't," Maia said as she arrived with Jenny and Susan.

"Neither can anyone else. That's why we always try to keep her as happy and content as possible," The Doctor said as he gave Amy a nervous smile while Rory silently nodded his head in approval behind her.

"Oh, you'll see me being very happy and content in a minute if you don't shut up, Raggedy Man," Amy threatened.

"Now, that's a perfect example of her being actually angry right there," Jenny said to Maia with a wicked grin.

"Very angry," Susan added with a shudder.

That was when Chris, who had been watching them in silence while being filled with growing confusion during all of this, suddenly spoke up and said, "So is that it then? Is the invasion over?"

The Doctor looked at him as if he had just learned to walk as he said to him as if he were a child, "Is it over? Do you really think that a highly sophisticated alien invasion plan could ever be that simple, Sergeant . . . ?"

"Benton, Sir. I'm Sergeant Christopher Benton," Chris as he eagerly saluted who he was now almost sure was the actual Doctor.

Although who could tell after what had just happened?

The Doctor smiled at him fondly now as he said, "Benton, eh? I used to know another Sergeant Benton once back in the 70s or the 80s. I'm not sure of the exact date to be honest. I often get decades mixed up."

"Not to mention centuries and millenniums," Missy quipped.

"Oi! I'm not that bad. I'm usually exactly on time wherever I go," The Doctor protested.

Amy loudly cleared her throat now which made him instantly cringe in response as he said defensively, "One time. I was late one time for a couple of years and she never, ever lets it go."

"Twelve years, Doctor. Twelve," Amy said with a deep frown.

"I'm the grandson of the Sergeant Benton that you're talking about, Sir. He often told me stories about you growing up," Chris said happily.

"Did he? What did he say about me? Did he tell you how handsome, dashing, and clever that I was?" The Doctor said with a smug look.

Chris frowned as he said, "Not exactly. He did say that you were always the one that saved everyone else's bacon though and kept your cool no matter what. He always talked about how loved that you were by all of the UNIT personnel too even the Brigadier despite all of the headaches that you gave him."

The Doctor smiled at him with a huge grin of approval now as he said, "Yeah, those were the days weren't they? Everyone knew exactly how brilliant and indispensable that I am and gave me the utmost respect at all times."

Then he gave Missy a dirty look as he said, "Unlike today."

"He also talked about how you always got the best looking assistants of anyone there. The way he described them they sounded like movie stars or something," Chris said.

"Really? Tell me more," Clara said in a jealous tone.

"They were just friends. Just very close friends and nothing more like we were before I knew who you were," The Doctor quickly said in an anxious voice.

"I know. I had an echo there, remember? I just couldn't resist making you sweat a little," Clara said with a warm smile as she kissed him.

Chris immediately grimaced as he said, "She's your wife isn't she? I'm sorry, Sir. I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"Don't worry. They always do this. They love teasing one another," Maia said to him with a reassuring smile.

Then she became filled with both terror and surprise at the same time as she realized that she had just spoken to him. Jenny and Susan meanwhile were both looking at her in shock because she never spoke to strangers at all much less that casually.

Chris however had a completely different reaction. An almost stunned look came over his face as he stared at her with his mouth hanging open in awe as if he had had been instantly stricken speechless by her presence there.

"A – Are you okay?" Maia asked in a nervous stutter out of concern.

"I, uh, I –" Chris said in a struggling voice as if he couldn't quite speak.

Maia actually smiled now as she said in a conspiratorial tone that was filled with kindness and sympathy, "It's okay. I get nervous around people I don't know too. I understand perfectly."

Clara couldn't help but smile at her naivety because she knew that his troubles with speaking had nothing whatsoever to do with being shy.

"That's funny. The Benton I knew had absolutely no problems whatsoever talking to girls. He was always constantly hitting on Jo as I remember. Of course it's not like she was actively discouraging it," The Doctor said with a fond smile.

"Oh, Dad! No one said anything about anyone flirting with anyone. We were just talking. Isn't that right, Sergeant?" Maia said with a groan as she rolled her eyes at her father.

"I – I –" Chris said as he struggled to speak.

"You just can't get him to shut up can you? There's nothing but talk, talk, talk constantly with that one," Missy said sarcastically.

"He's just shy. There's nothing wrong with that," Maia said defensively as she put a sympathetic hand on Chris' shoulder.

A huge smile immediately came over Chris' face as he suddenly blushed bright red while Clara struggled not to laugh. She didn't want Maia to think that she was making fun of her after all because she knew how sensitive that she was.

"Now that's just weird. We look virtually identical but he falls for her and not me," Jenny whispered to Susan in disbelief.

"You sound like you're jealous. I wouldn't have expected that of you at all," Susan whispered back in surprise.

Jenny smiled and shook her head as she whispered, "No, of course not. I just can't help noticing that he seemed to fall for who she is on the inside. I actually think that's very sweet, Susan."

Susan nodded in approval as she said, "Too bad nothing is likely to come of it. Mother will probably never even realize what's happening."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Jenny said with a thoughtful look on her face.

Before Susan could question her further about this, the Doctor suddenly exclaimed, "I knew it! There are more Autons here according to the sonic and there's also . . . No, that can't be right. Can it?"

"What can't, Chinny?" Clara asked with concern as she stared at the sonic screwdriver's readout alongside him.

"The sonic is picking up not just Autons but also the electronic signals of androids somewhere nearby as well. Those signals look so familiar to me but I can't quite place them. Where have I seen them before? Think! Think!" The Doctor said as he hit himself in the forehead.

"So there are androids too? Autons don't use androids though. Why would they?" Missy said with an uneasy look.

The Doctor's face filled with excitement now as he said to Chris, "How did you know that Auton Kate wasn't the real Kate?"

Chris had to focus on the Doctor instead of Maia in order to speak now as he said, "It's because I had just let her in minutes earlier, Sir."

The Doctor smiled at him with all of the unrestrained joy of a child now as he said, "I thought so. What if that wasn't the real Kate either though? What if the reason that the Auton Kate was so taken by surprise by another Kate being here is because she thought that she had gotten rid of the real one somehow?"

"I hope not. I like Kate," Clara said with concern.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she's fine, Clara. She knows far too much and is far too stubborn about giving up her secrets for them to kill her. They'll need her in case their plan fails . . . kind of like it just did. This other Kate though must be yet another imposter if my theory is right. She was an android imposter this time apparently. That makes me automatically think of Count Grendel on Tara with that humungous nose of his that could put out the nearest sun, but I don't think these signals belong to his androids. No, this is . . . Yes, that's it! It's the Kraals. The Kraals are sending android duplicates to invade the Earth . . . again. They just never know when to quit, do they?"

"Oh, not them again! They were complete idiots. They were even worse than the Autons as I remember. I manipulated them just like puppets once because they were so unbelievably stupid," Missy said with a sigh.

"And just who are the Kraals exactly for those of us who came in late?" Amy asked in confusion.

"They live on a completely devastated planet called Oseidon that's so filled with radiation that they can't survive on it anymore. That's why they try to use androids to invade other worlds so that they can conquer them and start all over again somewhere else. They've already tried this before on Earth believe it or not, Pond," The Doctor explained.

Amy shrugged as she said, "Doesn't everybody? Is there a single alien race who hasn't tried to invade this planet at least once?"

The Doctor thought long and hard for a moment before saying, "None that come to mind. I'm sure there has to be at least one though."

"Shouldn't we be trying to do something about the Kraals and Autons, Grandfather?" Susan prodded as he continued to stand there deep in thought.

"I'm not sure I'll even need to, Susan. They seem to be doing a pretty good job of getting in each other's way so far," The Doctor said with a mischievous grin.

Suddenly the entire base went on alert as the voice of Kate Stewart, or at least one of her anyway, said on the intercom, "Initiating complete shutdown. Several of the guests attending the meeting have been confirmed to be Autons. All available units report immediately to the conference room."

The Doctor looked in triumph at Susan as he said, "See? The Autons and the androids are doing my job for me this time."

Then he frowned as he looked at Chris and said, "What meeting are they holding today anyway, Sergeant?"

Chris hesitated at first and then said, "Well, I'm not supposed to say but I suppose since it's you that it would be okay. It's a secret meeting of all of the world's leaders. They decided to come here to talk because this was supposed to be the most secure place on Earth what with all of the mind wiping and all."

"Of course it's okay. I have the highest of clearances for every kind of secret that there is. I know everyone's secrets," The Doctor reassured him.

"You certainly try to anyway. No one could ever keep his big nose out of their business for long as I remember growing up," Missy said with a chuckle.

"Isn't that the truth?" Clara agreed as she laughed along with her.

"I have absolutely no idea what the two of you are talking about," The Doctor said indignantly.

"Does that whole mess with the Rani not ring any bells, Doctor? She practically tore your head off when she caught you going through her room back at the Academy. I had to get in-between the two of you in order to save your life," Clara said with a fond smile.

"And what were you doing snooping around in a girl's room, Doctor?" Amy asked in an intrigued voice.

"I thought she stole my very first sonic screwdriver prototype when it suddenly went missing, and I was searching her room for it. It turns out it was one of the Master's little pranks though because he thought that it would be funny to get Ushas to beat me into my next regeneration," The Doctor said as he shot Missy an angry look.

"And again I have to ask why did you want her as a friend exactly? So far I'm not seeing any upside here," Amy said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I was just joking around with him. He knows that. I would have stepped in myself and stopped Ushas before it all got too out of hand if Kore hadn't shown up . . . eventually," Missy said with a wicked grin.

Then another alert went out as Kate Stewart or a reasonable facsimile anyway said, "That was not me on the intercom! Repeat, that was not the real Kate Stewart speaking! I was being held captive by the Autons until just recently and both they and a set of Kraal androids are currently replacing several members of the conference. All available units are to capture everyone even me as soon as you see me just to make sure that the fake Kate doesn't escape."

Then Kate Stewart came on again as she said, "Countermand those orders! That wasn't the real Kate either. It was an Axonite created clone. Don't follow any of her commands. I repeat. Do not follow her commands. All units are to do their best to contain any and all alien threats on their own recognizance and not to accept any further orders from any version of me period."

"Now, this is getting ridiculous, Fezzie. Just how many Kates are there around here?" Clara said in disbelief.

"Axos is here too? It's like all of your old playmates have just decided to show up at once for some reason. You've worked with all three of them at one point or another against me in the past," The Doctor said as he looked at Missy suspiciously.

Missy immediately shook her head and said in a pleading tone, "I have nothing to do with any of this whatsoever, Theta. I promise. I have no more idea of what's going on than you do right now."

"I believe you . . . for the moment," The Doctor said in a hopeful voice.

Missy gave him what the Doctor felt was a genuine smile then as she said, "I wouldn't do that to you despite how much I've been teasing you. Not now."

The Doctor nodded and briefly smiled back at her before turning back towards Chris and saying, "Exactly what are the world's leaders meeting about. You never did say."

"I wasn't sure if I should actually," Chris said in a hesitant tone.

The Doctor sighed in exasperation as he said, "I already told you that I had ultra top secret clearance to know everything everywhere, Sergeant, so it's really not a problem. It's very important that I know what's happening right away so I can put a stop to all of this. They have to all be coming here for some reason, and I'm sure it's not just to sample the local sweets as great as those are."

"Yeah, I highly doubt they're all here to raid our supply of jelly babies, Doctor," Amy said with a grin.

"That's Mr. Chin's job," Clara added with a giggle.

Chris shook his head as he said, "No, it's not about candy at all. The conference is about . . ."

Then he turned to the Doctor and said in a worried tone, "They didn't want you to know because they weren't sure how you'd react."

"Know about what? Tell me," The Doctor demanded in a furious voice that instantly caused Clara to put a restraining hand on his shoulder when she saw Chris move back in fear.

"Hey, he's not the enemy, yeah?" Clara reminded him.

"I wonder. It's starting to become hard to tell exactly who our enemies are around here at the moment, Clara, and I mean that in more ways than one if Kate has been hiding something from me. Exactly what is this meeting about and why are all of my enemies suddenly so interested in it?" The Doctor asked Chris once more.

"I believe I can answer that for you, Doctor," The voice of Kate Stewart said behind him.

"Yes, I should certainly hope so, whoever you are," The Doctor said as he turned to face yet another Kate Stewart while scanning her with his sonic.

Kate smiled as she said, "Satisfied that I'm human yet?"

The Doctor nodded as he said, "Yes, but that still doesn't let you off the hook with me just yet. Exactly what have you been hiding from me, Kate, and why does everyone in the universe seem to want to be here all of a sudden?"

Kate's smile widened even more now and instantly took on sinister undertones as she said, "It actually works then. Even you can't tell."

The Doctor began to have a sinking feeling in his hearts now as he said, "What works exactly?"

Kate began to laugh while shifting into a Rutan form and then back again as she said, "Why, a specially created shimmer that we designed to provide us with the ultimate disguise, Doctor, so that we could finally win the war against Sontar at last. It's specifically designed to be able to fool even the most advanced technology in the universe into thinking that its user is anyone or anything that they appear to be or even that they aren't there at all. It can completely fool all five senses as well making it the ideal weapon to use for subterfuge or sabotage. It's perfect for any shape shifters or androids who wish to plot a secret invasion without any fear of being discovered. The humans discovered the prototype after it crash landed on their planet when the Sontarans shot down the ship carrying it, and they were holding an emergency meeting among this world's top countries on how best to use it. Anyone possessing it would have a near unstoppable military after all."

"Typical. All they can think of is the military capabilities instead of how dangerous it would be in anyone's hands. They should have destroyed it immediately," The Doctor protested.

"Luckily for us they didn't because we got to it first while the other lesser races fought each other to a standstill instead. Now we will finally gain the ultimate advantage over Sontar at last. First though, I think I'll test it out here on the Earth just to make sure that it's completely foolproof by posing as a major world leader while they're currently occupied here and issuing orders to start a nuclear weapons launch. That would truly be the ultimate test of its capabilities, don't you think?" Rutan Kate said with no concern whatsoever.

"And what makes you think I'm going to allow you to do that?" The Doctor said as he stared the Rutan down.

"You're really not going to have much of a choice, are you?" Rutan Kate said with a wicked smile.

Then she suddenly turned around and shouted to a small army of UNIT soldiers who suddenly walked into the area, "This is not the Doctor! It's a group of Zygons posing as him and his friends. They're trying to get to the world leaders at the conference! I want them all terminated with extreme prejudice immediately."

As the soldiers all aimed their weapons at the Doctor and the others while Rutan Kate raced off, Missy said, "Well, at least you finally know for sure that I have nothing to do with this, don't you? They're all about to shoot me too right along with you."

"Somehow that isn't very reassuring right now, Koschei," The Doctor said in an annoyed tone.

"It is to me. Now you finally know at last that you can trust me. It's one last small victory even at the end," Missy said with a mad grin as she showed no concern whatsoever.

"Yeah, I've definitely made up my mind about her now, Doctor. She definitely takes the title of Worst Friend Ever hands down," Amy said as she looked at Missy as if she had completely lost her mind.

Next: Can the Doctor and the others possibly survive being gunned down in a hail of bullets? Even if they do, how will they ever be able to tell which Kate is which in time to stop the Rutan Kate from starting a nuclear war? Exactly what did happen to the real Kate anyway and will anyone still be alive to find out? We'll find out the answers to all of these questions in the next chapter as yet another old enemy of the Doctor's enters the fray. Whose side will they be on and will they wind up making things better or worse?