All About The Doctor and Jamie

by GM Andy

Shortly after his first regeneration the Doctor finds himself coping with many new problems, mental & physical. Tossed into this is James Robert McCrimmon. This is their story. Meeting-Bonding-Falling. Is someone mucking about in Time? Second/Jamie Slash

6. Cause ya know, It's all about us

A/N: This is a detailed side story for my Doctor Who AU 'Verse. It's 'All About' Jamie and the Doctor. How they met, what adventures they had, and finally why they were parted. It's a prequel to Doctor Who and the Great Eclipse even though I'm writing it now, and mean it to be read in conjunction with Doctor Who and the Tangled Web. This is meant for those folks with no exposure to the second Doctor. This chapter covers the serial "The Faceless Ones". Scenes that don't have either the Doctor or Jamie directly involved will not be included. Transcripts of the episodes are used as reference for dialogue, along with photonovels where the BBC has lost / destroyed them. Inspiration and Titles come from the T.a.t.u song "All About Us" that was used for the video featuring this ship. See TARDIS Parking or my profile for the links to both Transcripts and video.
I want to thank OtherMeWriter, Kyer, and Laura Harkness for the lovely and kind words. You all make my day.

Part Five

'Cause ya know, It's all about us

The Doctor remembers, to the day, when he picked up Ben and Polly. He knows they have reason to want to go home. More an urgent reason he could have never anticipated, actually. So, having fixed the TARDIS during their time in Alexandra, he makes a deal with her. He'll re-accept the imprint, even allow the deeper bond she is asking for, once Ben and Polly are back in London, on the specific date of July 20th, 1966. All he asks her for is their safe return to their own day and age. Verity is stunned. But she can't resist the offer and takes them to London, on the specific date that is being asked for.

Of course, London is a big place. There are lots of things going on there. And… what the heck is this? Verity doesn't pay much attention to where she lands after that little shock. The Doctor must stop this. If he doesn't then there will be horrible changes to the future because of it. The feeling of urgency prompts Jamie to dash out onto the asphalt runway where a very large plane was making an attempt to land. The Doctor darts out after him and Jamie grabs him; "It's a flying beastie!"

This is not safe. Behind him Ben and Polly emerge as the Doctor moves to drag Jamie to a less dangerous location. The other two dash after the little rumpled man and the lad in the kilt, just as the pilot manages to pull up and into the air again, missing them and curtailing impending crash. As the TARDIS crew runs, a policeman spots them, "Hey, you! Stop!"

Now, it might not be the wisest of things but the Doctor is not certain that they have reached what and where it appears to be so he orders, "Scatter!" Polly goes one way, Ben another. Jamie and the Doctor take off in parallel paths. The policeman decides that Ben is the easiest to catch and gives chase. They manage to evade capture, even though they lose Ben and Polly. The airport security moves the strange police box off the runway. At least Jamie and the Doctor manage to stick together. The situation quickly escalates with many more policemen joining in the search for them. They duck behind separate wheels of an airliner waiting on a runway. Waiting until it is safe to move the Doctor calls, "Jamie, come over here with me. Come on." The Scotsman also is keeping his eyes on the moving men in black, on their two wheeled devices and with their foot patrols. He times his move to be unseen and reaches the Doctor. His hands settle on the man's back and the Doctor sighs from the renewed contact.

After a time it appears that most of the patrols have moved to another area and the Time Lord and piper cautiously step out from their hiding place. They have been too alert to the danger to even think about doing more than clutching hands. It doesn't seem safe. The dart to the closest building, keeping out of sight of the police that occasionally still passes the section of the airfield, although at a distance. This area is quieter. Jamie spots Polly as she carefully rounds the corner of a different building; "There's Polly!"

"Polly! Over here!" The Doctor calls to her and she quickly rejoins them.

She's distraught however, "Doctor, I... I've just seen a man killed."

Jamie glances up, thinking that the metal things in the air are the worse threat, "By one of the beasties?"

The young blonde woman doesn't know if she should laugh or cry. She shakes her head, "No, no. He was murdered by another man."

"Get your breath, Polly, and tell us exactly what happened," at least she can tell that the Doctor not only believes her but is taking this more seriously than anyone else might. He settles a calming hand on her shoulder and waits for her to gather her wits.

"Well, I went into the hangar, to get away from a policeman. And there were two men in there. One of them had a gun and he shot the other one," she tells him.

"The murderer, did he see you?" The Doctor asks. Polly tells him that she was chased and that she managed to lose him. Then the Doctor inquires, "Could you find this hangar again?"

Polly motions back the direction Jamie had spotted her approaching from, "Well I... I think so, I remember the name. It was Chameleon something-or-other..." but she is distracted by the fact that there are only two of them, "Hey, where's Ben?"

"We haven't seen him. Come on, let's find this hangar," the Time Lord can almost sense the odd feeling of Time being altered and changed by the events taking place. This must be why his TARDIS brought him here.

"But listen, the man with the gun. He'll be looking for me!" Polly reminds him.

Jamie puts a hand on her shoulder, "Ah, we'll look after you. Now come on."

"But where's... what about Ben?" Polly really doesn't want to go back there.

"Aye, we'll find him. Come on," the piper sets off after the Doctor and Polly sighs before dashing after them.

She takes the pair right back to the Chameleon Tours hanger. Unaware that they are being watched, the trio enters the main area and Polly leads the two men right to the body in the middle of the floor. She points at it, "Look. And the bloke came out of that door there."

The Doctor spots the door that she points to and moves over to investigate, "Is it locked? Is anyone in there?" He studies the door and announces, "No, it's locked. There's nobody there." Then he moves back to the body and begins a careful examination of it, "Polly, this man that killed him. Would you recognize him again?"

Polly nods, "Well, yes. He chased me. I'd recognize him anywhere."

The Doctor kneels next to the male corpse and studies what he can see without touching or contaminating it. After a long moment he glances up at the blonde woman, "Polly, how do you say he was killed?"

"With a gun," she answers.

He frowns, "Can you describe it to me?"

She shakes her head trying to remember it clearly, "No. It was... it was too far away. Why?"

"This man was electrocuted. His clothes are all scorched!"

This does not surprise the odd little man's companions near as much as it might if they hadn't traveled with him across time and space. Polly insists, "It was definitely some kind of a gun, Doctor."

He nods, showing that he believes her, "Maybe. But not one that's not been developed yet on this planet." After a moment he decides that he's finished his investigation and stands up. He looks around and finds a blanket to cover the body with to preserve any evidence that might be on it. He carefully lays this over the body. "We must report this to the authorities."

Jamie suggests, "That man who chased us, we could find him maybe."

Shaking his head the Doctor says, "What, the policeman? Oh, no, no, Jamie. We must find the man in charge in this place."

Polly glances at the body, "But what about him? We can't just leave him here."

"There's nothing else we can do. Now, let's find the main airport building. Come on," the Doctor sets off. After a moment his two companions take off after him. Polly falls to the back of the group. None of them are aware that the murder is hiding in wait. He watches the Doctor pass and then Jamie. Neither of them poses a threat to him, but Polly does. He grabs her as she starts to pass him and clamps a hand over her mouth.

The Scottish lad is saying, "Are you sure this is the right way, Doctor?"

"This seems to be leading to the main airport building," the older man responds.

The young woman struggles a bit, but the killer has no intention of killing her. Instead he stuns her and drags her away. It takes a few moments but the Scotsman stops and looks around, "I don't understand it, Doctor. Polly's nowhere to be seen. Something must have happened to her." He marches back to the inner office door and tries the handle.

"It's locked Jamie. There's nobody there." The older man knows he is going to need help, as there is no way he can correct this alone. "I'm afraid we're wasting our time here, Jamie. The sooner we find the authorities and tell it all to them, the better. Come on." Both the Doctor and Jamie leave, although neither is overly happy about doing so. They eventually reach the main building. There's a group entering in ahead of them and the Doctor joins this group. "This seems to be the way, Jamie!" The mass of people form into a line as they reach the immigration desk where a young man in a uniform is checking passports. Stepping out of the line the Doctor moves to the fellow's side, "Excuse me, we're looking for someone in authority."

The young man does not take his eyes off the passport he is examining, "Just a moment, sir. All in good time." He glances up at the woman again and stamps her papers before handing it back and waving her through, "Thank you, Madam." Only then does he look at the mop top gent in his shabby jacket. The first thing out of his mouth is, "Now sir, your passport please."

"I've got no time for that. We want to see someone in authority!" the Doctor demands.

"I am in authority. Your passport please."

"You don't understand, we... we have something important to report!"

"Yes, sir. When you've found your passport." With that he motions to the next person in line and says, "The next one, please."

Jamie looks at the dark haired man, "What's a passport, Doctor?"

The Time Lord waves this off, "Oh, some sort of official mumbo-jumbo." He's becoming cross with this nonsense, and he pushes his way back to the desk, "Look! We've just discovered a dead body out there!" He motions to the airfield. The fellow at the desk shows no sign of having heard which prompts the Doctor to demand; "Did you hear me?"

This does not phase the fellow, "Well, sir. If I were you I'd inform the police."

Testily the Doctor snaps, "Then please tell me where we can find them."

"There's probably a policeman in the main concourse, through this door and turn to your left." The man indicates the area beyond his desk. The Doctor thanks him but before he can pass the young man stops him and says, "May I see your passport, sir!?"

Oh of all the foolishness. This is one of those times he wishes he'd gotten his hands on some psychic paper. Of course he doesn't have any. And he hasn't taken the time to establish an identity in this time period either. This is one of the reasons that he so strongly dislikes this era. "We neither of us have passports! Now does that satisfy you?"

"I think you must be mistaken, sir. You couldn't have got on the aircraft without passports."

Jamie speaks up at this point, "We didn't arrive on an aircraft."

The uniformed man looks at them, "Now look here sir, this joke has gone on far enough. You know and I know that you must have arrived here on the last inbound flight, which was... Flight number 729 from Madrid."

Jamie looks at the Doctor and blurts out, "Can we not tell him about TARDIS?" The Doctor steps on the lad's foot and thinks to him, 'No, we can't.'

"What's that?"

Jamie isn't paying attention, "It's the way we got here."

The damage is already done however. The young man knows about 'the prank' with the police box and is now thinking that these two odd gents are part of it, "You gentlemen wouldn't know anything about a police box, would you?"

Jamie opens his mouth but snaps it closed with the hard kick he gets to his ankle. The other man is reaching for his phone, and the Doctor is saying, "I really think that our mode of conveyance is irrelevant. The important thing is that we've discovered a dead body out there and we want to report it to someone in authority."

"I think you'll have plenty of opportunity to see someone in authority." He motions to the wall bench, "Will you take a seat please over there?"

"Thank you very much," the Time Lord mumbles as he snags Jamie by the arm and leads him to the seats.

Not taking his eyes off the odd pair the young man in the uniform hastily dials, "Give me the Commandant, please... Hello, sir, Jenkins here. Immigration, Desk Number Five. I think I've got two of your suspects here..."

In a very short time the Commandant arrives and the Doctor tells him what is going on. Not that the man believes him, of course. The expression he's getting is one of steely skepticism, "You say this girl actually witnessed a murder?"

The Doctor confirms this "Yes, she saw the man killed," and then winces when Jamie blurts out how he determined the man died. This causes the Commandant to fix his stare at the Scotsman. The Doctor steps in, "What does it matter what sort of gun. The point is he was killed and my friend saw it happen!"

"Where is she? I'd like to talk to her."

Jamie replies, "Well that's another thing, She's vanished."

At this the man has clearly reached the end of his rope, "Oh, people who vanish. Ray guns! Is this some sort of joke?"

"You wouldn't think it a joke if you'd come and see the body," the Doctor indignantly responds. Then the Commandant looks at the passport checker and discovers that the two individuals he's talking to have not got passports. He demands to know why they don't. This causes the Doctor to straighten in anger, and really he's not that tall of a fellow, but he does have presence and usually this works to grant him a measure of authority on his own, "Oh look, we're all wasting time! Now, are you going to come and see that body, or am I going to find someone who really is in charge in this place?"

The loud firm voice does the trick, as does the challenge. The Commandant says, "I am in charge in this place, thank you! Now, you'll both accompany me to this hangar, immediately." Although the Doctor is being ordered around and he usually doesn't like that much, in this case it is exactly what he wants. As long as he gets someone out to that hanger to see the body. The Commandant tells the officer at the desk, "Tell Air Traffic Control where I am." With that he waves the unusual pair back out to the airfield and follows them. He trusts the young man to do as he's told and has no worries about that. But once they reach the hanger they discover the body is gone. The evidence of the body is not, but the body itself is. The head of the airport says, "You're quite sure you got the right hangar?" Jamie tells him that yes this is the right place, ignoring the sarcastic tone in the man's voice. The Doctor fiddles in his pockets until he finds a magnifying glass, tweezers, and an envelope. He then sets to gathering evidence before it too disappears. The Commandant sneers at him and the odd lad in the kilt, "What exactly are you doing?"

"Gathering evidence. For the police of course. The trouble is, I can't tell them who he was."

"Some sort of mystery man, no doubt?"

At this the Doctor nods, "Yes, as a matter of fact he was. There was nothing in his pockets to identify him. In fact there was only one thing…" At this he fishes out a Spanish postage stamp that has not been postmarked, "This!"

"A postage stamp?"

"Ah, but it's Spanish, and it hasn't been used!" After a moment longer the Doctor says, "Hello, this is interesting!"

The Commandant frowns, "What have you found now?"

"It's burnt fibres!" these are placed into the envelope. Jamie then points out the burn mark on the side of a nearby packing crate. The mark is fresh. "You're right, Jamie. That's quite new. Hmm. Well it's good to see someone is using their intelligence." The reproachful glare is the last straw for the head of the airport.

"Oh, I've had enough of this. You two are coming with me."

The Doctor ignores him, studying the burn mark, "That was definitely made by a ray gun."

"Ray gun, burnt fibres, unused foreign stamps... I must be as mad as you are even to be listening you!"

The Doctor gets to his feet and wipes his hands on his handkerchief, "You know what they've done with it, don't you? Somewhere there's a large packing case."

Jamie points at a suspicious looking box, "Right behind you, Doctor!" Unfortunately the box proves to be filled with – cups. Thousands of plastic cups.

The Commandant is livid; "Plastic cups!" He turns on the Doctor, "Now, I'm going to do some investigating of my own. What I am going to investigate is you and why you're both here in the Airport. Come on, you two, out!"

The Doctor sighs, "Come on, Jamie. We'd better humor him." They follow the man from the hanger and back to the immigration desk. The Doctor has not given up, "If you'd had let me search the place properly..."

The Commandant shakes his head, "That hangar is leased to a private charter company. I've no right to search in there, let alone you. Now, will you kindly sit down and keep quiet!" He then turns to the young man still on duty, "Jenkins, get on to Superintendent Reynolds. Yeah, this is his job - these people are trespassing."

"I've just got another flight coming through, sir," Jenkins tells him. The sound of approaching feet supports his claim.

"Oh, all right, I'll do it."

He goes to pick up the phone when the young Scottish lad grabs the rumpled man's arm and shouts, "Doctor, look!"

It is Polly. Or someone that looks like Polly. The Doctor jumps up and rushes over to the man at the phone, "Commandant, this is the girl I was telling you about."

She gives him a blank expression, faintly puzzled, "I beg your pardon?"

Jamie joins the Doctor with a hopeful expression as the older man asks, "Now where have you been, Polly?"

"Polly? My name isn't Polly. You must have made a mistake. I've never seen them before in my life!"

This distresses both Jamie and the Doctor. The Commandant frowns. "You're quite sure you've never met these men? They say they know you."

"But they can't know me. This is my first visit to England!"

"But Polly, it's us, me and the Doctor!" Jamie says, very upset.

The rumpled little man puts a hand on the Scotsman's arm. It's a gesture that is somehow familiar. "Would you mind telling us your name?"

"I am Michelle Leuppi from Zurich." With that she hands over her passport and asks, "Have I done something wrong?"

The head of the airport leafs through the papers and hands it back. Everything looks to be in order, aside from the very sincere unset that the two men are putting off, like the missing girl is someone they have known for a very long time and are quite close to. "Oh no, I don't suppose there's anything for you to worry about, Miss. May I just ask what you're doing in England?"

"I have come here to work. Look, here is my work permit."

The Commandant accepts the document and studies it before giving it back, "Oh, yes, that's quite in order. Thank you. Excuse me. Everything's perfectly in order. Now if you'd just like to go through there?" With that the girl heads on her way and the head of the airport resumes his call after telling Jamie, "You're going to wait here until the Superintendent of police arrives - now understand that?"

It's quite clear that the attempt to pass this situation off to the authorities has failed. The Doctor whispers to Jamie, "Jamie, I don't think we're very welcome here. When I say run, we run!" He waits until the moment is right and then orders, "Run!"

Jamie doesn't hesitate. He flawlessly follows the Doctor's command and the pair streak past the barrier, through the reception area and into the throng that provides perfect cover along the main concourse. Both of the other men behind them that might have had a chance at catching them stay at their posts, with the Commandant informing the police that that the pair has made a run for it. The pair manages to evade the patrols, knowing that they are looking for them. What they don't know is that Ben has managed to slip into the concourse as well and is also trying to find his friends. The Doctor and Jamie manage well enough to keep the police guessing by hiding in plain sight, although it would help matters if the German paper that Jamie was holding was not upside down. "They're still hunting for us, Doctor."

"Yes. We'll have to keep out of their way until we can prove our story."

"A fine chance we have of doing that - with Polly kidding on she doesn't know us!" Jamie says.

The Doctor glances at him, "I don't think Polly was kidding on. In fact I don't think that was Polly."

"Of course, it was Polly! You saw her!"

While it was true that the young woman was wearing the same clothes, had the same hairstyle, even possessed the fine tan from spending two years in Alexandra with them, something was off about her. The Doctor wasn't quite sure what it was, but there was something… "You don't want to believe everything you see, Jamie."

Meanwhile the police have turned and are on their way back, "Doctor," Jamie hisses. He's still finely tuned to the facts of war and evasion, thus his signal is heeded and the papers come up to block their faces. Once more the two men in black patrol past them, not noticing the German print being upside down. After they are gone Jamie says, "All clear, Doctor." The little man doesn't respond right away, "Doctor," Jamie shakes his shoulder.

He puts his hand over the lad's, "Jamie! What was the name of that hangar?"

"Polly said... Chameleon something."

The Doctor folds the paper, "Yes, Chameleon Tours." He passes the large ad to the lad and reads it to him, "An advertisement for Chameleon Youth Tours. 'Budget Tours for young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty five.' This could be the bait. Do you know what a chameleon is, Jamie?"

"It's just a name, I suppose."

"It is the name of a small animal, a lizard that can change it's color to merge with it's background. But it's a name that could equally be applied to people as well. People who change their personalities to suit their own ends. Budget Tours... young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. Oh yes, there's something strange going on here." He's distracted by Ben running up to them, "Ben! Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," the sailor tells them before he frowns at the significant missing member of their group, "What happened to you two and where's Polly?"

It's understandable that he'd be upset at her being missing. The Doctor shakes his head, "We can't talk here. We've got to find somewhere to hide. Something about passports."

"I've got the very place. Come on," with that Ben leads them off down the concourse, staying alert for police and security staff. He spots someone very familiar as they move down the airport, "Look! There's Polly!"

The Doctor stops him from approaching her, "Yes, look who she's working for!"

Jamie glances up and the characters arrange themselves into Gallifreyan before his eyes, "Chameleon Tours."

Ben is confused but trusts the Doctor with his life and Polly's too. So when the Doctor says, "Yes, leave this to me," he doesn't pitch a fit. The three stroll over to the kiosk, the two younger men behind the older. "Polly."

The young woman glares at him, "Please go away."

"Now, something has happened to you, Polly. I want you to try to remember up to the time we left the hangar," the Doctor says to her. Ben is giving her a very sad, distressed expression.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Now think, Polly. There were three of us in the hangar. You were showing us something. Now what was it?"

"I tell you, I don't know what you're talking about."

The Doctor persists, "The hangar, Polly, The Chameleon Hangar. You said you'd seen the man who did it."

Angrily the blonde snaps, "I didn't see anything. I think you're mad. If I'd seen anyone shot, I'd have gone to the police..." but she's said too much and she knows it. Her face clenches.

"Anyone shot?"

Flustered the girl says, "I... I mean murdered..."

"I didn't say anyone was shot, or murdered, Polly."

The girl breaks down into tears, "Look, please, will you just leave me alone." She then turns to her paperwork, determined to ignore the three men.

Ben looks hurt and astonished. His Duchess would never act this way. "What's happened to her, Doctor?" The little man tells the sailor that he intends to find out what is going on and he won't rest until this is solved. But first they need a place where they can talk. "Right," Ben says as he leads them off. Behind them the girl who is Polly but not Polly stares at their backs.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Ben has no idea how difficult it is to concentrate with this close contact, honestly. Jamie has insisted that the smaller Doctor sit in his lap, and Ben is so used to their being close that he doesn't even think it odd anymore. Two years living with them as lovers sort of blinds the sailor to how strange this entire thing might look if someone glances in at them. Jamie looks at the little glass screen that is in the middle of the wall and curls his arm around the Doctor's back, trying to give Ben enough room to close the curtain. "What is this place?"

"It's a machine that takes your photograph," Ben starts to explain.

The Doctor puts a finger over Jamie's mouth and rapidly answers his question with mind to mind communication while at the same time saying, "No Ben, not now. What puzzles me is this girl pretending to be Polly, yet... yet in a way, she is Polly."

Ben frowns, "Do you think she's been brainwashed?"

The little man shakes his head, "No. For several reasons. One, there was no time. Whatever happened to her happened to her in a few minutes. Two, she's not in the same physical state now as our Polly is in. She smells different. Look out!" Seconds later an elderly woman draws the curtain back to see the three men posing with big toothy grins at the lens, but with the smaller man sitting in the lap of the farther away younger one. Her expression becomes shocked and hostile before she flings the curtain closed and rushes away. Ben doesn't say anything about the Doctor's last clue, knowing exactly what the man is referring to. He's clearly worried though. "All right. Now Ben, Jamie, we've got to find out more about Chameleon Youth Tours, but the trouble is, we're not free to move around with the authorities looking for us."

Ben points out that he is not being looked for. The Doctor agrees that he should go search the hangar. At the same time he intends to try again to get the Commandant to listen to him, but he also wants the Polly watched. Jamie wants to go with Ben, but the Doctor doesn't think their chances are going to be that great if they stay together. In the end Jamie moves off to keep a watch on the Chameleon Tours' kiosk. While he is there he discovers that people have been going missing from the tours. One young lady is looking for her brother who was last known to be heading to Rome. Her name is Samantha and 'Polly' is no help to her at all.

By chance she ends up sitting right next to Jamie as she waits for the promised information. After a moment Jamie asks her, "Do you think something's happened to him."

"Well, that's just it, I don't know. Oh, Brian can take care of himself all right, but still..."

"Aye, well I hope you're right. I might just be able to help you. I can't tell you anything at the moment but later I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. I'm sure he'll know what's best," Jamie tells her before disappearing back behind his newspaper. The young lady glances up to see a policeman strolling by. Something tells her that this young Scottish lad might just be able to make good on his promise.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Doctor follows through with his plan to attempt to get the Commandant to listen to him by going to his office. He listens in as his assistant announces his arrival, "Excuse me, sir." The response is a mumble. She bravely continues, "There's a gentleman to see you." She too cheerful by far for the head of the airport's sense of well being but he bite the bait anyhow and asks what the man is there to see him about. His assistant gives him an amused look, "Well yes. It's about a dead body."

The expression on the commandant's face is worth her amusement, about ten times over, "Bring him in."

She steps to the door and beckons to the man outside, "Would you come in, please?"

"Thank you," the small man cuts a shabby figure but he's unfailingly polite and very friendly. She, at least, finds him quite engaging. He brushes down his scruffy frock-coat as he enters the room. He beelines to the Commandant's desk with a beaming smile, "Ah, Commandant. How nice to see you again."

The head of the airport shudders and picks up his phone, "Airport Police please."

"At least hear what I have to say," the Doctor pleads.

"I've heard all I want to from you." He then turns his attention to the phone, "What do you mean, they're engaged. This is the Commandant. Thank you."

Undeterred the Doctor tries another tactic, "If you're going to speak to the police, then tell them that there's something happening in this airport that may endanger human lives."

The other man ignores him, "Hello police? Commandant. Would you send a couple of men down here at once please."

"Since I'm obviously about to be arrested may I make one last request? Listen to me for just one minute."

He gets a head shake, "Not for one second. I've heard all I want to hear about burnt fibres, ray guns, disappearing people..."

"But there was a dead body in the Chameleon Tours hangar!"

The assistant perks up at that, "Did you say 'Chameleon Tours'?"

The scruffy little man turns to look at her, hoping that he's got an ally here, "Why, do you know something about it?"

She looks at the Doctor, then switches her attention to her boss, "Well no, but the Inspector Crossland wanted to know..."

"All right, Jean. I'll handle this," the Commandant cuts her off. Moments later two police enter the room. He addresses them with obvious relief, "Ah, take this man away, put him under lock and key and keep him there!"

The scruffy little man backs away from the two police, thinking rapidly. Suddenly he thrust his hand into a pocket and holds his fist up, "One step nearer and I'll blow you all to smithereens!" What they can see is that he's got something round and black in his hand. The pair of lawmen freeze, quite concerned that they are dealing with someone deranged. The Doctor backs to the door, swiftly maneuvering to make an exit. He pauses, "Catch!" With that he tosses whatever it was in his hand. Everyone's eyes follow the little black sphere as the Commandant automatically moves to catch it.

The astonished man finds that he's holding a little black rubber ball. He glances up at the door to find that the odd little man is gone. "All right, after him!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jamie finds that the fake Polly doesn't do much to assist his new friend, Sam. Polly closes the kiosk after telling Sam flat out that she can't help her and that she should just head home. Instead of getting the meek results that her employers are looking for, this attitude makes Sam even more determined. Shortly thereafter the Doctor comes back to the loading area outside the booth. Jamie jumps up and catches the Doctor's arm, "Doctor, I'd like you to meet this young lady."

The Doctor is slightly preoccupied, "What young lady? Where's Polly?"

"She's still inside," Jamie tells him.

"Ah, I shan't be a minute," he smiles at them both and then slips over to the kiosk. With the sonic screwdriver he's able to quickly break into the booth, "Polly..." He finds to his surprise that it is empty. He takes the time to do a quick search and finds piles of blank postcards from the various places that the company does tours to, sheets of unused foreign stamps, and he is sure that this is a clue, if he could only figure out what it meant. He slumps into the seat at the desk and thinks about it. The monitor catches his eye. Currently it shows a general view of the area outside the booth. His eye is drawn to the model plane on a stand in the corner of the desk. He reaches out and tugs on the tail of the plane. It clicks the entire model into a new position and the monitor now shows the medical center.

Rather pleased with himself he tries to see what else this will show. The next image on the screen is Ben talking urgently into a phone. The Doctor leans closer, hearing Ben over a hidden speaker, "But why wouldn't you listen to him? It's all true. I'm in the Chameleon Hangar now and I've just f..." he's cut off by a figure holding a small metallic pen shaped device. This item makes Ben freeze once it is touched to the back of the sailor's neck.

"Ben!" Panicked and not thinking the Doctor fiddles with the plane, "Ben, can you hear me?" he moves an engine, "Ben, can you hear me?" He's unaware that he has in fact managed to make the others aware of his being in the booth, "Ben, are you all right, can you hear me? Ben! Ben! Ben, can you hear me?" He jumps up and dashes out of the room finally realizing that the screen is two way, and that whoever attacked Ben is now aware that he know this. He flies out to where Jamie is, "Wait here. Keep an eye on the booth. I'm going after Ben. If I'm not back in half an hour come to the hanger, but be careful. Understand?"

Jamie nods. The Doctor goes off in a rush. The Scotsman frets. He frets bad. He doesn't like being left here. Sam looks at him and can see he's worried, and she's pretty sure that the funny little man means the world to her new friend, "Hey, you think we should go after your friend? He's been gone about ten minutes now."

"No, he said half a hour. Now, we'll do what he said," Jamie tells her, even though he really wants to find his Thete and make sure the man is not getting into trouble.

Sam pokes the piper with a teasing expression, "Hey, he is a right weirdy, isn't he?"

"No! I wish I had his brains."

She moves closer on the bench; "You're all right as you are." Jamie gives her an alarmed look about the little flirt. Sam smiles at him, realizing that he's quite attached.

At that moment a new young woman marches up to the booth and opens up, "Chameleon Youth Tours announce the departure of their flight Number Four-One-Three to Zurich. Will all passengers please assemble in the departure lounge. Chameleon Youth Tours ann..."

"Hey, look, they've opened up that kiosk now."

Jamie frowns, "Aye, and where's Polly?" Around him the announcement continues.

Soon there is a good crowd of young people gathered together at the kiosk. Sam and Jamie watch as the new woman has them sign postcards for their parents and says, "I'm quite sure the first thing you want to do when you get to Switzerland is write home to your parents..." Many in the crowd groan. "But in case you don't have time, Chameleon Tours have some postcards of Zurich ready for you to write here. When you've finished your postcards, give them back to me and we'll post them for you in Zurich." The youngsters begin filling out the cards.

Sam glances at one of them that sits next to her and discovers that the card is pre-stamped. "Look! A postcard of Zurich, stamped with a Swiss stamp, all ready to post," she says to Jamie. "Don't you see. This could explain the card I got from Brian. It was posted in Rome, but that doesn't mean to say that he posted it!"

Jamie's face goes from confusion to understanding, "Oh I see. We'd better tell the Doctor about this! Er, how long's he been gone?" He gets to his feet.

Sam tells him, "Err, about half a hour, now."

"Right, I'll go and find him."

Not to be left behind she jumps up as well, "I'll come with you."

But before they've taken more than half a dozen steps a burly man with the thick moustache moves into their path and blocks them. He looks right at Jamie, "Just a minute, son. I want a word with you."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Doctor looks for Ben, meanwhile, in the Chameleon Tours' hanger office. He's managed to reach the building without drawing attention to himself, but is finding little sign that Ben has been there, except for the alien pen-like device left lying on the desk. He takes this and examines it. He knows Ben was attacked here. He sits down in the same chair and looks over his shoulder. Oddly, there's a floor to ceiling bookcase there. He suspects that the wall hides something. But then he's looking for Ben. Once more he jumps to the conclusion, "Packing cases!" It's the only way for them to have smuggled out someone unseen. He rushes out into the main area of the hanger and sets to work on the various boxes of the correct size.

He uses a screwdriver to pry the lid off one of the cases, with difficulty. He's not completely unaware of being watched but intent enough on his task that he doesn't care. He gets the lid off and discovers a body wrapped in a sheet. Hoping that it is Ben he uncovers the face. It's a man but not one he knows, and not the one that had been killed. The sound of a blurred but familiar voice catches his attention, "Somebody, help me... please... I'm suffocating..." The voice seems to come from the office, so he carefully heads back that way. As he enters it the voice comes again, "Quickly, somebody help me please... I'm suffocating... Help me, please!"

The room is empty. But he spots the panel closing high in the wall and realizes that this is a trap. Before he can move to escape a nozzle appears in another wall and filling the room with a white vapor. He makes a dart for the door but it closes in his face. He shoves at it, finds that it is locked and turns back to look at the nozzle and the vapor. The gas coming into the room is icy cold. His superior biology will protect him, but his attackers don't know that. So he pulls off the perfect act, much as a human might and convulses his way to the floor.

Then he thinks that maybe there is a better way. He clambers back to his feet and uses his handkerchief to plug the nozzle. Let's see how determined you are, eh? His invisible opponent toggles another nozzle and begins flooding the room from a higher point. While the little man cannot reach the nozzle from the floor he's quite determined to plug it too. He drags a chair over and snags a duster from the desk. He uses the chair to reach the nozzle and stuffs the duster into it to block it. While he's up there he spots the camera. He smirks at it and quickly covers it with his coat. Then he remembers the two way workings of the monitor and moves to smash it. The Doctor slumps by the overturned desk chair and waits, mimicking finally falling foul of the gas.

Soon he hears the telltale click of the secret door opening. He feels the non-human kneel next to him and start to lift him up. But the Doctor is ready for this and uses the little pen-like freezing device on his attacker. This accomplished he bounds to his feet, slips the little device into a pocket and grabs his coat. He hasn't found Ben but he suspects that neither Ben nor Polly is on Earth anymore. He rushes out of the hanger, right past the crate with the body in it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jamie has told the man that wanted to talk to him, Inspector Crossland, the entire story, at least what he's been told is safe to tell. Sam has told him about her brother too. While Crossland has sympathy for her he's far more worried about the possibility raised by Jamie's story. Sam protests, "Yeah, but what about me brother?"

"I'm afraid I've got something more serious to look into first Miss. If this young man's telling the truth, a colleague of mine's been murdered."

Jamie spots his Thete approaching looking like he's been in a bit off a trouble. Ben is not with him. Jamie jumps to his feet and reaches for the little man, concerned, "Ah, Doctor! There's a man here wants to talk to you."

It's pretty clear that the Doctor is worried and preoccupied by this situation. Jamie feels the energy flow between them jolt across the touch like sharp shards. The Doctor says, "Oh, who is he?"

"Err..." Jamie manages before being cut off.

The man holds out his warrant card, "There you are sir."

"Detective-Inspector Crossland... Scotland Yard!" the little man announces, seemingly quite happy to be reading this.

"Aye, I've told him everything," Jamie says. His Thete catches the Scotsman's hand and squeezes. Good lad. Jamie squeezes back and relaxes a fraction.

The detective pulls a photograph from a pocket, "Have you ever seen that man?"

After a moment's study the Doctor says, "Well that's the man we found in the Chameleon Tours hangar!"

Crossland believes this odd pair. The Scotsman is just too honest to be making it up and the funny little man in his frock-coat brims with intelligence and determined truthfulness. He nods, "All right then Doctor, we'll go and see the Commandant. I want him to hear your story."

"Well he... he wasn't every impressed with it the last time," the Doctor tells the man.

He is firmly told, "This time, he's going to believe you!"

Jamie can tell that his Doctor is reluctant to go back to the Commandant's office again, but he sees no choice. Slowly he gets to his feet, "Well, if you think so. Jamie, stay here and keep an eye on the kiosk. We shan't be long." While Crossland turns his attention to Sam, Jamie snags the Doctor's hand again. Keep the young lady out of trouble, please. We've lost Ben and Polly already and I suspect that there are aliens involved, the Doctor thinks to him.

Jamie nods as Crossland says, "And don't worry about your brother, Miss. We'll find him for you!"

As the two older men hurry away Sam sighs and flashes Jamie a disgusted look, "A fat lot of good that Inspector's going to be."

"Ah, but he believes us," Jamie informs her. This is much better than what he and the Doctor have been up against.

"Oh yeah, but that doesn't mean to say he's going to do anything," she gets to her feet, "I think I'll go and have a look round that Chameleon Hangar."

"Ah, not by yourself!" Jamie's standing now too.

"Well, I suppose it would be better if I had a man with me."

He frowns, "Aye! Oh, if only the Doctor hadn't told me to watch this place."

"Oh, do you always do everything you're told?"

Jamie fixes her with a stare, "No! But the Doctor trusts me."

"Yeah, that's your trouble isn't it. All right stay here," Sam gives him a pathetic look in spite her attempt to face whatever is in that hanger by herself. "After all, they can only murder me. Ta-ra."

The Doctor had told him to keep Sam out of trouble, so he supposed that if she was going to toss herself into danger he'd better be there to pluck her out again, "Don... Oh... Wait a minute. I don't suppose anything will happen here, do you?"

Sam turns back to look at him hope shining in her eyes, "Well since they closed the kiosk, it's hardly likely."

"And we won't be long away, will we?"

"Well, that depends on what we find. Ar, come on kid!"

Yep, she's gonna run off and get herself into trouble. He'd better go with her, "In any case, you'll need me to show you the way there!" Once they reach the hanger it's pretty clear that there is no one lurking about. In fact the fellow that the Doctor tricked is not there either. Jamie and Sam split up and each searches an area. Sam comes across an envelope filled with written out but unposted postcards. These are supposed to be posted in Germany. After reading through a couple she tucks the entire works under her arm and heads out to show Jamie. Jamie in the mean time has found the previously opened crate and notes that it is empty.

She shows him the envelope, "JAMIE! Jamie, look what I've found! There must be fifty postcards here. That should make that inspector do something!"

"Aye, you're right. And I know where to find him. You're a brave wee lassie. No time to greet now."

Sam fights back her tears about her brother's unknown fate, "Oh, get off! I've got something in my eye, come on!" She brushes the tears away as she starts off. Then she turns back, "Where are we going?

"Commandant's Office," Jamie leads the way there.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Once again the Doctor has told the Commandant his story. This time he's got Crossland backing him up. The head of the airport says, "All right, all right, I'll accept that you found a body. But I still want to know where you come from, and why you have no passport."

"Oh, but surely that's unimportant..." the Doctor protests.

"It is not unimportant to break the law!"

The detective steps in, "Sir, I think we're going to have to let him tell us in his own way."

At this the Commandant gives in, "Oh very well. Make it brief!"

"Thank you. I have just carried out a search of the Chameleon Tours hangar. In a packing case, I found the body of a man," the Doctor tells them, "He was in a stupefied state, a sort of coma. I don't know his name but I have a feeling he's one of your employees. In fact, I think he may be in here."

The Commandant is doubtful, "Oh, indeed."

The Doctor nods and begins to study the various employees. At one he stops and listens to him, "Taxi, following southern taxi way for departure runway two-seven..." This is the man, he knows. But he needs to figure out why these aliens are doing this so when the man looks at him he turns away and studies the other two with equal intensity. Finally he removes the silver pen-like device from his pocket. He turns to the Commandant but stays near the suspect, "Do you know what this is?"

"It looks like a fountain pen to me."

"Things are not always what they seem," the Doctor tells him. Then Crossland tries to take the object from the little man, and although the Doctor doesn't stop him he does say, "Oh careful! It's dangerous. Chameleon Tours are not quite what they seem either."

This mystifies the head of the airport, "No, and what's your theory?"

"Well, I'm afraid you won't believe it when you hear it. First, Inspector Gascoigne was murdered with a ray gun. However..."

Crossland interrupts, "A ray gun?"

"A weapon that has not yet been developed on this Earth." At this the commandant scoffs. Hurt by this, the Doctor says, "There you are, you see, I knew you wouldn't believe it, what's the use?"

But the detective finds the Doctor oddly compelling. For one thing he's completely sincere in what he's saying, no matter how odd it may sound, "No, now be patient, sir, we are trying to understand you."

At this the Doctor takes a deep breath, deciding to tell them what he believes to be going on. He just hopes that they listen to him, "Very well. Next, I believe Chameleon Tours to be merely a front. A cover for the mass kidnapping of young people."

"And is all this supposed to be taking place in my Airport?" the Commandant asks.

"Yes - at this very moment!" The Doctor must make them believe him.

But it is clear that the head of the airport does not, "Oh, that's quite enough. Can't you take that fellow into custody?"

Crossland shakes his head at the man, "Well, I'm very sorry, sir, but you know he hasn't broken any law, except for this immigration business, and that's not my responsibility."

"But Brian Briggs is your responsibility," the Doctor reminds Crossland. The inspector does believe him, this he can tell.

"And who is he?"

"He is a young man who went on a Chameleon Tour and vanished," the Doctor starts.

Crossland cuts him off, "Ah now, come on Doctor, wait a minute. We're not certain of that yet."

"Well, he's nowhere to be found." At this Crossland concedes that the fellow is missing. "And neither are my two friends! Which to my mind proves my point. Chameleon Tours are a cover for the abducting of young people."

The Commandant says sarcastically, "And just where do you think they're taking them?"

Oh, well… this is where things are going to get tricky. But he had better tell them and then deal with the convincing bit, "Well, in view of the facts that I've already presented, the ray gun, this pen and err... one or two other things. I think we're dealing with people who are not from this planet."

"That hardly answers my que..." then he realizes the full implications of what has been said, "What did you say?"

Sadly the Doctor remarks, "You see, I knew you wouldn't believe me."

But while the commandant is ranting about how this is nonsense, Crossland says, "Um, look Doctor, I think you ought to produce some evidence to support all this."

"Evidence! What about this pen?" He holds up the silver pen-like device.

"A pen! Do you call that evidence?" the Commandant challenges.

"I'll demonstrate it for you." The Doctor takes in the room and spots the fact that it is tea time. He turns to the nearest employee, who is now holding a steaming cup of tea in his hand. It just happens to be the copy of the man he found in the hanger in the packing crate, "Excuse me. Would you mind helping us?"

He looks at the little rumpled man, "I don't understand."

"Could you hold this cup out in front of you, hmm?"

"Very well," while he agrees to hold the cup up, his instinctive reaction to the pen-device is fear and this makes the Doctor even more certain of who he is.

"Oh perhaps you've seen one of these before?"

"No, no I..." The Doctor keeps his aim on the cup and presses the firing button. The employee yells in fear, lets go of the cup, and flees the room. The saucer smashes to bits against the floor but the cup itself does not.

The Commandant's assistant picks up the cup. "It turned to ice!" She holds the now frozen tea out for the other two men to look at.

"Do you call that arrant nonsense?" the Doctor asks them quietly. The demonstration has proved his point, at the very least. Shortly he's got information flowing his way, including flight schedules for Chameleon Tours and information about the case that the missing detective was working on. Having just got the respect of the Commandant, he's not going to lose it now.

But then, Jamie burst into the room with his new friend, "Doctor!" The little man looks at his Scottish piper as the lad says to the young lady with him, "Samantha, down here." Then Jamie says, "Doctor! Picture postcards, look at them!" Sam holds out the envelope for the rumpled little man to take.

"What the devil?" the Commandant shouts, "I will not have my control room invaded!"

He's rather ignored, though, at the Doctor studies the contents of the envelope, "What, not even for these?"

"Why? What have you got there?" the man from Scotland Yard asks.

"I think it's the further evidence you require, Inspector," the little man answers as he spreads the postcards out on the nearest desk, "Yes, just as I thought. All falling into pattern. This envelope is addressed to somewhere in Germany."

Crossland turns to Sam, "Where did you get these?"

"In the office in that hangar. You see what they mean?" the girl asks him. "The cards are being sent to Dem Chameleon Reisen, Freiberg. That means Chameleon Tours. They give out these cards and get the kids to write home to their parents before they go. Then the Chameleon Tours lot take the cards abroad and they post them back to Britain."

The detective quickly catches on, "So the parents think the children have arrived safely."

The Commandant cuts in, "Now, now, now, this is all mere sup... supposition."

This makes Sam mad, "Oh, to you, maybe. But one of those kids happens to be my brother."

Back peddling the Commandant says, "Your brother?"

Crossland comes to Sam's defense, "Aye, sir. This is the young lady whose brother's missing and you see she did get a card from him in Rome."

While the Commandant is trying to get his mind around why this is happening, the Doctor turns his attention to the flight schedule. Finally the commandant says, "Inspector, can I have a word with you?" The two men move away. Jamie keeps an eye on them but steps up to the Doctor and slips a hand onto his back under his coat. Over on the other side of the room the head of the airport says, "You don't think this fellow's a little unbalanced to you?"

Crossland on the other hand is thinking that the Doctor is anything but unbalanced. If they had someone as brilliant as him on the staff at they Yard many crimes would be solved much faster, "Oh maybe a wee bit unorthodox, sir. But after all he's given us the only lead we've got so far. If you could just see your way to giving him a free hand. Just to poke around a little bit, sir."

"A free hand?!" He glances back at where the Doctor is still studying the bundle of papers, the two young people seeming just as deep in the huddle with him, "Do... Don't you think it's safe to let the fellow roam round the Airport?"

"You can rely on us to keep an eye on him, sir. I personally will investigate Chameleon Tours. Then I'll report back to you here if I've found out anything; but in the meantime if you could just keep everything going as normal, you understand. We don't want them to get wind of anything," the inspector says.

The commandant pulls a face, "Alright. No, no, no, no, no." They step back to the Doctor and his two helpers, "Doctor. I'll give you the freedom of the Airport for twelve hours. Heaven help me. At the end of that time I shall expect you back here with some real facts this time."

Putting down the schedules, the Doctor notes the time, "Thank you, Commandant." Sam celebrates by hugging Jamie who manages to not look totally glum over the expression of affection. The trio are given passes a few moments later.

The next clue comes from one of the controllers who has been listening in the entire time, "Excuse me, sir. There's a Chameleon flight coming in now."

The Doctor listens in to the exchange as the man guides the plane into landing. After listening in he turns to the assistant that provided the passes, "How many flights do they use a day?"

"Seven or eight," she says.

"How many planes do they use?"

"Four. I could get their registration numbers if you like? Why do you ask?"

"Eight flights a day and only four planes. Is that normal?"

"Oh yes. They have a very quick turn-round. I mean, after all they're only on short haul flights. You know, all the holiday centres: Spain, Rome, Athens, the Black Forest..." She is called away.

The Doctor turns his attention to the radar screen, "Which is the Chameleon plane?"

He controller helpfully points out the blip. "Oh that one, sir. Look, he's turning left at Dunsfold. I shall hold him now over Epsom until I can give him landing clearance."

"What's the range of your radar?"

"Hundred and thirty miles, sir. Why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering. When did this plane first appear?"

The man shrugs, "I've no idea, sir. We don't notice them 'til they start to call in. Oh excuse me a moment." He turns his attention to his mike, "Gatwick Control to Alpha Delta Sierra XRay Lima. Climb to ten thousand feet and hold in Epsom control zone to wait landing clearance." Over the mike the pilot repeats the instructions. Then the controller turns back to the Doctor, "Ah, you were saying sir?"

"How long do you hold them after take off?"

"Once they've left Gatwick control zone we've finished with them."

"Oh I see. That means they might go anywhere," the Doctor thoughtfully replies. After this the Commandant chases him out of the room. As he goes one of the Chameleons slips a button like device under the back of the Doctor's coat collar by bumping into him. The Doctor says to the fellow, "Haven't I met you somewhere before?" When he's told no, the response he gives is; "You must have a double." While the Doctor smiles about this it leaves the other man looking rather uncomfortable.

Sam heads off to call her parents so that they don't worry about her, while the Doctor and Jamie head back once again to the hanger. The Doctor is determined to locate the hidden door he knows is here in the office. Jamie is helping him but can see no clues, "Are you sure this is the right room, Doctor?"

"Jamie, have you ever known me to be mistaken?"

The Scot smirks, "Aye."

This causes the Doctor to look over at him, "Hey. Now watch out. That's the wall the gas-nozzles came out of."

"Well, there's nothing here now!"

Jamie steps aside as the smaller man moves to peer at the wall. The nozzles are concealed very well, "You're right. Well that's clever. That's very clever. Oh well, makes life simpler for us. Now..." he moves back to the bookshelf covered wall, "...the man I froze came from here somewhere."

"Aye, he would. A solid wall," the Scotsman says with a frown. "And we still haven't found Ben and Polly. What do you think's happened to them?"

With a sigh the Doctor says, "Somewhere in that solid wall there's a door. P.. p.. perhaps if we find that... that door, we'll find them. Come on, you take that end and I'll take this." He indicates opposite sides of the wall. Jamie agrees and sets to looking. "We must hurry. Inspector Crossland's keeping them busy at the moment, but he'll be no match for them. If he presses them too far..." They begin moving items from the shelves, working systematically from bottom to top and side to side. Finally the Doctor discovers one of the file boxes is fixed in place. He pulls it to the left and the secret door opens, "Jamie, look!"

Inside is a little control room. There is a corner cabinet with nothing inside but a chair. "What's that, Doctor?" Jamie asks.

The Time Lord's superior senses can detect different gases inside the chamber, "Someone who's not used to the Earth's atmosphere. Very interesting..." Then he spots the monitor, "Ah, TV monitor set. Let's see what we can see." They watch various scenes, including the man the Doctor froze talking to someone at the kiosk and the medical center.

"Hey, wh... what's that?"

"Well it looks like a hospital. Jamie, we're getting warmer, which is a change from the last time I was here. Come on. Let's see if there's a first aid post in Gatwick Airport." But as they leave someone spots them. They are near the floor from the upper office when the Doctor staggers and crumples from the sudden activation of the small disk near his spine. The Doctor jerks and reaches for his back, or tries to. The intense pain is more than he can override. "My back!" He feels like his nerves are on fire.

Jamie stares at him in horror, his worse fears surfacing again, "What?!"

The Doctor writhes in agony, "JAMIE, MY BACK!"

This causes Jamie to spring to action, frantically searching for the source of his Thete's pain. Although it seems like hours to the Doctor, it only takes the lad seconds to find the foreign device and rip it off the frock-coat. He tosses it away like it's on fire, feeling like he's grabbed a red hot piece of metal. The Doctor slumps back into him, bloodless and still. Completely unconscious. If not for the tingle from his weight against him Jamie would think the man was dead. He carefully settles the Doctor flat and feels for his pulse. He's shaking, himself. But he's got to revive the Doctor; it's their only hope of finding Ben and Polly. "Doctor!" Jamie knows the man is still alive, but he's having a very hard time getting him to wake up. Maybe he should carry him out of here?

"He's dead! You're coming with me," says another man who has just arrived.

Jamie notices the gun in his hand but shakes his head; "I'll not leave him."

"You have five seconds to change your mind."

"You'll have to kill me then," Jamie says stubbornly.

"I said five seconds. Five, four, three..." Sam comes around the corner and instantly takes in the situation. She springs into action, kicking over a pile of oil cans that falls and scatters with a lot of noise. The Scot screams to warn her about the gun as the man swings her direction. Jamie springs away from the Doctor and onto the man where he manages to knock the gun away before it can be used. While the possible alien dives for the gun and Jamie grapples with him to keep him from it, Sam runs up and kicks the alien weapon away. It becomes clear that the assailant is stronger than Jamie is and the man begins to over power him. Sam jumps him, throwing herself upon his back and wrapping her arms around his neck. But the man is not weaponless. He produces another one of the freeze-pens and zaps Jamie with it. The lad falls. With him down, Sam is brought under control fairly quickly.

When the three of them begin to come to they find that they are paralyzed still and that there's a laser slowly moving closer and closer to Jamie, who is on the outer edge of the group. Their attacker could have killed them outright but instead has chosen this sadistic method of slow death. Sam croaks, "Jamie? Are you all right?"

"Aye. Th... They've not harmed you, have they?"

"No - but I can't move."

Jamie tries to sit up and finds that he too is unable to do more than twitch. He just hopes that the Doctor is in better shape, "Doctor?"

The other man groans as Sam asks, "Are you all right?"

He's coming around, but his nerves feel like he's been set on fire, "What's happening? I... I can't move. What's that?" The Time Lord has spotted the beam of light.

Sam's eyes spot it too, "I... I don't know. It's a beam of light."

After a moment Jamie adds, "Aye. Doctor, it... it's moving towards us!"

They all watch the slow creep of the beam as it slowly advances their direction. It reaches a little pile of flammable trash which prompt flares into a little fire, "Oh… That's just a small fore-taste of what'll happen to us if we don't move and quickly."

"But I can't move, Doctor!" Jamie tells him.

"Neither can I." Sam says before struggling frantically anyway. "Wait a minute. I can move one arm." She manages to reach her handbag, "But I can't move away! Oh Doctor! Can't you do anything to stop it?"

"No," but he's thinking hard on the situation, "Wait. One thing. It's a long chance but it just might work. Have you got a mirror in that bag?" She tells him that she does, because most women carry a mirror in their bag, don't they? "Let's see," the Doctor says. Sam manages to get the mirror out, even though she's only got one hand to do it with and the odd fellow says, "Yes, that'll do. Hand it to me."

Only Sam can't move her arm that far and it's on the side closest to Jamie, "I can't."

The Doctor tries to move to make it easier and still cannot make his limbs work, feeling like his nerves are burning already, "I can't move my hand. Jamie, can you take it?"

This is slightly easier, as their hands are closer together, but Jamie has no feeling in his fingers and must rely on his less than good line of sight to actually tell if his fingers are gripping the mirror. "Have you got it?" Sam asks as she attempts to push it into his numb fingers.

"No, careful!"

"Take it!"

She manages to push it enough that his fingers get a grip on it, "Got it!"

The Doctor sighs, "Right now, see if you can point it at that laser gun." Jamie's never heard of a 'laser gun' before. The Time Lord has to explain what it is he's aiming for another way, "Th... that thing on the wall."

"I... I'll try, Doctor. But why?"

"Well, if you can reflect the light back, we've got a chance."

Jamie trusts this; it's enough for him to take the risk. He tightens his grip on the mirror and carefully begins edging it toward the approaching beam of light. Sam expresses concern about him holding it, saying that maybe he should prop it up on something. Jamie says, "No, it won't work. I'll... I'll have to hold it." Sam then notes that he's going to get hurt. Jamie tells her, "It's a risk I'll have to take." It is, after all, his hand or their lives.

The beam creeps ever closer, and the Doctor watches it carefully. Jamie doesn't. He's trusting his Thete to know exactly when he should make his move. Thus when the Doctor's voice urges, "Quick Jamie! Now!" the Scotsman thrust the mirror into the beam deflecting it. The pain cuts through the sensation of icy numbness, but he grits his teeth and pushes aside the desire to scream with a grunt. Carefully he adjusts the mirror, a fraction at a time, until he lines the beam up so that it is reflecting back on the black metal transmitter. It explodes into a fiery mess. "Oh, well done!" The Doctor's pride is worth it. Jamie lets off a bit of a laugh and forces himself into a sitting position. He stiffly releases the mirror into his lap and holds his hand away from himself now feeling the pain from his badly burned finger.

"Why... I can move!" Jamie says, as the sweat glistens on his skin. "Do you think that's what happened to Ben and Polly, Doctor?"

The other man slowly gets his own limbs working and then moves to check on Jamie's burn, "No." He concentrates on the forming blister and uses his own cooler body temperature to contain the damage, "I think they were needed for some purpose. We were obviously too dangerous for them."

Jamie nods as the Doctor performs a minor miracle of superior healing, causing the lad's own body to speed up and fix the damage. Sam sits up, not quite focused on what the two men are doing, "But to try and do something like this, in broad daylight!"

The wound is still going to need a dressing, as it will take a few hours to actually complete the healing process. The Doctor smiles at Jamie then glances at Sam over her words, "Yes. That means only one thing, I'm afraid. Their plans are almost complete. We'll have to act fast if we're going to save Polly and Ben."

"And Brian, or have you forgotten about him," Sam says. She's noticed now the look that the two men just shared, and it was one that gives her funny thoughts. But then the Doctor gives her one of those intense smiles and it chases the odd ideas right away.

"No, I've not forgotten him Sam, but if my guess is right, they're all in the same place."

Jamie asks, "And where's that?"

They spend a few moments helping each other to their feet, "I don't know. Wait! The first aid post! We saw a first aid post on that monitor. We must find it."

"Aye."

They decide that Sam will watch for the man that attacked them going into or coming out of the Chameleon Kiosk, while the Doctor will take Jamie to the Medical Unit for some first aid, because Sam seems to have gotten the best look at the fellow's face. He tells her to be careful and not let herself be seen. Sam retorts that they seem to be the ones in need of an extra dose of caution. They get back to the main concourse and split up. It doesn't take long for them to find the first aid area. Jamie doesn't have to fake pain at this point, but the Doctor notices that the nurse on duty is not human. "Come along, easy. You'll be all right. Now come along, take it easy. We'll have you as right as rain in a minute. Now just get you down here. There we are." He guides Jamie into a chair. "Splendid." He looks around.

Jamie holds his injured hand and groans lightly, a reminder that he's really injured. The nurse ushers out her companion, "If the tablets do not help, come and see me again." then she turns to the Doctor and Jamie, "What's the matter with him?"

The Doctor says, "Localized third degree burn. Possible broken finger. Might I use the x-ray room?"

"I… I'm afraid not. I have someone coming for an X-ray."

"You refuse to help my patient?"

The nurse quickly gathers the burn treatment supplies, "Oh, no. Of course not. I doubt that there's a break under that burn. Let's get this treated so you can move him to the clinic."

"Oh I see. Well why didn't you tell me that in the first place?" They quickly get the burn treated and the Doctor helps Jamie back up off the couch, "Let's get you out of here." They leave and head back to Air Traffic Control.

The Commandant's assistant hurries over to them, "Doctor, have you seen Inspector Crossland? Scotland Yard are looking for him and we can't find him anywhere. Also, your Miss Briggs wants to see you."

The Doctor frowns, "Well no, I haven't seen the Inspector. Where is Miss Briggs now?"

"She said something about going to the Chameleon Kiosk."

He's got a bad feeling about this, "Go down and join her, Jamie. She's a very strong headed young woman. See she doesn't come to any trouble."

"I'll keep an eye on her, Doctor." He hurries off to find Sam.

The Doctor turns to the head of the airport, "Commandant, did the Inspector say where he was going?"

"Hmm, oh he said he was going to make some inquires about Chameleon Tours."

"And now he's disappeared? Like my two friends who became involved with Chameleon Tours? They've both disappeared. However, you know what I think wh... that's happened."

"Yes, and you know what I think about your ridiculous theory. People from outer space, indeed." Moments later the Commandant's assistant puts the phone down and looks around with a pale shocked face, "Something the matter with you?"

She blinks at him, "Commandant, I've found out what's been happening. Wh... what I mean is I took the liberty of phoning all the airports that ah... err... Chameleon Tours fly to. The last on my list was Athens."

"B... but don't you realize the expense of phoning Ath..." the Commandant starts, totally alarmed with her actions.

"Yes, I know, I'm sorry. But what I found out is - they never deliver any passengers. It's absolutely true, sir. They all say the same thing. Dubrovnik, Athens, Rome. They say they pick up young passengers to take them off to other places but... none of them ever arrive anywhere!"

"Well in that case, they must be flying these young people to some secret airfield. But why?"

The Doctor sighs, "You're still thinking in Earth terms."

"And I intend to go on doing so. Wh... what was the name of that Chameleon Pilot? And what er... what time is the plane due back?"

"Captain Blade." She checks a schedule, "About half an hour sir."

The Commandant determines that the next time the plane leaves they will have it followed. He calls for assistance. In the interim the Doctor tries to get the help of young woman that has proven so beneficial thus far, "Might I have a word with you, my dear?" She steps off to the side with him, "I suspect that the Medical Center is connected with all this. Oh yes, there is definitely a connection, now, I would like to get in there and have a look round."

"But anyone can go in there," she tells him.

"But I would like to get that nurse out of the way first... Do you think that you can manage it for me?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

By the time Jamie has arrived at the kiosk he can tell that Sam has done as the Doctor feared she would do. She's bought a ticket. Sam spies him on their usual bench and moves over to him. "He said you'd do something silly," the Scotsman is shaking his head at her.

"Oh yeah, what else did he say?"

"He said you were headstrong."

Sam gives him a determined look, "Oh great. Look, you can tell the Doctor he's not going to talk me out of this one, and neither are you. I'm going on the next Chameleon flight, that leaves in half a hour." She knows Jamie is not happy about this, either. "Oh look don't you see it's the only way we can find out anything. Oh, don't worry. I'll come back and tell you all about it."

Jamie is not so sure that she will come back. He's also not so sure that he wants to let her get on the flight. But he comes up with a plan, telling her, "You not realize how dangerous it is. The Doctor said it was er... no job for a wee lassie... I say goodbye." With that he kisses her on the cheek and uses the resulting hug to lift the ticket out of her bag.

"Hey, kid! I can take care of myself, you know," Sam insists.

"I just wanted to make sure," Jamie says. He hides the ticket under his jumper and hurries away. He's not to sure what he's got himself in for, either. But he knows one thing, if there's men from space involved he's got more of a chance than she does.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Doctor heads back to the medical center and waits for the nurse to leave. She does so in a huff. He then slips into the room and hurries over to the inner 'x-ray' area. He takes in everything, noting that the x-ray machine is not a x-ray machine after all. He makes a quick but thorough examination of it before turning his attention to a large locked cupboard in the side wall. The sonic screwdriver takes care of the lock but the contents, piles of black and white sheaths, are somewhat of a mystery. He studies them thoughtfully before pocketing one of each into different pockets. After that is done he turns and leaves.

As he hurries past the concealed man in the outer room an older looking lady comes in. She's got a rather worried look on her face. Quickly thinking the Doctor says, "I'm just going off duty, but err this gentleman will be pleased to attend to you." The other man doesn't dare challenge this and the Doctor slips away as the woman begins to complain.

The Doctor rushes back to the Air Traffic Control room. The 'nurse' is examining Jean while the Commandant complains that she's never done anything like this before. He signals to his accomplice that he's found what he was looking for and she says, "Thank you Nurse. I feel much better now."

"Have you had any lunch?" the nurse asks.

"No I've been so busy today, I haven't even had any breakfast," the assistant says.

The nurse frowns at the Commandant, "Then no wonder you didn't feel well. Really Commandant. You must see that your staff have time for regular meals." With that and the Commandant's protest the nurse snaps her bag closed and marches away, pausing to glare at the Doctor on the way out.

As soon as she is gone the Doctor moves over to them, "Very well done!"

The young woman instantly becomes bright and alert again, "Did I give you enough time?"

"Ample time. What do you think of these?" He asks as he produces the two sheaths.

The Commandant stares at the black and white objects, "Now, what are these?"

"I think there's somebody here who can tell us," the Doctor starts to say then he notices that there's someone else on duty. "I see. Oh well, these'll have to wait."

Soon the next flight is spotted coming in and then leaving again. The Commandant orders the flight to 'Rome' followed by a RAF. What they don't know is that Jamie is on that plane. The sensation of flight upsets his stomach and because of that he does not eat or drink anything that he is offered. In fact the sight of the others eating is enough to send him sprinting for the toilets at the back of the plane.

The RAF indicates to the controllers that it is following the Chameleon Tours plane while the Doctor and the Commandant watch over the radar. This is a highly unusual situation as they normally don't watch any plane beyond take off or landing and they are tracking this one to the limit of the radar, which is One hundred and thirty miles. The two planes pass the fifty mile mark and the RAF calls in to establish radio contact. At this point all seems normal. But all too soon it becomes clear that the RAF has been downed, dropping out of the sky like a lead weight. The Commandant orders a call to RAF Manston, and the controller indicates that the plane being followed is hanging in space as well. The assumption is that it is falling. But the Doctor believes that it is climbing, straight up.

Search and rescue comes up with nothing for remains of the larger aircraft, baffling the Commandant. The Doctor gently asks, "Why do you think the Chameleon plane crashed into the sea?"

"Because it must have collided with the RAF plane and dropped like a stone. When a plane on that radar appears to stand still, it is in point of fact dropping straight down."

"What about straight up?"

The Commandant sighs, "Oh my dear Doctor! To get above our radar umbrella like that it'd have to climb vertically until it was a hundred miles high. The darned thing would be in outer space."

The Doctor nods, "Exactly!" This is what he's been saying all along.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jamie listens to the stewardess and the pilot as they leave the plane from his hiding spot. He overhears that they destroyed a plane that was following them. These individuals, who ever they are, are over confident about their ability to pull the wool over the eyes of the humans they have been dealing with. They equate the intelligence level of them with animals; something Jamie knows is not true. No. Just that most humans choose to not believe what they see until a critical mass of evidence appears. Then they all believe it, like there's a mass mind involved. This is something he's realized because of his travels with the Doctor. Now he needs to find out where he's ended up so that he can help rescue Ben and Polly. And Sam's brother, Brian.

As he starts to leave the plane he catches a glimpse of the alien's true forms, shapeless humanoid bodies and faceless blobby heads. He ducks back to avoid being seen, until he can slip out of the plane. He carefully follows the two human appearing workers, the only other two that have not disappeared, out into a long featureless metal corridor. Once there he just catches a glimpse of the woman going around a corner. He follows her. There's an open door, he watches her stow away small objects into drawers. As she finishes he ducks back out of sight. She leaves and he creeps into the room to avoid being seen by those coming along the hall behind him. While he's in there he looks to see what was being put into the drawers. Jamie discovers that they are filled with miniaturized young humans, passengers from the many flights, placed into some dormant state. There are hundreds of drawers in this room alone and six humans to each. The shock of the scale involved stuns him. There might be hundreds of rooms just like this one here, for all he knows. He's still reeling from this when the door opens behind him, and a female voice says,"I thought I'd missed one of you. I wondered what happened to you."

"What have you done to them?!" But she doesn't answer, instead calling in two of the faceless individuals to help her with Jamie, "No... No... Don't leave me." He's strapped to a bit of metal grill and left there until he can be dealt with. Not one to wait, Jamie set to work on getting free. He's very happy to see Crossland when the man comes into the room, "Inspector!"

"Let's see if I can get you out of there," the man says as he begins undoing the straps. "How did you get here?"

"I... I came on the plane, stole someone's ticket."

"You ought to have been miniaturized on the journey. Reduced in size - like all the youngsters in these cabins. Did you not have anything to eat or drink?"

"No, I... I felt too ill!" Jamie says, ashamed of his weak stomach.

"That explains it. The food is the first part of the process. We're on a satellite, Jamie. A flying ship in space. These people are from another planet. It seems the Doctor was right after all. Does anyone down there believe him yet?"

"Oh I... I'm not sure. I... I don't think so."

"I suppose it is too much for them to believe. But surely the Doctor's convinced them that something is going on?" Jamie indicates that perhaps the Commandant has finally started to believe that something is going on. He gets a smile, "No-one escapes from here. The last plane to Earth is leaving now. They've just gone back to pick up their own people."

"Surely the Doctor will think of some way of rescuing us," Jamie must believe this if nothing else.

Crossland shakes his head, "Not this time, Jamie. This time, he's up against a mind superior even to his. The mind of the Director. The man in charge of this whole mission."

"You seem to know a lot about it, Inspector."

"Of course I do, Jamie. I am the Director!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Two hours pass, and there's still no sign of the missing larger plane. The RAF is found and the cause of the crash determined to be the pilot's death by electrocution. The Doctor insists that they are dealing with an alien force with superior technology, but the Commandant wants some concrete proof. The very fellow the Doctor believes can provide that proof walks in and takes his station. "I think it's just come in!" He indicates the man, "Do you mind if I question him? I think I know how to make him talk." The Commandant does not stop him, but he does follow him over to the controller while the Doctor taps him on the shoulder and pulls the black and white sheaths from his pockets, "You know what this is, don't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh I think you do. Roll up your sleeve."

He turns to his boss, "Do I have to take orders from him, sir?"

"I think perhaps you should explain, Doctor. After all, this man is working for me."

The Doctor shakes his head, "You only think he's working for you! Commandant, your personnel are being systematically replaced. And this is how they're doing it. This is not Meadows; it only looks like Meadows. He's wearing one of these things on his arm."

"Very well, do as he asks." At the fellow's protest he orders, "We all have to help in this, Meadows. Roll up your sleeve."

The man knows he has been cornered, and he tries to fool them by going along with it for a second as a feint then tries a run for the door. The Doctor hollers, "STOP HIM!" The Commandant's assistant tosses a chair into his path and he trips. Two of the other technicians pick him up and follow the boss's order to pin him to a chair, while another follows the command to get the police. The Doctor then tells the technician on the left side, "Roll up his left sleeve." Doing this reveals a black sheath on his arm. "There we are." He grips the man's wrist and studies the active controls, "Now then. What happens if I were to turn one of these?"

This throws the man into a panic, "Don't touch it!" He jerks his arm out of the Doctor's grip and cradles the sheath protectively.

"Ah, I see. Right. Now then, you are going to answer all my questions. And in return, I promise no harm will come to you. Do you understand?" The man nods meekly. "Where are your planes taking all their passengers?"

"There's a... satellite, about a hundred and fifty miles up."

"Why are you abducting all these young people?"

"We had a catastrophe on our planet. A gigantic explosion. As you've seen, we have lost our identities. My people are dying out! Our scientists devised a process so that we could take on the physical characteristics of another being."

The Doctor points to the sheath, "This is part of the process?"

"Yes, that's why you mustn't touch it."

"How many of these young people do you hope to abduct?"

"This time - Fifty thousand."

The sheer size of the operation in progress shocks everyone. But they press on, discovering that the passengers are miniaturized while on the flight, and that this one fellow does not know how many of his people are working here but that their bodies are hidden someplace at the airport. He does know that the nurse is one of them, however, and that her original is someplace inside the medical center. The Doctor forces the Chameleon to go with him to the medical center to rescue the original nurse. Once they arrive the Doctor discovers that Sam has been tied up in the room where the nurse keeps her original. He frees the girl and finds the real nurse. Before he can free her the chameleon pulls a ray gun and kills the officer in charge of her. Seeing no other way to stop her the chameleon version of Meadows rips the white sheath off the human nurse's arm. This causes the fake nurse to implode into a blob of protoplasm with a black sheath in the center of it. Sam is all quite shaken by the events. But then she remembers… "Doctor, what's happened to Jamie? Doctor, Jamie wasn't anywhere near the kiosk the last time... LOOK YOU'RE NOT LISTENING. I THINK THEY'VE GOT JAMIE!"

"Jamie! Where?!"

"Well you should know. You got him to pinch me ticket!"

"Pinch your ticket?" The Doctor says confused.

"To stop me from going to Rome."

"Oh you mean Jamie..."

"Has gone in my place." Sam tells him.

This dismays the little man a great deal, "First Polly and Ben, and now Jamie. We've no time to lose." He leads her out of the room, taking a stack of files with him. They head back to Air Traffic Control. He shows the files to the Commandant. There are twenty-five airport personnel that have been taken over. The Doctor also finds out that the last flight of the season is due to leave in an hour. He quickly outlines a plan that involves he and the nurse going on that flight, while the workers at the airport look for the original missing humans.

The Doctor and the nurse are allowed to board the last plane as the pilot believes the story. The flight has only twenty-five people on it, most of which wear airport uniforms. The plane arrives. They are then directed to report to the accommodation center for instructions as to where they will be housed. But… Blade has indeed suspected them, and as they break away from the group to look around he comes up and tells them, "You two won't be needing living space." They are surrounded by unprocessed Chameleons on the pilot's orders.

The Doctor tries to bluff his way out of the situation, "Captain Blade, what is this? I don't understand. We're here to stay, aren't we?"

"Oh yes, you're here to stay - but not in your present state."

"I'm very sorry, I simply don't understand what you mean."

The fellow gives them both a cold smile, "I checked with the Medical Center. You're both human. We want you intact. That's why I allowed you to come here. I want your brain." With that he motions to the guards to march the pair to the director's office.

There the Doctor discovers what has happened to Crossland. He's been used as the original for the Director. He also discovers what has happened to his Jamie. "Oh."

"What did you hope to achieve here?" the Director asks.

The Doctor meets his eyes without fear, "A chance to plead with you for the lives of fifty thousand young people."

At this the Director gets a surprised expression, "They're only human beings."

"And what are you?" the Doctor tosses back at him.

"We are the most intelligent race in the universe," the man declares with arrogance.

The Doctor makes a face. The Chameleon version of Jamie turns and announces, "Freiburg flight has just taken off."

At this the Doctor calls, "Why, Jamie!"

"You wish to speak to me?" he asks.

The expression that the Doctor gets is very, very upset. His mental broadcast that the real Jamie would pick up is not registered at all. "Oh no, of course, it's... it's not my Jamie. You're a Chameleon. Well, I don't think you've done a very good job on him. You lost his Scots accent in the processing. Oh I much preferred the original."

It almost works, "If you're looking for your friend's original, Doctor, you won't find it in here. No, it's... in a safe place. Not far from here." He then turns to Blade, "By the way Captain Blade, congratulations on bringing this man here. I personally will decide which of our people is to have his identity."

"It'll be one of your friends, I've no doubt!" he looks over at the nurse, "Well it's understandable. The... the special people up here feel more secure if their originals are actually in the satellite."

"Be quiet."

The Doctor ignores the order and looks at Blade, "The Director has nothing to worry about because his original, Detective Inspector Crossland is actually on board. But ah... where's your original?" He then looks at the other man that is in the room who was on the last flight, "And where's yours?"

Snapping, the Director tries to shut the Doctor up, "That's enough! Their originals are perfectly safe. Hidden on Gatwick Airport, where they will never be found." The man then leaves the room in a huff.

Blade and his associate are slowly cornering the Doctor and backing him toward the machine, "What did you mean about our originals?"

"Well, as I see it, there are two categories. People like your Director and that man over there..." with that he indicates the fake Jamie "...whose originals are safe on board here. And then there are people like you two, whose originals have been left behind at Gatwick airport. If they're tampered with... you're finished!"

This causes Blade to ponder things for a moment, "He's lying. Come on, let's get him into the machine before the Director returns."

But the Doctor has planted a seed of doubt. Now to water it, "Yes, you'd better process me quickly, because any minute now you'll cease to exist. You're first on the list!"

The pilot pauses, "What list?"

"Oh surely you understand! We've found all of the originals. The Commandant at the Airport is going to deprocess them one by one, starting with you, unless I stop him."

"He's bluffing," the other man says uneasily.

Blade orders, "Wait! Where did you find the originals?"

The Doctor waves aside the question, "Ah, that I can't tell you. But they'd been searching for some time and just as I was about to board the aircraft I got a signal, which meant that they'd been successful. Otherwise I wouldn't have come." This makes both men nervous, "Well, if you don't believe me, check with Gatwick Airport. I imagine you know its radio frequency?"

It's enough for Blade to order the station to contact the airport. What they hear is that the 'property' has been found although the humans refuse to say where it was hidden. The Director returns, furious at the Doctor's success and orders the communications closed. The Doctor buys some additional time for the workers on the ground by causing the processing panel to short. In the resulting time it takes to get the equipment replaced most of the other twenty-one members of the last flight have come into the Director's office. It's enough time for the humans on the ground to have found the originals. When the call up to the Chameleon base is ignored they demonstrate by removing one of the white sheaths from the arm of the immigration officer. His double dissolves into a pile of goo. Blade plucks up the black sheath; "They have found them! They weren't bluffing."

"His equipment could have gone wrong."

The Doctor butts in, "By the time your scientists tell you that there's nothing wrong with that, you'll all have disintegrated, except of course the Director."

The Director tries to debate his way through this, but Blade has decided who he believes, "Contact Gatwick Air Control." He holds his gun on the Director.

"Destroy the transmitter." But the fake Jamie finds he has a gun trained on him as well. He cannot follow the Director's command if he wants to live. Instead he contacts the airport.

The Commandant's voice shortly states, "The originals were discovered in a car park. To prove it, we have already eliminated one of your personnel. A man. I now wish to speak to the Doctor. Unless I hear his voice immediately, the next to be eliminated will be Captain Blade." Blade orders the release of the Doctor, quite willing to kill the Director at this point. The Doctor gets to his feet as he's released, and asks that the nurse be released too. Blade does not argue the point as the Commandant's voice repeats, "I said I wished to speak to the Doctor, otherwise the next will be Captain Blade." Blade begs him to go to the microphone.

The Doctor first makes sure the nurse is ok. Then he crosses over to the mike, "Commandant, this is the Doctor speaking. Stand by while I negotiate." The Commandant expresses relief at the sound of the Doctor's voice. The Time Lord turns back to the Director, "Now then, I will tell you my terms. I will guarantee your continued existence, if you will return to Earth all the young people you abducted."

"They've all been miniaturized. The equipment to reverse it is on our home planet." The Director says.

Blade narrows his eyes, "He's lying. The planes themselves are the miniaturization chambers and they work both ways." His expression becomes thoughtful, "What kind of continued existence would we have, Doctor?"

"In your former state, I'm afraid. Your scientists will have to find some other way out of your dilemma." The twenty with originals held hostage overrule the Director and accept the proposal.

The Director protests, "You fools, how can you trust him?" he tries to run for the door and the fake Jamie attempts to cover for him. Blade shoots them both.

The Doctor forces the pain aside and steps up to the microphone, "Commandant, are you still there?" He receives a yes before continuing, "Negotiations have been successfully concluded as arranged. Please stay listening out on this frequency. I am leaving Captain Blade in charge of the radio. I will call you again." Then he turns to Blade; "I need to find my three friends, Brian Briggs, and the Inspector. Do you know where they are?"

"Yes."

"You will take me to them."

Blade leads the Doctor to the location where his friends are, "Over here." He points, "I don't know which one."

The Doctor opens a box, without hesitation. Jamie is inside. The lad opens his eyes, "Doctor!"

"Jamie! Ha, I'm glad to see you alive." He grips the young man by the arm and pulls him out of the box, "Well come along out. You look like a soldier in a sentry box standing there!" The tingle and something else snaps back into place, easing an ache that the Doctor hadn't been aware of. Jamie wraps his arms around the dark haired man and hangs on for dear life, nuzzling his face into the man's tousled hair. The connection between them sparks and surges. The Doctor pauses and wraps his arms around the lad, "We'll need to do something about this, my boy. But it can wait, I've got you and everything is going to be ok."

"How... how do you mean?"

The Doctor moves him over to a chair, "I'll explain to you one day. Sit down." He reluctantly lets go and moves to see who else is here. He finds Crossland next. Jamie spots Blade and jumps to his feet in alarm, "It's all right, he's a friend. Now sit down while I find the others. Ah! Inspector Crossland. " It takes some time but he does find Ben and Polly. Blade makes sure that the planes start reversing the process and that the young people are returned. The Doctor joins them on the first flight along with the nurse. Crossland remains behind on the station to make sure everyone is returned. But before the Doctor goes he gives Blade a packet of information he's worked out that will help his people regain identities without resorting to the likes of this sort of scheme again. It's very nearly the next day when everything is restored. The four are given a ride to where the TARDIS was stored. The Doctor thanks the driver and heads off following the traces of his Ship's call. Only… she's not there. He comes back with a poker face on, but Jamie can feel that he's surprised and angered.

Polly calls, "Hey, Doctor, where are you going? Doctor…."

Ben echoes her, "Hey, come back. What are you doing?"

The little rumpled man nearly passes them, "Doing. I'm looking for the TARDIS."

"Oh no, can't we stay in London a bit?" Polly says.

Ben nods in agreement, "Yeah, it's good to feel normal again."

But that was right, wasn't it? They wanted to go home, and his Ship had gotten them home. The Doctor gives them a sad and slightly hurt look, but then he knows… "Normal? What do you mean, Ben?"

"Well, no monsters, or Cybermen. All this - it's normal. I understand it."

The Time Lord is unable to resist the tease, "Do you? What about Chameleon Tours?"

"Oh yeah, that was different!"

Jamie tucks himself closer to the Doctor, feeling that he's distressed, "Oh I'll be glad to get away from here. Can you not land us in a nice civilized place like 1750?"

"What's so uncivilized about 1966?" Polly asks.

"Oh, you can keep it!" Jamie tells her.

Ben gasps, "Did you say 1966." Polly nods. "What month is it?"

The Doctor says quietly, "It's July. July the 20th, to be precise. At 10: 45 PM"

Polly looks puzzled, but Ben blinks at the Doctor. "You – planned this?" The little man scruffs his shoe into the black top. Ben turns to Polly, "Don't you see, Duchess? July the 20th, 1966 is when it all began! We're back to when it all started! Well, I think..."

"That means it's as... it's as if we've never been away!"

The Doctor smiles at them, seeing the joy in their faces. He's sad to leave them, but yet… it is their time. "I brought you home, just like I promised I would. I know you really need to be here. You want to – and should – go back to your lives."

Ben can see the sorrow in the Doctor's sometimes gray and sometimes brown eyes, "Well, we won't leave, Doctor, if you really need us."

Polly starts to plead with him to understand, but the thing is, he does. "No. Polly, Sweetheart. I brought you home. This is where you belong. Just -- Ben can catch his ship and become an Admiral and you Polly; you can look after Ben. Just like it is meant to be." He gives them a huge grin. "It's all right. Off you go!"

The young woman has tears in her eyes, "I will." She hugs the Doctor; "I'll never forget you." Then she hugs Jamie; "You will be safe, won't you?"

The Scotsman declares, rather gruffly, "I'll look after him."

Ben shakes his hand, "I'm sure you will, mate." Then he has to pause as Polly hugs the Doctor yet again, before shaking the little rumpled man's hand, "Goodbye Doctor."

"Ben."

"We might see you sometime. Take care."

"Well you'd better hurry. The Commandant's car's waiting."

The pair pauses right before getting in the car, glancing back one last time. There's no regret in their faces, just sorrow. They know that they will never see the Doctor again. Or at the very least if they do they won't recognize him. Jamie sighs as the car leaves, "I'm sad to see them go."

"Yes Jamie, so am I." The Doctor sighs, "Well, we've got things to do. I didn't tell the others but... we've lost the TARDIS!"

Jamie gapes at him, "We can't have done. You mean somebody's stolen it?"

"I don't know, but that's what we're going to find out! Come on!" And with that the Doctor takes his arm and they set off to locate their missing time ship. Neither has any idea what the future will bring, one because he can't see it, the other because he refuses to look. But it doesn't matter. They have each other, and that is all they need.