TWISTS AND TURNS

Jamie watched intently as the operation was carried out. Halla's hands moved expertly across the Doctor's neck, connecting the various synaptic nerves and veins, as well as equalling the blood supply to the head and body. Finally, a laser scalpel fused the flesh and skin from the original cut. "Is that it?" Jamie asked. "Is he alright?"

Halla mopped his brow. "Well, it's the first time I've ever performed such an operation, but . . ."

"But I think he did rather well." The Doctor sat up, twisting his head one way, then another. Apparently satisfied, he jumped down off the operating table. "Splendid, Professor," he congratulated. "A first rate job."

"Oh, you were a great help," Halla blushed. "Credit where credit's due."

Jamie was elated, then remembered he still had Zzorrann as a prisoner. "So, what happens now, Doctor?"

"What indeed?" The Doctor regarded the Queen thoughtfully. "Perhaps I can offer you something in return."

Perpugilliam was curious. "Such as?"

"Well, for someone who hasn't fed for a long while, you seem remarkably healthy." He turned to Halla. "Professor, can you do a physical examination on Queen Perpugilliam?"

Halla had the necessary equipment ready. "With your permission, your highness?" She nodded.

Jamie couldn't fathom this out. "Doctor, what are ye playing at?"

"Just a theory, Jamie," he replied. "Oh, and I think you can drop that sword. I don't think Mr Zzorrann has any intention of causing any trouble, do you?"

Zzorrann shook his head, as Jamie let the sword fall. Though he still kept a hold on it – just in case.

Stepping away from Zzorrann, Jamie drew the Doctor to one side, out of earshot from the others. "Doctor, the Brigadier . . ."

"Yes, I know," he whispered. "Well, I'd had my suspicions, at any rate."

"D'ye think he did the right thing, though?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Only the Brigadier has the answer to that one. But if he was part of the original timeline . . ." He let the subject drop, noting that Halla had completed his examination. "Well, Professor?"

"It's extraordinary," he gasped. "Cellular repair - in its early stages, admittedly. But if I were to give a long term diagnosis, I would say that the mutated organs are being overcome by her human physiognomy."

Perpugilliam realised the importance of that statement. "Do you mean . . .?"

"Yes!" The Doctor was almost jumping up and down with excitement. "Your original changes in bodily strength were as a result of the pregnancy, it's true. But had your physicians of the time fully understood the condition, they should have realised that it would have only been a temporary aberration."

"But later, when my need for blood had to be addressed . . ."

It was Halla who supplied the answer. "I think the initial need was genuine," he supposed. "But if the Doctor is right, the increase in your strength led to a deficiency in blood cells, which at the time needed to be replenished. But my tests now confirm that your blood count is normal, and has remained so for some time. I had noticed earlier," he added, "that you now looked more human than before."

"It's like someone becoming addicted to a drug," the Doctor reasoned. "As one becomes dependant on the need for more, that dependence sometimes overrides the power of reasoning, allowing the baser instincts to surface. Tell me," he asked her. "Is the need still there?"

She searched within herself, and realised the truth. "No," she answered. "No, it's completely gone." Then she laughed. "Kinda like cold turkey, huh?"

Everyone in the room was stunned by this outburst. Then they joined in the laughter.

It was Zzorrann who called for silence. "I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I am not sure I like the look of this." He pointed to a radar screen, where a series of blips were clearly displayed.

"I take it you're not expecting visitors?" the Doctor asked Perpugilliam.

"No." She shook her head. Then she remembered. "Oh no. Duke Zarkahn. He's still here!"

"Oh, your husband to be, or not, as the case would have been," the Doctor recalled. "Can't we appeal to his better nature?"

"He doesn't have one, Doctor," she replied.

He noted how Perpugilliam's speech patterns were subtly altering, becoming more contracted and relaxed. Halla had also observed the change. "Where will this Zarkahn be now?" the Doctor asked.

"In his quarters, I would imagine," Zzorrann answered. "Our security monitors will confirm it." They crossed to a bank of screens, their cameras covering the whole of the station. Zzorrann pointed to the nearest screen. "There." Clearly shown were the Duke and his interpreter.

But the Doctor was drawn to another screen, and two men. One human, the other lizard, walking down a corridor. "Wait a moment. I remember those two."

Zzorrann stared. "Guilliam and Herzz. What are they doing here? I didn't even know they were on the station."

"Well, if you didn't know . . ." The Doctor paused. "Oh dear," he realised. "I rather think they may have done a deal with Zarkahn." He suddenly turned back to the screens, seeing something else. "Do you notice anything strange about the images on these security monitors?"

They all looked at the screens but said nothing.

"They're on a loop. These images are recordings being fed back in to the system," he explained.

"So you mean that the Duke is not in his quarters?" Halla asked.

"No, indeed I am not," said the Duke as entered the lab.

Suddenly a dozen of the Duke's soldiers entered the room and surrounded the small group. Each of the soldiers trained a rifle on the captives.

"I would not normally pollute my lips with your vermin language," said the Duke. "But on this occasion I think it will add to my pleasure to communicate my intent to you with my own words."

"W - what exactly are your plans?" asked the Doctor as he hid behind Jamie.

The Duke moved over to the Doctor and smacked him across the back of his head. The Time Lord fell to the ground, unconscious. The Duke looked down at him. "Did I give you permission to speak?"

Jamie was about to open his mouth and protest but Halla pushed himself in between the Scot and the lizard. "Your Grace, please listen to us. The plan is still intact," he insisted.

The Duke leant forward and bit off Halla's head and spat it into the corner of the lab. "Yes Professor, but you are not," he observed.

The giant lizard gave some orders to his guards and moved over to Peri. He gave a mocking bow. "Your Majesty, I admit your plan did briefly hold some attraction for me. The idea of an interplanetary Empire was rather appealing. However, I am humble enough to satisfy myself with the city of Paris – and, thanks to my allies, the opportunity of purifying this planet of all the human filth that live within its city walls."

Then the Duke left the room as his guards brought a large glass globe into the lab and placed it before the group. Then as swiftly as they had entered all the lizards left, locking the door to the lab behind them.

Jamie ran up to the door and tried to open it but it was no use. He turned around and saw Peri holding Halla's head. He had no idea what she was up to so he went to check on the Doctor.

"Oh, Jamie. My head won't stand much more of this" said the Doctor as he slowly came too.

Jamie saw the look of horror on the Doctor's face, as he saw something behind the Scot. "Oh, my word."

"What is it, Doctor?"

The Doctor pointed and Jamie saw. The glass globe that the lizards had brought into the room was beginning to grow. The lab was very big, but the globe was growing so fast that it would soon fill the room.

"Look at the size of that thing, Doctor," said Jamie.

"Yes Jamie, it is a big one," he replied.

"Never mind that," Peri yelled. "Help me with him." Peri had Halla's head in her hands, trying to fasten the same collar that had preserved the Doctor's life. "I can't find the catch."

"Let me try." The Doctor took the collar from Peri and quickly fastened it around Halla's neck. Then he grabbed the smaller device which had protected his body. Once that had been fitted, the Doctor sat back on his haunches, breathing hard. It would be a moment before he knew if he had been successful. "You really do care for him, don't you?" he asked her.

She nodded. "At first he was a divergence from all the hate and anger inside me," she admitted. "But I came to love him, yes. And I won't let him die."

"It's a good job I'm still here then." Halla looked up at Peri, then to the Doctor. "I take it . . ."

"Yes, I'm afraid the roles have been reversed," the Doctor replied. "You're the patient this time."

"Never mind that," Jamie reminded him. "What about this globe thing?"

"Yes, I hadn't forgotten." The Doctor rummaged in his pockets for something. "Unless I'm very much mistaken, that globe is meant to blow us all to kingdom come."

"So what can you do?" Peri asked.

"Well, it should be here – ah ha!" From his pocket, the Doctor pulled out a hand-held device.

Peri recognised it at once. "A Stattenheim remote control!"

The Doctor was taken aback. "Oh, you've seen one."

She shrugged. "Only once before."

The globe was expanding ever larger. "Doctor!" Jamie warned.

"It's alright, Jamie." The Doctor put two fingers in his mouth and whistled a shrill note. In the next second, the sound of materialisation filled the room as the TARDIS appeared before them. "Right, you wait here," he ordered. "I shan't be long." With that, he leaped into the TARDIS, closing the door behind him.

Jamie, Peri and Halla watched as the TARDIS vanished from sight, and then began to reappear in the exact spot where the globe was. "He's trying to fit the TARDIS around the globe," Jamie realised.

Sure enough, once materialisation had been completed, the globe was nowhere to be seen. Then the door opened and the Doctor poked his head through the gap. "Peri, those blips on the radar we saw – where do they converge?"

"The Duke's allies, of course!" She looked up at the screen. "Unless I miss my guess," she replied, "they look to be in orbit around Aerht's moon."

He nodded. "Well, I'd better hurry before this thing goes off. Thank you." He slipped back inside the TARDIS and the ship immediately disappeared from view.

"What happens now?" Jamie wondered. "Are we safe?"

"We are," came Halla's reply. "But if the Doctor's planning what I think he is, he'd better be quick about it." They stared at the empty space, hoping against hope.

*****

The Doctor piloted the TARDIS toward a war fleet strike force, in orbit around the moon, just as Peri had predicted. "Ah, there they are. Now, this is the tricky bit . . ."

Inside one of the ship's largest rooms, the globe continued to expand. But even the TARDIS couldn't hope to contain the growing mass of explosive charge indefinitely.

******

Peri was sitting on a bench holding on to Halla's head and talking to him trying to keep his mind off the horror of his situation. Jamie and Zzorrann stood together discussing how they could unlock to door to the lab. There was a small sizzling sound followed by a small bang from Halla's headless body. The all turned to look and Halla asked Peri to take him closer.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Halla.

"What is it?" asked Zzorrann.

"The device the Doctor inserted in to my body has blown out." They all looked at the device protruding from the open neck of Halla's body. All the small lights on it had gone out and it had fallen silent. They all looked at Halla to see his reaction.

"Oh well, that looks like it then," he sighed.

"What do you mean?" asked Zzorrann.

"Well, that device keeps the body viable for transplants," Halla explained, "but without it the cellular decay will set in and it will be unretreavable."

"Which would mean that we won't be able to put you back together?" said Jamie.

Halla tried to nod but realised he couldn't.

Peri was distraught. "There must be something else we can do. Do you have another device, and how long have we got?"

"Yes, I do have another one, but it's in my office and we are locked in this lab," he replied. "So unless we can get out and insert the other device within the next five minutes, then it's all over."

"I have an Idea," said Peri.

The former Queen ran over to the discarded robot body that the Doctor's head had previously been attached to. Then with lightening speed, powered by the remainder of her powers, she started attaching Halla's head to it.

As the designer of the body, Halla was quickly in control of it and was soon moving about.

"Well, he has mobility, but we are still no nearer to saving his body," said Zzorrann.

"Oh yes we are," Halla reminded him. "This body was designed for combat." As if to illustrate the point, he marched over to the locked lab door and with his powerful robot arms ripped it off its hinges.

"Come on," said Peri. "We've got work to do." She charged out of the door with the others in hot pursuit.

******

The Doctor was running around the console trying to calculate the co- ordinates exactly when a horrifying though crossed his mind. The Duke was part of medieval society and Paris, although advanced, had only just succeeded in its first launch of the Eiffel Tower like rocket. So how on earth could the Duke have got hold of such an obviously impressive space fleet?

The Doctor stopped what he was doing and moved closer to the scanner. The lizards had been using the old TARDIS and had been regularly visited by other aliens but had never developed their own independent form of space flight. That had been the purpose of the Eiffel Tower launches. Was it possible that Paris's first steps into conventional space exploration would have drawn attention from another alien species?

The Doctor began to speculate. Guilliam and Herzz had obviously been conducting secret negotiations with the Duke for some time. So what if they had given the Duke information about the city's space project. The threat of this would have worried the Duke and he may have made contact with other species to steal a march on the Parisians.

The Doctor again looked more closely at the ships and bit his lip when her recognised their insignia. They were ships of the Earth Empire and all the people on board them would be human. Suddenly the Doctor lost heart in his plan to blow up the fleet. "Oh, what am I going to do?" he moaned. "I still have this bomb on board – unless . . ."

Quickly he activated the speaker system. "Hello, hello. This is the Doctor calling the Earth Empire fleet. Can anyone hear me?"

A burst of static burst through the speakers, then resolved itself. "This is Commander Travers of the Earth Empire. To whom am I speaking to?"

"Oh thank heavens," the Doctor breathed. "Who I am isn't important right now. What is important is that I have an expanding bomb on my ship, courtesy of the Duke Zarkahn and his unsavoury friends. And I don't know how to diffuse it!"

*****

Professor Halla quickly found what he was looking for. "Got it!" he declared. "But someone else will have to attach it. This robotic body isn't designed for delicate tasks."

"I'll do it," Peri volunteered. "I saw how the Doctor attached the first one, and you can guide me." As they all hurried out of the lab, Jamie briefly wondered what was taking the Doctor so long. Surely the bomb must have exploded by now?

*****

The same thought had occurred to the Duke Zarkahn and his interpreter, who had retreated to the dark plains at a safe distance from Ycarnos Station. "What has gone wrong?" he growled. "That building should be a pile of dust by now."

He was diverted from his ranting by the sound of a lone Earth Empire warship coming in to land close by. The Duke was disturbed. This had not been part of the plan.

He approached the craft as a side hatch opened, revealing its pilot who the Duke recognised. "Commander Travers," the interpreter declared. "You were not expected."

"Obviously not," the Commander replied, as he stepped onto the surface. "I believe this is yours, Zarkahn." He held out the globe, which had now been rendered safe and very much reduced in size.

The Duke was stunned. "How did . . .?" Then he saw the scruffy individual from the station, beaming happily.

"The Doctor has been filling me in on your ambitious plans for this world," Travers explained. "I think you had better come with me." Any violent thoughts Zarkahn may have had were tempered by the sight of Earth Empire troops filing out of the warship, their weapons raised in his direction.

The Doctor smiled as the Duke and his interpreter were led away. "I do apologise, gentlemen," he said. "But I'm afraid the party's over for you."

*****

It was some time later, after the Doctor had returned to the station, that experiences were shared and explanations given. Halla, his head now returned to his own body, had told of the troubles they had faced while the Doctor had been gone, with contributions from Peri, Jamie and Zzorrann. While the Doctor explained the full extent of Zarkahn's plans and his agreed deal with Guillam and Herzz. "And if Commander Travers' team hadn't known how to dismantle that bomb," he told them, "well, I wouldn't be here now."

Zzorrann shook his head. "I can still hardly believe it of Guillam and Herzz," he said. "Why would they go to such lengths?"

"Perhaps they felt the current regime was in need of a change."

The Doctor's words were not lost on Zzorrann. "I have to confess, I overheard your conversation with them at the Chambers," he admitted. "At the time, I did not think your suggestions of democracy and free will were of great merit." He paused. "But after the events of today, I can see that my thoughts were misplaced."

He regarded him thoughtfully. "You are a curious man, Doctor. I had thought you to be evil, yet you saved my mother from herself. For this, I am forever in your debt."

"Just remember," the Doctor told him. "Nothing is always so clearly defined. There is no obvious black and white to every situation." Zzorrann nodded in agreement.

The Doctor turned to Peri. "And what about you, Perpugilliam of the Brown?"

"Oh, please," she begged. "Just Peri will do. Now and forever." She smiled at him. "I guess I owe you my life, Doctor. Halla tells me that one aspect of my feeding made me pretty delusional. So my hatred for you was due to that."

"And now?"

"Now, I'm getting back to normal. Mentally and physically. Look." She bared an arm – much of the deformities were now diminishing at a great rate. "So I should be fine. And," she announced, "I'm gonna get married." She reached out to Halla, and he took her hand.

The Doctor smiled, sensing the love between them. "I'm very pleased for you both."

Jamie piped up. "There's still something I don't understand."

"Oh yes? And what might that be?"

"Well, this version of Paris. What happens to the city now? Will it survive without the TARDIS?"

"Oh, I see what you mean." The Doctor searched inside his many pockets. "As things stand now, the city will probably be experiencing some minimal form of decay. But there is a possible solution." From his pockets he drew out what Jamie would consider a small technological marvel. "This device is similar to the dimensional stabiliser which regulates the TARDIS's internal dimensions, and is quite capable of helping to maintain the illusion of Paris 1902. The question is, do you really want it?" He laid the device before them. "You must all consider – are you prepared to let the decay go on, or will you go back to the fantasy with the aid of the stabiliser?"

Peri understood what such a choice would mean to the people. It was not a decision to be taken lightly. "We'll certainly give it a lot of thought," she promised, her arms embracing both Halla and Zzorrann.

Jamie was feeling restless. "So, is that it, Doctor? Are we away back to the TARDIS now?"

The Doctor appreciated Jamie's eagerness - to move on to new adventures, exploring unknown galaxies. It was something which they both shared. But not quite yet. Before they left Aerht to its new future, there was one important duty left to perform.

To be concluded . . .