CHAPTER 8

A VISIT TO UNIT

The Doctor was taken to an office in UNIT's London HQ where a very surprised officer greeted him. "You're the Doctor?" the man asked, his voice holding back none of his disbelief. He had heard stories of UNIT's transient Scientific Advisor, but nothing could have prepared him for the sight of the tall, blond man in the multicolored coat standing in his doorway, grinning like a fool.

The Doctor held out his hand. "I am indeed. General Collier, isn't it?"

The General shook the outstretched hand more out of habit than courtesy. "Er, what can I do for you, Doctor? The call from Whitehall was, to say the least, vague."

Taking a seat, the Doctor said, "Yes, I can imagine. Sir John was rather rushed when I spoke with him. I suspect he was simply passing the buck when he directed me to you." The fact of the matter was Sir John actually seemed to be expecting the Time Lord's arrival, anticipating all of his inquiries. The Doctor had found this very curious and was still pondering its significance.

The General grunted his agreement. "Politicians."

"Quite. Let me come to the point, General. I need UNIT's help." The Time Lord went on to tell the officer about the unusual ion drive readings he had encountered in the TARDIS.

"I seem to recall the Americans are working on ion propulsion of some sort," Collier said blandly, trying his best to sound knowledgeable. "Even sent up a satellite a few years back that uses it." He gave a small smile, thinking he had gotten one over on UNIT's famous Scientific Advisor. He would soon learn otherwise.

"Deep Space 1 in October 1998 to be precise," the Doctor said offhandedly, waving a hand in the air. "No, its ion readings are of a completely different order. The ones I picked up came from a ship capable of interstellar travel. And the last time I looked, no one on your planet had developed that as yet."

"No one on my planet…?" Collier repeated, struck by the words, as if the man uttering them were not…. Collier blinked and studied the man sitting across from him in a startled silence. He remembered someone telling him once that they were certain the Doctor was an extraterrestrial, to which the General had laughed out loud. Now that he had met him face-to-face, he was not even close to laughing. In fact, he was starting to find the man distinctly unnerving. The Doctor was calmly and benignly carrying on a conversation, yet he still seemed to dominate the room.

"Tell me, General. You wouldn't've had any UFO sightings in the last week or so, would you?" the Doctor was asking, bringing the General back to reality.

"Now that you mention it…" Collier began searching through some files on his desk. He produced the one he wanted, handing it to the Doctor. "There was a UFO sighting of sorts last week in the States. Florida, to be precise. Apparently, a spaceship decided to crash land next to a busy highway. All sorts of credible witnesses: Police, Firemen, Search and Rescue..."

The Doctor was reading as the man spoke and looked up sharply. "And a survivor! Badly hurt but alive," he gasped, his eyes returning to the report. "I wonder where he's from…"

"There's another mystery as well. The young woman who found him is apparently the only one who understands a word he says. According to the initial reports, she's human. Just a tourist who decided to play Good Samaritan." The General handed over another folder. "Turns out she's one of ours."

The Doctor looked over the file, his eyebrows going up when he saw his companion's name and security status. Then his meeting with Sir John returned to mind. Looks as though I have another trip to make to get Mel's paperwork in order, he thought, and another meeting with Sir John.

"This is the preliminary report from the UNIT team on the scene," Collier was saying, handing over yet another file. "They believe the Visitor—that's what they're calling the survivor—may have, well, done something so this woman can understand him."

The Doctor looked up. "Done something?" he repeated with a distinct edge to his voice. "I hope they're not suggesting hypnosis, mind control, something preposterous like that."

"Actually, they were thinking along the lines of micro-technology, Doctor."

"Ah! Nanites, you mean? Possible, but unlikely." The Doctor closed the files on his lap and sat back. "You know, I should like to see this Visitor of yours. Perhaps have a little chat. Find out where he's from and what he's doing here."

"You're forgetting, Doctor," General Collier pointed out. "Only this young woman understands him."

The Doctor smiled knowingly. "Oh, I shouldn't worry. I'm quite good with languages, you know. I speak practically all of them."

The General gave the Time Lord a quizzical look, trying to determine if he were joking or actually serious. "You'd be willing to go, then? As a language consultant?" he asked finally.

"Why not? One must keep a sense of adventure, General." The Doctor suddenly seemed to be brimming with energy and bounded to his feet, handing back the files. "I see UNIT's had the wreckage moved to the Kennedy Space Center. Not exactly where I would've expected it to be."

The General gave him a wry smile. "Fortunately for us, NASA is not a U.S. Government agency. They don't have any aversion to renting out some of their empty hangars in order to make ends meet."

"Good. I'll start there then. If you could arrange to have one of the local UNIT people meet me there?"

"Certainly." The General reached for the phone. "I'll get transport lined up. Fly you straight to Cape Canaveral."

"If you must," the Time Lord sighed resignedly.

Collier did not seem to hear him. "We'll need to get your UNIT paperwork updated before you leave, too," he said as he dialed the phone.

The Doctor sighed again. "Very well. If you're going to insist on shipping me Stateside yourself, please make sure you arrange to have my TARDIS shipped along with me."

"Your TARDIS?"

"Surely there's a note in my file about the TARDIS. I keep all my scientific equipment in it."

"Oh yes, that Police Box," Collier replied, nodding. "Yes, we'll have that sent along too."

"Good. I feel rather lost without it." So saying, the Doctor strode from the office.

"Didn't I tell you the Doctor would locate the ship without further assistance?" l'X'el said in an I-told-you-so tone. He had been completely unprepared for the unorthodox way in which the Time Lord had gone about it, but was not about to say so.

"You did. I concede that you actually got that right," K'ell'k replied tersely. After a thoughtful silence, he said, "You never did tell me how all this is going to get him here?"

l'X'el gave a wry smile. "By letting him follow the trail of breadcrumbs," he said cryptically.

"Breadcrumbs?"

"The coincidences. Oh, do pay attention, Kay."