New Admissions

As they pulled onto the grounds of Rattigan Academy, the soldier, Ross Jenkins, gave them a bit more information on the specifics. "UNIT's been watching Rattigan Academy for ages. It's all a bit Hitler Youth. Exercise at dawn and classes and special diets."

"Turn left," the jeep's ATMOS announced.

The Doctor frowned. "Ross, one question. If UNIT think that ATMOS is dodgy-"

"Go straight on."

"How come we've got it in the jeeps?" Ross chuckled. "Yeah, tell me about it. They're fitted as standard on all government vehicles. We can't get rid of them till we can prove there's something wrong."

"Turn right."

"Drives me around the bend." Just then, they turned the corner onto the school drive.

Caroline chuckled. "Nice one."

Ross grinned. "Timed that perfectly."

"Yeah. Yeah, you did."

"This is your final destination."

The three of them climbed out of the jeep and walked up the pavement to where a man who must have been Rattigan stood, supervising a group of students in red sweat suits running around.

"Is it PE?" The Doctor called as they got nearer. "I wouldn't mind a kick around, I've got me daps on."

"I suppose you're the Doctor?"

He waved. "Hello."

"Your commanding officer phoned ahead."

"Ah, but I haven't got a commanding officer. Have you?" He held out a hand to Caroline. "This is Caroline, she's lovely."

Caroline waved, blushing. "Hello."

"Oh, this is Ross. Say hello, Ross."

Ross nodded. "Good afternoon, sir."

"Let's have a look, then." He led them into the main doors, Caroline right behind him. "I can smell genius! In a good way."

Luke Rattigan led them to one of the laboratories where some of the students, still in the same sweat suits, were working on a few projects. Caroline followed right behind the Doctor as he examined all of them.

"Oh, now, that's clever." He stopped in front of a model of a molecule, slipping on his specs. "Look. Single molecule fabric, how thin is that?! You could pack a tent in a thimble. Ooo!" He leapt to something else. "Gravity simulators. Terraforming, biospheres, nano-tech steel construction. This is brilliant. Do you know, with equipment like this you could, ooo, I don't know, move to another planet or something?"

Luke shrugged. "If only that was possible."

"If only that were possible," the Doctor corrected, pulling off his glasses. "Conditional clause."

"I think you'd better come with me." Luke led them to what must have been Luke's private chambers, given their extravagance. "You're smarter than the usual UNIT grunts, I'll give you that."

The Doctor looked back at Ross. "He called you a grunt. Don't call Ross a grunt. He's nice. We like Ross." Caroline nodded as the Doctor spun around. "Look at this place."

"What exactly do you want?"

"I was just thinking. What a responsible eighteen year old, don't you think, Caroline?" She nodded again. "Inventing zero carbon cars? Saving the world."

"Takes a man with vision."

"Mmm, blinkered vision. Because ATMOS means more people driving. More cars, more petrol. End result, the oil's going to run out faster than ever. The ATMOS system could make things worse."

Luke seemed to get upset very quickly, morphing from a collected exterior to someone nearly throwing a temper tantrum. "Yeah. Well, you see, that's a tautology. You can't say ATMOS system because it stands for Atmospheric Emissions System. So you're just saying Atmospheric Emissions System system. Do you see, Mr. Conditional Clause?"

The Doctor only eyed him. "It's been a long time since anyone said no to you, isn't it?"

"I'm still right, though."

"Not easy, is it, being clever." He looked towards Caroline, giving her a small nod to welcome her to say something.

"You look at the world and you connect things," she added. She didn't do quite that, it wasn't instant, but the Doctor had led her to believe it was somewhat faster than a normal human.

The Doctor nodded, taking over as she blushed. "Random things, and think, why can't anyone else see it? The rest of the world is so slow."

Luke, who was looking at Caroline like he didn't quite believe she understood, nodded. "Yeah."

"And you're all on your own."

"I know."

"But not with this," he pulled at ATMOS out of his pocket. "Because there's no way you invented this thing single handed. I mean, it might be Earth technology, but that's like finding a mobile phone in the Middle Ages." He threw the device to Ross. "No, no, I'll tell you what it's like. It's like finding this in the middle of someone's front room." He walked over to what looked like a futuristic hollowed out cube. "Albeit it's a very big front room."

Caroline frowned. "What is it?"

"Yeah, just looks like a thing, doesn't it? People don't question things. They just say, oh, it's a thing."

"Leave it alone." Luke stepped forward, but the Doctor was already stepping into the device.

"Me, I make these connections. So does Caroline. Therefore, Caroline, what does this look like to you?" He was pressing a few buttons.

Caroline frowned. If ATMOS was alien and the Doctor was messing with the controls, setting it for something much like he did the TARDIS, then that would mean… "It's a teleport pod."

"Exactly!" he cheered, just as he pushed the final button and vanished. There was a moment where they just stared in stunned silence, and then the Doctor reappeared, already running. "Ross, Caroline, get out! Luke, you've got to come with me." Before anyone could move much, someone else appeared in the teleport, though this one was smaller than even Caroline. It was completely covered in armor. "Sontaran!" the Doctor declared, sonicing the teleport so that it sparked. "That's your name, isn't it? You're a Sontaran. How did I know that, hey? Fascinating isn't it? Isn't that worth keeping me alive?"

Ross pointed his gun at the Sontaran. He and Caroline had gone to stand behind the Doctor. "I order you to surrender in the name of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well that's not going to work. Cordolaine signal, am I right? Copper excitation stopping the bullets."

"How do you know so much?" the Sontaran asked, though it was quite demanding.

"Well." The Doctor went over to lean against Luke's desk.

"Who is he?"

"He didn't give his name."

"But this isn't typical Sontaran behavior, is it?" the Doctor continued. "Hiding? Using teenagers, stopping bullets? A Sontaran should face bullets with dignity. Shame on you."

"You dishonor me, sir."

"Yeah? Then show yourself."

"I will look into my enemy's eyes!" The Sontaran removed his helmet, revealing an alien that looked cross between a human and a potato, if Caroline was going to be quite crude.

Ross's eyes widened. "Oh, my God."

The Doctor leaned forwards. "And your name?"

"General Staal, of the Tenth Sontaran Fleet. Staal the Undefeated."

"Oh, that's not a very good nickname," the Doctor scoffed. "What if you do get defeated? Staal the Not Quite So Undefeated Anymore But Never Mind?"

"He's like a potato," Ross breathed, looking at Caroline like he was surprised she wasn't so shocked. "A baked potato. A talking baked potato."

"Now, Ross, don't be rude. You look like a pink weasel to him." The Doctor bent over and grabbed a squash racket and ball from a nearby foot sculpture. "The Sontarans are the finest soldiers in the galaxy, dedicated to a life of warfare. A clone race, grown in batches of millions with only one weakness."

"Sontarans have no weakness."

"No, it's a good weakness."

Luke looked back at the Doctor. "Aren't you meant to be clever? Only an idiot would provoke him."

The Doctor just turned to Caroline, who was busy attempting to determine what the Sontaran weakness could be. "No, but the Sontarans are fed by a probic vent in the back of their neck. That's their weak spot. Which means, they always have to face their enemies in battle. Isn't that brilliant?" Caroline did find herself smiling. "They can never turn their backs."

"We stare into the face of death."

"Yeah? Well, stare at this." The Doctor hit the ball into the back of the teleport, making it rebound and hit Staal right on the probic vent, making the general stagger. "Run!"

The trio ran back out to the jeep, driving off instantly. "Greyhound Forty to Trap One," the Doctor used the radio but there was no response. "Repeat, can you hear me? Over."

"Why's it not working?"

"It must be the Sontarans. If they can trace that," he nodded at the ATMOS, "they can isolate the ATMOS."

"Turn left."

Caroline frowned. "Try going right."

"It said left."

The Doctor nodded. "I know. So go right."

Ross tried, but the wheel turned itself to the left. He pulled his hands off and the jeep kept driving. "I've got no control. It's driving itself. It won't stop." He tried to sonic the ATMOS while Ross tried the door. "The doors are locked."

Ah, it's deadlocked," the Doctor grumbled. "I can't stop it."

"Turn left." The jeep swerved in that direction.

"The sat-nav's just a box, wired through the whole car."

"We're headed for the river."

Caroline stared at the box. "ATMOS, are you programmed to contradict my orders?"

"Confirmed."

She glanced at the Doctor, but he gestured for her to continue. "Anything we say, you'll ignore it?"

"Confirmed."

She looked up at the window, swallowing. "Then drive into the river. I order you to drive into the river. Do it. Drive into the river."

The jeep stopped just at the end of the river, the three of them running out, the Doctor pulling her along. "Turn right. Left." The ATMOS device sounded like it was malfunctioning.

"Get down!" he pulled her down, shielding her while they both covered their heads.

"Left, right, left, right, left, left, right, left, right-" Instead of anything exciting or dramatic, like they'd expected, the ATMOS just gave off a few sparks and a small cloud of smoke.

The Doctor looked up at it, pouting. "Oh, was that it?"

Thankfully, they were close enough to Donna's house that they were able to walk back without the jeep, which no longer started. Caroline and the Doctor walked first, with Ross behind them looking out for any sign of Sontarans.

"Who are the Sontarans?" she asked. She knew he had explained some of it, but not enough that Caroline felt she knew enough about this alien threat.

"They're a clone race obsessed with war. They hate the thought of a war going on without them."

She looked up at him. "Do they know of you?" A few of the aliens they'd come across had known the Doctor by name, or at least knew of him in some way. And there was the fact that he knew all about them, specifically their weakness. You could understand that he would have at least needed to meet them once before.

"Yes."

"Did you part on good terms?"

"No."

She thought. "You said this method of fighting, of manipulating, was not the Sontaran way. Why would they turn to it now?"

He looked down at her and Caroline realized their hands were brushing together. "I don't know."

She breathed deeply. "Then we shall endeavor to find out why."

The Doctor grinned, grabbing her hand. "Oh yes, Caroline, oh yes." Laughing, he pulled them along, making Ross run after them in order to keep up.

They stopped running rather quickly, since they were actually much closer to where Donna lived then they had first expected. The Doctor rang Donna's doorbell, Caroline standing beside him, and she opened it, looking slightly surprised to see them back so soon. "You would not believe the day I'm having." He sighed. "Now, do you have ATMOS?"

"What…"

"Sontarans," the Doctor said, and Donna quickly pointed him towards the family car. He began to examine it, hunting for what the ATMOS device would do, what purpose it could serve. "Call Martha."

"I'll requisition us a vehicle."

"Anything without ATMOS. And don't point your gun at people." Ross nodded, and left.

Donna's grandfather came out of the house and Caroline was shocked to see that she recognized him. It…it was the man from Christmas. Who'd been running the stand, who'd stayed in London at Christmas. That man had been Donna's grandfather. "Is it him? Is it him? Is it the Doctor? Ah, it's you!" he cheered, spotting both Caroline and the Doctor.

"Who? Oh, it's you."

Donna frowned, looking between all of them. "What, have you met before?"

"Yeah, Christmas Eve. He disappeared right in front of me and she saw it all happen."

"And you never said?"

Her grandfather shrugged. "Well, you never said. Wilf, sir, ma'am. Wilfred Mott. You must be one of them aliens."

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, but don't shout it out. Nice to meet you properly, Wilf." He held out his hand, and Wilf only stared at it in shock.

"Oh, an alien hand."

Caroline glanced at Donna. "Anything?"

"She's not answering. What is it, Sontorans?"

"Sontarans," he corrected. "But there's got to be more to it. They can't be just remote controlling cars. That's not enough. Is anyone answering?"

She held up a hand. "Hold on." Someone on the other side spoke. "Martha. Hold on, he's here." She handed the phone to the Doctor.

"Martha, tell Colonel Mace it's the Sontarans. They're in the file. Code Red, Sontarans. But if they're inside the factory tell them not to start shooting. UNIT will get massacred. I'll get back as soon as I can. You got that?" He hung up a second later, throwing the phone back to Donna and pulling up the bonnet of the car, sonicing it.

"But you tried sonicing it before. You didn't find anything."

"Yeah, but now I know it's Sontaran, I know what I'm looking for."

"The thing is, Doctor, that Donna is my only grandchild. You got to promise me you're going to take care of her." Wilf looked at Caroline, who smiled.

The Doctor glanced back at him. "She takes care of me."

Wilf laughed. "Oh yeah, that's my Donna. Yeah, she was always bossing us round when she was tiny. The Little General we used to call her."

Donna hit his arm. "Yeah, don't start."

"And some of the boys she used to turn up with. Different one every week. Here, who was that one with the nail varnish?"

"Matthew Richards. He lives in Kilburn now. With a man."

Suddenly, spikes stuck out of the device in the engine. "Whoa." He held a hand out to block Caroline, who'd been leaning over it with him, like the spikes were suddenly going to get longer then the length of half a finger. "It's a temporal pocket. I knew there was something else in there. It's hidden just a second out of sync with real time."

"What's it hiding?"

A woman who must have been Donna's mother, given her age and resemblance, walked up. "I don't know, men and their cars. Sometimes I think if I was a car. Oh, it's you. Doctor what was it?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

"What, have you met him as well?"

"Dad," she sighed, "it's the man from the wedding. When you were laid up with Spanish flu. I'm warning you, last time that man turned up it was a disaster." She eyed Caroline. "Don't know who she is though, but if she's with him she's just as bad."

The Doctor glanced up. "Oi!" A second later gas shot out of the pipes, the Doctor physically pulling Caroline back this time as he soniced it. "Get back!" Thankfully, the gas stopped when the car sparked. "That'll stop it."

"I told you. He's blown up the car!. Who is he, anyway? What sort of doctor blows up cars?"

Donna sighed. "Oh, not now, Mum."

"Oh, should I make an appointment?" the woman left, leaving the Doctor to consider the gas.

"That wasn't just exhaust fumes…"

"Some sort of gas," Caroline nodded, the two of them looking at each other in the eyes.

"Artificial gas."

"And it's aliens, is it? Aliens?"

Donna stepped closer. "But if it's poisonous, then they've got poisonous gas in every car on Earth."

Wilf shook his head, climbing inside the car. "It's not safe. I'm going to get it off the street." The only problem was that the car locked itself and started the engine at the same time a thick cloud of exhaust came out of the tailpipe.

"Hold on!" Donna rushed over, trying to open the door. "Turn it off. Granddad, get out of there!"

"I can't!" he held up the keys. "It's locked! It's them aliens again!" He banged on the window, trying to break it.

Mrs. Noble appeared in the doorway again. "What's he doing? What's he done?"

Gas began to pour from the exhaust on all the cars up and down the street, as well as inside the one Wilf was in. "They've activated it!" the Doctor said, Caroline coughing from the smoke.

"There's gas inside the car! He's going to choke! Doctor!"

He tried the door. "It won't open!"

Caroline looked around them, thinking of how many cars there were, how much ATMOS there was. "It's the whole world."

"Help me!" The Doctor pulled out all of the connections he could find in the engine, but the gas continued to come, filling the car. "Get me out of here!"

"Doctor!" Donna cried as Wilf collapsed, the Doctor looking around completely helpless. Caroline was leaning against the front of the car as clouds of the smoke engulfed them all.

A/N: Caroline is getting quite a bit more confident, I wonder how much she'll be able to do any say in the future :)