"Well, it makes a nice change for us to land somewhere peaceful," Peri said.
The Doctor strolled along beside her through the alien market, looking like an explosion in a fabrics factory. He was taking in the sights and sounds of the planet Narn.
"Yes, I suppose it is," he commented. He smiled benignly at his companion. "Though the diplomatic conference is likely to be more explosive."
"Can't we just look around the markets and shops?" Peri asked, a whine entering her voice.
"Well, we were invited. It would be rude not to go."
"You were invited. Ages ago. You just decided to drag me along."
"You're not enjoying yourself?" he inquired mildly, glancing at her bulging shopping bags.
She grinned. "I'm enjoying using your Galactic Express card," she admitted.
"Then stop complaining," he chastised mildly.
Peri nodded. "Okay Doctor, I shall go to the ball!"
***
The Doctor had to admit, Peri did make a stunning figure in the ball gown she had found in the TARDIS wardrobe section. It was pale blue, bunched at the waist, with ruffled sleeves.
"Very nice," he said, as she twirled in front of him. She was grinning from ear to ear.
"Thanks," she said. The Doctor took her arm and they entered the ballroom.
The high ceilinged room was crowded with a wide variety of alien life. Drazi rubbed shoulders with Draconians, Brakiri and Earth Reptiles bought each other drinks and Gaim cracked jokes with Velgorns. Even the Ogron delegation, squeezed into ill-fitting tuxedos, seemed to be enjoying themselves.
There were other forms of life among the crowd. Humans, Minbari, Alpha Centauri, Native Martians and Pak'Ma'Ra were all represented. In a quiet corner, a Mentor from Thoros Beta was doing illicit deals with a Narn government official. In short, a large cross section of this part of the galaxy was represented.
The Doctor walked up to the Earth delegate and, placing his palms together, bowed to the small Japanese man.
"Hiroshi San," he said.
The man looked blankly at him for a few moments, then smiled. "Doctor?"
He nodded, smiling. "How did you guess?"
"They say the clothes make the man. That is certainly true in your case."
"Thank you. And for the invitation, by the way."
"My pleasure. Would you like a drink?"
The Doctor and Peri were soon furnished with drinks. Hiroshi and his two bodyguards moved off and left the two of them to mingle.
"His bodyguards tried to scan me," the Doctor told Peri when Hiroshi was out of earshot.
Peri looked blank. "Scan you? I didn't see any scanning devices."
The Doctor tapped the side of his head. "Up here. A mental scan," he told her.
"Oh," she replied. "Did it work?"
"No, I managed to block them, though they are both strong telepaths. Unusual that, in Humans."
The Doctor stepped back to let a group of Drazi pass and bumped into something. He turned to see what it was.
He was confronted by what looked like a leather clad wall. He looked up into the glowering face and fierce red eyes of an angry Narn!
"You clumsy...Human!" growled the Narn.
"Human?" The Doctor retorted. "I take that as an insult, sir! I am The Doctor and I am far from Human!"
"I can vouch for that," Peri chipped in. The Doctor glared at her.
"Well, 'Doctor', I am G'Kar and I am a member of the Third Circle of Ka'Ri." He paused after he said that, as if expecting a round of applause.
He didn't get it. "I am a noble of Draconia," the Doctor shot back.
G'Kar drew himself up to his full height. "I have been appointed Narn Ambassador to the Earth station Babylon 5," he said proudly.
"Will you two stop bickering and say sorry?" Peri exclaimed.
The Doctor and G'Kar glared at each other some more before giving in.
"Well, I could have been more careful, I suppose," the Doctor conceded.
"So could I," G'Kar admitted grudgingly.
"Now, shake hands nicely," instructed peacemaker Peri. The two of them shook hands carefully.
"Are you looking for a position with the Earth delegation?" The Doctor asked mildly.
Peri grinned. "Shall I ask if they have an opening?"
"Don't bother," the Doctor said tartly. Peri stuck her tongue out at him.
***
Senator Hiroshi's bodyguards were standing silently behind him, talking.
"He blocked us!" the taller, younger one thought.
"That he did," mused the shorter one with the dark hair.
"How could he do that?"
"He has powerful mental shields. I could, of course, penetrate them, given time. Did you scan the girl?"
"No. Why would I scan her?"
"Because she is travelling with him," said the shorter one. "I would have thought that was obvious, even to a novice."
"It wasn't," said the taller of the pair. "I apologize for my oversight."
"You'll learn, Byron. You're studying with a master now."
"What did you discover?"
"He travels in time and space in a box the size of a wardrobe."
The young man snorted mentally. "That is ridiculous!"
"Nevertheless, she believes it. She is either correct, or mad."
"Which?"
The older man shrugged mentally. "Unknown at the moment. I will find out, though, or my name is not Alfred Bester!"
***
Draal, the representative of the planet Minbar, was talking to Krann, representative of the Martian government.
"Have you spoken to the Draconian representative yet?" hissed Krann.
"Not yet," Draal replied. "I have not had the chance. I would like to ask him about..." He broke off, as one of his aides collapsed to the floor.
The nearby diplomats turned as Draal bent to assist his assistant. He felt for a pulse. It was weak.
Draal stood again. He looked around. "Is there a healer in the room?" he called.
The Doctor pushed his way through the gathering crowd towards the fallen Minbari. He was not the first on the scene, however.
A young dark skinned Human was bending over Draal's aide, checking for a pulse and other signs of respiration.
"Are you a doctor?" asked The Doctor.
"I'm Doctor Stephen Franklin," the man said, not looking up from his work. "I'm here for the medical part of the conference. And you?"
"Oh, just call me Doctor. Need any help?"
"Do you know anything about Minbari physiology?"
The Doctor shrugged. "A bit. How can I help?"
Franklin looked up for the first time. His eyes widened slightly at The Doctor's strange attire, but he quickly ignored it.
"Does this look normal to you?" he asked, indicating a pinky coloured rash that was spreading rapidly along the Minbari's skull.
The Doctor shook his head. "That's not natural," he replied. "It also looks decidedly nasty."
Franklin smiled slightly at this diagnosis. "I thought as much myself. Now, can we get this man to a medical bay, where I can look at him properly?" This last was addressed to the room in general.
Two Narns quickly arrived with a stretcher. The Doctor and Franklin lifted the sick Minbari onto it.
"Will he be alright?" asked Draal.
"We'll do what we can for him," Franklin promised, walking away after the two Narns. The Doctor started to follow when he felt someone tugging at his sleeve.
"What about me?" asked Peri. "What do I do while you're off playing Doctor? No pun intended."
"None noticed," the Doctor replied with irony. "As for what you do, I would suggest you mingle." With that he was off. Peri sighed and went to mingle.
***
Peri had mingled into a group of delegates, including G'Kar.
"I tell you, it's a Centauri plot to wipe us out," G'Kar was telling the crowd.
"But I always thought the Centauri were a peaceful people," hissed Krann, the Martian Lord.
"Peaceful?" G'Kar exploded. "They are the biggest bunch of war mongering scum the galaxy has ever produced!"
"I resent that remark," squeaked a voice behind him. "We are a peace loving race."
G'Kar whirled round to be confronted be an orange hermaphrodite hexapod dressed in pale pink robes, waving it's six arms at him. He scowled.
"I never questioned your honour," he protested. "By the way, who are you?"
"Beta Centauri," said the strange creature in it's high pitched voice.
G'Kar looked confused. Krann stepped in. "Allow me to explain. This being represents the world of Beta Centauri and it's twin, Alpha, a system on the far edge of this sector. You are mistaking them with the Centauri of Centauri Prime, in the local sector."
Now G'Kar nodded. "I see my error. My apologies for any misunderstanding. I was referring to the scum from Centauri Prime."
"They are not responsible for the illness," said a new voice.
"Oh," G'Kar replied. "And just who is? And who are you to know in the first place?"
"My name is Neroon. I am Draal's bodyguard. And I say the Narns are responsible!"
***
"...And that was when the fight started!" Peri finished.
"I'm not surprised," the Doctor told her. "The last thing you want to do in a room full of Narns is to insult their race. I'm surprised he got out alive."
"The security force broke it up pretty quickly," she replied. "How's the patient, by the way?"
The Doctor glanced back over his shoulder. Inside the medical bay, Doctor Franklin and V'mor, the Narn chief surgeon, were just finishing running some tests on their special patient.
"As well as can be expected. Considering he was poisoned."
Peri frowned. "I can see the point of poisoning an ambassador or diplomat, but not one of their aides."
The Doctor shrugged. "Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe it's airborne. We have had three similar patients brought in in the last hour."
"How similar?" Peri wanted to know.
"Enough to know we are dealing with the same disease, just in different racial types. What strikes down a Minbari today could do the same to a Draconian tomorrow or a Breen the day after."
"That's awful," Peri exclaimed.
"It's manufactured, we've found that much out at least," the Doctor told her, shrugging into his multi coloured coat.
The door of the medical bay swished open. A huge green figure filled the space. An Ice Warrior.
The Martian moved aside, letting a smaller member of his race enter the room. This was Krann, the delegate from New Mars.
"How is my aide?" he hissed.
"Stable, for now," the Doctor told him. "We really need to find an antidote for this poison, and quickly."
"I agree," said Doctor Franklin, leaving the Minbari's room. "How do you suggest we go about it, Doctor?"
"We need to find out who is spreading this poison and stop them."
"If you need any help, my entourage are at your disposal," Krann offered.
"Thank you," the Doctor replied guardedly. "You know, there was a time when the mere presence of your people would have put you top of my list of suspects."
"Then it is good that we are living in enlightened times, Doctor," Krann replied, before turning on his heel and leaving the room. His large bodyguard left too.
"Good use of diplomacy there, Doctor," Peri quipped.
"Well, they were not always the most civilised of races," the Doctor replied. "They tried to invade Earth twice in your future to my knowledge."
"The future is a long way off," Peri laughed.
"Time is relative, Perpugilliam," the Doctor reminded her gravely.
Their conversation was interrupted by the door opening again. A medical team rushed in, a large patient on the stretcher they were manoeuvring.
"Another one?" Franklin sighed. "Who is it this time?"
He and The Doctor moved to examine the new patient. Peri heard them both utter exclamations.
"What's wrong?" she asked, pushing in so she could see.
On the bed before them was the Narn The Doctor had been arguing with earlier. G'Kar!
G'Kar opened his red eyes and met The Doctor's gaze. Then he also noticed Stephen Franklin.
"Doctors," he croaked. "Find a cure for this. Clear the name of my people." He clutched The Doctor's arm before lapsing back into unconsciousness.
The Doctor and Franklin locked gazes. "We'll beat this," the Doctor said.
"You bet we will," Franklin replied, a defiant glint in his eye.
***
The Doctor, V'Mor and Franklin worked into the night, helping their patients and looking for a cure or at least something that would slow the progression of the disease.
The Time Lord had expected the Narn surgeon to work long hours, as the Narn were a hardy race. He was impressed by Franklin's stamina, however. The Human doctor had worked thirty hours straight and showed no signs of giving up.
Franklin and V'Mor were tending some of the dozen patients that had arrived in the last three hours, while The Doctor was studying cell samples, looking for anything that might help them. He slid a new sample into the microscope.
"Anything new?" asked Franklin, walking into the small laboratory and getting himself a drink from a nearby machine. He perched on a chair, looking ready for action.
"Nothing at the moment," the Doctor replied, adjusting the focus. He peered at the new sample. "Hello, what's this?"
"You've found something?" Franklin was on his feet in an instant.
"I think so," replied The Doctor, making another minute adjustment. "Got it!"
"So, what have you got?"
"A footprint. A very familiar footprint, at that. I know now who has spread this virus and where we can find an antidote."
"Then let's go." Franklin was already heading for the door.
"Wait a moment, young man. I need a holographic imager from the TARDIS first and some security backup as well."
V'Mor had come into the laboratory in time to hear this last comment. He frowned.
"Security is having a hard time keeping the delegates from leaving or killing each other. I don't think they will be able to spare many people."
The Doctor gave the matter a moments thought. An idea occurred to him. He crossed to a communications unit and placed a call.
"Krann," replied the voice on the other end.
"It's The Doctor. If your offer of assistance is still available, please meet me on the third floor of the delegates hotel in an hour."
***
Gron growled a curse as the door chime sounded. He had been dealing long into the night with a Mentor from Thoros Beta and he was tired. He rose from his sleeping slab, specially brought from the Ogron homeworld. Still cursing under his breath he opened the door.
What he saw when he opened it took his breath away. One of the Masters was there. The Dalek swivelled it's eyestalk to look right at him!
"HAVE YOU CARRIED OUT THE PLAN?" asked the Dalek.
"Yes, Master," Gron said, bowing his head. Daleks always made him nervous. They had exterminated his brother for losing a prisoner. Someone called The Doctor.
"AND YOU HAVE BEEN TAKING YOUR ANTIDOTE?" grated his visitor.
"Yes, Master," he repeated.
"GOOD," said the Dalek. The air around it shimmered and a Human was standing there, a small box in his hand. He wore a multi coloured coat the even Gron would never touch.
"Then you won't mind giving me a sample of the antidote, will you?" the Human said.
Gron was rather quick witted for an Ogron. He realised that he had been tricked. He pulled his gun from his belt and aimed it at the stranger.
Before he could fire, a green clamp fastened around his wrist. The clamp applied pressure until Gron was forced to drop the gun.
The Doctor smiled at the Ogron, held fast in the grip of the Martian Lord, Krann.
"Now, how about that antidote?"
***
Two hours later, the medical bay was quiet. The remaining patients were sleeping, their bodies and the antidote in their system fighting the last remnants of the Dalek disease.
"So, these Daleks used the Ogrons to introduce a virus into the air of the conference room. What would they hope to gain?"
The Doctor looked at Franklin. "Oh, wholesale chaos in this sector that would let them move in, dominate the weakened races and conquer them with minimum resistance."
Franklin frowned. "Do you think they'll try again?"
"I doubt it. Now this attempt has failed, they will turn their attention to other schemes. They are a very devious race."
"They sound awful," Peri commented. She had returned to the medical bay in time for the celebration of the success of the antidote.
"They are," the Doctor told her. "I hope you never get to meet them."
"Me too," Peri said with feeling. She picked up her glass.
Franklin picked up his too. "I think we should toast our success. To us."
"To us," echoed The Doctor and Peri. As they drank their fizzy water someone cleared their throat behind them.
They turned. G'Kar was standing in the doorway.
"I would like to thank you for clearing this up so well," the large Narn said. "How can I ever repay you?"
"There is no need to repay anything," the Doctor told him.
"Well, can I at least extend my hospitality to you all? I'm returning home for a few days. I would be pleased with your company."
"I'm going to be busy here for a couple of days," Franklin said. "But thank you, old friend."
G'Kar bowed. "Doctor?"
The Doctor grinned. "We'd love to. Thank you, G'Kar."
The Narn slapped him on the back, making The Doctor cough. He put his arm around the Time Lord's shoulder and they walked out, followed by Peri.
"You know, Doctor, I know this nice little tavern..."
