The signal picked up by the sonic screwdriver had led the Doctor and Rose to one of the furthermost caves.
Both hostile and familiar voices were echoing out from it long before they reached its entrance, telling them that they had found the right place and that the utmost care was needed as they crept towards the doorway. Bent around a slight corner, the mouth of the cave was cast in a shadow created by the harsh glare of the lights that had been strung up. It was this that gave the Doctor and Rose the perfect coverage as they peered inside.
Rose could not believe her own eyes.
The last time she had seen Tom Richardson, he been lying dead in the middle of a muddied field with half of his throat missing. But now here he was, seemingly alive and well and taking to Peter Argent.
Except it wasn't the UNIT lieutenant has was speaking with. The real Peter was laid down upon a metal table, strapped to it tightly as the two aliens interrogated him for information.
The story of how the creatures had come to Earth was fascinating, but Rose could barely watch as they began to hurt Peter when he refused to give them what they wanted. She turned to the Doctor several times, expecting him to step in at any moment seeing as it was him who Peter was so bravely protecting. But the Time Lord stayed where he was, listening intently to every word that was being said.
Perhaps he was right not to alert them to their presence. All they had between them was the sonic screwdriver and the knife Stefan had given them, and Rose didn't think she would be able to bring herself to use such a weapon against anyone.
This opinion swiftly changed when she heard Peter's leg break clean in two.
But between the Doctor catching her by the arm and what she saw next, Rose never made it more than a few steps before she stopped dead in her tracks.
The lieutenant's head had shot up, revealing that his spectacular grey eyes were gone. In their place, shimmering with sparkling light, were two golden yellow orbs that were certainly not anywhere close to being human and proved beyond doubt that Doctor had been right.
Peter Argent was an alien from another world.
"Oh my God!" Rose hissed under her breath. "What is…"
But that was as far as she got.
The creature Peter had identified as Kalagan got a taste of his own medicine as the lieutenant head-butted him square in the face, almost certainly breaking the alien's nose in the process. Punished by being slammed back down upon the table, the soldier looked as though he might have been knocked out.
But then his eyes, gunmetal in colour once again, flooded with fury as he caught sight of who was hiding just a few meters away from him.
But it only lasted for a moment. Not because a lacking of contempt and anger on Peter's part, but rather because he was the first to remember where they all were and what danger still lurked in this small cave with them.
He was a good liar, Rose thought.
As Kalagan approached him yet again, this time with a lot more caution, there was nothing on Peter's face to indicate he knew anything more than he'd done a few seconds ago. His expression was neutral and his brow uncreased as though he hadn't even seen the Doctor and Rose at all.
"You are strong, lieutenant. Braver than most, too." The alien sneered. "But you will still break. Where is the Time Lord?"
Peter felt his heart skip a beat when he saw that the alien was now in possession of his own knife.
Waving the stolen blade inches away from his face, Kalagan chuckled with delight as he heard his captive's breath hitch involuntarily as he watched the cutthroat edge of it dance up and down before him.
"I..." Peter began. "I don't know."
He could hear it in his voice how pathetically unconvincing he had sounded. The mounting terror of what might happen to him next was showing, especially now that he knew he was willingly lying to the alien.
"If you do not start talking, lieutenant." Kalagan threatened. "Then I will make you scream until I get an answer."
Peter felt sick. Suddenly, he didn't know what to do.
Should he tell Kalagan the truth and let the Doctor confront the creature whilst he tried to find a way to free himself? Would the Time Lord even do anything to intervene, or was he simply just going to stand there and watch as he was tortured and killed?
He did not dare look over in the direction of the Doctor and Rose and had no idea what they were doing or even if they were still there.
Peter could feel himself shaking. Why couldn't he stop himself from shaking? It wasn't from the cold, but the pure unrestricted fear that he was going to die. He could feel tears in his eyes...
No!
Taking in a deep breath, Peter steeled himself.
He was better than this, braver and stronger and more capable than this. It was not for the first time that his life had been in immediate danger, and he doubted it would be the last time either if he came out of this alive.
He wasn't going to be frightened by some overgrown bat wearing a human's skin, and he certainly did not need the Doctor to swan in and save him.
"Well, you go ahead and do your worst." He growled through gritted teeth, straining against his bonds. "Because I am not going to talk, and I am certainly not going to scream!"
He expected death. But it did not come.
Kalagan did not quite seem to understand why he was continuing to resist him. Why, in the face of a lot of pain and eventual death, was this man not willing to save himself from both all because he was choosing to protect another?
"What do you own this Time Lord?" He asked curiously. "Why continue to protect him?"
Peter barked out a laugh.
"Trust me, I do not owe him anything." He snapped. "He's the most arrogant, self-righteous man I have ever met. He's far too clever for his own good, and he doesn't let you forget it."
"Yet you refuse to give him up, even at the cost of your own life? Such loyalty you have, lieutenant."
"That is not loyalty," Peter told him. "You just don't get it, do you? My job is to protect people and giving anything to the likes of you endangers them. So try your best, Kalagan. Because I'm not going to give you what you want. You're just going to have to go ahead and kill me!"
Kalagan's face contorted with anger as he seized hold of Peter by his hair and pressed the knife up against his throat.
"As tempting as that is, boy!" He snarled. "You will tell me where the Time Lord is, and only then might I grant you the mercy of death."
Feeling the cold metal of the blade pinching against the sweaty pulsing beat of his jugular, Peter was trying not to panic. But that was proving difficult when he knew that it would barely take a flicker of the creature's wrist for it all to be over.
"I don't know!" He cried. "He's gone!"
"Where?" Kalagan asked him. "Where has he gone to?"
"I don't know!"
"You're lying to me, lieutenant." The alien growled. "I can hear your heartbeat. Now tell me where he is!?"
It was his last chance, and they both knew it. Whatever Peter said or did next would determine whether he lived or died.
"Okay!" He shouted. "P-please, just take away the knife."
"Why should I?"
On the verge of hyperventilating, with his bottom lip trembling, Peter stared up at the alien full of panic and fear.
"Because you're right, the Time Lord is dangerous." He blurted out. "Even I'm scared of him and what he's capable of."
He paused, waiting to see what Kalagan's reaction might be to this.
It took a moment of consideration, but curiosity eventually won over the creature enough for him to let go of Peter and lift the knife away from his throat. Waiting with explanation, he nodded his approval.
"Go on?"
Forcing himself to draw in a deep breath, Peter nodded back.
"Before you go off and look for him, there's something that you need to know." He told him. "Something that I can't even say out loud. It's too terrible, Kalagan."
"Then whisper it to me," Kalagan commanded with delight. "Whisper it into my ear."
Eager to hear this new information, he didn't hesitate in leaning over Peter and bent down so that his ear was only a couple inches away from his lips.
CLINK!
The buckle attached to the strap that was holding Peter's right arm down snapped clean off.
Over the past few minutes he'd be pulling against it, and finally, it had given way and allowed him his freedom. His plan had been for both of his arms to come loose, but the lefthand one had stubbornly held firm. No matter, he would just have to work with the one for now.
Rule number three of interrogation class.
Get the enemy to drop their guard by any means required. Get them within range of you and make them wish that they had killed you earlier.
Snatching hold of Kalagan's arm, the one that was still holding onto the knife, Peter was successful in forcing the alien to drop the weapon. But he cursed to himself when he failed to catch it. With only one arm available to him, he wasn't physically able to grab the blade before it fell away and onto the floor.
But he did manage to clamp his arm around Kalagan's neck. Breaking it would be simple enough if he could just get himself positioned at the right angle to…
It wasn't enough.
To his frustration, Kalagan wriggled out of his grasp and wasted no time in turning the tables on him. Wrenching Peter's arm back and pinning it above his head, the alien held him in place as Karugon stepped forward and retrieved the knife.
"You should kill him now." He advised his brother as he handed him the weapon. "If he won't speak then he's no use to us."
"Thank you, brother." But I think there's still some fun to be had yet." Kalagan replied. "Oh, you are a wily one, lieutenant."
Fighting against the man's grip was impossible with just one arm, and Peter knew that it was all over now that he'd missed his chance to get free. But he wasn't going to go quietly. He was going to make it difficult for them right up until the very end.
"Go to hell!" He bellowed at them. "You wouldn't stand a chance if this was a fair fight!"
"Ah, but this isn't a fair fight, is it?" Kalagan pointed out. "Now, how quick should I make this for you?"
Without warning he pressed the knife up against his throat again, laughing as Peter bit back a cry of panic as he thought that he was finally going to cut across it and kill him.
"Make him suffer." Karugon encouraged. "He killed our brothers and cousin!"
"We don't know that for certain. Also, we're still waiting for your answer, lieutenant." Kalagan reasoned. "You know where the Time Lord is, so just tell us."
Peter knew that they would kill him after hearing whatever he had to say next. He was just sorry and regretful that they would most likely kill Stefan too, and could only hope his best friend would not regain consciousness before that happened.
But where the hell was the Doctor?
It felt like a lifetime ago he had spotted him and Rose skulking in the shadows just a few meters away from him. Were they still there? Or had they crept away, unable to watch as he was murdered trying to protect them?
Suddenly Peter knew what he wanted his last words to be.
"You're right, Kalagan." He replied, drawing in a final deep breath. "I do know where he is."
Both of the creatures looked surprised by his cooperation, and Kalagan even lifted the knife away from Peter's throat as he waited with eager anticipation.
"See?" He told him, almost kindly. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Where is he?"
Peter waited just a heartbeat of a moment. Enjoying these last precious few seconds of life before it was torn away from him.
"I'm not going to tell you, and you wanna know why?" He told him, daring to smirk. "I hate you more!"
Peter took great satisfaction as he saw the impact of his words sink in. The disappointment and frustration they caused were plain to see on Kalagan's face, and he knew that he had done all he could to put a solid roadblock in the creature's plans.
"How unfortunate," Kalagan told him after a moment. "But I guess you've made your choice."
Peter hardly dared to watch as the alien weighed up the knife he was holding. But it seemed as though he was to be granted a stay of execution as Kalagan suddenly decided to set aside the blade and placed it down of the edge of the table. If the creature then chose to let go of his arm, it would be in reaching distance and Peter would be able to…
Kalagan's hand clamped down on his windpipe that Peter thought that his neck was going to break.
But he could tell from the alien's cruel and merciless laughter that he was going to be made to endure an agonising wait before being granted his death as the life in him was slowly and painfully squeezed out.
Peter felt his eyes close for the last time. This was it. He was going to die.
"That's enough!" The Doctor's voice rang out. "Let him go and you and me can have a nice chat about your manners."