"NO! Sarah Jane!" Clyde shouted, managing to break out of the Sontaran's grip.
He rushed to Penny and Sarah Jane, checking them both over. Kaagh watched the scene with a disgusted frown.
"They live. The two females are my prize to take back to Sontar once Earth is destroyed. There, they will pay for the Doctor's crimes." the Sontaran said with a smug tone.
Clyde tried to revive the pair but neither stirred. He looked up at Kaagh, furious.
"We'll stop you. There's only one of you."
"One Sontaran is all it takes." Kaagh said.
He studied Clyde for a few seconds and then looked at Skinner.
"Secure them with the other female." he instructed.
Skinner came for Penny first. At first Clyde went to resist and stop him from taking her but he didn't have a choice. He watched as Skinner moved Penny and Sarah Jane into a room off to the side.
.
Luke was battling to stay calm. He was still horrified that the Sontaran had shot his mother and sister and things weren't getting any better since he had seen them being dragged off by Skinner.
"We need to do something." Maria murmured to him.
Luke nodded and they both stayed hidden waiting for the right time to make a move.
.
Clyde was still kneeling on the floor when Kaagh grabbed him. He was dragged to his feet and winced as Kaagh tightened his grip.
"Your species' biology is primitive. Laboratory analysis at my ship could provide valuable information for the High Command." Kaagh announced.
Clyde struggled to get free, looking for an escape route. His eyes widened as a grill in the corner of the room was pushed open. He could see Maria and Luke inside, shouting at him to join them. Clyde threw his elbow back, hoping that it would allow him to get free. Kaagh released him and stumbled back, giving Clyde enough time to dart across the room and into the grill. He slipped inside and Maria replaced the grill, all of them disappearing away.
Kaagh let out a loud growl, stormed forwards and wrenched the grill away. He then gave chase.
.
With longer legs, the children were faster but they had little idea of where they were heading. They kept stopping to look down passages, waiting for Luke to point them the way he and Maria had come.
"Boy, that guy has a big case of little man complex." Clyde joked as they ran along.
Any jokes he had lined up were silenced when a red blast slammed into the concrete wall of the underground bunker. The teenagers pushed on, driving as fast as they could through the maze of bare concrete walls. They could hear Kaagh's angry cries echoing around and it was impossible to tell how close he was.
"Which way?" Maria asked as they came to a junction.
"This way." Luke answered.
He ran down the corridor. The others followed him, quickly. Soon Kaagh found the junction. He stopped and sniffed the air, looking around. He smiled as he got the scent and then followed them.
It was getting darker in the tunnels. The lights rarely worked and the ones that did were on their last legs. They were trusting Luke's memory completely but even Luke was sounding unsure. He was sure he had missed a turning in the darkness. However he knew that they didn't have time to stop and wait.
"I can't see." Clyde moaned.
Another cry echoed around. This one seemed louder than any of the others had been.
"He's catching up!" Maria gasped.
They pressed on harder than they had before. Each of them were getting tired. They all wanted to stop for a rest but they knew they couldn't risk it.
"How far does this bunker go on for?" Clyde panted as he ran.
"Miles." Luke answered simply.
Clyde remarked about how the bunker could be really useful if Kaagh did manage to crash the satellites but no one wanted to think about that. They suddenly found a set of stairs. Luke watched the stairs for a few seconds. They hadn't come across a set of stairs on their way in.
"I think I took a wrong turn, sorry." Luke said.
Clyde pushed his friend up the stairs, telling him that it didn't matter. There was a door at the top of the stairs and sunlight was creeping in around it. They tried the handle but it was rusted shut.
"Come on." Clyde moaned, giving all his strength into opening the handle.
The other teenagers did the same and, with a metallic groan, the door opened. Kaagh rushed up the stairs, blasting towards the teenagers as they slipped out of the door. They pressed the door shut on the Sontaran. Luke looked around. He was desperate to find something he could use to wedge the door. He stopped when he saw a log. Racing towards it, he picked it up and returned to the door. Clyde and Maria had pressed themselves against it, keeping Kaagh from escaping. They managed to wedge the door with the log and smiled at their handy work.
As Kaagh beat against the door and the log stayed in place, they turned to hurry away.
.
Sarah Jane gasped as she sat up. She felt dizzy and slightly sick. She rubbed her head and realised that she had been put on the floor in a small room. Her eyes widened as her memories flooded back and she glanced around.
"Penny?" she managed, her throat dry.
She smiled slightly when she saw her daughter was slumped in an armchair in the room. Penny was still unconscious but Sarah Jane was relieved to see her.
Slowly she looked around the room. It was a small narrow room taken up mostly by two desks and the armchair. Both of the desks were littered with pieces of equipment and there was a watercooler in the corner. Sarah Jane gasped as she saw movement but relaxed when she saw it was Lucy. She was offered a drink from Lucy and got to her feet.
"Where's Clyde?" Sarah Jane asked as Lucy handed her a cup of water.
"I don't know. Dad looked you and her in here." Lucy answered.
She looked very worried as she asked Sarah Jane what was wrong with her dad. Having drunk her water, Sarah Jane knelt down beside the armchair and tried to revive Penny. The girl's eyes opened after a few seconds and, although she looked confused, she offered her mother a small smile.
Sarah Jane got Penny a drink of water as she explained what had happened to Skinner.
"He's being controlled by an alien, a Sontaran." Sarah Jane said.
She looked at the armchair for Penny but Penny was trying the door. It was locked. Penny grumbled about their lack of sonic screwdriver. Sarah Jane moved towards her daughter. The teenager was playing with a piece of equipment.
"We need to get out of here." Penny said. "Who knows what Kaagh's doing to Clyde."
.
Alan was sitting in his kitchen still talking to Chrissie. She seemed to still be in disbelief about the whole idea of them moving.
"America?" she breathed. "You and Maria are moving to America."
"If I take the job." Alan said.
He tried to change the subject, bringing up the new sports car that Chrissie had parked on the street. Chrissie ignored it.
"It would be weird not having you around. I'll miss you."
"If I go." Alan stated.
Chrissie rolled her eyes and looked at him.
"Of course you'll go. You live for work. You always have." she told him.
She looked away, looking out of the window and across the street. She couldn't take it all in. She knew that Alan would go. It was the right thing for him to do.
"That's what you don't understand." Alan said. "I live for Maria. I lived for Maria and you. That's all work was ever about – looking after you two. That's why whatever I do, it has to be right for Maria."
There was a pause and silence hung in the air. Chrissie went to say something but faltered and stayed quiet. Then Alan's phone rang. He answered it, frowning.
.
Maria, Luke and Clyde were in the woods, using them for cover. They were all standing around Maria's phone, the mobile being held in the middle of the group so they could all hear the conversation.
"Dad, you have to help us." Maria urged.
"Maria, slow down. What's going on?" Alan asked.
Maria looked between the two boys before answering her phone.
"We're at the Tycho Radio Telescope, near a village called Goblin's Copse. An alien called a Sontaran has captured Sarah Jane and Penny and we have only forty minutes until it destroys the Earth." Maria explained.
"We need you to help us talk to Mr Smith." Luke instructed.
.
"A jamming deivce?" Lucy said, not sounding convinced.
It was the best idea they the trio had had and it was one of the few things they were sure they could make.
"It should interfer with the radio telescope." Penny said with a small nod of confirmation.
"And we're meant to build it?" Lucy stammered.
She looked at the equipment they had lying around and frowned.
"What's wrong?" Sarah Jane asked, clearing one desk of equipment so they had space to work. "Haven't you inherited any scientific aptitude from your father?"
Lucy nodded and said she probably would be able to make one. She was just nervous about it being tracked to them. Sarah Jane told Lucy it was exactly the idea.
.
Alan was heading towards Sarah Jane's house. Maria needed him and that meant he was willing to do anything to make sure his daughter was safe. Chrissie, however, was following him across the road.
"Where are you going Alan? Not to Mary-Jane's, surely?"
Alan looked back at Chrissie and tried to distract her by saying she should return Ivan's car.
"I have to do something for Maria." he added.
"What about Maria?" Chrissie asked.
Alan assured Chrissie that Maria was fine and that she had just left a library book at Sarah Jane's. He said he had agreed to pick it up and return it. Chrissie gave him a suspcious look but relaxed, turned away and walked back to her car. She told him that they still needed to talk through everything about America properly to which Alan nodded. He watched her drive off and then raced to get the spare key and get inside. Chrissie waited a few seconds before reversing back around the corner to check on him.
.
Alan walked into the attic. He slowed down, still mesmerised by it all, but then quickly recovered and looked towards the chimney breast.
"Mister Smith?" he called, not quite sure what he was meant to do.
He paused and thought back to the times that he had been there when Mr Smith had opened.
"Mr Smith, I need you." he said with conviction.
The alien computer opened up with its usual fanfare and hiss and stated that it was strange that Alan was the one who had called him.
"It's that kind of day." Alan remarked.
He fished into his pocket, produced his phone and rung Maria.
.
Chrissie had crept into the garden and smiled when she saw that the window had been left open. She walked over to it and opened it more, climbing into the lounge.
.
Alan was up in the attic. Mr Smith was talking to his phone that Alan held out to the computer. The teenagers on the other end were taking in all the information they could.
"Sontarans are a clone species originating from the planet Sontar. They are fearless, well trained, strategically intellectual, and immensely strong." Mr Smith stated.
Luke asked if they had a weakness to which Mr Smith said they did. It was at this point that Chrissie crept into the attic. She was not noticed by anyone else in the room.
"Sontarans do not eat food. They intake pure energy by means of a probic vent at the base of their skull. This point is their sole weakness." Mr Smith announced.
"What on Earth is going on?" Chrissie demanded, having taken everything in.
Alan turned first, shocked. Maria began to demand what her mum was doing there over the phone. Chrissie continued to ask what was going on and Alan turned away, putting his phone to his ear.
"I think I'm going to have to call you back, Maria." he said and hung up.
.
Clyde let out a low whistle as Maria stared at her phone.
"Sarah Jane's not going to be happy." he remarked.
"It doesn't matter." Luke stated. "All that matters is saving mum and Penny."
Maria paused and then had an idea.
.
"A role-playing game?" Chrissie repeated incrediously.
She didn't believe Alan but he had hustled her out of the house and was trying to get her across the road.
"It's an internet thing." Alan lied. "Only some of it's in the real world. You know, looking for clues, solving puzzles."
Chrissie stopped walking. She looked Alan straight in the eyes and shook her head slowly.
"I don't believe you. I know when you're lying, Alan. I've always known."
She took a deep breath as she came to a sudden realisation.
"Maria's in danger, isn't she? And it's got something to do with Calamity Jane."
"Her name is Sarah Jane." Alan said.
He sighed and looked away. When he looked back he admitted that Sarah Jane fought aliens and Maria helped her.
"Aliens?" Chrissie breathed.
"Yes, they exist. What do you think almost brought the moon crashing down on us?" Alan asked. "Believe me?"
Chrissie silently nodded. Alan looked shocked and, after a few seconds Chrissie explained that Alan's mouth twitched when he told a lie. It had twitched just then.
"Come on." Chrissie said. "We've got to help our daughter."
.
Clyde stared at the Sontaran ship. When Maria had lead them there he had been more than hesistant. Now he was almost ready to pull both Maria and Luke back.
"Whoa. This is your great idea? The Sontaran's space ship?" Clyde said.
"Kaagh said he had a laboratory. If Luke can make a knock out gas, we can use it on him." Maria said.
Clyde smiled at the plan and moved towards the space ship. Maria raced forwards and placed her hand on the control pad. Slowly the ship opened and Luke rushed to work.
.
Sarah Jane moved away from the desk. Lucy was working on the signal jammer and Penny was sitting in the armchair. Sarah Jane moved towards her daughter and stood in front of her.
She looked thoughtful.
"Penny?" Sarah Jane whispered, getting her daughter's attention but not distracting Lucy from her work.
Penny looked up at her mother and offered her a small smile.
"I was just thinking." Penny said. "I'm not much use building the signal jammer."
There was a pause between the two.
"I'm sorry me and Luke ran off with the Doctor to time travel." Penny admitted. "It was stupid and we should have at least told you before running off."
Sarah Jane shook her head and said it didn't matter.
"But you could have lost me and Luke and, with all this, I know I couldn't stand it if something happened and you would be alone." Penny told her mother.
Sarah Jane sat down on the arm of the armchair. She put her arm around her daughter.
"I was just worried, okay. You and Luke put yourselves in danger so much but I'm normally there to help. The idea of you fighting a Dalek and then being some where I couldn't do anything to help, I was worried."
There was a pause as Sarah Jane looked down.
"In a few days, I'm going to be away for a little bit. I was going to bring you and Luke with me but I feel that you and Luke need a rest and would be fine in the house by yourself. Alan can check on you and it'll only be for five days at most." Sarah Jane said.
"You've never left me home alone before." Penny told her.
Sarah Jane nodded and told Penny that it seemed right.
"You're handling everything so well. I'll have to tell Luke but it should be fine." Sarah Jane said.
Penny smiled and hugged her mother.
.
Clyde frowned and Luke scanned the test tubes. The genius was picking up each test tube, studying it for a moment and then deciding if it was useful or not.
"We don't even know what half of these are." Clyde moaned. "They're alien."
Luke smirked and pointed at each of the chemicals, naming them.
"Dylixium chloride, Korazic acid, Lyzirium phosphate. Chemistry lessons with Mister Smith are much more fun than at school." Luke told them.
He continued to search through the chemicals. Then an alarm sounded. Luke looked around and his eyes settled on a motion sensor.
"What is that?" Maria asked from where she had been keeping watch.
"I think we just tripped an alarm." Luke admitted.
.
Kaagh was in a good mood. He had only twenty minutes until his plan would go into action and the half-forms had made no attempt to stop him since he had captured Sarah Jane and Penny. Everything was going well.
Then there was a bleeping. He frowned and looked down at one of his wrist gaunlets of his armour.
"Intruders on my ship." he said thoughtfully.
Then he came to a conclusion. His smile deepened.
"The half forms. Like bugs on a battle-trench bunk, it is time to crush them."
He marched out of the room, heading towards his ship.
.
Maria was getting desperate. Although they all knew Luke was mixing the chemicals as fast as he could, it felt painfully slow. She urged him to hurry up.
Then Clyde walked past her, heading into the forest. Maria stopped him.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"If I can spot Kaagh coming," Clyde said. "I'll be able to buy you some time."
Maria told him to be careful and Clyde offered her a confident smirk. Internally, however, he was not feeling confident at all.
"See you back at the telescope." he said.
.
Lucy and Penny watched as Sarah Jane plugged in the machine. It buzzed a little bit.
"Now what?" Lucy asked.
Sarah Jane told them both that now they just had to wait.
Penny shifted uncomfortably and asked what they were meant to do if it didn't work.
"It will work." Sarah Jane assured her, forcing the little confidence she had into her voice.
.
Luke was continuing his work in the spaceship. Anxious to think of something other than the danger they were in, Maria found herself looking through photos on her phone. She thought about everything they had done and found her thoughts drifting to America. If she went then she would lose all that she had. As if fate was taunting her, the phone suddenly flashed up a message saying the battery was low and Maria was forced to put her phone away so she had at least some power in case of emergency.
She sat in silence, listening to Luke work until it became impossible to stay silence any more.
"You know, Luke, I don't think I will ever meet anyone like you again." Maria said.
Luke didn't even look up from his work as he answered.
"You don't need to. You've got me."
Maria found herself unable to hold it in any longer. It felt cruel that he didn't know.
"My dad's got a job in America." she managed.
Luke stopped. He turned and looked at her. He looked sad and confused and it hurt Maria to see him like that.
"You can't go. I don't want you to go." Luke pleaded.
Maria had to look away. She couldn't cope when she looked at him. She looked down at the ground and frowned.
"But Luke, it's my dad." she reasoned. "I can't just tell him not to take the job."
When Luke spoke, his voice was little more than a whimper. He seemed heartbroken and it broke Maria's heart to know that she was the one causing it.
"But you've always been here."
Maria turned to look at him. There were tears swelling in his eyes and that brought tears into her own.
"I know, and I'm going to miss you so much. And Penny and Sarah Jane and Clyde."
She took a deep breath as she realised that none of it mattered. If Luke didn't focus then there wouldn't be an America for her to go to. She told Luke to get back to work. With great reluctance, Luke did as he was told.
.
Clyde ducked into hiding as he saw Kaagh walking through the forest. He took a deep breath to steel himself and then snatched up stick. He leapt out from behind the tree and threw it at Kaagh. "Hey! Over here!" he shouted.
Kaagh smiled at the idea of prey.
"By Sontar, I will crush you with my bare hands, Half-form!" Kaagh shouted and went chasing after Clyde.
.
Skinner entered the room that Sarah Jane, Penny and Lucy were trapped in. He looked around and his eyes landed on the jamming device. As he went to smash the device, the trio hurried out of the room and locked the door. They hurried out of the main lab and went to hide from Kaagh.
.
Clyde ran up to the observatory. He began to hammer against the door, hoping someone would let him in. He knew that the Sontaran would be closing in on him and he couldn't risk him catching up.
"Someone! Anyone! Let me in!" Clyde shouted.
Suddenly the door opened and Penny stood there.
"Penny!" Clyde smiled. "You are the best."
Penny smiled until she saw Kaagh running towards them.
"Quick." she said, opening the door more so Clyde could get in.
As soon as Clyde was in, Penny closed the door and locked the Sontaran out.
"I was worried sick." Penny said, leaning back against the door.
Clyde shot her a weak smile. He told her he had been the same.
"For a few moments I thought Kaagh had..."
He trailed off, looking away. Penny moved towards him.
"No one has succeeded in doing that yet." Penny remarked and kissed Clyde on the lips. She went to walk away when she stopped, seeing her mother and Lucy standing in front of her. She blushed and offered them a weak smile. Clyde walked up to her and took her hand in his.
"Don't we have a world to save?" Clyde asked, hoping to distract Sarah Jane and Lucy from what they had just seen.
.
Maria was trying not to cry as she watched Luke. He was working through his sorrow, focusing on anything other than the girl sitting only a meter away from him. None of them spoke or made eye contact, unable to do it due to the pain it caused. Then Luke smiled to himself.
"I've got it." he murmured, almost in disbelief. "I've made the knock out gas.
.
Clyde was explaining the plan to the others as they walked into the control room. Sarah Jane wasn't sure about the plan. She didn't know if they would have time to pull it off. She said that they should probably start on their own plan in case Luke and Maria's failed.
"I've seen my dad working." Lucy said, staring at the controls. "I can try and stop the program."
Slowly she moved forwards and took a seat. She was hesistant with the keys and felt awkward that there were three people crowding her. She soon came to the conclusion that it was encrypted and that they couldn't get in.
"If Luke was here, he would have this sorted by now." Clyde pointed out.
"Well, he's not here, is he? So we need another idea." Sarah Jane said.
"What about the dish? If we sabotage the dish somehow then the signal won't send." Penny suggested.
They looked at Lucy to see if there was a way they could do it. After a few seconds, she nodded.
"There's an operating system." she said. "It's on the other side of the complex."
Sarah Jane grabbed her bag from the side and checked her sonic lipstick was still inside it.
"Lucy, stay here and see what you can do. We'll go to the dish." Sarah Jane instructed.
Penny and Clyde followed her out of the room.
.
Kaagh had managed to get into the building, having found another door. He had seen Penny by the door and wanted to see if the other prisoners had escaped. He had the feeling they had. He smashed opened the door and saw Skinner standing in the lab, standing over the broken remains of a signal jammer. Kaagh growled at him for letting them escape and then stormed out to find the prisoners once more.
.
Chrissie pulled her car over by Sarah Jane's and both her and Alan got out.
"I thought you said they were at a telescope." Chrissie said, pointing towards the forest.
"It must be nearby." Alan reasoned.
He fished into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He knew that if he could contact Maria and find them then he would feel a lot better about everything that was happening. If Sarah Jane and Penny had been captured like Maria had said then the other teenagers would be on their own.
"She's not answering." Alan managed when the phone went straight to answer phone. "Maybe it's run out of battery."
"Well, where do we go now, Alan? Maria's in danger and I hope I don't have to remind you who's fault that is." Chrissie said, glaring at Sarah Jane's car.
Alan sighed and lead the way into the forest.
.
Maria and Luke were just outside the observatory. They were closing in on the building, looking for a door they could use to get in. Luke was holding a black aerosal can that held his knock out gas.
"Are you sure the gas is going to work?" Maria asked.
Luke gave her a small but unsure nod. He said that it could knock out human for two hours. Maria asked how long it would work on a Sontaran.
"We only need a few minutes." Luke reasoned.
Then Maria heard a buzzing. She looked around and saw the two Sontaran drones. Luke looked up at them and the drones swooped down towards them. The duo started running.
However the drones were gaining on them and both knew it. They were running along the side of the observatory, hoping they would find an open door and be able to escape inside. Suddenly Luke saw his mother standing near the building.
"Get down!" Sarah Jane ordered.
Penny raced forwards and tackled the two of them to the ground as Sarah Jane pointed her sonic lipstick at the drones. They both exploded into sparks. Penny got up off the two and helped Luke to his feet first. He raced past her and to Sarah Jane. She pulled him into a strong hug and smiled. Penny then helped Maria to her feet.
"When we get out of this, I have something I need to tell you." Maria whispered to Penny.
Penny gave her a silent nod and then looked expectantly at her mum, waiting for a plan.
"Maria, go with Clyde and disable the dish." Sarah Jane said. "Luke, Penny, come back with me. We have to try everything we can."
.
Clyde and Maria had found a small building that they guessed must be the telescope control room. The door had been left unlocked and they had slipped into the building easily. The building was a mess of wires and machinery. The lights were mostly blocked out by everything that was crowded into the rooms.
"So we just need to take out the central control system transponder." Clyde said, looking around.
"Sounds too easy." Maria pointed out, moving deeper into the room.
"The hard part is finding it." Clyde replied, searching through the wires and controls.
.
Sarah Jane walked back into the control room with her children. Seeing the controls, Luke rushed forwards. He put the knock out gas on the side and glanced over Lucy's shoulder at what she was working on.
"Made any progress?" Penny inquired, sitting on the side of the controls.
Lucy shook her head and said that it was useless. She didn't stop trying though. Luke suggested he should give it a go. Lucy looked at him in shock.
"What? I mean, no disrespect or anything, but you're just a kid and we're looking at the end of the world here." Lucy said, looking Luke up and down.
"He's done things like this before." Penny tried.
Luke was desperate to give it a go. He was clearly already thinking through his plan of action, going over each step mentally.
"No disrespect, Lucy, but you really aren't much more than a kid, either, and can you see the flaw in Einstein's Theory of Relativity? Luke can. And he can save the world. He's had practice." Sarah Jane informed her.
Lucy told Luke to give it a try and moved out of the chair to give Luke space to work. Penny turned to Sarah Jane and frowned.
"There's something not right here." Penny pointed out.
"Fifteen minutes to go. Why isn't Kaagh here to see his plan succeed?" Sarah Jane added, realising instantly what was wrong.
.
"It's got to be around here someone!" Clyde groaned as they found yet another set of controls that weren't what they were looking for.
Maria and him continued to work but they felt hopeless. They had no idea how much they had searched for the transponder and didn't now how much of the building they had left to cover.
"Fourteen minutes, Clyde." Maria urged as she checked another control box.
Suddenly a figure stepped out of the shadows. They grabbed Clyde and Maria gasped. It was Skinner.
"Let him go!" Maria demanded as Clyde struggled in Skinner's grip.
Clyde knew that it would only waste time. If the transponder wasn't found Kaagh would be able to kill lots of people. His own safety didn't matter over that.
"Go, Maria. Find the transponder. Run!" Clyde instructed.
Maria looked at him and realised that she didn't have a choice. She began to run through the building, hoping she would find something that was obviously the transponder.
Then she came across a red control box. She slowed down and moved towards it. She could hear Clyde struggling a little way in the distance so she knew Skinner was occupied.
She opened the box and gasped. The transponder was already missing.
"Is this what you are looking for, half-form?" a cruel voice asked.
Maria turned to see Kaagh was holding the transponder. He also had his gun pointed straight at her.
"Remember the first law of battle. Think like your enemy. The second law of battle. Anticipate them." Kaagh said, moving past Maria and putting the transponder in place.
He gave her a triumphant smile and announced that the telescope was still working.
.
Alan was fighting the urge to shout. He was desperate to move quickly and search the forest the best he could but Chrissie kept slowing him down. She was struggling to walk through the fields in her high heels and kept almost tripping.
"Just leave them here!" Alan growled, looking back at Chrissie as she struggled to free a high heel from an exposed tree root.
Chrissie refused, reasoning that they were designer. However she did slip the high heels off and carry them as they walked through the forest.
.
"Bro, you've only got four minutes." Penny pointed out, ending up at her brother's side.
"The code is a bi-axial algorithm. It's not Earth mathematics. I'm having to try progressive cross-referencing number bases." Luke replied, not looking up from the controls.
Penny didn't understand most of what he said so urged him to hurry.
"Just think through everything we know about the Sontarans." Penny tried.
Luke did and then it hit him.
"Six!" he declared.
He sped up, enfused by this new discovery.
"Sontarans have six fingers. We have ten. We use the decimal system. That's it. I've cracked the code."
After a few seconds, Luke grinned and spun his chair to look at the others.
"I've disabled the program." he said, triumphantly.
"Good work, Luke!" Sarah Jane cheered, extremely proud of her son.
"I knew you could do it." Penny added.
The happiness was shattered as Kaagh's voice snapped through the air.
"Step away from the controls." the Sontaran ordered.
Maria began to apologise for her and Clyde not managing to disable the dish but Sarah Jane told her that she didn't need to. Sarah Jane, Penny and Luke moved away from the controls with reluctance.
"It's not like you can do anything now." Penny pointed out.
"I disabled the program." Luke told them.
Kaagh barely reacted to the statement. He moved into the room, pulling Maria with him. Skinner followed, doing the same with Clyde.
"The third law of battle, always have a plan B." Kaagh announced.
He pressed a button on his armour and a gasp filled the room. Everyone turned to Lucy who reached for the back of her neck.
"A sleeper agent." Penny moaned.
"She was one of them all along?" Clyde gasped in disbelief.
Lucy moved towards the controls. She produced her phone and plugged it into the machine. She began to work on the controls. Luke watched her, wanting to know what was happening.
"She was unaware of my control. Another rule of battle. Infiltrate deep within your enemy, then infiltrate deeper still."
Sarah Jane produced her sonic. She could see the device on the back of Lucy's neck and could easily disable it. She was about to when Kaagh called out that he would kill Maria if she did it. Reluctantly, Sarah Jane threw her sonic onto the control desk. It landed next to Luke's canister of knock-out gas. Sarah Jane looked at Penny and Luke to see if they had any ideas.
Lucy's work was complete and a loading bar appeared on the screen. It showed that the program was being reloaded from her phone.
"When the program reloads, it will automatically transmit to the satellites and target your nuclear installations around the world." the Sontaran said.
"This is conquest. It's murder." Penny growled.
Kaagh replied that it would wipe the Sontaran defeat from history and that was all that mattered. Luke held onto Penny's arm to hold her back, suspecting that she was going to attack Kaagh.
"Stop the program. There are innocent people out there!" Maria tried.
"Your planet defied Sontar. That can never be. We will have victory over all. Nothing will stop us."
The gang were helpless, unable to do anything as they watched the percentage on the loading bar grow. They knew that if any of them did anything then Kaagh would kill Maria and he probably wouldn't stop there.
Then they all became aware of a woman rushing out of the shadows.
"Try my size fives, humpty!" Chrissie yelled, digging the heel of one of her designer high heels into the Sontaran's probic vent.
An energy release threw Chrissie backwards and Kaagh collapsed to the floor. Maria turned and ran to her mother's side just as Alan moved out of the shadows.
Sarah Jane snatched up her sonic and deactivated Skinner and Lucy. Penny rushed forwards and grabbed Kaagh's gun before turning to Clyde and checking he was alright.
"Mum?" Maria tried, trying to revive Chrissie.
Luke grabbed Lucy's phone and looked at the screen to see that the loading had stopped on 98%. He smiled down at the phone and handed it to a bewildered Lucy.
Alan was taking Chrissie's pulse when she stirred slightly. Alan smiled and told everyone that Chrissie was alright.
"What I would like to know is how did Chrissie know where to hit a Sontaran." Sarah Jane said, looking between Maria, Luke, Clyde and Alan.
"Mum, it can wait. She just saved the world!" Penny told her.
Sarah Jane slowly smiled and pulled Penny into a hug, checking her daughter was alright.
"Feels good to beat one of them after what they did." Penny said with a weak smile.
"She's coming round." Alan called, looking down at Chrissie.
Maria quickly requested the canister of knock-out gas. Luke hesistantly brought it to her.
"If we can get Mum home before she comes round, maybe we can convince her that none of this ever happened. She banged her head. Had a bad dream. Anything. We'd never hear the end of it if she knew she'd saved the world." Maria tried.
As Maria dealt with her mother, Penny was helping Clyde secure Kaagh with some wires they had found in one of the side rooms. Sarah Jane was looking at Skinner and Lucy and decided that the group had better go before too many questions were asked.
.
Alan had gone to drive Chrissie home. The others were leading Kaagh back to his ship. He was conscious but his hands were still tied and Penny was holding his gun. Her, Luke and Clyde was hanging back. Both Penny and Clyde could tell something was off with Luke but they couldn't tell what.
"Don't try anything." Sarah Jane warned as she untied Kaagh's hands.
Kaagh looked at the group and moved towards his ship.
"Defeated by a female and half-forms. I will go, Sarah Jane Smith, but I will not forget you. Sontarans will yet cry my name in battle." Kaagh warned.
He went into his ship and began to power it up. The group fled to the safety of the trees and watched as the ship took off.
"Do you think he'll be back?" Maria asked Sarah Jane.
Sarah Jane shrugged.
"He might but I'm not sure. But, with some people, it really doesn't matter how far they travel. They never really go away." Sarah Jane said.
.
Penny was up in the attic, looking at the Sontaran gun. She sighed, shaking her head and then moved towards the safe K-9 was in. She opened the safe and fed the gun into the space.
"Hey, K-9." she said, looking out at her metal dog.
K-9 was too far away to hear her, still working on the black hole, but it was good to see him again.
"I travelled in time since the last time we talked. And I've fought a Dalek and a Sontaran." she continued.
Then there was a creak from the door. Penny didn't look away from the safe.
"If you want to be alone, I can..." Maria began.
"No, stay, you said you had something to tell me." Penny said.
She said goodbye to K-9 and closed the safe, sliding the panels back in place.
"Mum thinks she tripped and hit her head. Thinks it was all a dream." Maria told her.
Penny shook her head and said Maria had wanted to tell her something before Chrissie had hit the Sontaran.
"I'm moving to America." Maria admitted.
Penny looked away and stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Have you told Luke?" Penny asked.
"Yes, I told him. And I told Sarah Jane."
There was a pause and Penny turned back to face her. Maria had expected to see Penny upset. Instead, Penny was smiling.
"There's a group there who are kind of a UNIT splinter group and they are like us. I keep trying to make contact but they stay under the radar. I could try and set you up with them."
"You're okay with this?" Maria managed.
Penny offered her an even bigger smile than before.
"No one ever truly leaves. The Doctor left my life when I was four and shows up years later as a teacher in a school I'm undercover in. My dad died before I was born and when I dream I get memories from a life with him that Clyde said was an alternate reality made by the Trickster. I very much doubt you going to America is going to be the one time that the universe doesn't let me keep up a friendship." Penny told her, sitting on the steps of the attic and staring at the closed up form of Mr Smith.
Maria joined her.
"We became friends because someone mentioned a free bus to me and you." Penny reminded her. "It's been good."
Maria nodded.
"When are you leaving?" Penny asked.
"In six weeks." Maria told her.
"You going to ask Luke out before you go?"
Maria laughed and shook her head.
"You'll keep them all safe, right? Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde?" Maria made Penny promise.
Penny simply nodded and smiled.