"They can't wait for him to be better," Josh insisted. "It could be worse if they have any kind of learned behaviour. They're social and they have different areas, one for the food and one for the young, so there is some order in their society. If they can learn, then it could be even worse."
"How?"
"The Doctor drove the one that attacked us away with the sonic pulse thingy and then he said that he had to do it to another one when he went back in. That is two of them that have been hit by the same sonic energy as the sonic beacon is emitting. The Doctor said the sonic pulse would drive them away but it wouldn't do them any harm. If they can learn that the sonic beacon doesn't actually hurt them then they might just decide to ignore it altogether. They don't have to be highly intelligent to learn. Some fish learn that if they go for a maggot in the water they are going to get caught on a line. Some fish get caught on a line and are released and never take a maggot again. Others learn that they get a maggot to eat and then get put back in the water and are relatively unharmed and that trauma is worth the maggot. What if the creatures learn that the sonic pulse is like a hook and the food outside is the maggot. They might decide that it's worth the hook and come out from underground. There are sharks that take fish from the lines of sports fishermen from boats. They run their lines to catch sports fish like marlin and tuna."
"I've been deep sea fishing," Jack commented.
"The point is that some sharks have learned that the sound of the boats means they could get an easy meal, and they follow the boats, but they don't go right up to the boats until they are dropped out of gear and the motors stop because they've learned that the change in sound happens when the fishermen have caught the fish and dropped out of gear to bring it in."
"So, if they learn the sonic beacon doesn't hurt them then it's going to become useless."
"Yeah and because two of them have had a sonic pulse it's a real possibility."
"How long would that take?"
"I don't know. There is no way of knowing. We can't say that it will happen. It might not. They might just stay underground until they're eaten everything they've got in their larder, start eating each other or starve to death. Or, they might have figured it out already and be ready to go and get their dinner, and, if there are UNIT officers down on the perimeter there — that will include them."
"We can see what the Doctor thinks of your theories when he wakes up," Jack suggested.
"His body temperature is 19.3 degrees. It's coming down but it's coming down more slowly than it was. He has got both stitches and staples in his back holding him together. I don't know how many staples Martha had to put in him, but I know she changed the strip in the stapler three times and there are 40 staples in each strip. He's been given an anaesthetic and loads of other drugs that Martha has warned are going to make him feel unwell. It's not fair to ask him until he's feeling better, but that might be too late. If UNIT have brought other scientists here then you should go and tell them, or at least tell Mickey to be careful, because at two o clock his teams are going onto the perimeter."
"UNIT will listen to the Doctor."
"It's still not fair to ask him when he's so unwell."
"No, it's not," Jack agreed. "Tell you what, you know how you gave me a brief?" Jack asked Josh. "Do you think you could write a scientific brief?"
"I've never done anything like that at school."
"It's pretty easy," Jack informed him. "UNIT have a template for it. You basically write bullet points of all the things that you've told me about. Then you write what could be done about it. Then you finish off with a list of risks and things that could be done to make those risks less dangerous — that bit is called a risk assessment, but UNIT have them on their science templates. In fact I think UNIT have them on every template," Jack commented. "Do you think you could do that?"
"So if a risk is that someone gets slashed like the Doctor did then the way to make it less serious is for them to wear protective clothing?" Josh asked. "The Doctor told Major Magumbo on the phone that the UNIT officers should be equipped with stab proof vests as a minimum."
"That kind of thing, yes," Jack commented.
"If the Doctor told UNIT that they shouldn't come here without stab proof vests then why did he go back down there in just a T-shirt even after he'd been slashed and was bleeding?" Josh asked Jack. "And, that supports the theory that they aren't actively hunting doesn't it? He was covered in blood and largely went unnoticed, unless they just don't like the smell of time lord blood? Do you think time lord blood smells different to human blood?" Josh asked the Captain.
"I've never really given it much thought," Jack admitted.
"I'll ask the Doctor when he's better, but, if he said no one from UNIT should come here without protective clothing why didn't he wear any when he went back into the caves?"
"Because the Doctor might be the smartest man you'll ever meet, but he's also an idiot," Jack informed Josh making him smile. "The Doctor will have the UNIT template for a science brief on his system somewhere. Not that he'd ever use one of them, but he gets away with that because he's the Doctor."
"And I won't because I'm a 14 year old kid?"
"It's the way of the world." Jack nodded finding that he was warming to the boy. He could certainly see why the Doctor might be taken with him. "It doesn't matter how good you are, Josh. If you've not earned the right not to complete templates through 900 years of consistent planet saving, then you write your scientific briefs for UNIT on a UNIT template. It might sound a bit daft, but sometimes it doesn't really matter what you're saying, if it looks official then they'll treat it as official. You could be brilliant, but if you write it on a scrap of paper it'll get binned. You go in there and tell the advisors that you think that the creatures might be driven mad by the sonic beacon and they might eat their babies or they might be driven mad by the sonic beacon and they might try to relocate their babies then they will just tell you to make your mind up or that your pain meds have scrambled your head," Jack informed him. "Plus, you're a 14 year old kid."
"If I write it will you check it?"
"Sure," Jack confirmed. "Do you want me to try and find one for you? The TARDIS systems can be a bit complicated."
"I'll find it."
"It'll be in the Doctor's least used files. He doesn't do paperwork. If you can't find one on there then Martha will be able to get you one."
"Found it," Josh announced within seconds.
"You do that then," Jack commented. "I'll mop the Doctor down again, make sure we keep his temperature coming down."
"It's still 19.3 degrees."
"You will find he gets better quite quickly and then it will stop for a while," Josh offered. "Sometimes he might get a little bit worse, but then he will start getting better quickly again. It looks like it happens in stages, but it's just the way he heals and recovers. Time lords use energy to heal so he will use the energy he has available and you'll see him improve, but when his energy levels get lower it will stop for a bit while his energy levels recover and get back to a level where he can start to heal again so his energy doesn't drop below a reserve level unless he's really seriously ill and then that rapid use of energy can trigger a full regeneration. If he's staying the same for a while, especially while he's sleeping, he's just recuperating the energy he's used so far. It's nothing to worry about unless he starts to get significantly worse and then something might have gone wrong."
"You've known him a long time haven't you?"
"A few thousand years," Jack offered and Josh frowned at him. "When he asked me if I'm in his time line or Martha's, it was kind of a nonsense. My time line is all twisted and disjointed, but in terms of being in a linear time line and events that we have all shared, I am in line with Martha."
"Did you know my Mum as well?"
"I met her," Jack confirmed. "I'm sorry I didn't take the time to get to know her better. Are you filling that template out?" Jack asked him. "If what you said is right then it could be urgent."
"It's like homework," Josh complained making Jack laugh. "The Doctor said that if I stay with him until my ankle is better that I'll have to do lessons with him. Do you think he'll give me homework?" Josh asked Jack. "I bet if he does then it'll be good homework won't it?"
"If the Doctor is going to give you lessons and homework you can guarantee they're either going to be good or bonkers or both."