It wasn't long before the Doctor found himself holding a limp, very asleep little boy in his arms. Noticing, a soft smile spread over Jacob's mouth.

"He was tired," the man observed.

The Doctor laughed quietly, looking down at his son fondly. "Apparently. You wouldn't have known it when we left."

"That's the way it is with children."

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, yeah I suppose it is. One moment they're bouncing off the walls, the next they're out like a light."

The other man just nodded, drifting back into his own head, the place he'd been for much of the evening. Jacob, who was sitting in a chair looked up suddenly. "You say your name is the Doctor? Does this mean you have medical training?"

The Time Lord was taken aback by the abruptness of the question. "I... some I suppose..." He answered, but before he could further question the man, Captain Turner was already on his feet.

"Leave your son here. He can sleep and I'll post a man to make sure he's well guarded and safe. I, however, need you to come with me." Grabbing his coat off the hook on the wall, Jacob looked like he was still lost in the workings of his mind but there was a definite etching of hope now on his face.

Somewhat hesitantly, the Doctor laid Gabriel slowly down onto the bunk bed. Carefully so to wake him as little as possible, he removed the boy's jacket. As he pulled off the left sleeve, his hand brushed against the metal bracelet the boy wore.

He sighed.

Pulling the blanket up over the sleeping body, the boy stirred a bit before returning to the stillness of his slumber. The Doctor smiled and leaned down to press a kiss to the tiny forehead. "I'll be back soon," he promised, though he wasn't sure that his son heard. From what he could tell, Gabriel was lost in the vast world of his dreams, a place the Doctor knew would be colourful and entertaining, a place that was safe and secure.

The place they were supposed to be right now.

"Bye Daddy," he heard a tiny, groggy voice call as he walked through the doorway with Jacob.

Turning, he waved goodbye to the boy while Jacob flagged down one of his men.

"You are to stand guard here and make sure no one goes in or out. The boy in there is your top priority. Anything happens to him, there will be consequences, do I make myself clear?" Jacob ordered the man sternly.

"Sir yes sir!" The man replied before dutifully taking his post.

Jacob nodded, then beckoned the Doctor. "Right then, this way."

"How long have they been like this?" The Doctor asked gravely, running his sonic screwdriver down the body of a comatose man.

"It varies with each man. From as much as a month to only a day or so ago. They just drop, and we can not wake them," Jacob told him somberly. "From what we've determined, it is not contagious as it's only these six who've been affected."

"Did they have anything in common?" He asked, running his screwdriver over the next man.

Jacob shook his head. "Only that they're here, in the war with the rest of us."

"Don't you have a doctor here?" The Doctor asked, and Jacob pointed to the body beside him.

"He was the third to become like this."

"Of course he was," the Doctor murmured to himself, turning his sonic aid to the body of the young medically trained man.

He was the same as all the others. If the screwdriver wasn't reading vital signs - faint, but there none the less - the Doctor would have sworn he was dead. The unlucky man's skin was whiter then a fresh sheet of paper, and it felt colder then ice to touch. It was the same for all the others as well. They looked dead. They felt dead. But, somehow, they weren't.

"How did you know they were still alive?" The Doctor asked curiously, looking over the bodies. Even he would mistake them for dead, how could a human have known differently?

"Another man was sent in to assess our situation after I reported that I thought three of our men had died for no apparent reason. He looked them over, and told me that they were still alive," Jacob explained, crossing his arms. "He left shortly after we found the fourth one. He said he was going to find an expert on the matter."

"Good luck to him with that," the Time Lord said with a shake of his head, "I don't think he'll be too successful."

Jacob stood up from leaning against the wall. "What makes you say that? Have you determined what it is?"

He had, but how to explain this? The man was able to grasp the time travelling just fine, or so he guessed, but this could be different. "Yeah, yeah I believe so."

Anticipation dripped from Jacob's words. "Well come on then, what is it?"

The Doctor clicked off his screwdriver and gazed back at the man. "Tell me, Captain Jacob Turner... Do you believe in aliens?"

Jacob sat with his head in his hands.

"Aliens."

"Yup."

"Here."

"It would seem so, yes."

"From another world."

"That's generally where aliens come from, yes," the Doctor couldn't help the sarcasm leaking into his voice. Perhaps the young man hadn't been quite ready for this after all.

"Are... you..."

"Yes."

"And... Gabriel?"

The Doctor rubbed the back of his head. "I think he's half human actually. There are things I'm not sure about with him."

Jacob looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "You think?"

"It's a long story," the Doctor brushed it off, going back to the subject at hand. "What matters right now are your men. They're gravely sick. The illness, when translated to English, means 'the sleeping dead.' I won't try to explain the details, but basically your men will appear dead. Any human doctor would pronounce them dead."

Jacob looked as though he were trying to process all of this. "But they're alive?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes."

"What would have happened if I hadn't met that man, if I had assumed them dead?"

"They would have been buried, and eventually died." Jacob stood up quickly and turned his back to the Doctor, disgusted by what he heard. "I'm sorry, but you wouldn't have been the first to make the mistake," he tried to assure the troubled man.

"I would have killed those men!" Jacob was furious with himself, shocked with himself. "It would have been their blood on my hands! Haven't enough people died?"

"Jacob, listen to me," the Doctor followed the man with his eyes. "They're not dead. We caught it before you could do anything harmful to them. It's because you listened to the man that they are still alive! There are others out there that wouldn't have done that."

Stopping his pacing, Jacob collapsed back down into his seat and sunk his face back into his hands.

"No one would have blamed you," the Doctor continued. "No one would have known. Not even you."

"Does that make it right?" He asked, looking up, his hands trembling. The Time Lord couldn't answer. Instead, he turned his eyes down to the ground. "Can you help them?" Jacob finally asked, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

"Yes," the Doctor answered, but he wasn't sure. "The man, the one they sent to see what was going on... was he the time traveller you spoke of before?"

Jacob nodded. "He said he came from a far away time, and that he was been passing through when he heard officials speaking about the situation. Claiming to me a medical expert, they decided to send him out. Why I don't know, but they did. You know the rest."

The Doctor nodded. "If he was able to diagnose this as sleeping dead, why would he run off to find an expert? Clearly he would be the expert," he mused to himself. Somehow, the pieces just didn't fit. "May I ask his name?"

To his surprise, the soldier shook his head. "Time lines. He said I wasn't to give his name, no matter who asked." Jacob was quiet. "Now that I think about it, he did specify that you weren't to know. He said, 'no one, no soldier, man, or doctor can know.' His wording seemed so strange until now." Jacob raised questioning brown eyes to the Doctor's. "He knows you."