Chapter Two
The lift began to ascend. "I myself have a few questions" The Doctor asked "Firstly who are you?"
"My Name is Commander John Lyons, I'm the new commanding officer of G.I.N."
"What happened to Raymond Stevens?" The Doctor asked
"Commander Stevens retired, A few years ago, he's now in New Zealand writing his memoirs. Now That woman Ringstead."
"Two Things" The Doctor interrupted "One. She is not a woman, she's a lady and Two. Her name is Jess Ringstead. OK John!"
Commander Lyons' face went slightly pink, "Doctor, whilst you are here, you will address me as Commander Lyons, Commander or sir!"
"SIR!" The Doctor gasped, "Only junior members of G.I.N. may address you as sir, I'm not a member of G.I.N. staff, and I'm hired by you to be nothing more than an advisor. So Commander. What else do you have to know?"
"Well you have to take her home, she has no G.I.N. clearance, and she could blow our entire operation!" Lyons replied
"If you allow me to leave" The Doctor said "I won't return and whatever it is you are facing, you'll have to deal with on your own."
After a brief moment, Lyons nodded "Very well, Miss Ringstead can stay, but the laboratory of Pip O'Neill is definitely not the place for her, I will make sure she is properly looked after. Now to business"
The lift stopped and both men stepped out. Into Lyons modern-looking office. Lyons went behind his desk and gestured for The Doctor to sit in a chair in front of him. "I haven't worked with you before Doctor, but I remember Commander Stevens talking about you and he also spoke of the late Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. Who was an old friend of yours" He turned a photo on the desk showing a man dressed in an army uniform with a peaked cap, The Doctor smiled remember the tall moustached man with cold features and a heart of gold. So long ago "Anyway I want to make one thing clear" continued Lyons "I'm a man of moral and keep strictly to the rules."
"The Brigadier used to think the same way." The Doctor replied
Lyons pushed a brown coloured folder across the desk towards him, "Three days ago, a meteorite crashed into the sea, we were contacted by the Royal Navy and it was brought to this base, when we managed to get it open, we discovered it was an alien pod which was empty and it was transmitting to a spaceship up in space. We had it in the basement where we have been examining it and have been able to get to operate well."
"In Three Days" The Doctor replied "Are they scientists or miracle workers?"
"Well this is what we want you to do! Using the pod, we want you to dock with the space ship and find out what was on board, if it was hostile or harmless, and report back"
"Why Can't I use my Tardis" The Doctor asked
"From what Commander Stevens told me about that battered box of tricks you have. I'd much prefer you in the pod, we need an astronaut, NASA won't let us have one, so we have decided to use you and you won't be alone" The Door opened a third man entered. He was just as tall as The Doctor but not as broad-shouldered with the short-cut black hair and clear eyes of a trained soldier. He stood forward dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, "He's a fellow G.I.N. Operative Agent, As G.I.N. is a secret organisation, we have supplied him with a code name. This is 'Ranger' as both Commander Stevens and the Brigadier failed to discover your name we have decided to use you're…" He paused for a moment trying to find the correct word "Title as your code name, Ranger this is The Doctor"
Ranger stepped forward and shook hands with him, like many times when The Doctor met new faces, he smiled friendly but he secretly he didn't trust him. Lyons stood up "You'll have plenty of time to get acquainted with each other" he said "We have only four hours until launch and I hope you can help us, both of you."