A/n: This plot is somewhat plodding and obvious like a tortoise from the Galapagos Islands. Groan as much as you like but I'm neither Agatha Christie nor Terrance Dicks. On the other hand those tortoises are pretty cool.

All the Pieces to Fit

In a large courtyard overgrown with weeds a respectable looking middle-aged woman sat alone at a small circular outdoor tea setting. There was a glitter of thrilled excitement in her eyes as she watched a large white van rumble through the open front gate. It drove about in the circular drive and backed up to the double front doors of the large historical building. Up above the front door of the ancient building was an old brass plate. Half-covered in moss and ivy all that could be read of it was 'Farring ... ol ... Boys.'

The woman pressed a button on her Bluetooth earpiece that was half-hidden behind her strawberry-blonde bangs and made it start flashing. "Angel One to Barry Four. Please put the household on full security alert. We've got a busy schedule ahead of us and we shall have an interfering guest drop in on us ... no doubt right in the middle of it."
"Business as usual then. What are the orders, Angel One?" The voice on the other end was slightly informal as he spoke but there was no doubt that Angel One was his boss.
She watched as two broad-shouldered men and a thin young adult got out of the van. The youngster went and opened the double doors while the men unloaded something like a 1960s blue police box from out of the back of the van.
"I'm sure we can be perfectly civil, Barry Four. We mustn't forget this is England."
"Right you are, ma'am, only how civil do you reckon our visitor's gonna be, but?"
"You only need to detain him." She spoke to her employee on the other end of the comm-link in a feeling of good humour. "The man likes to talk, so as a rule, do let him go on for as long as he pleases." With a smile Angel One abandoned her tea setting and walked over to the others as they got the box onto the furniture wheeler and pitched it carefully forward. "Now, I must get to work. Over and out."

The two men wheeled the box in through the double front doors of the old school turned personal sanctuary with the boy on their heels. Angel One followed after the others into the large house.

Lining the walls of the narrow hall as she passed through were many of Angel One's triumphant finds protected in glass display cases. Suits of armour, statues of Aztec gods and Mayan goddesses, an Egyptian vase, a Celtic spear, a Greek abacus, several ancient scrolls and a marble tablet showing two figures on either side of a rectangular door circa approximately 80-90 AD featured amongst the collection.

She came upon the old assembly room and caught up with the gangly youth who'd stopped at the doorway to the hall while the other two set the TARDIS ship down near the computer station. "Henry Two. You were successful?" She mentally added 'of course'. It was hardly a question but more an expectation. He had, after all, learnt from the best.
Her young apprentice held up a Yale key for her with a steady hand. "Here it is, Angel One; the key to the future as you say."
Angel One smiled broadly at him. "I think you deserve a reward for that, don't you?" She nodded, flicking her eyes to the extraterrestrial police box. "Go on, why don't you open it up for us?"

Henry hesitated. "I don't know if we should. We normally look at things that are thousands of years old. This isn't exactly past its prime. Plus we usually have to dig through a ton of rock and hack through a jungle ... somehow this is just too easy."
"So far?" She corrected.
"So far." He begrudged, crossing his arms.
"So far!" She snorted delicately. "So 'far' we can be done for kidnap, breaking-in and theft ..." Angel One took a breath. "And surely you don't think so little of our efforts with Torchwood. They will still be out there looking to get their Time Lord-detecting technology back."
"Yeh, okay, I forgot about them ... that was a while ago."

"Indeed. It did take us quite a while to track down Miss Donna Noble; even with the Torchwood technology." She shook her head. "That's the price, Henry; all these things. The question is: is it worth it?" Angel One smiled coquettishly. "Is it really just a police box? Is everything we've been researching nothing but a fairy tale? Is it all just a fantastic story?" She circled him. "There is certainly one way to find out the truth. That is to unlock it." She nodded to the box.
Henry fisted the key. "Sure." He replied and swung around. "I'm just thinking there's gotta be a catch we haven't sussed out yet."
"Well, we can hardly debate it in a vacuum, Henry, but I can tell you one thing: we have a limited window of opportunity before the alien pays us a visit."
That spurred Henry into action. "Right." He stated in his toned down voice and walked briskly forward to the box.

Holding onto her excitement Angel One followed at his heel and watched with all the schoolgirl thrill of the moment of discovery hidden beneath her years of etiquette training as Henry put the key in the lock and turned it.

The door creaked open to his light push.

"Whoa." Henry said hoarsely, staring into the gap and at last stepping through the narrow doorway and into the blue police box. "It's bigger on the inside, Angel One! Captain Graham, you've got to take a look at this! Stanson?"

The four of them stepped into the vast room, walking around the space. It was a few moments and Angel One pulled herself from the feeling of wonder. "We must find the device." She turned to address the others. "Take a look about. It's supposed to be fashioned like a headset."

It was a quiet moment as they looked all around the room.

"It's too tidy in here ... I can't see anything that looks like a headset." Henry reported quietly.
"Before we think about pushing any buttons try looking down beneath the ramp. It won't be so tidy underneath there where all the gears are." Angel One advised him to head down. "Stanson Three, could you wheel my computer table in please?"
"No problems." Stanson nodded and walked out.
"Captain Graham?"
"Aye, ma'am?" He answered. The Captain was standing beside the Master Console, scratching his beard in deep thought.
Angel One smiled humorously. "You're standing at the helm of an alien ship. What do you think about that?"
He raised a slow eyebrow at her and regarded the hexagonal console. "That I may be, and a ship she is, but I ain't got no star to steer her by."

The ship around them gave an unusually loud pulse making them look up and around.
"Did you do anything, Henry Two?"
"Absolutely not." His voice reported from down below.
"Ship's alive..." Captain Graham murmured decisively. "And we ain't her crew."

Stanson came wheeling in noisily up the ramp with the computer table.

"We're not looking to commandeer her for more than a couple hours, Captain. That is to say if fair weather permits of course."
"Aye, I'm glad for that. What'd'ya call that thing we need again?"

"The Chameleon Arch." Angel One answered.

There was a sudden gentle whirring sound and they looked up to see the fabled headset coming down to meet them.
"Oh, yes!" Angel One hissed, unable to control her pleasure from escaping her mouth. "This is it!" She backed away and got to her computer equipment. "Now, while I get this all set up, could someone go and check on our very important guest?"
"With pleasure, ma'am." Captain Graham replied and turned away. "A whale's a whale," he grumbled as he departed, "no matter what planet it hails from I don't fancy being stove down any creature's gullet."

Angel One regarded the Ethernet cable in her hand and reviewed the alien console as she heard two sets of steps heading down the ramp and back out into the old boys school beyond.

There were various items lying on top of the TARDIS master console including a mobile phone. "Hmm. You're Bluetooth, aren't you?" She regarded the whole of the column and the room in turn. "Oh, you most certainly are Bluetooth." She draped the cable over the console and woke up her computer screen. "In all the excitement I nearly forgot a piece of the puzzle. Henry Two?"

Henry came up beside her. "I'm not an IT expert, but I think the Captain's right. I had a look at those circuits and I think they have biometric properties. At least they're a bit more advanced looking than optical cables and gold connections."
"Oh, yes, Captain Graham is quite correct; the TARDIS is alive." Angel One smiled happily despite knowing less about computers than her student did. "Let's have a look at this headset, shall we?"
It was a quick look and they found the uniquely shaped groove for the fob watch. When they slotted the watch into the groove the machine gave a charging hiss.
"This'll really work?" Henry said in awe.
"Rather sounds like it, doesn't it?" Angel One answered equally stunned by the sound of electrical activity.

"... I'll just run a few static tests on the equipment."
"If you please ..." Angel One agreed quietly, still transfixed by the headset as Henry started running simulation tests. "Immortality." She murmured. "We're so close ... it feels ... amazing."

"The first stage is coming up positive, Angel One."

"Exactly as we surmised?"
"Three out of three attempts." He reported cheerily.
"Side effects?"
He shrugged, "none."
"Wonderful!" Angel One proclaimed, and then paused, "absolutely no side effects?"
"None at all. The Chameleon Arch will do exactly what we expect and nothing else." He nodded at the headset. "It's bang on the mark for everything we read from the book."
Angel One stared at the Chameleon Arch device for another moment in silence.

"It's not just me, is it? It seems too easy to you too, doesn't it?" Henry Two asked quietly. "It's eerie." He nodded at the headset and shook off the feeling. "Shall we get on to stage one then, Angel One?"
"Stage one." Angel One repeated, stirring herself back to reality. "Yes. We just need one more piece to complete the puzzle." Angel One added.

"Add one Donna Noble. On it." Henry turned away and headed out of the TARDIS.