Shannon and Peri arrived at the hotel and began another round of questioning. They also let it slip about Alan's memory but no one rose to the bait. There was no new information either.

"All I can say is thank God I don't do this for a living," Peri said as she fell onto one of the many soft chairs throughout the lobby "The monotony would get to me." She slipped off her shoes and massaged her sore feet.

"What did you do before meeting the Doctor?"

"I was a college student majoring in botany. What about you? You can't have always been with the TOC."

Shannon smiled. "No, I was a historical researcher in Dublin 1989. Alan moved into my building and his 'arch enemy', I guess you could say, found him and my travels began. I go back occasionally to see my family so they don't worry."

"Arch-enemy. It's so strange thinking in those terms. For the first time I mean."

"I'm with you. We all go around and we're all blind to the fight between good and evil until we pick a side and join the fight."

Shannon glanced around the lobby. "Hey, isn't that Shandris? She looks really upset."

Peri looked over and saw the girl cross the lobby, head down as if trying to avoid contact. "Let's go see what's wrong." She slipped on her shoes.

As the crossed the room to try to catch up to the girl, Shannon wished she was in civilian clothes instead of her TOC uniform. There were times when it was a terrific asset, but then there were moments, like this, when she wished she could just blend into her surroundings. Peri's outfit wasn't so bad, but because of its severity—in color and in cut—plus the fact that she'd been here before, everyone saw her as an Investigator. Nobody stopped them but they were still behind Shandris by one flight.

"Damn, she's fast," said Peri between breaths.

"She's on the next floor, room 417." Peri spared her a glance. "I got it from her earlier."

"Then why did we nearly break our necks trying to catch her?"

"So it wouldn't seem like we were after her. A 'chance' meeting and we get her to invite us to her room. Now she'll feel almost trapped."

"Why would she feel trapped if she's got nothing to hide?"

"At that age, I did. Didn't you?"

The two women arrived outside room 417 and Peri knocked on the door. "Shandris! It's Peri and Shannon. We'd like to talk to you."

The door opened slowly and Shandris peered through the crack before opening it wider. Shannon walked in and could see she was in the midst of packing—at least she hoped that was the reason clothes were strewn about the place. Her eyes were puffy like she had been crying. "Is everything OK?" she asked.

"My father…he's gone," she sniffed.

"When did he leave?" asked Peri.

"I'm not sure, maybe about fifteen to twenty minutes ago. He came up here, grabbed a few things and rushed out."

"He didn't say anything to you at all about where he was going?"

"No, he didn't. No, wait, he ranted about you and the stuff you knew. He must have overheard you talking about a meeting with the colonel and, and a bomb!" She looked up at Shannon. "Is that true?"

"We just said that to flush out the guilty party," Peri said quickly. "Did your father often take you on business trips?"

"Only if they didn't conflict with school."

That's not what you said earlier. "Peri, why don't you look around and see if he left anything behind that might tell us what he's doing."

"Sure." She walked over to the desk and began to go through the drawers.

"When you told us your story before, you mentioned overhearing a conversation. What room where you in again?"

"I was down in the hold somewhere, maybe the left side, I don't remember."

Shannon tried to gather her thoughts and was finding it difficult. Damn, she's trying to get into my head! What did the Doctor say? Concentrate on one thing, that's it. She centered her thoughts on focused on the dial of the machine on her wrist and the pressure eased. She smiled and looked at Shandris. "Sorry, that's not gonna work on me."

With an animal-like growl, Shandris launched herself at Shannon and wrapped her hands around her throat. Shannon tried to push her off but couldn't gain any leverage. Her vision began to blur and she started getting lightheaded. Great, after all I've been through, I'm gonna die at the hands of an adolescent alien. Next thing she knew the pressure on her throat was gone. She looked up and focused on Peri standing over an unconscious Shandris with a piece of statuary in her hand.

"Sorry I took so long."

"'S'ok," she replied in a raspy voice.

The Doctor knew that Alan's concern mirrored his own. They had gone at this all wrong. It had been the girl controlling the father. Alan grabbed his sleeve and within nanoseconds, they were in a hotel room where Peri and Shannon seemed to have everything under control. The girl Shandris was trussed up like the proverbial Christmas goose. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Shannon had a bit of a close call, but we're ok."

Alan saw the marks on her throat. "What happened?"

"She tried to play her mind games on me when I started to get suspicious. When it didn't work, she went nuts and attacked me. Peri knocked her out and we tied her up. I was just about to call you."

"When you knocked her out, she must have lost control over Porter," said Ryan. "He told us he didn't have a daughter contradicting what he said not five minutes earlier."

"That's not a little girl. So what is that thing?"

The Doctor knelt beside the unconscious, bound moppet. He knew humans. This was a human, but an enhanced human. Something gnawed at the back of his mind, and it wasn't brain rot. Something he had forgotten. Without emotion, without remorse, without pity. "Oh, no. No. Not that."

But the Doctor knew in his hearts. It made sense. Who benefited from a chaotic war between humanity and the Naylons? Only one type of madness. He pulled his sonic screwdriver from his pocket. He examined Shandris' scalp and searched for a scar. Sweat cooled his back. He probed with several notes.

"Doctor!" Shannon screamed despite her hurt voice. "What on earth are you doing?"

He found what he was looking for and gently probed the area. He quickly opened the scarred area, cauterizing as he went. His stomach felt empty. His hearts beat faster. The sight of studded circuitry merged with organic matter sickened him. Only one type of madness.

Peri dropped the statue she had found.

"Daleks," she whispered

"Daleks?" scoffed Ryan. "They've been out of commission for something like 300 years."

"Yeah, they're really not much of a threat these days," agreed Eric. "Besides, from what I've heard they're more of a Blow-Up-And-Take-Prisoners-Later kind of alien."

At least Alan took the threat seriously as he came to stand by the Doctor and peer at the opening just below the girl's hairline. "Pretty fine work," he commented. "You can only see it when you know what you're looking for." He looked up at the Doctor. "So how could the Daleks have done something so miniscule?"

"There are such machines that can accomplish surgery like this," the Doctor replied as if speaking to a child. "Or…"

"Or?" Shannon prompted.

"Or they have humans under their power/control perform the surgery."

"Or none of the above," growled Shandris as she fought her bonds.

"Then enlighten us," the Doctor demanded as he stared her in the eye. He had been told his gaze was very unnerving and he hoped it would do the trick now.

She glared right back at him, unblinking and silent.

"Maybe I should have a go," said Alan. "I saved her life. She owes me."

"Not if she meant to be a martyr," said Peri.

Alan looked at the girl, and despite knowing she was a cold-blooded killer and a terrorist, he still had a tough time separating the truth from the façade. She had done her job well.

"Now I don't doubt the Doctor's word that this is Dalek technology stuck in your skull, but I don't believe that the Daleks are the ones who did it to you. And we have your word to confirm that."

She only glared at him.

Alan wondered if her enhancement would prevent any "exploration". He looked at the others and they knew without any telepathy what he planned.

So did the Doctor. "Do you think that wise?"

"I never let that stop me before. If I find any resistance, I'll withdraw." He took a few deep breaths in preparation then sent himself into Shandris' head. It was like none he had been in before. The previous minds had thoughts, memories, and emotions all jumbled about. He could feel an underlying current of emotions but it was as if they were locked away in a filing cabinet for reference, not use. There was nothing that shed light on who was behind her augmentation.

He decided to delve a little further. If he could break through whatever barriers she had built, they might get the answers they needed. He followed the tug of emotions and found himself surrounded by grief, sorrow, and anger. He let himself merge with the anger to find the reason for it.

Had he been corporeal, he would have been knocked off the floor by the force behind it. Moreover, the hatred wasn't aimed just at the Alliance, but towards him as well. Just as in reality, once those floodgates opened, every thought, emotion, and regret came pouring out.

Ryan switched his attention from a near-comatose Alan to a defiant Shandris. He had never known Alan to be "under" for so long. He wasn't showing any signs of strain, which made Ryan even more nervous. He looked at Shandris again. Was that a tear? "Something's happening," he announced.

At that moment, Alan took a deep breath then fell to the bed. He blinked a few times before looking at the girl. "I think she'll talk now."

Shandris looked as if she would break into tears any second. Only the shock was holding her back. Now she looked like the little girl she was. Peri went forward to comfort her, making shushing noises. Ryan could only watch, not having much of a rapport with children. That was more Alan's thing.

"Can't we untie her?" Peri asked. "I don't think she'd do anything now."

Shannon rubbed her throat. "At the slightest sign of violence, I'll knock her down."

The girl looked at Shannon, fear replacing the awe. "I don't think that will be a problem," the Doctor said. "She's terrified of you."

"Good."

"Shannon, I realize"

"Doctor, the little-- She intended to kill me. Her fingers were around my throat. How do you forgive such a thing?"

"It's not easy," Peri locked eyes with the Doctor. Given the Doctor's almost constantly wagging tongue Ryan was astounded by the Doctor's lack of speech. The Time Lord looked down at his garish shoes and turned away from Shannon and Peri. He started to fiddle with the ears of a Teddy Squeed. Whatever was in that look Peri flashed to the Doctor, she should find a way to bottle it, for it took the wind out of the bombastic Doctor's sails, that's for sure.

Peri untied the cord that bound her and Shandris broke into tears, sobbing until she had a hard time getting a breath. Peri just cradled her and made comforting sounds.

Ryan looked at Eric who seemed more than willing to let the others handle the questioning of a child.

The Doctor slowly moved away from the console. He knelt down beside Peri, looked at the pretty American and mouthed words so very softly too her that Ryan almost tried to pick the Time Lord's brain to find out what he said. Peri smiled at him and said, "It's in the past. The Present is more important now."

"Just so." The Doctor agreed. He looked into the little girl's eyes. "I know you're scared," he started, "but we'd like to ask you some questions. Do you think you can handle that?"

She nodded and used her hand to wipe her tears. The Doctor took a hankie out of his pocket with a flourish that would make a stage magician jealous before handing it to Shandris. She gave him a little smile and wiped her eyes.

It was odd to see a man usually brusque and loud being so polite. Perhaps due to his long life and different personas occupying one space, it wasn't that strange,

Alan stood and wobbled on unsteady feet. "Where are you from, Shandris?"

"Before Earth I lived on Acheron with my father. Before that, Doflair."

Alan fell back to the bed. "Are you okay?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. It just took more out of me than I thought."

"Doflair?" asked Peri.

"It's a subjugated planet," Shannon explained. "Alan was there last year and helped free hostages."

"Someone you knew was killed," the Doctor stated.

"My sister." Shandris sniffed. "Daddy blamed him," she said, pointing at Alan. "He said I had to carry on for her."

"Chai," whispered Alan. "I convinced her that there were other ways to get what she wanted. The others in her group weren't so easy to convince and they were all killed by soldiers." He looked at Shandris. "I was with her when she died."

"Shandris, do you remember what happened to you? Why you had this placed in your head?" asked the Doctor.

"I've always been able to know what a person was feeling or thinking. Daddy said something like that would help the cause of it were stronger." She used the Doctor's hankie to wipe away more tears. "He knew someone on Acheron who could help us."

"So you moved," said Ryan. When she looked up at him with those tear-stained eyes, he wondered how anybody could do that to a child, let alone their own. "Do you remember the name of your father's friend, the man who did this?"

She hesitated, unsure if she should go that far. They were lucky they even got as much out of her as they did. It must be hard for a little girl to turn against her father. What could they say or do to make her tell them? They couldn't exactly reason with her the same way they could an adult.

Shandris looked at Shannon. Shane leaned against the wall. She still looked ready to pounce. The others were more forgiving.

/Shane, why don't you go to the lobby for a while. A drink will do you good./

/A) since when are you giving the orders around here, and B) why should I/

/Um. Look, I know you don't trust the kid after what she did to you, but you're not helping./

/Fine. I'll go to the lobby, Ryan, but don't think I'm obeying your orders./

Peri came up, took Shandris to the other bed, and sat down with her. "This thing they put in your head is dangerous alien technology. It can hurt and kill more people. We just want to find it and destroy it so no one can have it." Shandris looked at her, still unsure. "Did you like how it made you feel? What it made you do?"

"No. I felt bad, but I couldn't stop."

"We want to stop anyone else feeling that way and right now you're the only one who can help us. What do you say?"

Shandris looked at Peri and then around at everyone else, he eyes finally resting on Alan. "Reyus Morin. We lived with him in Charon, the capital."

Peri gave her a hug. "You have been a great help, Shandris."

The girl beamed under such praise.

"Let's get going," said Ryan, ready for action.

"We can take the TARDIS," the Doctor stated as they headed for the door. "We can formulate some plan of action."

"Excuse me," said Eric, "but aren't we forgetting something?" He rested his hand on Shandris' shoulder. "I don't think Shandris should have to go back there."

They all stopped. "You have a good point," agreed Alan.

"But where else can she go?" questioned Peri. "If we turn her over to whatever passes for Social Services here, Lord only knows what will happen to her."

"If she promises to behave and stay in the TARDIS, I think she can come along," said the Doctor, tweaking her nose.

/Where did, Shannon go?

/I did not order her to the lobby./

/Ryan, you had better hope that she got a powerful drink./

/Don't I know that. /

Shannon went downstairs to the hotel bar, took a corner booth and just stared at the empty seat across from her. When the barkeep wandered over to take her order, she asked for a Bushmill's.

"Bushmill's, ma'am? What kind of drink is that?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot where I was." No Bushmill's. Probably no Harps or Guinness either. She put in a request for a pint of the local. When the drink came, she downed half of it in one go, not really tasting it, just needing the alcohol. She put it back on the table with a force that had it sloshing up the sides of the glass. Why was she letting this affect her this way? Now that she was away from the others, the shock and anger were wearing off. Yeah, Shandris had tried to strangle her, but it wasn't as if she really had any choice. No adult would probably be able to stand up against such power, so how could a little girl?

Still, until they knew for sure that it wouldn't happen again, Shannon would watch her like a hawk, looking for any sign that might betray that Shandris was not in control. She didn't want to be proven right in this respect, so she hoped the Doctor knew what he was doing. She picked up her glass and swirled the contents. She couldn't let the others know she had changed her mind regarding this. She would stay noncommittal if they asked her anything. If she acted like she was drunk, they'd leave her alone anyway. She finished off her drink, left change on the table, then headed outside and towards the TARDIS. She looked at her watch. She had been longer than she thought. She'd have to act real drunk.

Once inside the TARDIS, Peri went out of her way to make sure Shandris was comfortable. She showed the girl the kitchen in case she was hungry, a bedroom should she be tired, and the library to fight off boredom. "If you're not much of a reader, the Doctor has a large collection of movies."

"Thank you, Peri. You've all be so kind, especially after what I did. I wish I could make friends with Shannon. I feel sobad."

"Don't push for it, Shandris. Shannon will probably come around on her own. I don't think she blames you for what the thing inside your head made you do. It just hurt her really bad."

"I know, but I'm still sorry."

"We all know it wasn't something you decided for yourself. Don't worry, we'll take care of you. Someone will come and tell you when we're leaving."

Peri left her browsing the library stacks and headed back to the console room. The others were all standing around the console discussing what they were planning to do—including Shannon. It seemed they had arrived at a consensus because there was no heated debate. Either that or the Doctor had put his foot down.

Alan was the first to notice her return. "Is Shandris okay?"

"Oh, yeah. She's in the library. She'll be fine. What's going on here?"

"Joy."

"She's really sorry, Shannon."

"Sorry, Peri. I'm not ready to forgive or trust her."

Yeah, I get that.

"What's going on here?"

"We've decided on a 'smash and grab' technique," said Ryan. "We go in quickly, locate Reyus Morin, get him to tell us where the stuff is, take it and go."

"And if he's not alone?"

"Armed guards, you mean? We just threaten to shoot him unless they put down their weapons."

"They won't buy that bluff," declared Shannon. "They'll know we came to get information from him and we can't very well do that if he's dead."

"And you have a better idea?"

"Better than that half-witted plan."

"Hey, it's not that bad."

"Ryan, let's face facts, thinking isn't your strong point."

"Shannon!"

"No, come on. Let's look at the facts. What has he contributed to our little venture besides turning into a dodgy looking wolf?"

"Whoa! That was a freakin' great wolf!"

"If you say so, dear."

"Enough!" shouted the Doctor. Shannon winced and massaged her temples. The Doctor's voice felt like a thunderstorm. They all fell silent. "Thank you. Now, the obvious solution as I see it is that one of you," he said with a look at the TOC, "put yourself next to him and take him away should that eventuality arise. Peri and I will position ourselves next to two others. Does that satisfy you?" They all mumbled a positive response.

"I hate to be the negative one here," commented Shannon, "but what if that thing Alan did to Shandris is only temporary? I mean, what if it regains control of her and she does something to the TARDIS?"

"Is that possible?" Peri asked.

"I didn't switch it off or anything," Alan replied. "I just had her open up to her emotions again." He faced the Doctor. "What does the Dalek expert have to say?"

"There is the possibility the device could reassert its control should she fall asleep." He moved around the console, pushing the others out of the way. "The TARDIS' telepathic circuits are attuned to Shandris' frequency. Any sign of activity from that abomination of technology, and the library doors will lock automatically."

"Doctor, isn't she frightened enough?" Ryan asked.

"Young man." He sighed. "If any subsystem of that technology activates again, Shandris will no longer be in control. She may in factshut off. Having it sealed in will do Shandris no harm."

"Good thinking," commented Ryan.

"I've been thinking on the plan," said Eric. "I think there's a way to streamline it a bit more. Doctor, I'm guessing that Dalek technology has a unique component, something not found anywhere else. If you have something that can zero in on it then we can split up; three of us to get the stuff and three to get Reyus."

"I was about to say something like that," remarked the Doctor as he headed toward the inner door. Peri strongly doubted that but stayed quiet. "Let me just check for that down the hall." He left.

Peri took advantage of his absence. "So, what's this about pirates?"

"Well first, his eighth incarnation isn't like that," Alan said.

"He waswill be a fox," Shannon said.

"Really? Let me guess. I wasn't with him."

"No, you weren't."

"Figures. I get stuck with the frog."

Ryan and Eric laughed and clapped each other on the shoulder.

"Don't let it get you down, Peri. I'm stuck with two frogs."

"Hey!"

"Gentlemen, if you'd like Shannon not to refer to you as frogs, you might think twice before answering so quickly to the description." Alan smiled.