FIC: Tin Men - Chapter 6
Feb. 25th, 2010 11:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nentariTitle: Tin Men - Chapter 6
Author: Me
Beta-Reader:alouzon
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4374
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all its characters belong to the BBC. I own nothing - not even the Fourteenth Doctor.
Summary: Someone is kidnapping the Doctor's former companions. Who is behind all this... and why?
Author's Note: Finally, this chapter is here! I'm sorry for the delay - let's hope it won't happen again.
Chapter 6
"Coffee, miss?"
Hye came out of her reverie to find the smiling face of Mr. Benton looking down at her.
"Yes, thank you." She was surprised to find herself smiling back. The way she was feeling, she was expecting to scowl at everyone around.
Benton turned his attention to the small table in the corner where the thermos of coffee was located, while Hye looked around the tent. Liz was sitting next to her, examining the Cyberman head that they had brought from UNIT HQ; a sergeant whose name Hye did not catch was sitting by a radio, waiting for any messages from the Doctor's friends; and the Brigadier was standing by the tent flap, staring contemplatively outside in a way that reminded her of an actor from one of those movies she saw back at the 4077th.
"Here you go, miss," Benton said, handing her an old chipped ceramic mug.
"Thanks, Joe," she said without thinking, as she always did back at Rosie's bar whenever a soldier handed her a tip. Remembering Jamie's outrage at being addressed as "Joe", she hurriedly added, "Sorry."
"That's all right."
She looked at his insignia, but couldn't identify his rank. Depicting two crowned lions, it didn't look like anything she had ever seen in Korea. "What is your rank?" she asked, pointing at his sleeve. "I don't recognize it."
"Oh," he said, his hand subconsciously reaching for his insignia as if to remind him what it was. "I'm a warrant officer. Regimental Sergeant-Major, that is. Promoted just a few months ago," he added proudly.
"Congratulations," she said, taking a sip of her coffee with evident enjoyment.
"Is it good?" he asked.
"Oh yes," she said, nodding appreciatively. "I wasn't expecting coffee to taste like this. Where I come from, it's more like..." She struggled to find the right description. "Mud and... kerosene, is that the word?"
Benton looked at the Brigadier, who was now sitting behind the makeshift desk and studying the map of the compound. Satisfied that his CO was distracted, he felt confident enough to sit down in a chair between Hye and Liz. "If you don't mind my asking, miss," he said in a friendly tone, "where do you come from?"
Hye hesitated for a second, remembering the Doctor's recommendation about not revealing her origins once she settled down in 1975. However, remembering that the UNIT people were well-aware of who the Doctor was and what the TARDIS could do, she felt safe confiding in him. "I worked in a bar near a MASH unit stationed in Korea," she explained, "in 1951."
Benton didn't even blink when she mentioned the date she had come from. "Oh yeah. My uncle was there around that time. He once told me the same about the tea the British troops had over there."
"You don't seem very surprised."
He shrugged. "Nothing surprises me about the Doctor. Some of the people we've met through him come from other times." He swirled the contents of his mug around, before adding casually in a low tone, "Mrs. Strachan was born over 100 years ago, you know."
Hye's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yeah, and I don't know where the Doc picked up McCrimmon, but he's clearly not from these parts either. I remember the first time the two of them got into that compound, and we got them out with a chopper. You should have heard the words he used to describe the journey when they came back - I don't think I've heard half of them in my whole life, and I'm surrounded by soldiers all day."
Hye couldn't help but laugh.
"And Miss Heriot... You didn't meet Miss Heriot, did you?" Hye shook her head. "Well, I remember Miss Heriot saying our computer was highly primitive. Makes me wonder what she might have been used to."
"Computer?" Hye asked, confused.
"Well, it's a machine - a really modern one. Makes calculations faster than any human... apart from the Doc and Miss Heriot, of course."
Hye drank a bit more of her coffee as she thought about this. The Doctor had clearly made a lot of friends during her journeys, from all eras. She wondered if any of them might have been from other planets, and the many places she might have chanced to visit if Hye herself had travelled for longer in the TARDIS. The 1988 Olympics came to mind briefly. Then her thoughts returned to her initial concerns. She was feeling frustrated, just sitting there doing nothing while the Doctor and all her old friends were in the compound, risking their necks. She felt her frown beginning to return.
"Anything the matter, miss?" Benton asked.
She shook her head, a smile coming naturally to her lips in spite of her grim thoughts. There was something about the man that made her feel immediately at ease, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. "Oh, it's nothing." She sighed. "I just feel terrible, sitting here while they're all out there."
"Don't worry so much," Benton reassured her. "The Doctor will find a way out of this."
"How can you be so sure?"
He shrugged. "Because it's the Doctor." He looked out of the tent flap. "I wonder what she's up to right now..."
***
Tobias Vaughn smiled as his two guests entered the office. "Doctor, how nice to see you again. And Lieutenant Sullivan, isn't it? Please, come in." For a second, Vaughn felt a tinge of disappointment for the lack of shock or surprise in the Doctor's closely controlled expression - but then he remembered that any initial shock would have occurred when she first recognized Packer. Ah well, can't have it all. "Please, take a seat," he said, still trying to act the perfect host. "Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea?"
"No, thank you." The Doctor's voice and smiling face reminded him of the polite manners of the funny little man he had met all those years before, but her dark eyes betrayed her mask of pleasantness, revealing just how little patience she had for such idle chitchat.
"Very well," he said. Putting his hands on the desk, he continued. "Thank you so much for coming. Though I have to say, I'm a little disappointed not to see your old self here. I was rather looking forward to it. Not that it isn't a pleasure to receive the visit of such a delightful lady, of course," he added with his most charming smile.
"So you know?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"My dear Doctor, you're not exactly inconspicuous, are you? You have a knack for attracting attention wherever you go - and anyone with half a brain and access to the records of the incidents you were involved in would have no problem with putting two and two together."
"I'm sorry, but how exactly could you have access to those records?" Lieutenant Sullivan politely interrupted. "They are all classified - even those not linked to UNIT would be inaccessible to the public."
"I have my connections, as you can imagine. Rutlidge might no longer be my link to the Ministry of Defence, but that doesn't mean I couldn't... acquire more friends in the place. It was through my contacts that I discovered Mrs. Jackson."
"Polly?" the Doctor asked, concern trying to break through her carefully schooled features.
"Yes. A very charming lady... She works at the Ministry, as I'm sure you are aware, so it was remarkably easy for my sources to get information on her. I found it particularly interesting that, at some point in the month of July, 1966, she and her now husband seem to have become involved in two completely separate incidents in different parts of London at the very same time."
"A mistake in one of those records, I am certain," the Doctor replied coolly with a grin, which Vaughn was quick to return.
"Oh, come, come, Doctor. Remember to whom you are speaking." He shook his head and continued, "In each case, they were involved with a mysterious individual known only as 'the Doctor', but the information in each report seems to describe a different individual." He leaned back on his chair. "Immediately after those events, one of those Doctors, together with our good friend Mr. McCrimmon, was linked to the murder of a man called Kennedy and the mysterious disappearance of his employer, a Mr. Edward Waterfield. And some time later, the two of them featured in an army report about the strange goings-on in the London Underground, accompanied by a young lady called Victoria Waterfield - our dear Mrs. Strachan."
Again, the Doctor looked briefly discomfited, but said nothing.
"Since Waterfield is such an unusual name, I decided to search for it, and learned that a man called Edward Waterfield and his daughter Victoria was reported to have died in an explosion in a mansion near Canterbury... in 1866." He paused. "Shall I go on?"
The Doctor raised her hand. "That will not be necessary, thank you." Vaughn hid his disappointment; he had been looking forward to showing to the Doctor just how careless she had been - and how clever he was for finding her and putting all the pieces together. The Doctor's smile then faded. "However, I would be most obliged if we could carry on with the reason why I'm here." Her expression hardened. "Where are my friends?"
Vaughn smiled. They were back to business. "Do not worry, Doctor. They are being treated well."
"I hope you do not feel offended if I don't take your word for it," she said, looking meaningfully at Packer, a menacing presence standing behind her and Sullivan, who did not seem to get the meaning behind her words.
"If you don't believe me, just see for yourself." With this, Vaughn pressed a button on the control panel wired to his desk, and the screens around the office displayed the two ladies in their cell. They could see that Mrs. Jackson was still sitting on her bed, looking bored, while Mrs. Strachan paced up and down the room. "As you can see," Vaughn continued, "both are alive and well. Oh, I know of your concerns, Doctor, and I share them. That's the reason why that camera was installed on the premises in the first place - to ensure their safety." This time, Packer looked at him with a confused expression, which he pretended not to notice. "By the way, Packer, it looks as if our two guests have finished their meal. Would you please collect the tray?"
"Right away, Mr. Vaughn." He turned to go.
"And Packer..."
Packer stopped at the door.
"Remember, we will be watching."
Packer looked rather crestfallen at this comment, but his expression changed to a smile as soon as the Doctor and Lieutenant Sullivan turned their attention back to Vaughn. "Yes, sir." And with this, he left.
"I'm certain Mr. Packer is not very pleased with having to perform such menial tasks," the Doctor said casually.
"No, he isn't. But with him being the only employee I have on the premises, he has no other choice."
"The only employee?" Sullivan asked, looking askance at the Doctor.
"Well, I have my sources, of course, but apart from them Packer is the only person working for me at the moment. Everyone else - the fake Cybermen, for instance, although produced on my premises and with materials I supplied - belong in reality to my current associate."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And who might that be?"
"All in good time, my dear Doctor, all in good time." He tried to change the subject. "You know, the more I learn about you, the more fascinated I become. Tell me, how do you manage to change your appearance like that?"
"That is my own business," she replied with a tone that sounded much more pleasant than the words employed. "And before you ask: no, you cannot study it or try to find a way to achieve it by yourself. I know with absolute certainty that it cannot be done."
Although he had already expected such an answer, Vaughn found himself once again fighting to hide his disappointment. "My dear Doctor, why would you think I'd ever ask you that?"
"Because I know you," she said firmly. "And besides, you have managed to find a new body by yourself, haven't you?" She looked at him. "What did you do? Cloning?"
"Impressive. How did you know?"
She touched her eyebrow. "Your scar is gone, and you are blinking normally - which you couldn't do when your body was cyber-converted. And besides, I saw you - the old you, that is - die. I was present at your autopsy. It's a bit early in the history of human science for cloning, but I have no doubt that a brilliant mind like yours would have been able to discover something like this."
Vaughn nodded in approval. "Yes, Doctor, you are absolutely right. I am a clone, and so is Packer. Our original selves would regularly imprint their memories on us, just as a precaution." He paused. "The Cybermen knew nothing of this, of course, nor of the secret location where the cloning chambers were stored."
"Another safety precaution."
"Exactly, Doctor." He looked sombre. "The last memory implant took place a few hours before our deaths, so we have no personal experience of it. We witnessed the Cybermen's betrayal and our deaths from what was recorded by the compound security cameras; I later obtained the overall details of the conclusion of this incident from the UNIT reports I acquired." He did remember vividly what it felt like to be brought to life exactly one week after the original Tobias Vaughn was killed (thanks to a timing program Vaughn had placed in the cloning chambers to minimize the risks of two of him being around at the same time, and which was activated as soon as the next scheduled imprint failed to occur). But he felt the experience was too personal for him to reveal it to the Doctor. His accomplishments made for a much more pleasant topic of conversation.
"I see," the Doctor said quietly, in a manner than once again reminded Vaughn of the other Doctor. "Yes, it all makes sense now."
"As you can understand, Doctor, I..." He broke off, his attention on the screen as he noticed the two women reacting to something. "It seems that Packer has arrived." The Doctor and Sullivan turned to look at the screen as well, just in time to see Mrs. Strachan rushing to hide somewhere out of the camera's range, the tray in hand.
"I say, what is she doing?" Sullivan asked.
Vaughn grinned. "Isn't it obvious, Lieutenant?" Packer's black-clad figure appeared from below the camera. The open door was now visible, and it was clear that the place Mrs. Strachan had disappeared into was right behind it, out of Packer's view. Vaughn made a great effort not to chuckle. So primitive and predictable.
"All right," they heard Packer growl. "Where's your little friend?"
Mrs. Jackson made a face of blissful ignorance. "Who?"
"Don't play games with me. You know-" Before Packer could finish threatening Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Strachan took advantage of the fact that he now had his back turned to her, and hit him on the head with the tray. They heard a mighty clang, and Packer fell to the floor.
"Hurry, Polly!" Mrs. Strachan urged as she checked the hallway to make certain no Cybermen stood guard, and Mrs. Jackson got up and followed her through the open door as quickly as her condition allowed. In a second, they were gone.
"Well, well," Vaughn said with a smile. "This is an unexpected turn of events, isn't it?"
"I say!" Sullivan exclaimed.
The Doctor was trying hard not to look too amused by what her two friends had done. "You don't look very surprised," she said.
"Indeed, I'm not. Look." Vaughn pointed at the screen. In a second, Packer got up and looked at the camera, giving them the thumbs-up.
"You've allowed them escape on purpose," Sullivan said. "Why?"
"My intention was merely to attract the Doctor's attention, and now that we have it, they are free to go, if they so wish."
"But you have to admit that allowing the ladies to escape like this instead of just releasing them is very odd."
"Odd? In what way?" inquired Vaughn silkily.
"It's just so pointless, isn't it? And with Mrs. Jackson's condition, it will mean a lot of effort on their part that could have easily been avoided."
"Not to mention the headache your Mr. Packer will be feeling right now," the Doctor added, inspecting her nails with a feigned air of detachment.
Vaughn nodded. "Yes, both very valid points - but we have some business to attend right now and cannot waste time dealing with the release of our hostages. And besides," he added, "I have no doubt your friends will bump into them sooner or later."
"My friends?" the Doctor asked blandly.
Vaughn's lips pursed in a rat's grin. "Come, come, my dear Doctor, do you really think I wouldn't know you'd bring other people along with you, in addition to Lieutenant Sullivan, here? I'm guessing... the ladies' husbands, definitely, and perhaps even Mr. McCrimmon - if my records are correct, he's still associated with you."
The Doctor crossed her arms, her expression blank. "Lieutenant Sullivan and I came by ourselves."
Vaughn chuckled, shaking his head at her blatant denial. "Let's see where they are now..."
He pressed a button, and the image on screen switched to the back of the building; it was empty. Vaughn then pressed another button, and the image switched to the rooftop. There, they could see Lieutenant Craig Strachan, looking a little out of breath; behind him, McCrimmon was just pulling himself up the fire escape, with more than one look over his shoulder at the dizzying drop below.
"Come along!" they heard Strachan grumble, and soon the two of them were out of the camera's range.
"You were saying?" As the Doctor remained silent, Vaughn continued. "I have no doubt they'll find the young ladies very soon."
***
Dodo and Ben had been searching through the disused wagons in the railway area of the compound for a good twenty minutes, but so far had found nothing but empty crates and a lot of flipping cobwebs. He wanted to move on elsewhere. Ben's frustration at not finding a lead as to Polly's whereabouts was once again increasing, and he was starting to feel jumpy, his nerves becoming more strung out as they searched without result. Dodo, bless her, pretended that nothing was wrong. And his feet started to itch to move on again after he opened yet another crate only to be greeted by the sight of some ratty old gauze and some fat spiders. But then...
"Ben, come and look at this!"
"What is it?" he asked as he rushed to look at the crate she was inspecting. The sight of a large silvery form inside made his heart stop momentarily.
"I think we've found our missing body," she said with satisfaction.
Ben studied the headless form for a moment. "Yeah," he said, as his memory went back to the way the bodies of the Cybermen who invaded the Moonbase looked like. "Yeah, that's a Cyberman, all right." He paused, as an unpleasant nagging feeling made itself known. "Hang on."
"What?"
"Well..." He really couldn't tell what was wrong, but the nagging feeling was growing stronger and stronger. "Well..." he repeated as he looked around aimlessly.
"What is wrong, Ben?" Dodo insisted. "This is good, isn't it? I mean, we've just found evidence that this is indeed the place where Polly and Mrs. Strachan were taken to."
"Yeah, I know, but... Well, don't you think it's a little bit too cushy?"
"What?"
"Blimey, Dodo, think about it. You remember what the Doctor said about the last time she was here. There's labs in the building, probably disposal places for pieces of junk like this old geezer here. Why would anyone put him here," he gestured all around him, "when it's obvious nobody's been here for years?"
Dodo's eyes widened. "You're right. This..." she hesitated. "This has got to be a trap."
"Yeah," said Ben grimly. "And we fell right into it like a couple of ninnies."
Dodo looked around nervously, her overconfidence of late starting to fade. "Oh, Ben, let's inform the others and get out of here."
"Yeah, we'd better get back to the tent," Ben agreed, though at the same time he was none too pleased with the idea. "We can brief the Brig and see if there's any other way we can get back in and find Polly."
***
"Sir," Sergeant Sherwin called, waking the Brigadier from his reverie, "it's Lieutenant Jackson and Miss Chaplet." The Brigadier rushed to the radio, while everybody else gathered around him and the Sergeant.
"Trap Three to Greyhound," the Lieutenant's voice was heard, "do you receive me? Over."
"Greyhound here, receiving you loud and clear," the Brigadier said, feeling some relief that Jackson, while from the Merchant Navy, at least knew how to act according to OP. It had always been a nightmare going through radio communications with the Doctor, regardless of who he was at the moment, and his companions (with the exception of Sullivan and Miss Grant, obviously) had always been just as nightmarish when it came to such matters. "What's the situation? Over," he continued.
"We found the body," Jackson replied. "The whole area is clear, but we suspect..." He hesitated. "Well, sir, we think this all looks very dodgy, see," he added, falling back to his regular Cockney idiom. The Brigadier stifled a sigh - so much for military protocol.
He tried to carry on. "What do you mean?"
"It looks as if the body was placed here on purpose for us to find, Brigadier," Miss Chaplet's voice was then heard. The Brigadier could hear an indignant "Hey!" from the background, and deduced that Miss Chaplet might have snatched the communicator from Jackson's hand. "We suspect it might be a trap."
"Then don't touch anything," the Brigadier ordered. "Try and see if you can retreat, and if that proves to be impossible search for a place to hide until I send reinforcements over there."
"But what about-" Jackson was about to retort, but the Brigadier cut him off.
"I understand your objections, Lieutenant, but I'm not going to risk your safety. As far as we know it might do worse for the hostages. As soon as you're back here we can try and rework our strategy."
"All right," Jackson said with a sigh. "You're the skipper."
"But what about the body?" Miss Chaplet insisted. "We should bring it back!"
"May I, Brigadier?" Miss Shaw asked, pointing at the mike.
The Brigadier handed it to her. "If you insist."
"Thank you." She spoke into the mike. "Liz Shaw here. Yes, the body is important and we need to know how these fake Cybermen operate, but I think it will be better if the Brigadier's men handle that. Even if the thing is not rigged with something, it will be too heavy and slow you down." She handed the mike back to the Brigadier, who nodded appreciatively.
"Yes, that makes sense to me," Miss Chaplet replied. "Well, then, we'll be..." She broke off. "Wait, do you hear that?"
"What is it?" the Brigadier asked.
"Yeah, I hear it too," Jackson hissed, speaking to Dodo, not the command centre. "And it's getting nearer."
"Well, don't waste time," the Brigadier said sharply. "Get out of there immediately, or at least hide."
"You don't have to tell me twice," the Lieutenant replied. "Come on, Dodo."
It was then that the sound became noticeable through the radio - a sort of faint bleeping. The Brigadier went pale. He knew that sound. "Jackson, get out of there, now! Do you hear me? Now!" he shouted.
"What is it?" he heard Miss Moon ask behind him.
"Sir?" Benton enquired, clearly puzzled with the Brigadier's reaction.
"We can't get out now," Miss Chaplet's voice was then heard, in a whisper. "The sound seems to be coming from the door."
"Then hide," the Brigadier said with an odd urgency in his voice.
"But where-" Miss Chaplet was about to start, when Jackson's voice uttered, "The crates!"
"Quickly!" the Brigadier urged.
"Too late - it's here!" Miss Chaplet cried.
"Dodo!" Jackson's voice was drowned out by the sound of a mighty roar. The girl started to scream, but the sound of something heavy crushing the receiver stopped the transmission abruptly. A heavy silence followed. Apart from his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, it felt to the Brigadier as if all sound had been sucked from the tent.
"What... what was that?" Miss Shaw finally asked, breaking the torpor that seemed to have overwhelmed everyone.
"Something I hoped I'd never hear again," the Brigadier muttered. Then, he turned to his men. "Sherwin, I want you to contact HQ and get reinforcements. Tell them 'Priority Red, Codename Zeta'."
"Yes, sir," Sherwin said, activating the radio.
"Benton."
"Sir," he replied, standing at attention.
"Get a couple of men for a recce of the wagons, and then come back here for a briefing. I also want you to get all the grenades and explosives you can get your hands on, because you'll need it. I want you to look for Jackson and Miss Chaplet, grab them if you find them, and get the hell out of there straight away. If you can't find them, come back immediately."
"What about the body, sir?"
"Do not touch the body, Benton. It will only slow you down. Leave it for when the reinforcements arrive."
"Sir." Benton saluted and left to select his team.
"As for you, Miss Shaw," the Brigadier continued, "I want you and Miss Moon-" He broke off.
"Brigadier?" Miss Shaw asked, confused. Her eyes followed the same route around the room that his were just taking, and she let out a distressed "Oh no," as she came to the same conclusion he had just reached.
Miss Moon had disappeared.
Author: Me
Beta-Reader:
alouzonFandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4374
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all its characters belong to the BBC. I own nothing - not even the Fourteenth Doctor.
Summary: Someone is kidnapping the Doctor's former companions. Who is behind all this... and why?
Author's Note: Finally, this chapter is here! I'm sorry for the delay - let's hope it won't happen again.
"Coffee, miss?"
Hye came out of her reverie to find the smiling face of Mr. Benton looking down at her.
"Yes, thank you." She was surprised to find herself smiling back. The way she was feeling, she was expecting to scowl at everyone around.
Benton turned his attention to the small table in the corner where the thermos of coffee was located, while Hye looked around the tent. Liz was sitting next to her, examining the Cyberman head that they had brought from UNIT HQ; a sergeant whose name Hye did not catch was sitting by a radio, waiting for any messages from the Doctor's friends; and the Brigadier was standing by the tent flap, staring contemplatively outside in a way that reminded her of an actor from one of those movies she saw back at the 4077th.
"Here you go, miss," Benton said, handing her an old chipped ceramic mug.
"Thanks, Joe," she said without thinking, as she always did back at Rosie's bar whenever a soldier handed her a tip. Remembering Jamie's outrage at being addressed as "Joe", she hurriedly added, "Sorry."
"That's all right."
She looked at his insignia, but couldn't identify his rank. Depicting two crowned lions, it didn't look like anything she had ever seen in Korea. "What is your rank?" she asked, pointing at his sleeve. "I don't recognize it."
"Oh," he said, his hand subconsciously reaching for his insignia as if to remind him what it was. "I'm a warrant officer. Regimental Sergeant-Major, that is. Promoted just a few months ago," he added proudly.
"Congratulations," she said, taking a sip of her coffee with evident enjoyment.
"Is it good?" he asked.
"Oh yes," she said, nodding appreciatively. "I wasn't expecting coffee to taste like this. Where I come from, it's more like..." She struggled to find the right description. "Mud and... kerosene, is that the word?"
Benton looked at the Brigadier, who was now sitting behind the makeshift desk and studying the map of the compound. Satisfied that his CO was distracted, he felt confident enough to sit down in a chair between Hye and Liz. "If you don't mind my asking, miss," he said in a friendly tone, "where do you come from?"
Hye hesitated for a second, remembering the Doctor's recommendation about not revealing her origins once she settled down in 1975. However, remembering that the UNIT people were well-aware of who the Doctor was and what the TARDIS could do, she felt safe confiding in him. "I worked in a bar near a MASH unit stationed in Korea," she explained, "in 1951."
Benton didn't even blink when she mentioned the date she had come from. "Oh yeah. My uncle was there around that time. He once told me the same about the tea the British troops had over there."
"You don't seem very surprised."
He shrugged. "Nothing surprises me about the Doctor. Some of the people we've met through him come from other times." He swirled the contents of his mug around, before adding casually in a low tone, "Mrs. Strachan was born over 100 years ago, you know."
Hye's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yeah, and I don't know where the Doc picked up McCrimmon, but he's clearly not from these parts either. I remember the first time the two of them got into that compound, and we got them out with a chopper. You should have heard the words he used to describe the journey when they came back - I don't think I've heard half of them in my whole life, and I'm surrounded by soldiers all day."
Hye couldn't help but laugh.
"And Miss Heriot... You didn't meet Miss Heriot, did you?" Hye shook her head. "Well, I remember Miss Heriot saying our computer was highly primitive. Makes me wonder what she might have been used to."
"Computer?" Hye asked, confused.
"Well, it's a machine - a really modern one. Makes calculations faster than any human... apart from the Doc and Miss Heriot, of course."
Hye drank a bit more of her coffee as she thought about this. The Doctor had clearly made a lot of friends during her journeys, from all eras. She wondered if any of them might have been from other planets, and the many places she might have chanced to visit if Hye herself had travelled for longer in the TARDIS. The 1988 Olympics came to mind briefly. Then her thoughts returned to her initial concerns. She was feeling frustrated, just sitting there doing nothing while the Doctor and all her old friends were in the compound, risking their necks. She felt her frown beginning to return.
"Anything the matter, miss?" Benton asked.
She shook her head, a smile coming naturally to her lips in spite of her grim thoughts. There was something about the man that made her feel immediately at ease, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. "Oh, it's nothing." She sighed. "I just feel terrible, sitting here while they're all out there."
"Don't worry so much," Benton reassured her. "The Doctor will find a way out of this."
"How can you be so sure?"
He shrugged. "Because it's the Doctor." He looked out of the tent flap. "I wonder what she's up to right now..."
Tobias Vaughn smiled as his two guests entered the office. "Doctor, how nice to see you again. And Lieutenant Sullivan, isn't it? Please, come in." For a second, Vaughn felt a tinge of disappointment for the lack of shock or surprise in the Doctor's closely controlled expression - but then he remembered that any initial shock would have occurred when she first recognized Packer. Ah well, can't have it all. "Please, take a seat," he said, still trying to act the perfect host. "Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea?"
"No, thank you." The Doctor's voice and smiling face reminded him of the polite manners of the funny little man he had met all those years before, but her dark eyes betrayed her mask of pleasantness, revealing just how little patience she had for such idle chitchat.
"Very well," he said. Putting his hands on the desk, he continued. "Thank you so much for coming. Though I have to say, I'm a little disappointed not to see your old self here. I was rather looking forward to it. Not that it isn't a pleasure to receive the visit of such a delightful lady, of course," he added with his most charming smile.
"So you know?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"My dear Doctor, you're not exactly inconspicuous, are you? You have a knack for attracting attention wherever you go - and anyone with half a brain and access to the records of the incidents you were involved in would have no problem with putting two and two together."
"I'm sorry, but how exactly could you have access to those records?" Lieutenant Sullivan politely interrupted. "They are all classified - even those not linked to UNIT would be inaccessible to the public."
"I have my connections, as you can imagine. Rutlidge might no longer be my link to the Ministry of Defence, but that doesn't mean I couldn't... acquire more friends in the place. It was through my contacts that I discovered Mrs. Jackson."
"Polly?" the Doctor asked, concern trying to break through her carefully schooled features.
"Yes. A very charming lady... She works at the Ministry, as I'm sure you are aware, so it was remarkably easy for my sources to get information on her. I found it particularly interesting that, at some point in the month of July, 1966, she and her now husband seem to have become involved in two completely separate incidents in different parts of London at the very same time."
"A mistake in one of those records, I am certain," the Doctor replied coolly with a grin, which Vaughn was quick to return.
"Oh, come, come, Doctor. Remember to whom you are speaking." He shook his head and continued, "In each case, they were involved with a mysterious individual known only as 'the Doctor', but the information in each report seems to describe a different individual." He leaned back on his chair. "Immediately after those events, one of those Doctors, together with our good friend Mr. McCrimmon, was linked to the murder of a man called Kennedy and the mysterious disappearance of his employer, a Mr. Edward Waterfield. And some time later, the two of them featured in an army report about the strange goings-on in the London Underground, accompanied by a young lady called Victoria Waterfield - our dear Mrs. Strachan."
Again, the Doctor looked briefly discomfited, but said nothing.
"Since Waterfield is such an unusual name, I decided to search for it, and learned that a man called Edward Waterfield and his daughter Victoria was reported to have died in an explosion in a mansion near Canterbury... in 1866." He paused. "Shall I go on?"
The Doctor raised her hand. "That will not be necessary, thank you." Vaughn hid his disappointment; he had been looking forward to showing to the Doctor just how careless she had been - and how clever he was for finding her and putting all the pieces together. The Doctor's smile then faded. "However, I would be most obliged if we could carry on with the reason why I'm here." Her expression hardened. "Where are my friends?"
Vaughn smiled. They were back to business. "Do not worry, Doctor. They are being treated well."
"I hope you do not feel offended if I don't take your word for it," she said, looking meaningfully at Packer, a menacing presence standing behind her and Sullivan, who did not seem to get the meaning behind her words.
"If you don't believe me, just see for yourself." With this, Vaughn pressed a button on the control panel wired to his desk, and the screens around the office displayed the two ladies in their cell. They could see that Mrs. Jackson was still sitting on her bed, looking bored, while Mrs. Strachan paced up and down the room. "As you can see," Vaughn continued, "both are alive and well. Oh, I know of your concerns, Doctor, and I share them. That's the reason why that camera was installed on the premises in the first place - to ensure their safety." This time, Packer looked at him with a confused expression, which he pretended not to notice. "By the way, Packer, it looks as if our two guests have finished their meal. Would you please collect the tray?"
"Right away, Mr. Vaughn." He turned to go.
"And Packer..."
Packer stopped at the door.
"Remember, we will be watching."
Packer looked rather crestfallen at this comment, but his expression changed to a smile as soon as the Doctor and Lieutenant Sullivan turned their attention back to Vaughn. "Yes, sir." And with this, he left.
"I'm certain Mr. Packer is not very pleased with having to perform such menial tasks," the Doctor said casually.
"No, he isn't. But with him being the only employee I have on the premises, he has no other choice."
"The only employee?" Sullivan asked, looking askance at the Doctor.
"Well, I have my sources, of course, but apart from them Packer is the only person working for me at the moment. Everyone else - the fake Cybermen, for instance, although produced on my premises and with materials I supplied - belong in reality to my current associate."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And who might that be?"
"All in good time, my dear Doctor, all in good time." He tried to change the subject. "You know, the more I learn about you, the more fascinated I become. Tell me, how do you manage to change your appearance like that?"
"That is my own business," she replied with a tone that sounded much more pleasant than the words employed. "And before you ask: no, you cannot study it or try to find a way to achieve it by yourself. I know with absolute certainty that it cannot be done."
Although he had already expected such an answer, Vaughn found himself once again fighting to hide his disappointment. "My dear Doctor, why would you think I'd ever ask you that?"
"Because I know you," she said firmly. "And besides, you have managed to find a new body by yourself, haven't you?" She looked at him. "What did you do? Cloning?"
"Impressive. How did you know?"
She touched her eyebrow. "Your scar is gone, and you are blinking normally - which you couldn't do when your body was cyber-converted. And besides, I saw you - the old you, that is - die. I was present at your autopsy. It's a bit early in the history of human science for cloning, but I have no doubt that a brilliant mind like yours would have been able to discover something like this."
Vaughn nodded in approval. "Yes, Doctor, you are absolutely right. I am a clone, and so is Packer. Our original selves would regularly imprint their memories on us, just as a precaution." He paused. "The Cybermen knew nothing of this, of course, nor of the secret location where the cloning chambers were stored."
"Another safety precaution."
"Exactly, Doctor." He looked sombre. "The last memory implant took place a few hours before our deaths, so we have no personal experience of it. We witnessed the Cybermen's betrayal and our deaths from what was recorded by the compound security cameras; I later obtained the overall details of the conclusion of this incident from the UNIT reports I acquired." He did remember vividly what it felt like to be brought to life exactly one week after the original Tobias Vaughn was killed (thanks to a timing program Vaughn had placed in the cloning chambers to minimize the risks of two of him being around at the same time, and which was activated as soon as the next scheduled imprint failed to occur). But he felt the experience was too personal for him to reveal it to the Doctor. His accomplishments made for a much more pleasant topic of conversation.
"I see," the Doctor said quietly, in a manner than once again reminded Vaughn of the other Doctor. "Yes, it all makes sense now."
"As you can understand, Doctor, I..." He broke off, his attention on the screen as he noticed the two women reacting to something. "It seems that Packer has arrived." The Doctor and Sullivan turned to look at the screen as well, just in time to see Mrs. Strachan rushing to hide somewhere out of the camera's range, the tray in hand.
"I say, what is she doing?" Sullivan asked.
Vaughn grinned. "Isn't it obvious, Lieutenant?" Packer's black-clad figure appeared from below the camera. The open door was now visible, and it was clear that the place Mrs. Strachan had disappeared into was right behind it, out of Packer's view. Vaughn made a great effort not to chuckle. So primitive and predictable.
"All right," they heard Packer growl. "Where's your little friend?"
Mrs. Jackson made a face of blissful ignorance. "Who?"
"Don't play games with me. You know-" Before Packer could finish threatening Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Strachan took advantage of the fact that he now had his back turned to her, and hit him on the head with the tray. They heard a mighty clang, and Packer fell to the floor.
"Hurry, Polly!" Mrs. Strachan urged as she checked the hallway to make certain no Cybermen stood guard, and Mrs. Jackson got up and followed her through the open door as quickly as her condition allowed. In a second, they were gone.
"Well, well," Vaughn said with a smile. "This is an unexpected turn of events, isn't it?"
"I say!" Sullivan exclaimed.
The Doctor was trying hard not to look too amused by what her two friends had done. "You don't look very surprised," she said.
"Indeed, I'm not. Look." Vaughn pointed at the screen. In a second, Packer got up and looked at the camera, giving them the thumbs-up.
"You've allowed them escape on purpose," Sullivan said. "Why?"
"My intention was merely to attract the Doctor's attention, and now that we have it, they are free to go, if they so wish."
"But you have to admit that allowing the ladies to escape like this instead of just releasing them is very odd."
"Odd? In what way?" inquired Vaughn silkily.
"It's just so pointless, isn't it? And with Mrs. Jackson's condition, it will mean a lot of effort on their part that could have easily been avoided."
"Not to mention the headache your Mr. Packer will be feeling right now," the Doctor added, inspecting her nails with a feigned air of detachment.
Vaughn nodded. "Yes, both very valid points - but we have some business to attend right now and cannot waste time dealing with the release of our hostages. And besides," he added, "I have no doubt your friends will bump into them sooner or later."
"My friends?" the Doctor asked blandly.
Vaughn's lips pursed in a rat's grin. "Come, come, my dear Doctor, do you really think I wouldn't know you'd bring other people along with you, in addition to Lieutenant Sullivan, here? I'm guessing... the ladies' husbands, definitely, and perhaps even Mr. McCrimmon - if my records are correct, he's still associated with you."
The Doctor crossed her arms, her expression blank. "Lieutenant Sullivan and I came by ourselves."
Vaughn chuckled, shaking his head at her blatant denial. "Let's see where they are now..."
He pressed a button, and the image on screen switched to the back of the building; it was empty. Vaughn then pressed another button, and the image switched to the rooftop. There, they could see Lieutenant Craig Strachan, looking a little out of breath; behind him, McCrimmon was just pulling himself up the fire escape, with more than one look over his shoulder at the dizzying drop below.
"Come along!" they heard Strachan grumble, and soon the two of them were out of the camera's range.
"You were saying?" As the Doctor remained silent, Vaughn continued. "I have no doubt they'll find the young ladies very soon."
Dodo and Ben had been searching through the disused wagons in the railway area of the compound for a good twenty minutes, but so far had found nothing but empty crates and a lot of flipping cobwebs. He wanted to move on elsewhere. Ben's frustration at not finding a lead as to Polly's whereabouts was once again increasing, and he was starting to feel jumpy, his nerves becoming more strung out as they searched without result. Dodo, bless her, pretended that nothing was wrong. And his feet started to itch to move on again after he opened yet another crate only to be greeted by the sight of some ratty old gauze and some fat spiders. But then...
"Ben, come and look at this!"
"What is it?" he asked as he rushed to look at the crate she was inspecting. The sight of a large silvery form inside made his heart stop momentarily.
"I think we've found our missing body," she said with satisfaction.
Ben studied the headless form for a moment. "Yeah," he said, as his memory went back to the way the bodies of the Cybermen who invaded the Moonbase looked like. "Yeah, that's a Cyberman, all right." He paused, as an unpleasant nagging feeling made itself known. "Hang on."
"What?"
"Well..." He really couldn't tell what was wrong, but the nagging feeling was growing stronger and stronger. "Well..." he repeated as he looked around aimlessly.
"What is wrong, Ben?" Dodo insisted. "This is good, isn't it? I mean, we've just found evidence that this is indeed the place where Polly and Mrs. Strachan were taken to."
"Yeah, I know, but... Well, don't you think it's a little bit too cushy?"
"What?"
"Blimey, Dodo, think about it. You remember what the Doctor said about the last time she was here. There's labs in the building, probably disposal places for pieces of junk like this old geezer here. Why would anyone put him here," he gestured all around him, "when it's obvious nobody's been here for years?"
Dodo's eyes widened. "You're right. This..." she hesitated. "This has got to be a trap."
"Yeah," said Ben grimly. "And we fell right into it like a couple of ninnies."
Dodo looked around nervously, her overconfidence of late starting to fade. "Oh, Ben, let's inform the others and get out of here."
"Yeah, we'd better get back to the tent," Ben agreed, though at the same time he was none too pleased with the idea. "We can brief the Brig and see if there's any other way we can get back in and find Polly."
"Sir," Sergeant Sherwin called, waking the Brigadier from his reverie, "it's Lieutenant Jackson and Miss Chaplet." The Brigadier rushed to the radio, while everybody else gathered around him and the Sergeant.
"Trap Three to Greyhound," the Lieutenant's voice was heard, "do you receive me? Over."
"Greyhound here, receiving you loud and clear," the Brigadier said, feeling some relief that Jackson, while from the Merchant Navy, at least knew how to act according to OP. It had always been a nightmare going through radio communications with the Doctor, regardless of who he was at the moment, and his companions (with the exception of Sullivan and Miss Grant, obviously) had always been just as nightmarish when it came to such matters. "What's the situation? Over," he continued.
"We found the body," Jackson replied. "The whole area is clear, but we suspect..." He hesitated. "Well, sir, we think this all looks very dodgy, see," he added, falling back to his regular Cockney idiom. The Brigadier stifled a sigh - so much for military protocol.
He tried to carry on. "What do you mean?"
"It looks as if the body was placed here on purpose for us to find, Brigadier," Miss Chaplet's voice was then heard. The Brigadier could hear an indignant "Hey!" from the background, and deduced that Miss Chaplet might have snatched the communicator from Jackson's hand. "We suspect it might be a trap."
"Then don't touch anything," the Brigadier ordered. "Try and see if you can retreat, and if that proves to be impossible search for a place to hide until I send reinforcements over there."
"But what about-" Jackson was about to retort, but the Brigadier cut him off.
"I understand your objections, Lieutenant, but I'm not going to risk your safety. As far as we know it might do worse for the hostages. As soon as you're back here we can try and rework our strategy."
"All right," Jackson said with a sigh. "You're the skipper."
"But what about the body?" Miss Chaplet insisted. "We should bring it back!"
"May I, Brigadier?" Miss Shaw asked, pointing at the mike.
The Brigadier handed it to her. "If you insist."
"Thank you." She spoke into the mike. "Liz Shaw here. Yes, the body is important and we need to know how these fake Cybermen operate, but I think it will be better if the Brigadier's men handle that. Even if the thing is not rigged with something, it will be too heavy and slow you down." She handed the mike back to the Brigadier, who nodded appreciatively.
"Yes, that makes sense to me," Miss Chaplet replied. "Well, then, we'll be..." She broke off. "Wait, do you hear that?"
"What is it?" the Brigadier asked.
"Yeah, I hear it too," Jackson hissed, speaking to Dodo, not the command centre. "And it's getting nearer."
"Well, don't waste time," the Brigadier said sharply. "Get out of there immediately, or at least hide."
"You don't have to tell me twice," the Lieutenant replied. "Come on, Dodo."
It was then that the sound became noticeable through the radio - a sort of faint bleeping. The Brigadier went pale. He knew that sound. "Jackson, get out of there, now! Do you hear me? Now!" he shouted.
"What is it?" he heard Miss Moon ask behind him.
"Sir?" Benton enquired, clearly puzzled with the Brigadier's reaction.
"We can't get out now," Miss Chaplet's voice was then heard, in a whisper. "The sound seems to be coming from the door."
"Then hide," the Brigadier said with an odd urgency in his voice.
"But where-" Miss Chaplet was about to start, when Jackson's voice uttered, "The crates!"
"Quickly!" the Brigadier urged.
"Too late - it's here!" Miss Chaplet cried.
"Dodo!" Jackson's voice was drowned out by the sound of a mighty roar. The girl started to scream, but the sound of something heavy crushing the receiver stopped the transmission abruptly. A heavy silence followed. Apart from his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, it felt to the Brigadier as if all sound had been sucked from the tent.
"What... what was that?" Miss Shaw finally asked, breaking the torpor that seemed to have overwhelmed everyone.
"Something I hoped I'd never hear again," the Brigadier muttered. Then, he turned to his men. "Sherwin, I want you to contact HQ and get reinforcements. Tell them 'Priority Red, Codename Zeta'."
"Yes, sir," Sherwin said, activating the radio.
"Benton."
"Sir," he replied, standing at attention.
"Get a couple of men for a recce of the wagons, and then come back here for a briefing. I also want you to get all the grenades and explosives you can get your hands on, because you'll need it. I want you to look for Jackson and Miss Chaplet, grab them if you find them, and get the hell out of there straight away. If you can't find them, come back immediately."
"What about the body, sir?"
"Do not touch the body, Benton. It will only slow you down. Leave it for when the reinforcements arrive."
"Sir." Benton saluted and left to select his team.
"As for you, Miss Shaw," the Brigadier continued, "I want you and Miss Moon-" He broke off.
"Brigadier?" Miss Shaw asked, confused. Her eyes followed the same route around the room that his were just taking, and she let out a distressed "Oh no," as she came to the same conclusion he had just reached.
Miss Moon had disappeared.
