The Doctor reached the Tardis just as the sun was setting over the horizon. He caught a glimpse of it between the buildings to the west and stopped to admire the glow. He had looked both ways before letting himself into the empty lot, and then around the lot itself before letting himself into the Tardis. A bright blue police box wouldn't have attracted notice in London, but he doubted very much that they'd been exported to Spain.

He shut the doors and let out a long-held sigh. No matter how many strange sights he saw, what exciting adventures he'd been on - or troubles he'd started - the Tardis was the closest thing he had to home. He took the stairs two at a time, running his hand over the brass railing, and leaped up to the central console. He pulled an upper level and the view screen dropped down from above displaying a map of Zaragoza with railroads crisscrossing the winding streets and the blue line of the Ebro cutting through the center of the city. The Doctor fit the sonic screwdriver into a small socket in the console and synced the device to the main sensors. The view screen flickered for a moment as a dozen spots of red and blue appeared over the map. He had taken enough readings that the Tardis was able to extrapolate from them, scanning the whole city for ten miles around and picking up on any similar radiation.

It was just as the Doctor had begun to suspect, but that didn't make him feel any better. "Rats," he said. "It would be that simple, wouldn't it."

He punched in a few coordinates, zooming in on Mrs. Elizondo's boarding house. The strongest radiation readings had come from there, but there was something else, not far away. A purple glow hovered over Karena's shop, as if the Tardis couldn't decide whether there was radiation there or not. The Doctor had scanned the shop in person and hadn't seen anything amiss, but the Tardis obviously thought differently. He checked and rechecked the coordinates, but there was no mistaking it. Something must have been shielding the readings from him when he'd stood on the street. Radiation that matched Mrs. Elizondo's boarding house and something else... photon radiation, just a trace but it was enough. Nothing in the '30s should have made that much noise.

He zoomed out again and retraced his steps, finding the Professor's house where Karena worked. "Curiouser and curiouser." He scanned the house but there was no sign of radiation there, no more than was natural for a planet in the midst of a technological revolution.

Back and forth, the Doctor scanned the city, looking for every form of radiation, radio wave or sonic vibration that could account for it. Very little of this mystery made any sense to him. The disappearances, sure, that was easy, but he couldn't think how Karena fit into it. Photon radiation in her grandfather's shop? The only thing that could generate that sort of energy, and still be small enough to fit inside a two-story building, was a powered down travel pod with an outdated stardust drive. Small engine, two passenger capacity and no room for cargo. He hadn't seen anything like that for years. If it was a travel pod that he'd found, then the question became, how did it get to 19th century Spain? Who had hidden it there. There was only one person he could think of.

The Doctor shut down the view screen and pushed the keyboard away. He stood over the console for several long minutes, frowning to himself, but he couldn't think with all this quiet.

Not for the last time, he wished that Rose was with him, or Donna, or even Captain Jack and his Hollywood smile. Anyone to break the silence pounding in his ears. He had gotten out of the habit of consulting himself. "Well, what are we going to do now, Doctor?" he asked no one but himself.

He knew he had to confront Karena before she did anymore damage.

"And I've got to get a look inside that building," he said, ejecting the sonic from the console and tucking it into his coat pocket. "Rats are one thing, but this is bigger than rats. Big, hungry, radioactive rats..." He clapped his green, felt cap onto his head and spun on his heels. "Once more into the breach!" he cried, charging out of the Tardis and back into the cool Spanish night.

He locked the doors behind him and was about to turn around when he felt suddenly dizzy. The night seemed darker than it had been a moment ago, and the ground rippled under his feet. He watched the gravel tumble back and forth, frowning and for a moment taken aback.

"Localized spatial distortion," he said, puzzled, and was about to bend down to examine it more closely when something hissed above his head. The Doctor was reminded of the Mara on the planet Manussa and shivered. He looked up, slowly, and looked into the slant yellow eyes of a shadowy creature. He stumbled backwards, but the shadow sprang and a great, heavy weight landed on his chest, throwing him backwards onto the ground.

The earth rocked as if he were lying in a boat. His arms were heavy and moved as if he were in a dream and they were something apart from him. He could see the lamplight in the distance and a gleam of eyes and teeth. He threw up his hands and felt the teeth sink into his arm. The Doctor gave a shout, but the creature had already coiled its long arms around his neck, cutting off all sound. Its grip tightened, and its mouth opened. The Doctor wrenched his head aside, and the creature's teeth snapped at air inches from his face.

long arms'll grab you and its teeth'll eat your nose…

The Doctor's eyes widened. So this was Sofia's goblin... He'd been expecting something smaller.

The creature snapped at him again, and the Doctor twisted his body, flinging himself from side to side but he couldn't shake the thing off. It was strong than he was and it was determined. If he'd had the sonic screwdriver in his hand, he might have sent out a sonic burst to stun the creature and disrupt the spatial distortion that was making it so hard for him to think and to move, but the sonic was in his pocket and if he put even one arm down now, he was dead.

The Goblin's arms squeezed tighter and tighter, like a snake wrapped around his chest. He felt his lungs squeezed. Every breath he let out, there was less and less room to inhale. His own tie was choking him. There was no way out, the Doctor realized. He had no backup plan for this.

"Tengo hambre…"

He gasped. He could feel himself beginning to black out. Time Lord or not, he couldn't survive without air. Why he hadn't listened to Donna!? What made him think that he could travel alone?

"Tengo hambre…" The creature hissed.

"Estoy enojada."

The woman's voice seemed to come from far away, but the loud bang that came next was so close that it made his hearts skip a beat and his ears ring. The Goblin shrieked and unwound its arms from the Doctor's neck. There was another bang, and the Doctor shoved the creature away from him. It shrieked again and fled. Karena followed the creature's path with the barrel of her gun, but before she could shoot again, it had darted behind a stack of old hay and vanished into the thick shadows.

"Too bad," she muttered, lowering her weapon. She'd managed to graze the thing's back with her second shot, but it had been moving too fast and the same distortion that had twisted the Doctor's sight had made it hard for Karena to get a bead on her target.

The Doctor wheezed and tugged at Karena's skirt. She looked down and saw him gasping, pulling at his tie. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, and if he hadn't been half-suffocated, he might have noticed that her Spanish accent was gone and she was speaking perfect American English now.

"Can't… breathe…" he gasped, pulling weakly at the tie. The Goblin had pulled the knot tight and he was too oxygen starved to unfasten it. Karena crouched down and tried to help, but she couldn't get her fingers in.

"Have you got a knife?" she asked, looking around. The sharpest thing nearby was a broken two-by-four.

"Pocket," the Doctor gasped. "Left… front… pocket…"

She tried the coat pocket first, then the breast pocket of his suit coat. She found the small pocket knife in the left pocket of his trousers and carefully cut the tie from the Doctor's neck. His face was bright red by the time she had him free, and he doubled over, sucking in air gratefully. He leaned back against the Tardis, pulling his shirt collar loose and rubbing his sore throat.

Karena watched him, curiously, with his knife in one hand and her gun in the other. "Are you alright now, Doctor?" she asked. She looked at the tooth marks on his coat sleeve, but it seemed the fabric had taken the worst of it.

He stared at her in disbelief. "I was attacked by a mutant space-rat, almost choked to death, and you've cut to ribbons my second-favorite tie," he gasped. "I can't say that any part of that sounds 'all right' to me!"

She shrugged and looked a bit sheepish. "You might say 'thank you', at least," she muttered.

Before he could say what he thought of that, a movement caught his eye. The goblin had crept out from the behind the hay bales and was inching back towards them with its teeth bared, ready for a second round.

"Behind you!" The Doctor pointed.

Karena spun around and raised her weapon. The goblin saw the glint of silver, hissed and darted away. Karena fired twice more, her bullets striking the wooden fence as the creature swung itself over and dropped down on the other side. In the distance came the clash of metal cans and a dog barking. The goblin wouldn't try them again, not when they were ready for it. It knew better than to face down an armed enemy without the element of surprise.

Karena waited a moment, listening, her gun trained on the shadows. The Doctor jumped to his feet and snatched it away. "Put that thing down," he snapped. "You're going to hurt yourself... or someone else!"

"I wasn't!" she snapped, brushing the dirt from her dress where she'd knelt when she cut off his tie. "You might say thank you," she said. "I saved your life. Twice."

"I had everything absolutely under control. Completely under control!" he insisted, rubbing his neck. "Mostly… under control." He bent down to pick up the surviving scraps of his tie. He looked at them sadly and then tossed the bits away. He took out the sonic screwdriver and crouched down to scan the ground where the Goblin had been.

Karena watched him warily. "Do you know what that creature is?"

"I know what it was," he said, checking the readings on the sonic.

"What it was?" she pressed him.

"Yes, was." He struck the sonic against his palm a few times, rechecked the readings and sighed. There was no doubt left in his mind what had happened. And he had a fairly good idea of how.

The Doctor stood up and slipped the sonic back into his pocket. "You've heard of the Sempry," he said.

She shook her head. "No."

"Sun rats," he told her. "That's what they're called on Satellite 5, anyway. Imuse, on Memory Alpha. Maddening little beasts at the best of times. They're like rodents on an ocean liner, infesting space ports and ship docks across a dozen different galaxies. Slow to breed. They're not considered an invasive species, but they'll clean out a spaceship's protein rations if they're not kept under control." He shook his head. "This one is big. Too big. No wonder it's been going after larger prey, but…"

He turned to look at Karena and seemed to see her for the first time. "It really is quite the coincidence, you showing up here, now. Just in time..."

She looked up, startled. "To save you? Yes, that is a coincidence. Maybe you should thank me," she said quickly.

But the Doctor was not to be distracted. "What were you doing here?" he demanded.

"Does it matter?" She inched back toward the door in the wall.

"It matters to me," the Doctor said, catching hold of her arm. "How did you know where to find me?"

"You left your address," she said, "or did you forget that?"

He had, actually.

"And this is yours, I think," she said, holding out his knife. He reached for it, but she refused to give it up. She stepped up close to him, close enough for him to smell the gunpowder on her hands and see the soot caught in the creases at the corners of her eyes. He felt sure that he had seen her somewhere before. She wasn't from Earth, not if she brought that travel pod, but from where? She looked at him, waiting - but waiting for what? She was certainly waiting for something from him.

"It's your turn, Doctor," she said impatiently.

"My turn?" he echoed. "My turn for what?"

She stared at him in disbelief, and then with disappointment, but she recovered quickly and held out her hand. "My gun," she said. "I'm giving yours back. You give me mine."

He hesitated, convinced that she'd meant something else. Reluctantly, he handed her back her gun, and she released his pocket knife. "For the record," he said, "this is a tool, not a weapon. That is just for shooting people."

"If you say so," she said, tucking her own back into her skirt pocket and turning to leave.

He caught her arm again. "You still haven't answered my question," he said. "Why did you come here? I've seen you somewhere before."

"In my kitchen, this morning." She tried to twist free but he held on.

"No. I mean, yes, but not only there," he insisted. "I've met you before today."

"No, you haven't."

"But you came looking for me," he said. "Why!"

Karena shook her head. "I wasn't looking for you," she said. She looked past him, and the Doctor followed her gaze. "I was looking for her."

"The Tardis?" he said, not expecting that. "You're after the Tardis?"

"I'm not after it," she said, walking toward the big blue box, smiling as if she were meeting an old friend. "I wanted to see it again. The big ol' big, blue box." She ran her fingers over the worn, wooden side. "It's been a long time."

For all his confusion, the Doctor was enjoying this. There was nothing predictable or expected about this meeting. Karena had never met him, but she knew the Tardis? There was an intimacy in the way she touched the handle of the door. But he knew that he knew her, but they hadn't met... yet? He was practically giddy, eager to discover the truth.

Karena's fingers curled around the door handle. The Doctor opened his mouth to speak and then a sudden, burst of light blinded him. The lamp on top of the Tardis lit up green and glowing as an explosion like St. Elmo's fire poured down the side of the box and licked up Karena's arm. She was thrown back from the door as if she'd been struck by a bolt of lightening and hit the ground before the Doctor could make a move to catch her. He stared up at the Tardis, then down at Karena, then back up at the Tardis.

"What? How...!?" The lamp had gone out again and the green fire was gone. "It's never done that before," the Doctor said. "The Tardis should have grounded itself the moment it materialized. Any residual static would have ben let off hours ago..."

"I don't think it likes me much," Karena muttered, holding her head.

"It doesn't have to like you," the Doctor said. He fit his key into the lock, wary of more shocks, but the Tarids was silent. He unlocked and opened the door, and then hooked an arm around Karena's waist. He helped her to her feet. "C'mon. Let's get you in out of the cold," he said. He was eager to get the woman into the Tardis where he could keep an eye on her and get some answers to his questions, but when he tried to walk her into the policebox, the doors slammed shut in his face and the lock clicked into place.

"Hey!" the Doctor shouted, pounding his fist on the door. "Who's in there? Open up!" He tried the key again but this time the lock wouldn't even turn. He'd been frozen out.

"Perhaps if you let me go, you could try again," Karena suggested.

"Not on your life," the Doctor said. "I'm not letting go of you until I've got some answers."

She didn't look to happy with that, but he tightened his grip and she sighed. "We can't stand out here all night," she said. "Back to my place, I suppose."

"Lead the way," he said, nodding toward the door that led out of the lot.

.

The Doctor had learned his lesson well. He kept his eye on the rooftops as they hurried down the street from one circle of lamplight to the next. He didn't seen any strange shadows, but twice he thought he heard something scampering along behind him. Each time, when he looked back, there was nothing there, but still he told Karena to let them in through the front of the house. One tragedy had already occurred in that back alleyway.

Goblin or not, that creature was dangerous.

The house was dark when Karena let them in. She waited until the Doctor turned his back to peer out of the front window, checking whether they had been followed, then she kicked the carpet bag farther under the table and push the library door shut with her heel. The Doctor heard the door latch click, but by the time he turned back around, Karena was walking down the hall toward the kitchen.

"I'll put the kettle on, shall I?" she said easily.

"Not on my account," he said, following her. "No, thank you."

In the kitchen, he didn't sit down but leaned heavily against the counter still worn out and sore from the Sempry's attack. Karena sat in her usual chair. "I'm surprised you don't like it, Doctor. It's a green variant of the Bejoran Deka, good for the trials of time-travel. I discovered it some years ago. It is a bit of an acquired taste..."

"You can drop the act," the Doctor said. "I don't know who you are, but you are not what you are pretending to be."

"And what am I pretending to be?" she asked, annoyed.

"Innocent."

She raised an eyebrow, surprised, but didn't argue with him.

"Was there ever a professor living here," he asked, "or was that a story, too? Like your brother. You don't have a brother, or a grandfather."

"I do, in fact, have both, but they're not around here. And there was a professor. Professor Juan Miguel Garcia-Nevares. This was his house and I worked for him. He left it to me when he died."

"Did you kill him?"

"I did not."

He sighed and sat down across from her, running his hands through his hair. He leaned back and stared levelly across the table at her. "You've lied about everything else today. Why should I believe you now?"

"You've seen killers before, Doctor. Do I look like a killer to you?"

"Yes. I think you do."

She sighed. "Alright, but do I look like a murderer?" she asked.

He scowled, and then he frowned. "You may not be a murderer, but you are certainly a liar," he said, angrily.

"Something we've always had in common, Doctor," she said, smiling fondly.

"I've never lied to you," he said.

"Not yet, but we both know it's only a matter of time."

He stared at her, and she stared right back at him. They were at an impasse, but he had one last card to play. He took the clippings book out of his pocket and set it down on the table. He waited a moment, to give her a chance to fess up, but she said nothing. He opened the book and turned to the second page. "That is not an Earth date," he said, pointing to the neat, penciled line.

Karena frowned and finally looked down at the book. She followed his finger. He could see the exact moment that she realized her mistake. Her eyes widened and her face when pale. She sat back in her chair and let out a long breath. "I may have written the date down wrong..." she said weakly.

"No, you did not. You may not have meant to write it that way, but the date was correct. 0609-1933A, Thirteen years ago in ICN, the interstellar calendar notation used by the East Intergalactic Trading Company. You work for them," he said, snapping the book shut in his hand. "You think you're the first surveyor I've met looking to plunder Earth's resources? This planet is protected. By me."

Karena rolled her eyes. "I'm not here to plunder anything," she said. "And I don't work for the EITC. I use their ships for travel sometimes. They fly everywhere across the nearest three galaxies. I learned the notation because it helps to read the shipping schedule."

"EITC doesn't take passengers. They are legally barred from doing so. Anyway, the liability is too high."

"I never said I was a passenger."

"There's a lot you're not saying, and what you do say, I can't trust."

"Frustrating, isn't it," she grinned. "Now you know how I've always felt."

"I don't know you," he shouted, standing up. "I've never met you before in my life."

Karena slammed her fist down on the table. "Damn it, Doctor. They were your rules, not mine! It is not my turn!"

"I don't know what that means!"

She stared at him, searching his face, and the look in her eyes made his blood run cold. "You don't, do you?" she said quietly. "You really don't remember..." He couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen those eyes before, that look on her face, confusion and betrayal. She stood up and reached for the clippings book. "I'll just put this away, then."

As she stretched out her hand, he saw the braided leather wristband on her arm. He recognized the EITC remote engine monitoring device that all ship captains wore, but she said she didn't work for them. And then it struck him, where he'd seen a wristband like that before, on another hand reaching out... reaching for him, for help... He suddenly knew where he had seen those eyes before.

"Carmen?" he said. She stopped short in the doorway with her back to him. "Carmen Ortiz," he said. "You're the girl from Gateway... but you can't be. I put you in the Zero Room myself. You're in the Tardis."

"Am I?" Karena said without turning around. "But that's impossible, Doctor. We've never met before. You don't know me."

"No, we haven't met," he agreed. "We never met. You were suspended in Dr. Kuri's energy field by the time I... but you met my companion, Rose. She spoke with you. She fell into the energy field, too, and I... I had to..."

"You pulled her out and left me there." Karena turned around. "You saved her and left me to die."

He could see it now, the eyes, the face. Her hair was dyed black, and she was twenty years older, but it was her. He knew her now. "That's why the Tardis attacked you!" he said, putting the pieces together. "Because you're still in there. It couldn't let me carry you inside, not with another version of you already… But you're older, twenty years older at least. It was only three years ago! Carmen Santiago Ortiz, it's impossible."

"You've done quite a lot of impossible things, Doctor. What's one more?" She shrugged her shoulders. "But it hasn't been three years, or twenty, either. For me, it's been a lot longer than that."


Whew. Sorry, this last one got away from me. It's been a bad couple weeks. Still...

Big surprise, or not at all? Shame on the Doctor for not recognizing his own long-term passenger :P

-Paint