Disclaimer: All characters are the property of BBC. No money is made…and
these people are definitely not mine.
**
The Doctor slid into his seat in business class and glanced over at Tegan. She was nestled, comfortably, in his estimation, into the window seat. Her brown eyes met his and he attempted a smile. He spied her tennis sneakers lying in a pile under the seat in front of her and noticed her bare feet tucked under her seat. "Comfortable?"
"I'm used to this kind of travel now, Doc…" she answered, staring out the window. After a few minutes, she turned and met his eyes again. "But the question is: are you?"
"Used to this type of travel? No." The Doctor nodded and adjusted his coat. He looked a tad uncomfortable to her. "After five hundred years of being the captain of my own ship, it is rather hard to let the reins go so to speak. And it is slower. Sometimes I wish your race was a little more technologically advanced. "
She sighed. "Are you sure you didn't want to take the TARDIS?"
"No…no.." he answered, adjusting his seatbelt. "No…if there are duplicates here in contact with the Daleks, they could and possible do, have the technology to trace temporal disturbance in the Matrix. They will know where we are, before we can get there. You know, I always wondered if it would be possible to mask the path of a TARDIS in the Matrix. I never had time to investigate it properly."
Tegan rolled her eyes. "A Time Lord and you never have time, why does that not surprise me?"
The Doctor sighed and shook his head as a stewardess passed them with a cart of drinks. "You know how it was, Tegan…it hasn't changed all that much. Doing this, doing that…going to and fro…"
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "But you told me once that the only beings in the universe that had the ability to use and track completely…the path of a TARDIS…in the Matrix were the Time Lords. That hasn't changed has it? So…what you are saying…" she held out her hand as if she were offering a gift. "Is that the Daleks could only track dematerialization or rematerialization and not the actual trip."
"That is very good, Tegan," the Doctor sat forward and stared at his friend. "You never cease to surprise me."
"Because I actually listened to you…once?" she joked. "It's simple if you know how the TARDIS sort of works and can put it with what you said."
He nodded and stretched out his legs. She could tell from his face that he was longing for his hat to tip it forward over his eyes. She tapped his shoulder and he rose quickly, allowing her to slide out into the aisle. She needed to move around. The flight was a long one. When she returned, he was sitting, his hands folded, his fingers against his lips, staring in the middle distance.
She stepped over his legs and sank into the seat with a sigh. "You are worried about the Daleks and the Brigadier and Turlough, aren't you?"
"I have every reason to be worried about the Daleks, Tegan. I have been dealing with them for more than 300 years, you know."
"But if we can find the duplicates…or their base of operation…and deal with it…then…"
"Then that is only the beginning. If we leave the virus as it is, it is a barrier, but not an impassable one, mind you. They will be working on a vaccine or cure, I expect. The Daleks will not give up. The Earth in the late twentieth century was/is one of the most vulnerable and dangerous times for an invasion. You are technologically advanced enough to be a jewel in the rough and yet are so disorganized as a race that it allows for the back and front doors to stand wide open. If they are undermining your governments, they are opening up at least two different invasion strategies that I can see. Possibly a third. By finding the virus experimentation center, we are finding their base, but not all of the duplicates. And before you ask, Tegan, if we disable the center of operation, we will disable the source of direction for the duplicates. And, finally, we will not be finding the Daleks themselves. I will have to follow the time corridor back to the ship or base, I suppose. Again, finding the Daleks will be easier than finding the duplicates."
"But the corridor…" Tegan leaned back into the seat. She was getting a headache.
"Is not strong enough for them to use it to travel. Not yet. But they are using it to contact here. That is what the Brigadier is intercepting. You know how a radio works, Tegan. The wavelengths are very short; they are perfect for traveling in a time vortex. You see…the time vortex is…well…" he held out his hands. "It works on a level of Newtonian calculus on five axes. It is hard to properly describe the angle, but the trajectory…"
Tegan groaned and rubbed at her temples. The Doctor sighed. "Oh dear. Listen, it works like an Earth blender, Tegan. If something very small and light is placed at the very center of the blender, it has the possibility of escaping the blades. That is what is happening to the radio waves. They are small and can fit down a very weak time corridor unscathed."
"Okay…I understand that," she answered. "But you did bring the TARDIS along…"
"Course I did. I am a Time Lord. Being caught without my TARDIS is like being caught without my shirt."
Tegan grimaced. She lapsed into silence as the food cart came down the aisle and they were given their food. It was not until hours later that the conversation continued. At that point the plane was dark. She had left the Doctor to his thoughts, his plans and had promptly fallen into an emotionally drained sleep. She was thankful that her usual dreams of terror did not fill her mind. But she found herself jumping awake some hours later.
The Doctor had put a blanket over her and she had drifted in her sleep until her head was lulling on his shoulder. When she jumped awake, his voice questioned quietly. "Dreams?"
"No," she answered back, her eyes wide. "Just strange feelings. No terror…"
"And you had a few hours of peaceful sleep. It will do you a world of good." He commented just as lowly.
She sat up completely and began to move away, embarrassed. "At least I am not in a cold sweat and screaming. That is how I have been waking up with regularity, you know. And forgive my sleeping on your shoulder…"
"It was nothing, Tegan, nothing to forgive."
Tegan gave a half-smile. "I guess it was just having someone near me when I was sleeping again."
The Doctor adjusted his sweater and the coat that he had laid over his chest. "Timothy? You mentioned that your marriage had…"
"Ended with a zap…" she answered. The look on her face was so troubled, that he attempted to change the subject.
"We are six hours out of Sydney…"
"Your curiosity will get you into trouble one day. I know what you want to know, Doc. And it is all right…I suppose….you will understand it better than any of the so-called friends that I have now. The divorce was final last month. We have been separated for six months. We were married for a total of sixteen months."
"Why?"
"Why divorced?"
He nodded.
"He couldn't take the yelling and screaming at night…the dreams…the days I couldn't leave the house because of the anxiety…the pain…and the fact that I couldn't talk about three years of my life."
"Ah yes…our travels…"
"Look. I take it back…" she shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want to talk about the marriage…"
"Were you happy?"
She stopped and looked over at him. He was resting back against the seat, his eyes half-open. "When we first got married? Yes…I suppose…"
"You deserved it, Tegan. I'm glad."
Her mouth opened and shut for a moment and then she relaxed back against the seat, still staring at him. "Hell's teeth, Doc. I thought I knew you."
"It surprises you that I am glad for your happiness?"
"Yes," she nodded and sighed. She was getting angry. "I wouldn't have thought my happiness would have crossed your mind at all."
"It did," he answered, appearing hurt. "After you left Turlough and I, I had hoped that you would be happy and find…direction…in your life. I had hoped that our travels would not have a lasting detrimental affect on you."
"You were wrong."
"I would have stayed or taken you elsewhere…to your family or friends, Tegan. I didn't know."
"For a observation crazed scientist, Doc, you certainly missed the damned main point," she bit out. "And after watching you for years, why do you think I would think that you would take time out to take me on a mental vacation. It certainly is not like saving the universe."
"What is the use of saving a cosmos if you can't help a friend? Hmm?" he answered back, strongly. "I would have helped you. I did before…your visit to Little Hodcolm comes to mind."
"You did that so I wouldn't leave you. You do things so that you will not be alone. You can't stand to be alone."
"I don't want to argue, Tegan."
"Bloody hell," she muttered, turning quickly to stare out the window at the Southern Hemisphere night. "Four years and you are still as patronizing as ever."
"I have traveled alone, Tegan, for spans of more years than you have been alive. I will admit that I wanted you to remain with me. And I am not patronizing."
She sighed and frowned. "Do you know what it is like? Do you ever feel afraid, bound, unable to do anything? In the three years I traveled with you, I lost a friend, an aunt, I was possessed…twice, I had Eternals burrowing through my mind, and I saw death and destruction on a cosmic scale. Everywhere we went, there was nothing but pain and anger and enemies and…"
"The Eye of Orion," he muttered. "The Christmas Day we spent in Kent?"
"Those were rarities. Not the run of the mill, Doctor."
"You wanted to travel with me that second time, Tegan," he pointed out.
"I did. I missed you and Nyssa dreadfully. I thought that the friendships were strong enough to get me through anything. I thought I was strong enough to get through anything. Fool me, after I left you four years ago, if you had turned up anytime in that first year, I would have asked to come back. I missed you and Turlough just as much as I did you and Nyssa." Her frown became comical. "I would have asked and I probably would have regretted it. I am definitely not strong enough to travel with you. I'm just a mouth on legs."
"I have missed you as well," he stated, quietly. "After all, the TARDIS is rather quiet with you gone."
"Bugger," she sputtered and pulled her feet up to the seat.
"And empty," he admitted, kindly. The Doctor nodded down to her blanket and leaned forward to stare at her face. "Lie back and go back to sleep, Tegan. There is nothing more that we can talk about tonight, I suspect. I have a feeling the anger will take over and both you and I will say something uncalled for."
"We are famous for that, aren't we?"
"Quite. Sleep will help your mental state. And trust me, I have a feeling you will be all right."
"How do you know?" she demanded.
"I'm the Doctor," he answered with a rueful smile.
Several minutes went by and he was happy to hear her breath evening out. She was asleep. After an equally long period, she sighed and turned toward him, her hand and cheek landing on his shoulder.
"Very well, Tegan. If you take comfort in my presence, so be it. I'll put aside my separatist notions for now. Pleasant dreams, brave heart. It was my fault you are as pained as you are," he whispered and then he too leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes.
**
"Is that it?"
"Hmm? Yes, I suppose it is," the Doctor leaned over the front seat of the taxi and gestured ahead of the car. The driver glanced back over his shoulder at the tall man and his assistant. The girl looked barely over twenty-five; the man seemed near thirty; they seemed more like friends than coworkers. But in all the years that Sgt. Miller had been driving for UNIT, he had learned that appearances were deceptive. "Sgt. Miller? The UNIT base, I gather?"
"Quite, Doctor Smith," Sgt. Miller answered with a grin. "You say you were here ten years ago? The base is a tad different now…but it is still the center of operation for Australia and the Greater Pacific Rim."
The Doctor nodded. Tegan leaned forward to glance out the windshield. "I've been to Sydney once a year every year of my life; I never knew that lot was here."
"It always helps to open your eyes, Tegan," the Doctor joked and leaned back into the seat.
"Don't you think it is dangerous: just waltzing in like this, Doctor?" Tegan asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
"And the laboratory center?" the Doctor asked, ignoring Tegan's agitation. She grumbled and stared out the window. Sgt. Miller parked the car and leapt out to open Tegan's. "There is no reason to hide, Tegan. They would have guessed by now that we would be traveling to the lab."
"Then how…" Tegan sighed and allowed herself to be helped out of the car.
"Hiding in plain sight. They might know where we are, but not what we are about," he answered as he came around the car and leaned into his friend. "I rather like playing to an audience."
"That never changes," Tegan grumbled.
"World without end, amen?" the Doctor offered. She shook her head in exasperation. His hand landed against the small of her back and escorted her across the small urban compound. "Smile, Tegan. Use some of that charm I know you have. And tell me if you think you see a duplicate; that will be a beacon of sorts."
"And if I see one and they have ray guns…" she sighed as he rolled his eyes,"…or weapons of some sort?"
"I would advice holding your hands up," he said, adjusting his hat over his eyes.
"Doc…"
"Or run…watch and take your cue from me. We used to work well together, Tegan."
She shook her head. "I'm not sure I can work at all now."
**
Turlough grimaced, waiting in vain for the Brigadier to complete his military greetings, salutings and hellos to various bigwigs and officers. In the heat of the Brazilian rain forest, his school blazer felt constricting. He wanted to peel it off, but assumed that the aging military officer encompassed in the Brigadier would have a coniption fit. He pulled on the tie instead, loosening it.
Around him, the jungle grew thick and heavy, the undergrowth, leaves and branches completely obscuring the ground. It seemed primeval to him, like the swamp from which it was fabled the life of this planet began. That was why it seemed almost comical to see a state of the art laboratory in the small compound.
They had entered the small compound an hour earlier, having not stopped anywhere to get sleep. Both men were jetlagged to the point of silliness, but had trudged on. Their small bags had been taken and placed in a small cabin and they had been shown to a small central building, an administration headquarters where the head brass of the compound had been shown in and presented to them.
The Brigadier was quite pleased with the reception. Turlough felt quite naked this far removed from TARDIS.
"Turlough, boy, come over here."
Turlough reached, innately, to tighten his necktie and approached the Brigadier.
"Yes?"
"Yes, sir."
Turlough rolled his eyes. The Brigadier pointedly ignored the comment and led Turlough over to two white coat clad people. As Turlough neared, he noticed that the woman was about his age and the man could have been her grandfather.
"This is Al Pendrall and Penny Smith, Turlough. They working on a virus that I think the Doctor would be very interested to know about."
Turlough gasped. "The virus…its here?"
"Are you a microbiologist?"
"I have an understanding of xenomicrobiology, yes," Turlough answered. "But the Doctor has the real mastery of it."
"The Doctor? A scientist? From Oxford? Cambridge? Would it be John Smith?"
The Brigadier blinked. "I believe he may have a degree from Cambridge."
Penny elbowed her mentor. "Ease off, Al. No one is going to try and step in here."
"Heavens, no, Penny. I have read his treatise on xenobiology when the stores in UNIT were first released for work. The man is a genius." Al's face broke into a wide smile. "I remember him well. Met him at a convention. Tall chap, curly gray hair, liked to wear an opera cape…"
"Good heavens," the Brigadier sighed. "That one has been gone for ages."
"Pardon?" Al asked.
Turlough headed the conversation off. "Look, I appreciate that you know the Doctor. He seems to know everyone. Brigadier, I think we should try and get ahold of the Doctor."
The Brigadier nodded. "Dr. Pendrall, if you would be so kind as to show me to your phone, I believe I need to call our Doctor John Smith."
As the group turned to walk back across the compound to the main administrative building, a man stepped out and lowered a rifle at them. The Brigadier puffed out his chest, but since he was at the lab as a diplomatic envoy, he was not carrying a gun as well. Penny squinted at the solider and sighed. "James…would you put that thing away. They have full clearance through UNIT."
James adjusted the rifle tighter against his body and shook his head. "They are the enemies."
"Don't be ridiculous…" Penny began, but Al laid his hand on her arm to quiet her. Turlough turned to the younger woman and slowly shook his head.
"I think that to them we are an enemy."
The Brigadier leaned back and nodded to the man. "Turlough…is he a duplicate?"
Turlough sighed. "Without a doubt, Brigadier."
**
The Doctor slid into his seat in business class and glanced over at Tegan. She was nestled, comfortably, in his estimation, into the window seat. Her brown eyes met his and he attempted a smile. He spied her tennis sneakers lying in a pile under the seat in front of her and noticed her bare feet tucked under her seat. "Comfortable?"
"I'm used to this kind of travel now, Doc…" she answered, staring out the window. After a few minutes, she turned and met his eyes again. "But the question is: are you?"
"Used to this type of travel? No." The Doctor nodded and adjusted his coat. He looked a tad uncomfortable to her. "After five hundred years of being the captain of my own ship, it is rather hard to let the reins go so to speak. And it is slower. Sometimes I wish your race was a little more technologically advanced. "
She sighed. "Are you sure you didn't want to take the TARDIS?"
"No…no.." he answered, adjusting his seatbelt. "No…if there are duplicates here in contact with the Daleks, they could and possible do, have the technology to trace temporal disturbance in the Matrix. They will know where we are, before we can get there. You know, I always wondered if it would be possible to mask the path of a TARDIS in the Matrix. I never had time to investigate it properly."
Tegan rolled her eyes. "A Time Lord and you never have time, why does that not surprise me?"
The Doctor sighed and shook his head as a stewardess passed them with a cart of drinks. "You know how it was, Tegan…it hasn't changed all that much. Doing this, doing that…going to and fro…"
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "But you told me once that the only beings in the universe that had the ability to use and track completely…the path of a TARDIS…in the Matrix were the Time Lords. That hasn't changed has it? So…what you are saying…" she held out her hand as if she were offering a gift. "Is that the Daleks could only track dematerialization or rematerialization and not the actual trip."
"That is very good, Tegan," the Doctor sat forward and stared at his friend. "You never cease to surprise me."
"Because I actually listened to you…once?" she joked. "It's simple if you know how the TARDIS sort of works and can put it with what you said."
He nodded and stretched out his legs. She could tell from his face that he was longing for his hat to tip it forward over his eyes. She tapped his shoulder and he rose quickly, allowing her to slide out into the aisle. She needed to move around. The flight was a long one. When she returned, he was sitting, his hands folded, his fingers against his lips, staring in the middle distance.
She stepped over his legs and sank into the seat with a sigh. "You are worried about the Daleks and the Brigadier and Turlough, aren't you?"
"I have every reason to be worried about the Daleks, Tegan. I have been dealing with them for more than 300 years, you know."
"But if we can find the duplicates…or their base of operation…and deal with it…then…"
"Then that is only the beginning. If we leave the virus as it is, it is a barrier, but not an impassable one, mind you. They will be working on a vaccine or cure, I expect. The Daleks will not give up. The Earth in the late twentieth century was/is one of the most vulnerable and dangerous times for an invasion. You are technologically advanced enough to be a jewel in the rough and yet are so disorganized as a race that it allows for the back and front doors to stand wide open. If they are undermining your governments, they are opening up at least two different invasion strategies that I can see. Possibly a third. By finding the virus experimentation center, we are finding their base, but not all of the duplicates. And before you ask, Tegan, if we disable the center of operation, we will disable the source of direction for the duplicates. And, finally, we will not be finding the Daleks themselves. I will have to follow the time corridor back to the ship or base, I suppose. Again, finding the Daleks will be easier than finding the duplicates."
"But the corridor…" Tegan leaned back into the seat. She was getting a headache.
"Is not strong enough for them to use it to travel. Not yet. But they are using it to contact here. That is what the Brigadier is intercepting. You know how a radio works, Tegan. The wavelengths are very short; they are perfect for traveling in a time vortex. You see…the time vortex is…well…" he held out his hands. "It works on a level of Newtonian calculus on five axes. It is hard to properly describe the angle, but the trajectory…"
Tegan groaned and rubbed at her temples. The Doctor sighed. "Oh dear. Listen, it works like an Earth blender, Tegan. If something very small and light is placed at the very center of the blender, it has the possibility of escaping the blades. That is what is happening to the radio waves. They are small and can fit down a very weak time corridor unscathed."
"Okay…I understand that," she answered. "But you did bring the TARDIS along…"
"Course I did. I am a Time Lord. Being caught without my TARDIS is like being caught without my shirt."
Tegan grimaced. She lapsed into silence as the food cart came down the aisle and they were given their food. It was not until hours later that the conversation continued. At that point the plane was dark. She had left the Doctor to his thoughts, his plans and had promptly fallen into an emotionally drained sleep. She was thankful that her usual dreams of terror did not fill her mind. But she found herself jumping awake some hours later.
The Doctor had put a blanket over her and she had drifted in her sleep until her head was lulling on his shoulder. When she jumped awake, his voice questioned quietly. "Dreams?"
"No," she answered back, her eyes wide. "Just strange feelings. No terror…"
"And you had a few hours of peaceful sleep. It will do you a world of good." He commented just as lowly.
She sat up completely and began to move away, embarrassed. "At least I am not in a cold sweat and screaming. That is how I have been waking up with regularity, you know. And forgive my sleeping on your shoulder…"
"It was nothing, Tegan, nothing to forgive."
Tegan gave a half-smile. "I guess it was just having someone near me when I was sleeping again."
The Doctor adjusted his sweater and the coat that he had laid over his chest. "Timothy? You mentioned that your marriage had…"
"Ended with a zap…" she answered. The look on her face was so troubled, that he attempted to change the subject.
"We are six hours out of Sydney…"
"Your curiosity will get you into trouble one day. I know what you want to know, Doc. And it is all right…I suppose….you will understand it better than any of the so-called friends that I have now. The divorce was final last month. We have been separated for six months. We were married for a total of sixteen months."
"Why?"
"Why divorced?"
He nodded.
"He couldn't take the yelling and screaming at night…the dreams…the days I couldn't leave the house because of the anxiety…the pain…and the fact that I couldn't talk about three years of my life."
"Ah yes…our travels…"
"Look. I take it back…" she shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want to talk about the marriage…"
"Were you happy?"
She stopped and looked over at him. He was resting back against the seat, his eyes half-open. "When we first got married? Yes…I suppose…"
"You deserved it, Tegan. I'm glad."
Her mouth opened and shut for a moment and then she relaxed back against the seat, still staring at him. "Hell's teeth, Doc. I thought I knew you."
"It surprises you that I am glad for your happiness?"
"Yes," she nodded and sighed. She was getting angry. "I wouldn't have thought my happiness would have crossed your mind at all."
"It did," he answered, appearing hurt. "After you left Turlough and I, I had hoped that you would be happy and find…direction…in your life. I had hoped that our travels would not have a lasting detrimental affect on you."
"You were wrong."
"I would have stayed or taken you elsewhere…to your family or friends, Tegan. I didn't know."
"For a observation crazed scientist, Doc, you certainly missed the damned main point," she bit out. "And after watching you for years, why do you think I would think that you would take time out to take me on a mental vacation. It certainly is not like saving the universe."
"What is the use of saving a cosmos if you can't help a friend? Hmm?" he answered back, strongly. "I would have helped you. I did before…your visit to Little Hodcolm comes to mind."
"You did that so I wouldn't leave you. You do things so that you will not be alone. You can't stand to be alone."
"I don't want to argue, Tegan."
"Bloody hell," she muttered, turning quickly to stare out the window at the Southern Hemisphere night. "Four years and you are still as patronizing as ever."
"I have traveled alone, Tegan, for spans of more years than you have been alive. I will admit that I wanted you to remain with me. And I am not patronizing."
She sighed and frowned. "Do you know what it is like? Do you ever feel afraid, bound, unable to do anything? In the three years I traveled with you, I lost a friend, an aunt, I was possessed…twice, I had Eternals burrowing through my mind, and I saw death and destruction on a cosmic scale. Everywhere we went, there was nothing but pain and anger and enemies and…"
"The Eye of Orion," he muttered. "The Christmas Day we spent in Kent?"
"Those were rarities. Not the run of the mill, Doctor."
"You wanted to travel with me that second time, Tegan," he pointed out.
"I did. I missed you and Nyssa dreadfully. I thought that the friendships were strong enough to get me through anything. I thought I was strong enough to get through anything. Fool me, after I left you four years ago, if you had turned up anytime in that first year, I would have asked to come back. I missed you and Turlough just as much as I did you and Nyssa." Her frown became comical. "I would have asked and I probably would have regretted it. I am definitely not strong enough to travel with you. I'm just a mouth on legs."
"I have missed you as well," he stated, quietly. "After all, the TARDIS is rather quiet with you gone."
"Bugger," she sputtered and pulled her feet up to the seat.
"And empty," he admitted, kindly. The Doctor nodded down to her blanket and leaned forward to stare at her face. "Lie back and go back to sleep, Tegan. There is nothing more that we can talk about tonight, I suspect. I have a feeling the anger will take over and both you and I will say something uncalled for."
"We are famous for that, aren't we?"
"Quite. Sleep will help your mental state. And trust me, I have a feeling you will be all right."
"How do you know?" she demanded.
"I'm the Doctor," he answered with a rueful smile.
Several minutes went by and he was happy to hear her breath evening out. She was asleep. After an equally long period, she sighed and turned toward him, her hand and cheek landing on his shoulder.
"Very well, Tegan. If you take comfort in my presence, so be it. I'll put aside my separatist notions for now. Pleasant dreams, brave heart. It was my fault you are as pained as you are," he whispered and then he too leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes.
**
"Is that it?"
"Hmm? Yes, I suppose it is," the Doctor leaned over the front seat of the taxi and gestured ahead of the car. The driver glanced back over his shoulder at the tall man and his assistant. The girl looked barely over twenty-five; the man seemed near thirty; they seemed more like friends than coworkers. But in all the years that Sgt. Miller had been driving for UNIT, he had learned that appearances were deceptive. "Sgt. Miller? The UNIT base, I gather?"
"Quite, Doctor Smith," Sgt. Miller answered with a grin. "You say you were here ten years ago? The base is a tad different now…but it is still the center of operation for Australia and the Greater Pacific Rim."
The Doctor nodded. Tegan leaned forward to glance out the windshield. "I've been to Sydney once a year every year of my life; I never knew that lot was here."
"It always helps to open your eyes, Tegan," the Doctor joked and leaned back into the seat.
"Don't you think it is dangerous: just waltzing in like this, Doctor?" Tegan asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
"And the laboratory center?" the Doctor asked, ignoring Tegan's agitation. She grumbled and stared out the window. Sgt. Miller parked the car and leapt out to open Tegan's. "There is no reason to hide, Tegan. They would have guessed by now that we would be traveling to the lab."
"Then how…" Tegan sighed and allowed herself to be helped out of the car.
"Hiding in plain sight. They might know where we are, but not what we are about," he answered as he came around the car and leaned into his friend. "I rather like playing to an audience."
"That never changes," Tegan grumbled.
"World without end, amen?" the Doctor offered. She shook her head in exasperation. His hand landed against the small of her back and escorted her across the small urban compound. "Smile, Tegan. Use some of that charm I know you have. And tell me if you think you see a duplicate; that will be a beacon of sorts."
"And if I see one and they have ray guns…" she sighed as he rolled his eyes,"…or weapons of some sort?"
"I would advice holding your hands up," he said, adjusting his hat over his eyes.
"Doc…"
"Or run…watch and take your cue from me. We used to work well together, Tegan."
She shook her head. "I'm not sure I can work at all now."
**
Turlough grimaced, waiting in vain for the Brigadier to complete his military greetings, salutings and hellos to various bigwigs and officers. In the heat of the Brazilian rain forest, his school blazer felt constricting. He wanted to peel it off, but assumed that the aging military officer encompassed in the Brigadier would have a coniption fit. He pulled on the tie instead, loosening it.
Around him, the jungle grew thick and heavy, the undergrowth, leaves and branches completely obscuring the ground. It seemed primeval to him, like the swamp from which it was fabled the life of this planet began. That was why it seemed almost comical to see a state of the art laboratory in the small compound.
They had entered the small compound an hour earlier, having not stopped anywhere to get sleep. Both men were jetlagged to the point of silliness, but had trudged on. Their small bags had been taken and placed in a small cabin and they had been shown to a small central building, an administration headquarters where the head brass of the compound had been shown in and presented to them.
The Brigadier was quite pleased with the reception. Turlough felt quite naked this far removed from TARDIS.
"Turlough, boy, come over here."
Turlough reached, innately, to tighten his necktie and approached the Brigadier.
"Yes?"
"Yes, sir."
Turlough rolled his eyes. The Brigadier pointedly ignored the comment and led Turlough over to two white coat clad people. As Turlough neared, he noticed that the woman was about his age and the man could have been her grandfather.
"This is Al Pendrall and Penny Smith, Turlough. They working on a virus that I think the Doctor would be very interested to know about."
Turlough gasped. "The virus…its here?"
"Are you a microbiologist?"
"I have an understanding of xenomicrobiology, yes," Turlough answered. "But the Doctor has the real mastery of it."
"The Doctor? A scientist? From Oxford? Cambridge? Would it be John Smith?"
The Brigadier blinked. "I believe he may have a degree from Cambridge."
Penny elbowed her mentor. "Ease off, Al. No one is going to try and step in here."
"Heavens, no, Penny. I have read his treatise on xenobiology when the stores in UNIT were first released for work. The man is a genius." Al's face broke into a wide smile. "I remember him well. Met him at a convention. Tall chap, curly gray hair, liked to wear an opera cape…"
"Good heavens," the Brigadier sighed. "That one has been gone for ages."
"Pardon?" Al asked.
Turlough headed the conversation off. "Look, I appreciate that you know the Doctor. He seems to know everyone. Brigadier, I think we should try and get ahold of the Doctor."
The Brigadier nodded. "Dr. Pendrall, if you would be so kind as to show me to your phone, I believe I need to call our Doctor John Smith."
As the group turned to walk back across the compound to the main administrative building, a man stepped out and lowered a rifle at them. The Brigadier puffed out his chest, but since he was at the lab as a diplomatic envoy, he was not carrying a gun as well. Penny squinted at the solider and sighed. "James…would you put that thing away. They have full clearance through UNIT."
James adjusted the rifle tighter against his body and shook his head. "They are the enemies."
"Don't be ridiculous…" Penny began, but Al laid his hand on her arm to quiet her. Turlough turned to the younger woman and slowly shook his head.
"I think that to them we are an enemy."
The Brigadier leaned back and nodded to the man. "Turlough…is he a duplicate?"
Turlough sighed. "Without a doubt, Brigadier."