Fifty minutes later, Katie was once again sitting in the back of a truck with Julius. There weren't any other soldiers in this particular vehicle, save the two in the cab. She pulled something out of her pocket and tossed it to him.

"Take this," she said tersely. "It'll help keep you out of sight."

Julius held it up. "A necklace?"

"I could have used earrings, but I hate it when guys wear them."

"It's a necklace."

Katie sighed and pulled a similar necklace from her pocket. She held it up before putting it on.

Instantly, Julius felt his eyes sliding away from her. He blinked, trying to focus. "What is that?"

Katie took the necklace off and his eyes focused. "Perception filter. You put that necklace on, and as long as you don't try to draw attention to yourself, you'll be fine. Just remember, no running, no noise, and if you have to talk make sure you whisper. Don't get all fidgety when you go past an enemy. This is a straight up re-con, no more. Once we get close to the building, I want you to turn that communicator I gave you completely off. Any signal it sends or receives should be undetectable, but I'm not taking chances."

"Who placed you at the head of this?"

"I did," Katie said bluntly. "I'd be saying the exact same stuff if it was Xaira Strnad herself coming with me. One last thing though: if I tell you to do something, you do it. I didn't want you here in the first place, but I'll have to make the best of it."

"Look, if this is about that comment I made—"

"To put it bluntly you make me nervous."

"What have I done?"

"I'm not sure yet. I just get the feeling that you've got something against me and you'd like nothing better than to put a bullet in my back."

"Now see here! I haven't done anything to you, and you're practically accusing me of being a spy or something!"

"Maybe you are. I don't know. But I know that you don't want me here on this planet."

There was a sharp tap on the metal between the cab and the back of the truck. Katie gave Julius a last glance and without waiting for him she put on her perception filter and slipped over the side of the truck. Julius followed behind.

A short run—at least for Katie—and they were down in a small ditch, watching the front door. Trucks were going in and out, as were soldiers. They had to stop at both checkpoints, each one taking a few minutes to pass. Katie watched the comings and goings keenly.

"The light's gonna swing away, and then we're going to walk in behind that truck."

"Just walk in?" Julius said incredulously. Katie gave him a look.

"Yes."

"I hope you don't mind the bad pun, but are you asking for trouble?"

"You've got your filter on, you'll be fine."

"All well and good that it'll be a little harder to shoot you with their eyes slipping all over the place, but do you see how many people are in there? We'll be noticed instantly."

"Just keep walking and don't draw attention to yourself," Katie said flippantly, brushing aside Julius's protests. "Stick close by me. Make sure the communicator has been turned off. And whatever you do, don't wander off."

The light swung away and Katie hopped lightly from the ditch and started to walk quickly and quietly down the road. Julius came up beside her. He gave her a glance, but said nothing as they approached the front gate. He started when a harsh voice barked out something. The language wasn't one he understood, but he thought the message was clear. Katie just kept walking, staying by the truck. She cocked her head, listening to the words, frowning.

"What—"

Katie held up a finger, silencing Julius, though the scorching look she gave him would have done that. The truck moved forward and Katie and Julius trailed behind. It stopped again, and then moved again after a few minutes. Katie instantly headed for the open front door of the main building, ignoring the one to the side. Some kind of construction was being done on the roof, which explained why there was so much going on.

The main building's interior was plain concrete with plain wooden doors placed along the way every so often. Though the outside was busy, inside it was almost empty. Katie clicked her teeth and glanced down two hallways before choosing the one to the right and walking down it as though she knew the place by heart. She pointed at each door as she passed it as though noting the signs before ducking inside one of them, Julius right on her tail.

The room was empty save for a single desk with a computer on it.

"Keep your ear pressed to the door. If you hear so much as a mouse's squeak, you let me know," Katie said as she sat down behind the desk.

"We just walked past all those people. And nobody even noticed!"

"Yep. Trick of the trade." Katie cracked her fingers and started typing at the computer.

"What are you looking for?"

"Haven't a clue. Just like I don't really know where this is. Did you understand the guard outside?"

"No. The planet has a common language, but the North and South have two separate languages. I don't know most of the Southern."

"Hmm," Katie mused, her fingers still flying. "Odd. Oh well, it'll come through eventually…whoa hoh oh!" Katie smiled. "This looks interesting." She clicked on something and her eyes widened. "Well. That's…unexpected."

"What did you find?" Julius asked from his post by the door.

"Your Labyrinth…how big did you say it was?"

"It was supposed to go down for several levels, stretched under the entire surface of Beriin. Why? It's a story."

"So is the Doctor," Katie said. She turned the screen towards Julius. On it was a large, 3-D side view of a multi-level maze.

"Shake a leg Soldier Boy. This legend just woke up."

Katie turned the screen back towards herself. "Why would they have it on file though? Did they build it? Find it?"

"They would have found it," Julius said, fitting the pieces together. "Six months into the war, they found it here. This building must mark the main entrance. From there it was a job of mapping and using it to take everything we had."

"Well done, Soldier Boy. But what are those?"

Julius walked behind the desk and leaned over her shoulder. She pointed to what looked like several large rooms. There were about ten to a level, at least of the section that they could see.

"They look like cells. See those?" he said, pointing at the rooms. "I'd bet that each of those lights is a person."

"Lot of prisoners to watch over. Feeding alone would cost an enormous amount, not to mention the normal riots you would expect, and the cleaning. So how would they be controlling them?"

"With that thing maybe," Julius said, using the mouse to show her. He clicked on a large red square set between Levels Four and Three. The image zoomed in. "Looks like some kind of generator."

"What would it be generating? It looks like…no. Is the whole place automatic or something?"

"Could be. It would also explain why we've never been able to figure out where they've been holding everyone."

Katie took the mouse back. "The file you people gave me said some lo-lo by the name of Lathezia runs the joint. He got a reputation for anything?"

"Not in particular. A little vicious, but not much else."

"Huh." Katie clicked her teeth together. "When the Doctor called, right after he mentioned the Labyrinth, he said he was on Level Three." She shrank the window and started searching through other files until she found a ridiculously long list, arranged in alphabetical order by last name. Or so Julius assumed; after all, he couldn't read it. Katie, however, seemed to be able to.

"Now, if my luck's still holding true…" Katie said as she typed a name into a search box. "Then…"

A file flashed up and the screen. Katie clapped her hands together once and pumped her fists. "I am telling you Julius; Lady Luck is real and today she is just smiling down on me."

"Why?"

Katie pointed at the file being displayed. "Take a good long look, Brigadier Julius Robertson, because that is the Doctor."

Julius looked quizzically at the picture. "That's him?"

"Yep. Pin-stripes and everything." She glanced at Julius. "You were expecting someone else?"

"I wasn't sure what to expect. Something grander, I suppose. He just looks so…normal. Like anyone else you would pass on the street."

"So is the rest of humanity, but everyone has their own peculiar twist that makes them magnificent." Katie pulled a flat square from her pocket and put it on the side of the computer. Files and maps instantly started downloading themselves into it.

"These need to get back to your base. If you can use a door near you and mount a rescue, pull some of your people out, then your numbers shoot up and the backdoor the Ranngour have no longer works so well." Katie pulled the square off the computer. "Once again, follow me and keep your mouth shut."

After an initial listen at the door, Katie and Julius slipped out of the room. Instead of heading back for the front, Katie went further down the hallway they were in. Julius obediently trailed behind, even as she went deeper and deeper into the building. She went down a flight of stairs and came to an old service elevator. Julius gave her a curious look as she opened the door to it. She turned to him and handed him the square.

"I hope you know your way back. If not, find a soldier and follow them around until they leave. Don't hang around any longer than you have to."

"Where are you going?"

"The Labyrinth," she said, stepping into the elevator.

"I thought this was solely a reconnaissance mission."

"For you, yes. I'm going to spring the Doctor."

"Then I'm coming with you."

"No you ain't, Soldier Boy! You are going to get those back to Xaira and are going to start planning your attack on this place. I'll be expecting a fully mounted rescue by morning." She smiled at him and gave a wink. "Don't go worrying about me; trust me, I've got a lot more than a gun to keep me safe."

Julius stared at her for another moment, then did the last thing Katie had expected. Without any sort of warning, Julius stepped forward and kissed her. Her eyes widened and she froze, having absolutely no idea of how to respond. There was a spark and she wondered if it was her hormones, mutual attraction, or if she was draining Julius of energy. None of those options appealed to her.

As suddenly as he had started, Julius broke the kiss and went quickly back the way they had come down. Katie stared after him quizzically for a few seconds.

"Not quite how I expected my first kiss to be," she mused out loud. She turned to the side and pressed the button to start the elevator. As it began moving, she emptied her gun and stuffed the bullets in her pocket, leaving the body of the gun on the floor. She cracked her knuckles, smiling wickedly.

"Oh, is this gonna be fun."

Julius got out fifteen minutes later. He had made a few wrong turns, but otherwise there had been no mishaps. As soon as he was far enough away, he pulled out a communicator, but it wasn't the one he would use to signal the Iuhins.

"This is Karzom Kilno, Agent Class Four calling in from post 425, planet Beriin, year 7632. I'm calling regarding the Scorch Project." He waited a few moments before speaking again.

"Yes sir, I realize this is unusual, but I'm certain I've found her. Everything checks out; red-hair, white skin, young, smart, attractive, American Earth accent and background. She has an absurdly quick grasp of language…The absorption? I can personally testify that she has it. Energy transfer does occur upon skin to skin contact…Frankly sir, that wouldn't be wise. She's traveled with the Doctor for far too long at this point; if we simply took her he'd come right after us and there would be bloodshed…No, I don't think any amount of persuasion would work on him, particularly if our intelligence on her DNA is true…Sir, he's already taught her how to fly the TARDIS and about Gallifrey. They're that close. I would recommend that we attach a tracker to the TARDIS, possibly even her, and keep a close eye on where they go. It's the most we can do right now…Understood sir. I'll see to it."

He closed his communicator and looked back at the building and sighed.

"Doctor, you really don't know what you've found in that creature. It would have been so much easier to take her early on, but we're the Krize; non-interference is our identity, even when applied to the Rahki, even when it comes to you. You've walked in much too far with that thing to get any help from us."

*Constructive critisisim welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*