"You know, Professor Jarvis, these carvings are fascinating!"
Jarvis chuckled slightly. "Yes, Doctor, they are. It's been a long time since anyone's been so interested in one of my archaeological digs, just for the joy of discovery."
"Oh, surely not," the Doctor protested, removing his gold, wire frame spectacles and returning them to an inside pocket of his fawn frock coat.
Jarvis nodded. "Students come along because they have to, not because they enjoy it. I have not seen enthusiasm such as yours for so long."
"The Skegg were an interesting race," the Doctor noted. "No other species discovered space travel before music."
"Well, if not for you and your young friend arriving when you did, our expedition would have been a failure."
The Doctor shrugged modestly. "It was only a case of rewiring your geophysics scanning equipment," he said.
"Without that help, we would not be standing here." The Professor looked around himself, taking in the majesty of the vast underground tomb.
The Doctor smiled. "I suppose not." He went back to studying the carvings. "I wonder how Nyssa is doing?"
***
"That's it, Nyssa, you've done it!"
Nyssa grinned, glad that her modification had met with success. "The uplink is working now?"
"Better then ever before," confirmed Jane, Professor Jarvis' research assistant. "I would never have thought of patching the systems together like that. It didn't seem logical, but it worked."
"Sometimes logic is not the best way to solve a problem. Intuition and luck play their part as well. The Doctor taught me that."
"Looks like he taught you well," Jane commented.
Nyssa smiled sadly. "I learned to combine systems like that from my father," she said.
Jane looked up, aware that something had darkened her new friend's mood. "What's wrong, Nyssa?"
Suddenly Nyssa looked very young and vulnerable. "My father died and my world was destroyed," she replied simply.
Jane's jaw dropped and it was nearly a minute before she was able to speak.
"I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say. That's terrible."
"It is," Nyssa agreed. "It is." She turned and left the office dome, heading back for the temporary quarters she shared with the Doctor. Her first tear hit the hot sand before she was half way there.
***
"Hello, Nyssa. We've found some fascinating carvings this afternoon over in the tomb. You must come over and see them after the evening meal. Really well preserved."
Nyssa mumbled something and returned to her reading.
"Yes, it was quite fortunate we landed here at the same time as Professor Jarvis and his team. A great scientific opportunity could have been lost if the expedition had been abandoned due to technical problems."
This time Nyssa didn't even mumble.
"Did you know your hair was on fire?"
"Yes, Doctor."
It took nearly thirty seconds for Nyssa to properly register what the Doctor had said. When she did she looked up at him sharply.
He was looking at her with his famous sympathetic look. "Traken again?" was all he asked.
She nodded, her eyes brimming with fresh tears. "Will I never forget?" she sobbed.
He stood, a little awkwardly, with his hands thrust deep in his pockets. "No, nor should you. Traken lives on inside you now. But it will become easier."
"I hope you're right."
Any reply by the Doctor was cut off by a whooshing sound from outside. The Doctor left the dome at a run, Nyssa just behind.
Other members of the expedition watched as a large sphere landed at the edge of the camp. A ramp descended and a number of armoured figures emerged.
"Oh, no," groaned the Doctor.
"You know them?" Nyssa inquired, though she could already tell that he did.
He nodded grimly. "Sontarans!"
"I am Grand Marshall Stenn of the 7th Sontaran Battle Group and I claim this planet for the glorious Sontaran Empire."
So saying, the lead Sontaran planted a slim pole into the sand. A triangular flag unfurled and an anthem played. The Sontarans stood stiffly to attention, right arms across their chests in salute.
"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Professor Jarvis, his face red with rage as he challenged the Sontaran called Stenn. "I will not have my work disrupted like this!"
"You will be silent," Stenn said, not loudly but with enough authority to give Jarvis pause. When he opened his mouth to protest further, however, Stenn knocked him to the ground in one fluid movement.
"There was no need for that," the Doctor told Stenn as he rushed to aid the Professor.
Stenn glared down at him as he stooped to help Jarvis. "Do you too challenge my authority?" he asked menacingly.
The Doctor shook his head as he assisted Jarvis in standing. "No, I can see you've got enough clout to back up your threats."
"Good," Stenn said. "All of you will now work to aid the cause of the mighty Sontaran Empire. What is the approximate population of this world?"
The Doctor looked around the camp. "At the moment, I would say, twenty six. Not including you and your men."
Stenn unholstered his gun and pointed it at the Doctor's head. "I thought you were more intelligent than to lie to me."
"I'm not lying," the Doctor said quickly, raising his hands. "The only sentient creatures on this planet, to the best of my knowledge, are standing within a quarter of a mile of your ship."
Stenn lowered his gun slowly. He seemed to be considering the Doctor's statement.
"Then what are you doing here?"
The Doctor looked over at Jarvis, who seemed to have recovered. "We're archaeologists," the Professor explained. "We are digging up the tombs of the Skegg, who once lived here."
Stenn nodded. "You seek the military knowledge of the ancients to use against the enemies of today."
"No, no, no," Jarvis said. "We have no interest in their military, except as part of the bigger picture of how they lived their lives."
The Doctor could almost see Stenn frowning inside his helmet. "But if there is no military purpose to your work, why does your government allow it?"
"It's an academic study. We learn about the past to help us understand the present and improve the future."
Stenn shook his head slowly. "There is no meaning to this that I can understand. Strad!" This last was a call to another Sontaran, who appeared at Stenn's side quickly.
"Sir!" Strad crashed to attention, arm across chest.
"Strad, lock these humans up somewhere until I can decide if they will be useful to us."
"Yes, sir," Strad replied. He unholstered his gun and waved it at the archaeologists.
"We get the idea," the Doctor told him, leading Professor Jarvis away.
***
Half an hour later they were all inside a bare stone walled room inside the main tomb. A lone Sontaran stood guard over the only entrance.
"What do we do now, Doctor?" Nyssa asked.
The Doctor frowned. "We must find a way past that guard, discover what the Sontarans are doing on this planet and stop them."
"As simple as that then," Nyssa shrugged. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Did you know, you're getting a sarcastic streak?" the Doctor asked her. "Too long hanging around Tegan, I should think."
"What are they going to do with us?" Jarvis inquired.
"Keep us here until Stenn decides if he needs us for anything."
"And if he doesn't?"
The Doctor's face darkened. "I suppose he'll kill us!"
***
Stenn sat in his command chair on the bridge of the Sontaran Battle Sphere. Strad approached him and saluted.
"Report," commanded Stenn.
"Sensor sweeps of the area have detected the craft, approximately four miles from here. I have despatched a patrol to investigate."
"Excellent. Soon we shall have the hated Rutan in our power!"
***
In the makeshift cell, the archaeologists were getting restless.
"When are they going to let us out?" Jane asked.
"If the Doctor here is right, never," said Brian Stewart, Jarvis' senior assistant. "He thinks the Sontarans will kill us all."
"Ah, now I didn't say that," the Doctor corrected. "I said that could happen, if Stenn doesn't find a use for us."
"But he said he couldn't see any point to our work," Jarvis protested. "So what use could he have for us?"
The Doctor frowned. "I don't know. The Sontarans are here for a reason and I intend to find out what that reason is."
***
Stenn stretched, luxuriating for a brief moment in the feeling of a fresh charge of energy. He always enjoyed the feeling just after he had uncoupled, as the last of the raw power worked it's way through his system.
Strad approached him and saluted. "Sir!"
"Report, Strad."
"The patrol have returned. It is definitely the Rutan craft, but the pilot has escaped. No trace of a body in the locality."
Stenn thought for a moment. "Cut off from the Host, it's energy will be low. It may have had to kill to survive. If so, it will have taken the form of one of the humans."
"Orders, sir?"
"Come with me, Strad. It's time we found our elusive Rutan scout."
***
The Doctor looked up as Stenn entered the cell. "Ah, Grand Marshall, how nice of you to join us."
Stenn removed his helmet, intending to intimidate the insolent human. While there were a few gasps of surprise from around the room, the Doctor was unimpressed.
"I assume you have knowledge of us, Doctor?"
The Doctor nodded. "I have crossed the path of a few Sontarans in my time," he admitted.
"You know of our war with the filthy Rutan Host?"
"Yes, your pathetic little skirmish has come to my attention. Why?"
"A Rutan scout ship crash-landed on this planet. We want to find and execute the pilot."
"I bet you do." Then the Doctor frowned. "You think it's in here, impersonating one of us?"
"I'm sure of it. As you seem the most intelligent of these, humans, I give you one hour, Doctor, to find the Rutan for us."
"And if I don't?"
Stenn almost smiled. "If you don't, I'll start killing your friends, one by one, until I find the Rutan. Then I'll kill the rest, just to make sure!"
"What do you suggest we do, Doctor?" asked Professor Jarvis after Stenn had left.
"Hmm. Oh, I suggest we find this Rutan. I'm sure Stenn is a man of his word and will start killing your team at a moments notice."
"How do we find the Rutan?" was Nyssa's question. She shivered slightly, putting it down to the cold night air.
"Ah, now that's a little difficult. Since their early experiments in shape shifting techniques, they have become rather good at it."
"So we'll all be dead within the hour!" stated Jane mournfully.
"Not if I have anything to do with it," the Doctor told her. He patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Brave heart, erm, Jane."
Nyssa looked hopeful. "So, you have a plan then?"
"Of sorts," the Doctor admitted. "The four of us will go round in pairs, chatting to everybody, trying to keep morale high. We'll also be checking if they have seen anything odd in the last day that might give us a clue to who the Rutan is."
"You would give this Rutan creature up to the Sontarans?" Jarvis asked.
The Doctor looked grimly at the archaeologist. "This Rutan is no innocent, Professor. Whoever it's impersonating it will have killed and drained their life energy for it's own use. Now, time's against us, so Nyssa and Jane start over there, and the Professor and I will start here."
The two parties separated, going about their grim task of finding an alien murderer for a bunch of invading thugs.
***
Stenn watched the Doctor and his friends moving about the makeshift cell on a monitor in his private quarters. He liked these new spy cameras the military hardware division had come up with. Small enough to conceal inside a troopers helmet, they allowed him to monitor his prisoners at his own convenience.
He had requested information on the one calling himself the Doctor and had discovered that he was a Time Lord, known to the High Command as an enemy of Sontara and he was not to be trusted. Stenn watched him closely as he and the human, Jarvis, talked to a female human. He would use the Doctor to get what he wanted, Stenn decided. Then he would return him to Sontara for execution.
***
The Doctor and Jarvis had completed their circuit and found nothing out of the ordinary. They had calmed one man who was starting to get hysterical and found a woman who was suffering with a fever, but nothing else.
Nyssa and Jane were bending over Brian Stewart, who was laid out on the floor. The Doctor squatted beside them.
Nyssa looked over at him. "He's got some sort of fever."
The Doctor nodded. "A young woman over there has something similar." He removed his half-moon spectacles from his pocket and perched them on the end of his nose. "Yes, you do look a little green around the gills," he commented, reaching across to feel Brian's forehead.
The man shrank back, shaking his head. "Don't touch me, please!"
"Alright," the Doctor replied, moving back and raising his arms. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"We're all going to die. The Sontaran scum are going to kill us all!"
"He's delirious," Nyssa decided.
"Yes, probably," the Doctor replied. He got to his feet. "Let's leave him alone, let him get some fresh air," he said, moving away from the sick man.
Jarvis was looking at his watch. "Time's nearly up, Doctor."
"Yes, I know." He approached the Sontaran standing guard at the door.
"Could you tell your Grand Marshall that the Doctor has news for him, there's a good chap."
"Or maybe I can tell him directly," said the Doctor's voice from the monitor on Stenn's desk. His face came closer to the camera. "I think I have your Rutan, Stenn."
Stenn was satisfied to see the Doctor pushed roughly backwards by the guard. "I'll tell him," the guards voice rumbled.
A moment later a communications icon appeared on the screen. It was the guard.
"I'll be there shortly," Stenn informed him.
***
"I hear you have good news for me, Doctor."
The Doctor nodded. "But bad news for Mister Stewart over there." He pointed to indicate Brian, slumped against the wall.
"Is he the Rutan?" gasped Jane.
"Yes," the Doctor said sadly. "He has a slight greenish glow, is running a fever and doesn't want to be touched. You see, Rutans can't stand the heat. He was alright in the cool of the night, but once day broke, the stuffy air in here made him ill."
"And the not wanting to be touched?" Nyssa inquired.
"Rutan's kill on contact. Despite being low on energy, killing one of us would have brought it to the attention of the guard. It couldn't risk that."
Stenn held out his hand to Strad, who was standing dutifully beside him. Strad passed him a laser rifle.
The Sontaran Grand Marshall strode over to where Brian was propped against the old stone. He levelled the rifle at the ersatz human.
"Anything to say before I return your atoms to their constituent parts?"
Brian sneered up at him. "Only that the glorious Rutan Host will eradicate you vile Sontarans from existence, and the sooner the better!"
Stenn didn't reply, just shot him, letting the laser speak for him. The fake Brian dissolved, briefly replaced by a green glowing blob, before that too folded in on itself with an agonized howl. Within ten seconds, there was nothing left of the Rutan scout.
Jane wept into Jarvis' shoulder. The Doctor put his arm round a shaking Nyssa.
"I know it's no consolation," the Time Lord said gently, "but the real Brian died when he encountered the Rutan. He's probably buried in the desert somewhere."
"We'll find him and give him a proper funeral," Jarvis promised.
The Doctor glanced at him. "We have to get out of here first," he reminded them all.
***
The archaeologists emerged blinking into the sunlight. Stenn and his Sontarans stood in front of their ship.
"Now what?" asked Jane, her cheeks tear-stained from the recent ordeal.
"I'm not sure," the Doctor confessed. "Stenn might decide we're not worth bothering with and just leave."
As if on cue, Stenn moved forward. He stood before the Doctor.
"You are known to the High Command, Doctor. I have been instructed to return to Sontara in your TARDIS. Once there you will give it's secrets to the Sontaran Intelligence Division."
"Sontaran Intelligence? I thought that was a contradiction in terms."
Stenn hit the Doctor. Hard. He found himself lying on his back in the sand, wondering how large a piece of the sky had landed on him.
Stenn still had the laser rifle that had despatched the Rutan. He levelled it at Nyssa's head.
"Comply, Doctor, or the girl dies!"
The Doctor got to his feet slowly, rubbing the side of his head. He looked defeated.
"Very well, Stenn. Just don't harm Nyssa."
"No, Doctor! You can't give them the TARDIS!"
"I must, Nyssa. After Adric, I don't think I could bear to lose another companion."
Stenn nodded. "Very wise choice, Doctor. Strad!"
"Yes, sir!" the officer replied, coming to attention smartly.
"Take the ship back to the rendezvous point and rejoin the Battle Group. I will join you after I have been debriefed by the High Command."
Strad saluted, his right arm across his chest. "Yes, sir!" he replied. He quickly returned to the ship, which lifted off and vanished into the warm sky of Skeggria.
Stenn turned to the Time Lord. "Now, Doctor. Your TARDIS."
The Doctor turned without speaking and headed towards the edge of the camp. Nyssa followed, still held at laser point by Stenn.
***
Jane watched as the Doctor led the Sontaran to his craft. She didn't know much about it, but she had seen the horrified look on Nyssa's face when the Doctor had agreed to turn it over. Damn it, she thought. These people were her friends. She wasn't going to let a lone alien bully exploit them.
It was when she saw the shovel that she decided to act.
***
The first anybody knew of what was happening was the roar. It was an explosion of noise in the sombre atmosphere, a scream of pure rage. The Doctor turned in time to catch the last of the action.
He saw Jane, a shovel in her hands, charging at Stenn. He too had heard her scream, but being heavier than a human, was slower to react. The shovel blade hit him squarely on the back of his neck, clanging loudly on the metal collar.
The effect was immediate. Jane's scream, which was now fading from everyones ears, was replaced by Stenn's. This was much more gutteral, and much more pain racked. The Sontaran sank to his knees, hands reaching up behind him to the point of impact, which was starting to give off thin wisps of smoke.
Jane stood, dumbstruck and panting with effort, eyes locked on the disabled Sontaran. The Doctor moved quickly, grabbing the equally frozen Nyssa as he passed and pulling Jane away from Stenn.
"Everybody, cover your eyes!" he shouted as he ran. Behind him, where Stenn was still on his knees, there was a flash and an explosion. The Doctor threw himself and the two girls into the sand.
When they looked up, Stenn was gone. Well, except for a few thousand little bits of him, scattered over the sand.
"What happened?" asked Nyssa.
The Doctor, however, had a question of his own. "How did you know where to hit him?" he asked Jane.
She shrugged. "I didn't. I just picked up the shovel and hit him. What did I do?"
"You hit the probic vent on the back of his neck, the only real weak spot on a Sontaran. The blow ruptured the vent, causing the energy to disperse the only way it could. Boom!"
"What about the others?" Nyssa inquired.
"Oh, they'll wait for orders, wonder where their commander has gone, but they won't think to come back here. The excavation is quite safe."
"Good," Nyssa replied, climbing to her feet and dusting off her Traken skirt. "Because I'm looking forward to staying here a while longer."
"You know what," the Doctor remarked as he helped Jane up. "So am I."
