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Recent titles in the Doctor Who series:

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2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Published in 2008 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing. Ebury Publishing is adivision of the Random House Group Ltd.

© Simon Messingham, 2008

Simon Messingham has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this Work inaccordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

Doctor Who is a BBC Wales production for BBC One Executive Producers: Russell TDavies and Julie Gardner Series Producer: Phil Collinson

Original series broadcast on BBC Television. Format © BBC 1963. `Doctor Who',`TARDIS' and the Doctor Who logo are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporationand are used under licence.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

The Random House Group Ltd Reg. No. 954009.

Addresses for companies         within   the   Random      House    Group     can   be   foundat www.randomhouse.co.uk.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 846 07558 0

The Random House Group Limited supports the Forest Stewardship

Council (FSC), the leading international forest certification organisation. All our titles thatare printed on Greenpeace approved FSC certified paper carry the FSC logo. Our paperprocurement policy can be found at www.rbooks.co.uk/environment

Series Consultant: Justin Richards

Project Editor: Steve Tribe

Cover design by Lee Binding © BBC 2008

Typeset in Albertina and Deviant Strain

Printed and bound in Germany by GGP Media GmbH

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This book is dedicated, with love,to Ralph Scott and Oscar Daniel

     and their terrific Mum.

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You will be told: Planet 1 is real.

    Planet 1 is real just as any other planet is real: an actualworld orbiting an actual sun in an actual bona fide solarsystem.

    Planet 1. The planet where technology got so advancedits ruler is in every material sense all-powerful. The planetwhere the very molecules of the air can be sculpted intowhatever you desire. Oh, it's real, all right. You will betold.

    However, should you ask where, should you demandspecific coordinates, you will be told Planet 1 is, well, it'sin the spatial wastes ... past the Outer Rim ... at the backof beyond ... Oh, look, it's just ... out there! And that's allyou'll get.

    In fact, so hard to find is Planet 1 that manycivilisations have gone full circle and now consider thewhole planet a myth. Life in the galaxy is hard and suchmyths are generated easily. Planet 1 is simply too good tobe true. People want it to be true, so they believe it is true,

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which unfortunately does not make it actually true.

  Therefore, you will be told: Planet 1 is not real.

  Sebastiene would not have it any other way.

Sebastiene is a collector. He is also a charmer, a thief,your best friend, a Level 20 Rogue, the most beautifulcreature you have ever seen, a player of games, a man youwould lay down your life for, and a murderer.

    Over the centuries, an unnaturally long time if you stopto think about it for one who seems so young, Sebastienehas ruled Planet 1. He has everything a sentient creaturemight possibly desire but he wants more. Not gold ortreasure or any currency. He does not need money. Whywould Sebastiene want money?

    Now, any planet rumoured to groan with the mostpowerful technology ever amassed is going to beattractive to a certain type of individual. The type whowould prefer Sebastiene to step down; to make way. Andnow we see what Sebastiene craves instead of money. Hewants you to come and find him. If you covet what is his,if you can find the place, Planet 1 is there. All you have todo is take it from him.

    If rumours are to be believed, there are those who havefound Planet 1. Unfortunately, rumours are all you get, fordespite the hundreds who have made this claim andheaded into space, none has ever returned. Perhaps theyperished in the wastes of deep space, perhaps they did not.

    And you never know, perhaps they found Sebastiene.

    Then again, just occasionally, some are invited.

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    `The good news: Earth,' said the Doctor.

       Donna winced as the klaxon started up again. The

    TARDIS rang with the sound. A tooth-drilling, eardrum-

    shattering siren guaranteed to send the listener clinically

    insane after ten seconds. She gripped the console to stop

    the sound sweeping her away. `And?' she growled.

       The Doctor beamed a great big smile. `That's a distress

    signal! We get to help, again.' He pulled on a great woolly

    coat. `It's weird. Your lot shouldn't be able to send a

    distress signal like that. Not in this time frame. Not this

    kind of distress signal.'

       `What kind of distress signal?'

       `The loud annoying distress signal.' He consulted a

    reading on the TARDIS console, whistling as if he

    couldn't hear a thing.

       Donna nodded. `Turn it off!'

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    The Doctor frowned. `What did you say?'

    `Turn. It. Off!'

    `Eh?'

    Donna bared her teeth. `I said: Turn--'

    `Hold on. I'll turn it off.' He stabbed a button and thenoise stopped. `What did you say?'

    The console room startled Donna with its suddensilence. She shouted anyway. `Doctor! I'll kill you!'

    `What? What did I do?' He stood half and half out ofhis bulky coat, a picture of bruised innocence.

    Donna thumped the door controls and stormed out. TheDoctor listened. There was an expectant pause. TheDoctor tried to hide his smile as he heard Donna scream.

    `Oh yeah,' he shouted. `The bad news: Antarctica.'

    `Snow!' said Donna. `You did this to me on that Oodplanet. We've done snow. What is it you've got againsttropical? My nose is turning red.'

    The Doctor bounded over the snow. `Donna, your noseturns red at the drop of a cat. Going red is your nose's firstand greatest talent.'

    `Some people would tire of being so rude. They wouldrun out of steam, get bored, but don't you give in to them.You crack on.'

    He seemed fascinated by the snow. `They say the Inuithave fifty words for this.'

    `I've got a few myself,' Donna muttered. Then she sawit. She scrabbled over a drift and there it was. Down agentle snowy slope about a mile ahead: a vast ice sheetspread out to the horizon like a gigantic skating rink. Twotracked vehicles were parked over a particularly dark

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patch of ice. Men, nothing but smudges in the distance,stood in a ring, their arms outstretched. They had plantedflags, marking the boundaries of the dark patch.

   `What is that?' asked Donna. `That's a buriedspaceship, isn't it?'

   `They found something,' said the Doctor. `Under theice.'

   Excited, he put one hand over his mouth and pointedwith the other. White powder puffed up around him as hestamped his feet with excitement. `Look. Snow-Cats.Tracked vehicles. Oh, brilliant. I love Snow-Cats.'

   `You love everything. So it's a mission to dig up acrashed flying saucer.'

   `I love missions to dig up a crashed flying saucer!'

   `I thought you might.'

   The Doctor jumped up and down. `Let's get involved.'

The TARDIS waited, as it had waited so many timesbefore. It hummed to itself, feeling the cold Antarcticsnow dropping and settling onto its casing. The TARDISwas very good at waiting.

   This time, however, it didn't wait as long as it mighthave expected. About ten metres from the front door, thedropping snow suddenly shot apart in all directions,leaving a man-shaped hole in the air. A figure filled thathole, and it was a figure the TARDIS would haverecognised: handsome angular face, dark friendly eyes,straight hair.

   The man shivered in his shabby suit. He danced up anddown to pump warmth into his plimsolled feet.

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   He watched the Doctor and Donna trudging throughdrifts towards the doomed expedition. Smiling, he thoughtof what waited for them there. Bit scary, if truth be told.

   Next, he held up a large metal key and kissed it. Hewas ever so excited. `The TARDIS! I can't believe it!' Hepunched air then clamped a hand over his mouth to mufflehis giggles. He cast wild glances towards the Doctor andDonna to check they weren't looking back.

   He held up the key. `Moment of truth,' he told it.

   The man walked to the TARDIS, unlocked the door andstepped inside.

   The door closed.

   Despite the howl of the polar wind, the voice was stilljust about audible from outside. It was the voice of thehappiest man on the planet.

   `Oh. My. God. I'm actually standing in the consoleroom. Yes!'

   Sixty seconds later, the TARDIS disappeared.

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    Sebastiene had long resigned himself to the fact that, in

    all modesty, he was the most insanely beautiful man in the

    universe. His present face was made up of superlatives:

    the bluest eyes, the finest golden head of hair and the

    whitest of sharp teeth. He had a perfectly central aquiline

    nose and full lips. His body was toned to perfection with

    sword practice and he had added a small duelling scar on

    his right cheek, but that was just for show. He glanced in

    the mirror once more to make sure, and to prepare the

    right expression to greet his guests.

        `Damn me if I don't look fine today,' he announced to

    his reflection. He snapped his fingers. The doors of his

    chamber flew open and in rushed Sebastiene's dressing

    retinue: six wigged and powdered robots all designed to

    fit their master into various specific articles of clothing.

    His personal Butler robot followed close behind.

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   The Butler was a big chap. At three metres tall, he wasa really big chap. Sebastiene designed all his high-rankingservants big. An ironic metaphor about life and power orsomething, he was certain.

   Sebastiene currently had a fondness for the design ofnoble European houses of eighteenth-century Earth. Heliked the dashing uniforms with their tight decoratedmilitary blouses, dangling swords and spurs. He liked thelong black moustaches and so made all his servants growthem. He had even remodelled his home to resemble aromantic Ruritanian castle on a size and scale that couldnever have existed on Earth, but in his sensibility biggerwas definitely, and always, better.

   Sebastiene examined today's uniform. Scarlet tunic,tight cherry-picker trousers, long gleaming boots, goldinlaid sword belt. `The best yet,' he said to his Butler.`Most fitting for a special day like today. My complimentsto the tailor.'

   `Thank you, sir,' came the reply.

   `Now, let me gaze at my realm.' Sebastiene jumpedover the huge four-poster bed and thumped against thewindow.

   Down in his immense cobbled courtyard, his servants his robots in their silk colour-coded liveries prepared thehorse-drawn coaches for the hunters. He was ready.

   A molecular air-screen shimmered. A picture formed inthe air. His Supervisor robot, speaking from the controlroom deep in the Chateau's heart. The Supervisor bowed.

   This robot was another biggie like the Butler but rathermore soberly dressed. Sebastiene liked to see his

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command staff in functional Napoleonic blue, withchunky gold buttons and huge tricorn hats. Gave the placean efficient military feel.

   `Speak, Supervisor,' said Sebastiene.

   `My master. The starships are dropping from orbit andrequesting permission to land. Except CommissarWeimark, who is demanding permission.'

   `Open the force fields,' said Sebastiene. `Let thehunters descend.'

   There was a whoosh of inrushing molecules and theair-screen closed.

The Chateau, Sebastiene's home on Planet 1, was suitablyover the top. The architecture may have originated ineighteenth-century Europe, but the sheer scale would havebeen beyond the richest of its kings.

   Sebastiene's palace stretched from horizon to horizon,far too overwhelming for the human mind to take in. Theintricate chiselling of the stone ramparts, the rich coloursof the stained glass, the carvings on the hanging woodeneaves, might have been pleasing on their own but piledtogether they just made you feel sick. Not that Sebastienecared. He could never go too fancy.

   However, the WOW factor was the view from the air.Sebastiene's face, gigantic, staring right at you as yourshuttle dropped straight into his mouth. The Chateau hadbeen constructed in the image of its master. LikeSebastiene himself, the castle was big, beautiful andabsolutely crazy. Awe-inspiring was the idea. He was bigon awe, and so far Sebastiene had never been

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disappointed.

    The twelve shuttles touched down in a clearing in theChateau gardens. Their occupants were ferried by ornatehorse-drawn carriages past the stone gates and intoSebastiene's courtyard. The carriages contained, withoutthe knowledge of those within, sophisticated sensordevices which secretly and thoroughly scanned their bodychemistry, DNA and electro-kinetic auras.

    Sebastiene had arranged for the morning to be misty, toset off the Chateau's landscaped gardens. Fir tree forestspierced cloud in the far mountains.

    The horses pulled up at marble steps leading to giganticjewel-studded oak doors. The hunters emerged warily,sizing up the Palace. Sebastiene sensed their tension,almost smelled it. Like them he thrived on heightenedsensations; the rising of the hairs on the back of the neck.He lived for it.

    Time to greet his guests. He didn't need to check thelist; he knew them all well enough. Wondering whetherany would be stupid enough to try and kill him,Sebastiene strode magnificently into the state room.

To construct the exact conference table he wanted,Sebastiene had grown and then destroyed a rainforest ofmahogany. The grain of the wood had to be perfect, ademand which on average used up forty tree trunks percentimetre of table. The process resulted in tremendousenvironmental waste. No matter, the effect wasmagnificent. The table gleamed in the sunlight, whichSebastiene had arranged to shine through the jewelled

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windows at a forty-degree angle.

    The hunters sat around the table, all twelve feelingclumsy and uncomfortable; already in a foul mood, whichSebastiene drank in as he entered.

    `My friends!' he yelled, waving his silk handkerchief.`Welcome to Planet 1!'

    He studied their faces. The awe was satisfactory. `Yes,'he continued. `I am Sebastiene.' He took a bow.

    One end of the vast room shimmered and the airmolecules solidified to define a screen and a picture: himtaking his seat. Crossing elegant legs, Sebastiene snappedhis fingers and the screen disappeared.

    `The Endangered Dangerous Species Society,' he said.`All gathered together on my little planet. Esteemedmembers, I am honoured.'

    A babble of argument erupted from the assembledcompany. Sebastiene raised his hand to silence them. `No,no, my friends. No need to pretend; not here. Youridentities are a secret; you have my word. Don't ask mehow I came by your membership list; I just did.'

    The hunters sniffed, waiting for the catch, the trap. Butall knew better than to try anything now.

    `The Society for Endangered Dangerous Species. Doeswhat it says on the tin. Except that tin doesn't say thatyou're the ones who make them endangered.'

    They were hooked. Of course they were or they wouldnever have come. The hunters were a diverse bunch humans, ab-humans, un-humans and a giant insect.

    `Membership is simple: you must provide a trophy.Evidence of a kill. Head, horns or Welsh, it doesn't matter.

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The species must be endangered and dangerous to humanlife. Not politically correct but awfully fun. I believe theEndangered Dangerous Species Society is responsible forthe elimination of over three hundred rare breeds, as wellas being on the wanted list of every security force in thecivilised galaxy.' Sebastiene laughed. `I'm so excited!Aren't you?'

    At last, one of the hunters overcame the awe and stoodup. He had a grey, bloodless face with hooded purple eyes.The man was incredibly thin, over two metres tall anddressed in a long leather coat. `Sebastiene,' he said in anemotionless voice. `What is this Society of which youspeak? I do not have time to indulge fantasy. Yourflippancy is ...' he searched for the word, `irresponsible.'

    `Commissar Weimark.' Sebastiene looked at the greyface. `The Cleanser of Beriagrad. If memory serves, yourticket into the club was the antlers of an IrradiateGrinderstag. A species now extinct, thanks to you.'

    If the Commissar was shocked, he managed not toshow it. He was too good for that. `I will have no part ofthis childish game.'

    `Oh, it's a game, Commissar,' said Sebastiene, `butthere's nothing childish about it. Don't make that mistake.'He stared unblinking at Weimark. `Now, sit down.'

    A chill seemed to run through the room. Weimark sat. Asingle bead of perspiration ran down his slack face. Heturned away.

    `Enough!' bellowed Brutus the augmented Simian.He thumped the table with impressive force, splinteringthe perfect wood. `If such a Society did exist, which it

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doesn't, why would you be interested? As you know somuch about us, you know there can only be twelvemembers.' He looked around at his colleagues and baredhis yellow teeth in a gorilla smile. `The only twelvemembers there have ever been. What animal is left for usto hunt? We have taken them all!' He laughed and plonkedhimself back onto his seat.

   Sebastiene smiled his smile, the one he used to charmgalactic emperors and rich widows alike. Inwardly, he wasmarvelling at the Simian's sheer stupidity. It wasn't everyday one came across stupidity like that. Quite touchingreally.

   Sebastiene put his spurred feet on the jewelled table. `Ihave a trophy for you. The ultimate trophy. You won't getbetter than him. I think you'll find it worth your while.'

   He waved a hand and a molecular screen flashed up a3-D portrait of a smiling, intense young humanoid male.

   A third hunter, or rather huntress, hooded andanonymous in her Carpalian veils, raised a long-nailedfinger and pointed to the floating portrait. `I know thatface. Who?'

   `He, my friends, is my trophy. He is the mostdangerous life form in the universe. The last Time Lord.You all know him, in one form or another, as the Doctor.'

   Sebastiene looked around the table at the EndangeredDangerous Species Society. `I think we're in for one hellof a safari.'

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    Six men were cramming equipment into their cramped

    Snow-Cats. One man filmed the others with a camcorder.

    The triangular flags blew horizontal in the wicked

    Antarctic wind. The cameraman lowered the camcorder

    and dropped his furry parka hood to look in disbelief at

    the approaching strangers. His beard was lined with frost.

       `Who the hell are you?' The man's voice floated away

    in the cruel icy wind, as Donna and the Doctor reached

    him. `How did you get here?'

       Donna pulled her coat collar up round her frozen face.

    The Doctor flashed a black wallet. `We're the rescue team.

    You know, for the distress signal.'

       The man nodded. Donna realised he hadn't heard a

    word but the psychic paper had done its usual trick. Now

    the other men stopped to look at the new arrivals.

       `I'm Dan Petroullis,' said the cameraman. `Snowcap

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Geologist. I detected the sub-strata energy field thatalerted us to the find.'

    Donna shrugged. `Good for you, Dan.'

    `You just missed Colonel Barclay! He's already goneback to Snowcap!' Dan Petroullis pointed a thick glovedhand off somewhere to the horizon. `He wanted to have ago at the specimen as soon as he could.'

    `Snowcap?' asked Donna.

    `Antarctic Space Tracking station. Must be 1986, or isthat the year 2000? Specimen? What do you mean,specimen?' The Doctor looked at Donna. His eyes werewide. `Oh dear,' he said.

    She looked back at him. `What?'

    Petroullis poked the Doctor's shoulder. `You know; theanimal in the ice block. We dug it out twelve hours ago.It's OK,' he said. `As soon as they get it into the lab,they're gonna start the thermal melt.'

    `Right,' said the Doctor.

    Petroullis smiled through his icy beard. `Some find,huh? Scientific discovery of the century. Soon getwhatever's in there thawed out.' He gave the Doctor athumbs-up and kept grinning. `Can't wait to see what itlooks like.'

    `I think we'd better get to your base as soon as ishumanly possible,' said the Doctor.

The Doctor's impish face looked down from the air-screen. He smirked as if taunting the hunters, daring themon.

   The voices were a burble of noise but they all said the

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same thing.

   `Did he say the Doctor?'

   `Look, he's not real...'

   `Do me a favour...'

   `Oh come on,' Sebastiene interrupted. `Surelysomebody wants a pop. I offer you the finest trophy in theuniverse and you babble like frightened children.'

   Now there was silence. The hunters looked at him. Yes,Sebastiene realised, they were afraid.

   At last, one found the courage to speak. Inevitably, itwas Commissar Weimark. `Sebastiene,' he said, `this isfolly. The Doctor is a myth...'

   `Let me assure you, the Doctor is very real. Oh he wasquiet for a while, the flame of his memory fanned only byobscure cults, but now the universe rings once more withhis deeds. Every child in the galaxy has heard of theDoctor.'

   Sebastiene stood. He walked round the perfect table.This was the sell. `Should you succeed, you will succeedwhere hundreds, thousands of others have failed. TheEndangered Dangerous Species Society will live ineternity.'

   `And if we fail?' rasped a metallic voice. TheSemblance of Draxyx, speaking from its armouredcarapace.

   `If you fail then I get to hunt you,' Sebastiene replied.`Come on, there are twelve of you. Surely someone canbag him. Fair game?'

   He blinked, and the air-screen changed picture to adigital map: areas divided by fizzing blue lines. `Hunting

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Zones, one for each of you, tailored to your individualchosen environments. You just have to wait. The Doctorwill land at random in one of your zones. From then it'sup to you. Should a hunter miss and survive, Planet 1 willtransmat the Doctor to another random zone and we startagain. If the Doctor is killed, I will return the remaininghunters to your home planets, with considerablecompensation for your time and effort, of course.'

   Brutus let out a bellow of such raw rage that the wholeroom was silenced. Even Sebastiene was surprised. TheSimian hurled his chair away and beat his chest. `Enough!I will have no part of this madness. The Doctor cannot bevanquished by mortal hand. This is written in our holiestbook. I will leave now.' He pointed a giant gloved fist atSebastiene. `Do not try to stop me, powdered fop.'

   `Wouldn't dream of it,' said Sebastiene.

   Brutus stomped to the back of the conference room.Gilt-framed double doors opened as he approached.Determined to have the last word, the Simian turned andsneered at his fellow hunters. `The Doctor? He will killyou all--'

   Sebastiene pointed. A lance of bright light flashed fromhis hand and with a loud pop incinerated Brutus. The softsunlight caught the ashes drifting to the floor.

   `Impressive,' said the Carpalian Witch. `But you didsay you wouldn't dream of stopping him.'

   `Oops.' Sebastiene looked coolly at his hand. `Anyoneelse bursting to go?'

   No one was.

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They reached Snowcap Base three hours later. A low redsun was hanging in the air, threatening to drop under thehorizon. At the Doctor's urging, the Snow-Cats hadcharged crazily and dangerously over the snow. Donna'shead was sore from the rattling and banging as the trackedvehicle bumped over the uneven terrain. The fourscientists inside were hot in their parkas, and irritated athaving their unique scientific find hijacked by a madman.

   `What were you thinking?' the Doctor whined. `Youdon't just thaw aliens out of ice blocks!'

   `Why not?' asked a scientist. `It's been frozen fortwenty thousand years.'

   `That makes it worse!'

   `How do you know it's an alien, anyway?' askedanother.

   `What's it gonna do?' asked the third.

   The Snow-Cat lurched and they all tumbled forward.`What's that noise?' asked the driver.

   Snowcap Base didn't seem much to Donna. Just somechimneys sticking out of the snowy ground and a coupleof sheds, although the Doctor insisted it would look a lotbetter underground.

   Men were screaming. Donna could hear the sound asshe emerged from the Snow-Cat.

   Gunfire and panic seeped out of the chimneys.

   She saw a crude rope and plank gangway leading pastthe chimneys to what looked like a closed submarinehatch. The Doctor and the team shuffled along thegangway's wooden boards as the wind whipped snowaround them.

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   `Security squad to laboratory area immediately!' afrightened electronic voice wafted up. `Immediately! Thespecimen has broken loose! Repeat: it's loose!' And thenDonna heard a roar, a sound so awful and alien she didn'tneed the Antarctic to freeze her blood.

   The Doctor looked at Donna. She saw the excitementin his eyes. He leaped to open the hatch but she caught hisarm. `No,' she snapped. `Don't.' She looked round forhelp but Petroullis and his chums were just standing in thesnow, stunned.

   The Doctor freed his arm. `I've got to. You can't let anexpedition full of people this dumb try and sort things outon their own.'

At last, a shifty human raised his hand. `I say,' he spoke ina nasal English tone. His buck teeth protruded beneath asweaty moustache.

   `You may speak, Lord Percy,' said Sebastiene. `And incase you think I might be fooled by your oh-so Englishdithering, I might remind everyone that you are the manresponsible for bagging the last of the Stellar Raptors. So Iwon't take the trouble to be. Fooled, that is. Please,proceed.'

   Flustered by such a candid description of his character,Lord Percy spluttered. `How are we supposed to find theDoctor? I mean, how are we supposed to track down abounder who can travel anywhere in time and space?Assuming that he's really real, if you see what I mean.'

   `You don't. I have already found him for you. All youhave to do is catch him.'

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    Weimark sneered. `How will you bring him here? Eventhe mighty Sebastiene couldn't--'

    `He will be here, Commissar. The Doctor has aweakness. He, unlike you, cares about people. And please,never tell me what I can and can't do.'

    `Proof would be nice,' said the Carpalian Witch. `Notnecessary. Just nice.'

    `Oh well.' Sebastiene stifled a yawn. `If you insist.'

    He clicked his gloved fingers.

    An awful noise rang round the conference room. Anoise like a barrel organ with emphysema. For thosehunters who knew, terror crawled up their faces.

    An object faded into the room: a battered blue box witha light on its roof. Before the hunters could react, a door inthe box opened and a man leaped out.

    `Ta da!' The Doctor winked. `All right?'

The Doctor and Donna ran through the freezing tunnels.Snowcap's emergency lights were flashing intermittentlyand there was a strong smell of smoke. Gunfire kept goingoff somewhere in the maze. More gunfire, then an alienroar, then the gunfire stopped.

   `There's something wrong, Donna,' said the Doctor.

   `You're not kidding.' She was out of breath.Underground, Snowcap was hotter than hell. `That thing'skilling everybody.'

   The Doctor paused in his run. `I mean: the distresssignal.'

   `Forget that! They're dying down here.'

   The roar came again and Donna tried not to fall to her

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knees in terror. `We've got to help them.'

   An explosion boomed ahead. The Doctor sniffed. `Thatsounds like a laboratory blowing up.'

   `How can you tell?'

   `The smell.'

   A figure ran at them out of the gloom. A man, a veryfrightened man in a green uniform caked in slime andblood. He didn't even see the Doctor and Donna until theygrabbed his arms. `Bullets won't stop it!' He struggled, hiseyes panicked and unfocused. `We're all going to die!'

   `Mate!' Donna yelled. `Where are the others?'

   The man still didn't see her. He seemed to answer acompletely different question. `It's out. Growing... thescientists said... growing. It just sucked them in...'

   `Where's the Colonel?' asked the Doctor. The man onlyshivered so the Doctor shook him. `Come on, soldier!Where's your commanding officer?'

   The soldier shook his head. `When the alarm wasraised, the Colonel took a squad into the labs. They nevercame out. I think it grows every time it takes one. We haveto leave. We have to leave now!'

   And with those words he shook himself free. He ran forthe hatch, and that was the last Donna saw of him.

   Something big, loud and hungry lurched into thecorridor.

   `OK, run,' said the Doctor and Donna did.

Two hours later, the Doctor went missing. He had goneinto the lab on his own and she hadn't seen him since.Now Donna ran with the rest of the survivors. As she ran,

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she caught the occasional glimpse of the creature they hadreleased: a tentacled nightmare that wrapped men up andstung the life out of them before sucking them into itself.Bullets made no mark, just glopped into its green fleshyskin. Of the Doctor, she could find nothing. If he wassupposed to be sorting the situation, he wasn't doing avery good job.

   The lights were destroyed. So was the heating. In theruins of an old control room, with the last of the survivorssealing up the doors for a hopeless last stand, Donna feltthe temperature drop with a purpose. Her breath steamedout. The monster had destroyed the emergency generator.Now, if it didn't kill them, the Antarctic weather would.

   She heard a shout.

   `Donna!'

   The Doctor? Where?

   The creature slammed against the barricade. White-faced men held fast, yelling out as they soaked up theblows. The metal door bulged like soap.

   `Doctor?' Donna looked around the ruined room, stuckfor a way out. `Where are you when I need you?'

   `Down here!'

   She looked and saw him waggle his fingers at her. Hewas lying under a metal grille in an air duct in the tornfloor.

   `Doctor!'

   The Doctor grinned. `That's me.'

   She sighed with relief. Of course. He had a plan. Healways did. She squatted and yanked the grille open.Behind her, the door crunched open an inch. A squelchy

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tentacle squeezed into the gap. The screaming and firingbegan again.

   `Let's get out of here,' said the Doctor, eyeing thefracas. `Get in.'

   Relieved, Donna lowered herself. `Wait a minute,' shesaid.

   The Doctor had already inched along the duct. `Wedon't have a minute,' came his muffled voice.

   `What about the Snowcap people? That thing's gonnaget all of them.'

   He shook his head and shrugged. `Yeah, I know. Wedid everything we could.'

   `That can't be right.' She looked at the Doctor. `Thisain't Pompeii. We don't just leave them. There isn't some"we can't muck about with history" thing.'

   He appeared to consider her words. `You're right. Holdon. I've got this machine that has the measure of themonster. I'll give it to you.'

   She heard the sound of metal being torn apart. `Help!Help us!' yelled a desperate voice.

   `What machine?' she asked. `We have to hurry!'

   The Doctor was as irritatingly cool as ever. `A sonicfield generator. Lure the monster in and bam, trapped in asound field. Got it right here; in my hand.'

   Donna thought for a second. `Sounds good. What doyou want me to do?'

   `Just grab it and press the button.'

   The Doctor wriggled, eventually pushing her way whatlooked to Donna like a small bracelet. `That should sorteverything out.'

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   Donna smiled. `I knew you could do it. You alwaysdo.'

   He looked coy. `Yeah...'

   Donna grabbed the bracelet off him, pressed the button,and everything in her world went dark.

The Society for Endangered Dangerous Species lost itshead. As one, the members panicked. Some were alreadyfleeing for the exit.

   Sebastiene smiled. `Settle down,' he said. `Settle downand I'll tell you all about it.'

   Had any hunters in the room remained level-headedenough to realise, they would have noticed something oddabout this Doctor standing in front of them. He was ashandsome as they had heard. He watched them with hisfamous casual curiosity with the eyes that never missed athing. That was all to be expected.

   What the more informed hunters might have spottedwas that despite these obvious character traits, there wassomething rather insubstantial about this Doctor. Wherewas the enthusiasm? Where was the love of life?

   `He's not the Doctor,' said Sebastiene, making itobvious.

   `Aww, you've ruined it. OK, I'm not the real Doctor,'said the Doctor.

   `His name is Baris and he's the Doctor's number onefan.'

   The Doctor nodded in confirmation. `My name is Barisand I'm the Doctor's number one fan.'

   The Society members returned to the table and reached

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for the refreshments. Fright made them thirsty.

   `I found this one on Proxima,' said Sebastiene. `Barishas spent most of his life devoted to the Doctor and histravels, plugged into the Neural Net with a skull-dock,linked up with other like-minded fanatics, trawlingthrough the galaxy for news of his presence. They'reeverywhere and so many. However, even among theDoctor's enthusiasts, Baris is numero uno.'

   The Doctor, or at least the man who looked like theDoctor, nodded. `Who wouldn't want to be the Doctor?'he said. `Especially when you looked like me.'

   Sebastiene smiled indulgently. `Yes Baris. Don't speaknow, not when I'm explaining. Be a good boy and sit.'

   Baris turned white and obeyed. `Sorry.'

   The hunters noticed. Sebastiene had wanted them to.He started again.

   `Lots of civilisations can create doubles. Any old Tom,Dick or Harry with a spare robot or plastic surgeon seemsto be able to knock out a Doctor replica. I fancy Planet 1'ssurgical techniques go a little bit further. I can duplicateany life form exactly, including DNA. Finding someone toput up with the pain is the hard bit.'

   Baris thumped the right side of his chest. `It wasn't funhaving that second heart fitted, I can tell you.'

   Sebastiene shrugged. `Well, it wasn't fun for you.' Hesmiled his lovely smile at the memory. `Stand up.'

   Baris obeyed instantly. A small robotic probe flew intothe room. It looked like a flying metal pen. A light flickedon at its tip and played over Baris's body. On the air-screen, the hunters watched the scan proceed. `A perfect

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match,' said Sebastiene.

   Commissar Weimark pointed at Baris. `What is thisfoolishness? Why would you need such an exactduplicate?'

   `Show them,' said Sebastiene.

   Baris held up a key. `This is the key to his TARDIS.Rumour has it that none can use the key unless he letsthem. Until now.'

   `And where did you get the key?'

   `Never you mind. If he wants his TARDIS back, he'sgoing to have to come to Planet 1 and get it. Luckily,we've left a handy transmat open for him to use.'

   Lord Percy raised a hesitant arm. `I say...' hestammered. `Call me suspicious, but who's to say this isthe real... whatdyacallit TARDIS machine thingummy?Who's to say we'll be chasing the real Doctor? I mean,you could just be having us on, couldn't you?'

   Sebastiene looked almost impressed. `Good point, LordPercy. Well, for a start, the TARDIS is dimensionallytranscendental. Go and have a look, I don't mind.'

   Baris couldn't help himself. `And that is technologyonly the Time Lords ever mastered.' He seemed terriblypleased by this, like he had made a point.

   `Although Planet 1 is working on that technology,' saidSebastiene and gave Baris a look that made it clear he hadsaid the wrong thing again. `Now we have the TARDIS itwon't take us long. Oh and there's something else.'

   The Doctor's air-screen portraits were replaced by anew image. A dark room: very plain. Inside the room, ared-haired woman lay asleep on a bed. `Tell them, Baris.'

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   Baris couldn't help but look smug. `I kidnapped histravelling companion. Say hello to Donna Noble.'

The creature was close but not too close. The Doctorlooked up from the sonic field generator he wasconstructing from damaged parts of the air-conditioningsystem. Snowcap's heating had failed twenty minutesearlier, and the air had turned from furnace to freezingcold. Although there was roaring, the thawed alien didn'tseem to be coming his way just yet. He flashed his sonicscrewdriver at some components and was pleased to heara low hum kick in. `Now we're cooking with gas,' hewhispered.

    Ice shifted behind him. `Donna?' Somewhere in thedistance another man screamed and died.

    The Doctor had not had much of a chance to see thecreature and, with the bit of his brain not building a sonicfield generator, he was running through the various lifeforms he had ever encountered to find one to match upwith this beastie. So far, nothing seemed familiar itwasn't a Gappa, Ice Warrior or anything he could recallthat related to cold climates.

    `There's something not right here,' he said aloud. `It'sall way too... B-movie.'

    He waited for Donna to respond but remembered theyhad been separated.

    The Doctor felt the air move, like an unfamiliar breezehad blown in: some flavour that didn't belong in theAntarctic. `What's going on?' he demanded.

    A man stepped out of thin air. A very familiar man.

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   The Doctor stood up. `Now that shouldn't happen,' hesaid. `What are you doing here? I mean, what am I doingthere?'

   The familiar man smiled and raised a very nasty-looking bleepy stick. He pointed the stick straight at theDoctor.

The meeting long over, Sebastiene and Baris watched thehunters transmat to their zones.

   The control room in which they stood did not look likea control room. For a start, there weren't any controls.There weren't any consoles or computer banks ormonitors either. Instead, huge gold busts of Sebastienelooked down from gigantic plinths onto a spacious marblechequerboard floor. The floor was full of robots. Theserobots seemed more to be dancing than working. Onewould wiggle a perfectly manicured hand in a certaingesture, and an air-screen popped into existence right infront of its nose. More hand waving as the robotcompleted its task and then the air-screen popped intonothingness again.

   `I'm still impressed,' said Baris. `No skull-docks, nomemory banks, no machinery. No solid-state matter at all.Just wave and up comes a menu.'

   `Of course,' muttered the Supervisor robot as itstomped by. `Intelligent Molecular Technology is the mostadvanced technology in the universe.' The giant creaturetowered over the quaking Baris.

   Baris squeaked back: `As I say: I'm impressed.'

   `Hmph!' The Supervisor grunted and stomped away.

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   Sebastiene waved a hand and a bed-sized throneshimmered into existence. `I find I am pleased,' heannounced. `The long years of planning are over. At last areal game. You know, some of those hunters in that sillysociety were almost impressive.'

   `I do suggest full surveillance, my lord,' said Baris.`Permanent. You won't believe how tricky he can be. Lotsof people have underestimated him, and they always payfor it.'

   Sebastiene yawned and waved up a bunch of grapes.He plucked fruit from the vine and ate. `So how does itfeel, Baris? Was it worth the pain, the long months? Nowyou have outwitted him, is he still your hero?'

   Baris's Doctor face flushed with colour. `The Doctorwas... smaller than I expected.'

   Sebastiene seemed pleased with the response. `And soperishes the first myth of hero worship. Baris, they'realways smaller. There aren't any heroes. Only winners.'

   Baris nodded, impatient. `So, you're going to give methe TARDIS. And the companion? When?'

   `In time, Baris, in time. Oh you're a needy little thing,aren't you? You played your part very well. I didn't thinkyou had it in you. The Doctor is on his way, his girl is safeand secure and we have the TARDIS.'

   `Thanks.' Baris smiled a `very pleased with himself'smile.

   `And now I'm wondering: what's the point of you?'Sebastiene dropped the grapes to the floor. He dabbed hischin with his handkerchief. `Oops.'

   The smile leaked from Baris's face. `I... I didn't mean.

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Please...'

   Sebastiene rose and squeezed the imposter's shoulder.A perfectly manicured hand: soft and powdered. `A joke.'

   Baris swallowed.

   `I do need you, Baris. To monitor the Doctor. You'reright, of course. I shouldn't allow myself the luxury ofoverconfidence.'

   `Yes, Lord.'

   `Night and day. Don't take your eyes off him.'

   `We have detected the Doctor,' said one of the robots.`He has arrived in the Oroobian Jungle Zone.' A largecentral air-screen revealed a steaming hot jungle.

   `What a depressing hole,' said Sebastiene. `What sortof self-respecting hunter would live here?'

   `The zone is matched to--' a robot began.

   `Oh it doesn't matter,' Sebastiene interrupted. Hestudied the quiet, dreary jungle. `Ding ding,' he sangtunelessly. `Round One.'

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    Lord Percy plucked the fat cigar from his mouth and

    raised his glass. He was on the verge of sipping when he

    stopped and glared. A hot writhing fly had plopped into

    the champagne and was furiously trying to swim its way

    out. Bally creature must have been tempted by the sweet

    aroma. Lord Percy knew only too well what awful

    diseases these jungle flies carried. Even robot copies of

    jungle flies.

       `Absolute swine!' he bellowed and hurled the glass

    against the nearest tree. `Wallah! More champers and on

    the double!'

       Lord Percy was in a cheerful mood. The Doctor had

    appeared in his zone first. The hunt was going to be over

    very quickly. `Likely to spoil the game for everyone else,'

    he said, chuckling. Lord Percy puffed on his cigar again.

    `What a shame.'

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   Somewhere in the distance his Rhinon Beaters werethrashing the jungle for the Doctor. The sun was high inthe sky and the zone was boiling hot. Some peoplebelieved Lord Percy found the green forested hills andtropical sky stimulating, but they were wrong. Only onething stimulated Lord Percy, and that was the kill. Heenjoyed being a member of the Society; proud to belongto such a distinguished club.

   Still, a chap had to admire Sebastiene's handiwork.Planet 1's terraformers had nailed the Oroobian landscape,including the flies. And that awful stink of lemons. Justlike home. Jolly clever.

   Even the Levantines seemed real; the braying, moronicgiant beasts of burden on which he rode. Levantines werelike Earth elephants, only stupider. Lord Percy likedstupid, dumb animals. They never learned. He kicked theLevantine he was riding. The beast responded with asatisfactory bleat of pain.

   `Serve you right,' Lord Percy sniggered.

   Loud bangs boomed in the humid air. Lord Percygrabbed his Levantine's rubbery ears and stood up in hishowdah. Up country, smoke rose in spirals. That was thesignal. His chaps had cornered his prey. `About time too.'Yes, today was to be a good day.

   `Bearer!' he bellowed. `Forget the champagne. Toobally slow.' He whacked the Levantine's head with hiscane to get it moving. `I'll thrash you later. We've got theblighter!'

The Doctor was sure he had found inventive ways to

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escape from more perilous situations than this, but for thelife of him he couldn't remember any.

    He was running along a jungle river pursued by largestocky aliens with big horns sprouting from their faceswhere noses ought to have been. Huge green trees hungdown over the river, close enough to lash him with theirheavy fleshy leaves. The air was humid and squeezed thebreath from his lungs.

    As the beast men howled behind him, the Doctorchanged tack and scrambled up a boggy bank. Heavier,larger creatures were following the rhinoceros men. Hewas being hunted.

    He forced himself to concentrate. Branches snappedbehind him. Concentrate!

    He was the Doctor. Donna was in trouble, and he hadto find her.

    A good thought. A useful thought. A thought that keptcoming at him, like waves on a beach.

    He was the Doctor. Donna was in trouble, and he hadto find her.

    If only he could think. The Doctor tried to fight past theexhaustion, the panic and the heat to reach into his past.He couldn't remember anything. Nothing! Certainly nottravelling to a hot jungle. Where was the TARDIS?

    The Doctor stumbled over a fallen tree. He yelled as herolled down an incline and into a sunny clearing. He lay inthe bright light, chest heaving. If only he could catch hisbreath, the rest would surely come back to him.

    He was the Doctor. Donna was in trouble, and he hadto find her.

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    A man was waiting for him in the clearing. Behind theman, a big leathery creature that looked like a stupidelephant raised its trunk and hooted. The man was dressedin jungle fatigues and had a cigar clenched in his gap-toothed grinning mouth.

    `I say, hello,' said the man and raised a large gun. `Holdstill now.'

    So after all Sebastiene's fine talk, the Doctor was goingto be taken more easily than a pot-bellied Dimsloth. LordPercy was almost disappointed.

    `Wait,' said the Doctor. `Something's wrong.'

    `We'll discuss that later, old chap.' Lord Percy squinteddown the barrel.

    The Doctor fell to his knees, blinking in fear.

    Lord Percy smiled. He imagined his entrance intoSebastiene's gigantic state room and throwing theDoctor's lifeless body onto that fancy table. The look onthat arrogant puppy's face? Priceless.

    `Don't you worry, old chap, this won't hurt a bit.Actually, it probably will. But not for long.'

    There was a shimmer of light, wind rustled through thejungle leaves, and the Doctor faded from view.

    Lord Percy blinked. Something cold and scary begancrawling in his mind. In the sunlit clearing, right in frontof his eyes, there was a big hole full of nothing where theDoctor had once knelt.

    Impossibly, his quarry had escaped.

    `Oh, corks,' said Lord Percy as he felt the warmth of atransmat beam envelop him. His jungle faded away.

    Sebastiene leaped from his throne. All around the

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control room, robots were shaking their gorgeous sculptedheads in disbelief.

   `He disappeared!' Baris shrieked. He waved his handsat the air-screen in front of him. The screen shimmeredand popped into nothingness, just as the Doctor had done.Baris looked guiltily at Sebastiene, as if he had touchedsomething he shouldn't.

   Sebastiene was too busy realising he was shocked tonotice. The emotion was unfamiliar, but he recognised thesymptoms from long ago. Conflict and surprise triggeredthe release of certain chemicals in his augmented body;which in turn upped his heart and respiratory rates. Thesechanges were perceived by his conscious self asexcitement and fear. Yes, he was shocked.

   The Doctor had disappeared, and Sebastiene did notknow how he had managed it. `Transmat,' Sebastienewhispered. `He used the transmat.'

   `Impossible, my master,' said the Supervisor robot.`There is no access. He couldn't transmat.'

   `Shut up. I don't want "he couldn't transmat". Hetransmatted, you moron. Use your eyes.' Sebastienescratched his perfect chin. He felt his heart slowing, hisbreathing returning to a steady rhythm. `So, Baris, howdid he do it?'

   Baris shrugged. `A method we didn't anticipate.'

   `Really?' Sebastiene cooed. `And here was me,thinking you were an idiot.'

   Baris quivered. `An accomplice then?'

   `What do you mean?'

   `Perhaps he had help. One of the other hunters? You

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know, snatching him away from the opposition to bag theprize.'

   Sebastiene was going to say something rude thenchanged his mind. `Impossible. They lack the technology.Anyway, how would they know where he was? They'renot monitoring anyone. There's no one in orbit. Is there?'

   The Supervisor shook his head.

   `Maybe someone here isn't who they say they are,' saidBaris. `Someone in the Chateau.' He cringed, as ifexpecting a lightning bolt any second. `And you do havean awful lot of servants.'

   Sebastiene turned to his Supervisor and beckoned himforward. The Supervisor obeyed.

   `Bow down,' Sebastiene ordered. Again, the Supervisorobeyed and Sebastiene punched the robot's head out of itsneck socket. The oversized servant staggered, thenuttered, `Thank you, my master,' before wiggling its headback on straight and picking up its tricorn hat.

   Sebastiene slumped back onto his throne. He had athought. `Oh, did I lose my temper?'

   `Yes, my master,' replied the Butler.

   `It's been so long. One forgets.' He waved his hand atthe servant. `I've skinned my knuckles; look. There'sblood and everything.' He held the hand up watching asthe bio-nanos in his bloodstream repaired the broken skin.In seconds, he was healed.

   `Planet 1 has only one master,' said Sebastiene. `Canonly have one master. All my robots have absolute loyaltyburned into their little brains. To me. Try attacking me ifyou don't believe me. If they have a fault, it's that the

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little darlings can be over-protective to the point of idiocy.There is absolutely no way that a Planet 1 robot can goagainst that fundamental programming.' He looked Barisin the eye. `So find out what really happened.'

    `Immediately,' said Baris, summoning up the courageto add: `There is one other thing.'

    `Pray enlighten me.'

    `If the Doctor could transmat once, couldn't he just doit again?'

    A very nasty thought was growing in Sebastiene'smind. A thought so improbable, so monstrous he couldbarely contemplate its existence. Baris looked at the floor.

    `He's breached the IMT security protocols,' saidSebastiene. `Him or someone helping him. He can accessPlanet 1 technology.'

    Baris nodded.

    Sebastiene thought. He thought some more. He turnedto his Supervisor. `Shut down the IMT,' he said.

    The vast control room went quiet. Robots stopped tolook.

    `My master,' said the Supervisor, `Baris is wrong. Whathe is suggesting is impossible.'

    The Supervisor winced, knowing what Sebastienethought of servants who talked back.

    `You heard me,' Sebastiene insisted. `The transmat wasoperated; we do all agree on that, do we not? How vulgarif he were able to use the same trick twice. All moleculartransmissions are to be spiked. Forget digital, we'll goanalogue.'

    If a robot could look sick, the Supervisor was that

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robot. `My programming requires to me to ask, my master.I must have confirmation you are sure you want toneutralise all Intelligent Molecular Technology? Are youabsolutely one hundred per cent sure?'

    Sebastiene lay back in his throne and contemplated thehighly decorative ceiling. He was calm, or at least seemedso. `Planet 1 can easily handle the changeover. Just do it.'

    The Supervisor nodded to the operator robots. Theyopened air-screens and began work. `The changeover willtake time, my master. Planet 1 will have to drop tomaintenance mode for...' he clicked his neck as his brainsifted through the calculations, `... two hours and forty-seven minutes. There will be minimal robot activityduring that time.'

    `I can live with that.' Sebastiene continued to examinethe ceiling. `Do you good to do some real work for achange. Activate the underground monorail network andmobilise robot maintenance crews. Don't let the standardsslip now. You never know, it might even be fun. Baris?'

    Surprised to be addressed, Baris shook himself toattention. `Lord Sebastiene?'

    `Theories?'

    Baris bit his lip. `I should have guessed something wasup. The Doctor got trapped so easily. It didn't seem likehim.' The duplicate gave a sick smile. `You think this two-hour changeover is a good idea? I mean, it sounds like theChateau will be vulnerable at that time. What if the Doctortransmatted here?'

    `He couldn't. And all my ideas are good.'

    `Yes, but what if he did?'

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    `The Doctor didn't transmat here. Even he couldn'tbypass those security force-field protocols.'

    Baris breathed deeply, gathering his courage together.`Yes. But what if he did?'

    Sebastiene spoke calmly. `Planet 1 would have detectedhim. Wouldn't do for anyone to come here and startsabotaging my planet. No, my guess is he, or someone,just pressed shuffle and automatically fast-forwarded himto the next hunting zone. That would be the most efficient,easiest way to escape.'

    `He's probably gone to look for his companion,' saidBaris. `He tends to do that. Perhaps she knowssomething.'

    Sebastiene felt a surge of panic as he realised that, atlast, someone had got one over on him. The Doctor hadbested him at the first attempt, and they all knew it.

    `Lord Sebastiene?' asked Baris.

    `The companion is safe. Only I am to know where.'

    Sebastiene realised he looked shaken. He glanced up atone of his statues to remind himself of the correctexpression; the expression that gave nothing away.

    `Leave Donna Noble to me,' he said. `Otherwise, youhave priority in the Chateau.'

    `The robots won't like that. They don't like me.'

    `They don't like anyone, Baris. I programmed themthat way. Live with it.' He sniffed. `I'm going to bed.Assam tea and caviar in the morning,' he ordered. `Oh,and wake me up when Lord Percy is prepared. I want alittle word with him.'

    Sebastiene waved a hand and transmatted away.

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   The Butler showed Baris to his bed-chamber. TheDoctor's double was not unduly surprised to see that theroom was a monument to poor taste. He winced at the vastbed: a football field of lace, all in a tasteful shade of brightsunshine yellow. `Nice,' he said.

   `It's perfect,' said the Butler. `A masterpiece of designand comfort.' The robot was genuinely pleased with theroom.

   `You know, I love the way Sebastiene calls you"robots",' said Baris. `Seems wrong somehow. You know,too generic. Not "servitors" or "droids" or anything. Just"robots". Some artificial persons would consider that aninsult but it's good to see you rivet-heads are totally coolwith the word.'

   Huge hands enveloped Baris's neck and lifted him intothe air. Two oversized eyes blazed at him. `You thinkyou're so smart,' said the Butler.

   Baris struggled but couldn't shift the steel fingers.`What did I say?'

   The Butler smelled of pomade and grease. Itsmoustache was so big and furry Baris thought it was goingto leap off its face and attack him. The giant handssqueezed. `I don't like humans, and I especially don't likeyou. My master is the sweetest, most loving genius whoever existed, and I will do anything to keep you awayfrom him. There's something about you, Baris. Somethingwrong. I know.'

   `You're out of your mind!'

   `No I'm not,' said the Butler. `I don't like youwandering round the Chateau doing whatever you please.

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Until the Doctor is caught and we're back to normal, I'llbe watching you. All the time. And when you make yourmove, which you will, I'll be there.'

   `What move? There is no move!'

   The Butler threw Baris on to the bed. `And when thetime comes, I'm going to squeeze your head until youreyes pop out. Good night. Sweet dreams.'

   And with that, the Butler flounced away.

   Baris glared after him, rubbing his sore neck. After afew minutes, he lay back on the impossibly comfortablesheets and closed his eyes. `Yeah,' he said. `I'll get you,Butler.'

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    The jungle was gone; now he was in an oven. All right, a

    desert but it was as hot as an oven.

       The Doctor lay back and breathed deeply. The air tasted

    of hot bricks. He heard no sound but the rustle of sand

    swirling in a baking wind. Granules stung his face and

    hands. Already his body was caked in sweat. Water was

    evaporating from him at an alarming rate.

       Aching in the heat, he turned over and stood up.

    Definitely a desert. The land was flat and broken only by

    some distant flat-topped hills. There was nothing here but

    red dust.

       He wondered why that gap-toothed man had tried to

    kill him. Part of him thought he knew the reason but he

    just couldn't remember it. What was going on?

       Even the scorching light from the twin suns seemed

    heavy. When the Doctor tried to stand, he felt he was

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pushing through treacle. He realised it wasn't going totake long before he was absolutely exhausted. Even withthe two hearts, this barren place was going to push him tothe limits. He had to find Donna. He had to keep going.

   Wearily, he stumbled towards the nearest hill. Theremight be some shelter there, some shadow to give him amoment's rest and time to come up with a plan. He washere for a reason, he guessed that. So who was going totry and kill him next?

   Next morning, Baris was back in the control room,annoying the servants. He was watching the operatorrobot overseeing the IMT changeover.

   The Supervisor paced the control room behind him,footsteps ringing on the marble floor, trembling withhelpless rage at Baris's interference.

   `Why don't you go and do something useful?' itsneered. `Like throw yourself off the ramparts.' It loomedover Baris's shoulder.

   Baris sagged. `What is it with you lot? Talk aboutfeeling welcome. I'm just doing what Sebastiene orderedme to. If you're not going to stop me, get lost.'

   `Oh no, Baris,' it said. `I'm keeping my eye on you.'

   `Change the record. That's what the Butler said. Yourobots are so... mechanical.'

   `Sixty per cent cloud saturation,' said the operatorrobot, interrupting the argument. Baris and the Supervisorturned to look.

   `And what does that mean?' asked Baris.

   `Satellites are cloud-seeding the atmosphere withnegative ion-particles...'

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   `Don't tell him!' snapped the Supervisor.

   `Mr Supervisor,' said Baris, `why don't you go and dosomething less boring instead? I'll call you if I need you.'He returned to the operator robot. `What's the score? Imean: the seed status?'

   Conscious that the Supervisor was on the verge oftremendous violence, the operator robot spoke in a smallvoice. `Energy transference is no longer reliable. Transmateffectiveness is already down to thirty per cent. Bymorning, it'll be less than five. We're six hours away fromchangeover.'

   `From now on, no one's going anywhere,' said theSupervisor. `Including you.'

   Baris ignored the comment. `And the Doctor? He wasthe last one to use the transmat, wasn't he?'

   The operator robot coughed. `Well, no. The masterused it to send... Ow!' The robot flinched as theSupervisor slapped its head.

   Baris nodded, amused. `Of course: the companion.'

   `No,' said the Supervisor evasively. `No, not thecompanion. Someone else entirely...' It looked at Baris;unable to conceal the lie behind its bland face.

   Baris returned an equally bland expression. `I'm onlyinterested in the Doctor. You must have picked him up bynow. Where is he? Tell me, or I'll tell Sebastiene you--'

   The Supervisor pointed a perfectly manicured finger atthe air-screen. `There. The Flux Savannah.'

   `The what-a-hoo?'

   The Supervisor blinked; consulting its memory bank.`The Arcturan. Semblance of Draxyx.'

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   Baris clapped the Supervisor on its large, muscularback. `Thank you, chaps, splendid effort.'

   `Is that it?' asked the Supervisor. `What are you goingto do now?'

   Baris was already halfway out of the door. He turnedback, leaned forward and pinched the Supervisor's nose.`Probably best if you keep that out,' he smiled.

   `I'll report this outrage!' snapped the Supervisor.`Baris!'

   But Baris had already gone.

   Planet 1 changed over.

   Across the globe, silos opened, warehouse doors rolledup and long disused monorail stations flickered intoelectric life. Automated airfields raised atmosphere craftinto launch positions. After many decades, factories beganto make real things again.

   Clouds spread from the polar zones; clouds seeded withparticles generated in orbiting satellite stations. Theclouds moved quickly through the troposphere, ignitingstorms wherever they thickened. Electricity buzzed andforks of lightning crashed down, pouring energy intospecially constructed reservoirs.

   The robots bustled. Millions of them: churned out oftheir storage containers and gathering in legions across thesurface of Planet 1. They swarmed above, on and belowground. Planet 1 had never been so busy, well not for thesixty-nine years since Sebastiene had last bothered to testthese support functions. The robots worked tirelessly inthe wind and the rain. Like armies of ants, they unblockedconcealed entrances and raised gigantic communication

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masts across rain-lashed muddy plains. Beneath theoceans, robots activated oceanic thermal power units todrive unthinkably powerful fusion motors. They workedwithout pause, and if one robot malfunctioned due tosystems failure, accident or plain old wear and tear,another two leaped into the breach to take its place. Thework gangs were on a deadline; the clock was ticking.

   All this to capture one man. Robots didn't haveopinions but if they did, they must have hoped he wasworth the effort.

   The clock ticked and ran down. Lights winked out intodarkness across the planet, from the poles to the equator.The robots stopped where they stood. The great roaringwhirl of labour ceased.

   Planet 1 rebooted.

   Only the hermetic bubbles of the hunting zones werespared. The hunters were oblivious to the planet'sbusiness. They did not notice the switchover frommolecular to physical in the command patterns of therobots designed to look like natives of their respectiveplanets. These were kept functioning. Oblivious, thehunters just got on with their lives. And waited.

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    At last the Doctor had what he needed: peace and quiet.

    He wiggled his hand to activate an air-screen. Nothing.

    Just the dark of his over-heated, over-designed bedroom.

    `Finally,' he said.

       Apart from anything else he was tired of pretending to

    sleep. He tiptoed to the door, opened it and poked his head

    out. `Let's go for a wander,' he said to himself.

       `Now then, now then, boys and girls,' he said aloud.

    His words echoed round the empty halls. Robots stood

    where they had been halted, frozen in mid-step, carrying

    trays, walking, fixing. Their eyes flickered with dim

    internal lights as their brains sat on standby.

       Mustn't get too confident, the Doctor thought.

    Sebastiene wouldn't be stupid enough to turn them all off.

    Some will still be operational.

       The Doctor looked up at one of the huge marble busts

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of Sebastiene stuck up everywhere all over the Chateau.The pouting bronze face regarded him. The Doctor tookthat as a cue and addressed it.

   `So what's my big plan, clever clogs?'

   The face did not move.

   `All right, I'll tell you. Locate Donna. Although, ofcourse, you will have made that the hardest thing in theworld. Don't leave much to chance, do you? In fact, Iwonder if you already know about me being him here andhim being me out there?'

   Still, the perfect metal face gave nothing away.

   The Doctor shook his head. `Nah. If you were thatclever, Sebastiene, old son, I wouldn't even have got thisfar. Time to go on the attack.' The Doctor bared his teethand smiled. `Grr.'

Baris had made a fatal mistake. In fact, in the corridor atSnowcap Base, he had made THE fatal mistake.

   The Doctor didn't blame his double; clearly Baris wasyoung and naive and not used to having Time Lords at hismercy. Rather than simply using the beepy stick he waspointing at the Doctor, Baris had chosen to boast. Hechose to gloat. About The Plan.

   Baris wasted precious time bigging up The Plan and ofcourse stressing his own importance in The Plan'sinevitable success. And if you did the gloating thing withthe Doctor, you were going to come last.

   So the Doctor heard about Sebastiene and the hunterswith their dumb wager. He heard about Planet 1 and itsawesome store of power. He heard how they wanted him

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to pursue Donna and the TARDIS.

   Funnily enough, after all that, the real surprise to theDoctor was Baris himself.

   The Doctor knew he had fans; he just didn't know hehad so many. Thousands of them plugged into their skull-docks, scouring the galaxy for news, rumours, evensightings. Baris was a fan; in fact, he was generallyconsidered the biggest, which is why Sebastiene hadtracked him down and made him an offer he couldn'trefuse. Baris had been offered the chance to become theDoctor; companion, TARDIS and all.

   `Which is sad,' the Doctor told Baris. `The best way foryou to be like me, would be for you ' and here he lookedat his duplicate, `to be Baris. To be the best Baris Bariscould be.'

   The Doctor had guessed right. Beneath the remodelledface, the eyes of a little boy stared out. A little boy whospent too long in his bedroom. For the first time, Barislooked unsure of himself. The beepy stick wavered.

   In the distance, the creature sent to Earth by Sebastieneroared and killed again. The Doctor made his move.

He skidded into the control room. The stalled robots werestaring as if transfixed by what they saw. The room hadfilled around them. The chequerboard squares in the floorhad opened and raised up solid skull-dock terminals; allbusy uploading data. The Doctor inspected the newmachines. `Virtual Reality interfaces, subatomic memory.'He picked up a neoprene glove with glowing cablesrunning from the fingers. Next he picked up a neoprene

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cap; a pair of large goggles hanging off it. `You arejoking,' he laughed. `What's this: The Lawnmower Man?'

   He stared into the barely lit eyes of an operator robot.He had started internally to call the robot servantsFreddies, on account of their ridiculous moustaches.

   `I've landed in 1985! No more Intelligent Molecularwhatsit then, Seb, old mate. Sorry to mess up your planet.'

   The Doctor wondered where the Supervisor might be.Probably getting special Supervisor programming in aspecial Supervisor's room. Maybe he was getting hisridiculous moustache trimmed. Funny, the Doctorexpected Sebastiene to keep that particular Freddie activeas a safeguard.

   Surely somebody was suspicious. The Doctor couldn'tbelieve he had been lucky enough to fool them all, all ofthe time. Plucking Baris from Lord Percy's gun sights hadbeen almost suicidal. They had even seen him do it. Theyjust didn't know they had.

   Thankfully, Sebastiene hadn't bothered to protect thetransmat program; why would he feel the need to? Thetransmat had been programmed for a prearranged randomshuffle. The Doctor just pressed the button earlier thanplanned. The hard part had been making it look likesomeone else had pressed it. Even now, he wasn'tabsolutely certain the command could not be traced backto him.

   More important was getting Sebastiene to turn off theIMT. Not easy. However, the ruler of Planet 1 was assuspicious as the Doctor had hoped. Sebastiene wouldrather lose the technology than share it.

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   So now the Doctor had some room. He could workwithout getting blown to atoms by a pointy finger. Easy.

   Yeah, easy.

   `Well,' he said to himself, `easy apart from findingDonna, helping Baris escape the galaxy's best hunterswhile at the same time staying undetected by a suspiciousall-powerful loony and his planet of deadly robots. Notforgetting to zip back to Earth asap to stop a super absorbycreature laying waste to the human race. Nothing to it.'

   `Right, Doctor!' he bellowed. `Oops. Talking to myself.You see, man like me needs an audience. I need Donna.Which could be my downfall. What if Sebastiene hascameras and microphones and motion trackers running asa back-up to his back-up?'

   The Doctor looked around. They could be any size, anyshape...

   `Nah, even he can't work that fast. Or can he? Nevermind. Prioritise. That's the name of the game. Doctor...'He looked at his bare wrist. `You have one hour and forty-two Earth minutes...'

   He shoved a Freddie out of the way and sat down atone of the gleaming new consoles. Luckily, he wasn'tafter anything tricky and the basic systems were up andrunning. He picked up a thin cable. `Skull-dock? Nothanks. Never liked the idea of sticking needles into myhead. Hat and glove it is.'

   Pulling the goggles on, he powered up the computerterminal. Big shiny command icons floated in front of hiseyes.

   `Ah, how sweet,' he cooed. `But never mind retro. How

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do I get Baris out of the next zone? Especially as, morethan likely, this time I'm going to be watched...'

    He looked up and stared at the ornate panelled ceiling,slipping his mind out of gear so a brilliant idea wouldcreep up on him.

    Thirty-eight minutes later it did.

    He worked the computer quickly, suppressing a giggle.`Get out of that, Sebastiene.'

    Now the hard part. The really tricky bit.

    He shuddered. Had something moved behind him? Helifted the goggles and the real world returned.

    The Freddies with their glowing eyes seemed to knowwhat he was up to. Their stillness was unnerving. TheDoctor had the most extraordinary feeling that every timehe went into the Planet 1 VR mode, they all took a stepforward. They were just pretending. Soon they wouldhave their hands round his neck.

    He took a deep breath, removed the cap and glove,stood up and faced them.

    `Look,' he said. `If you're going to rush me, don't playgames, just do it.'

    He gave them a stern look. The Freddies didn't move.`So shut up then,' he said. `I'm going to ignore you. I haveenough trouble from real threats; haven't got time forimaginary ones.'

    He put all the gear back on. Talking helped himconcentrate. He tried to put on his brainy specs. Theybanged against the plastic goggles. Tutting, he put thebrainy specs back in his pocket.

    `Think it through, Doctor. If you were Sebastiene,

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where would you put Donna so I couldn't find her?'

  He clicked his fingers. `It's not hard to find a map...The hard part is not looking like you're finding a map...'

  New icons swam into view.

  `Yes!' yelled the Doctor. `Result!'

Baris was in the control room accessing a Planet 1computer interface terminal. He wasn't even using theskull-dock. It was like he wanted to be caught.

    The Supervisor was delighted. The robot was watchingon a hidden monitor. It had kept itself out of the way forjust such an opportunity. It watched for five joyousminutes, savouring each one; then ran to tell its master thegood news.

    Sebastiene was using the downtime to practice hisswordplay. He was in his gymnasium hacking at a coupleof old battery-powered robots when the Supervisor rushedin.

    `Halt,' Sebastiene ordered and the two robots loweredtheir swords. A final precise slash from Sebastiene's sabreand one of them was cut in half. Its head and torsoclattered to the ground.

    `Put your top back on,' Sebastiene told it.

    `Fanks mrr lorrd...' The robot legs walked away.

    Sebastiene waved. When an air-screen did not appear,he remembered. No IMT. `Towel!' he bellowed. HisButler stepped out from the shadows and handed him thewarm, scented cloth.

    The smirking Supervisor came forward with the news.

    Sebastiene wiped himself down and walked to the

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gymnasium wall. He pressed a button and the woodpanelling opened to reveal a computer screen. On thatscreen: the Doctor's duplicate sat goggled and gloved,busy in his virtual world.

   The Butler and the Supervisor exchanged looks. Evenwithout seeing them, Sebastiene could sense their grins.

   `Whatever he's doing,' said the Butler. `I don't like it.'

   `Who cares what you like?' Sebastiene replied. `Whendid you start feeling entitled to an opinion? All the same,when did he get so smart with computers?'

   The Supervisor snorted in triumph; an unpleasantsound. `He was connected to the mainframe when theDoctor transmatted. It's possible...'

   `What's possible? That he transmatted the Doctorhimself? Never. He might have been a techie in hisprevious life but there's no way Baris could understandthe Planet 1 transmat protocols then obliterate all traces.They're complicated with safeguards and failsafes andclever... firewall... type security gizmos.'

   `I'll have him arrested, my master. Some torture willget the truth...'

   `Are you trying to get yourself disconnected?'Sebastiene snapped. `I've given Baris free rein.'

   The Supervisor gave up. He bowed. `As you wish, mymaster.'

   Sebastiene looked at Baris waggling his fingers at theterminal.

   `On the other hand. Wouldn't hurt to check.' He lookedto his Butler. `Where's the harm?'

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The Doctor had just made it back to bed when Planet 1completed its reboot. There was a distinctive hum and thecandles by his four-poster flickered. He closed his eyes forthe cameras and pretended to sleep.

   The door crashed open. `Oi,' said the Butler. `Outsidenow.'

`If I didn't know better,' said Sebastiene, `I would havesaid you were the real Doctor and poor old Baris was outthere being hunted.'

   `Really?' said the Doctor. Sebastiene's eyes neverdropped from looking straight at him. `Why would yousay that?'

   They were taking tea in a huge formal garden. Therewas quite a party.

   Somehow, Sebastiene had turned night into brightsunny day. Robot aristocrats in frock-coats and high whitewigs were being terribly witty to each other. Beautifulsnooty women in puffed out low-cut dresses hid theirmouths behind fans as fancy-jacketed bucks tried toimpress. Dogs draped in ludicrous silk bows yapped andplayed around the carefully sculpted bushes. A stringquintet played Boccherini in a garish wooden bandstand.

   Sebastiene's face was everywhere: on the dog drapes,the carefully cut hedges, even the statue in the ornamentalfountain.

   `You should have seen the place before I arrived,'Sebastiene said. `No sense of style.'

   At last, he lowered his eyes. He winced and waved ahandkerchief at the Doctor's jacket and sneakers. `You

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really must try and join in. I mean, really. I know you'rethe big fan and everything, but clothes, man, clothes.Have some style. I mean, look at me!' Sebastiene pointedto his own pink, gold-braided blouse.

   `I apologise. Let me change immediately,' the Doctorleaped from his seat.

   `Oh, sit down, for heaven's sake. Honestly.' Sebastienesnapped his fingers for a servant. `More tea and hurry up.Look, Baris, old chap, I know my robots can be a littledifficult but you've done a jolly fine job with this Doctor-monitoring thing. With all respect, when I found you onProxima I thought you were a right charlie.'

   The Doctor forced himself to look relaxed as he tried tocomprehend Sebastiene's mood. Was this all flummery?Did he know the truth?

   Butler Freddie set down a tea service on a silver tray,tiny in the robot's huge hands. `Shall I be mother?' itsnarled at the Doctor.

   `Now now, Butler,' said Sebastiene. `You boys playnice.'

   Butler Freddie tried to smile, it really did but that big-toothed grimace didn't convince a fly.

   `Yes, my master.'

   `Now go away, like a good boy.'

   `Yes, my master.'

   Sebastiene poured milk and tea into the gilt-linedporcelain cups. `Of course there's no getting around it,' hesaid absently. `If one applies logic, you have to be the realDoctor.'

   The Doctor froze.

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   How would Baris react? Run in screaming terror wastempting but not necessarily productive. Keep going; keepgoing right to the end.

   `Why... why would you say that?' he asked.

   `Oh, you know,' said Sebastiene, and using a delicatepair of tongs dropped two sugar lumps into the cup.`Deduction. Someone had to operate the transmat.' Hesmiled and offered the Doctor the cup. `It wasn't me, andyou are the only other organic life form in the Chateau.Sugar?'

   `No, thank you,' the Doctor croaked. `Too sweet.'

   Sebastiene held the cup absolutely still. The Doctorwas aware of the noise of the party around him, thewarmth of the summer's day, the scent of the bushes.None of it real. Perhaps Sebastiene could control Timetoo. Because Time seemed to have stopped.

   `No such thing,' said Sebastiene at last. He lowered thecup. `As too sweet, I mean. Shall we hunt?'

   He sipped his tea. `Armourer!'

   A previously unnoticed weaselly robot came bowingand scraping to the table. He held two wooden boxes.

   Sebastiene took one box, opened it and showed off theancient pistol within, nestled comfortably as it was inpurest purple velvet. `1788 French flintlock with inlaidsilver handle. Crude but looks good.' He tossed the boxinto the Doctor's lap. The Doctor picked the weapon outas clumsily as he dared.

   Sebastiene watched him. `I've hunted down everysingle worthwhile prize in the universe,' he said. `Luredthem here; given them every chance. Not just animals

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either. Or those poor old dumb species that silly Societyprides itself on wiping from the face of the universe. Youtry snaring a Dalek, or an Osiran.'

   Sebastiene leaned back in his chair, looking into thedistance. `Such a long time ago. Chap loses the instincts.Gets rusty; starts to miss obvious clues.' He sighed. `I'mtoo long out of the game.'

   He opened the other box and removed the secondpistol. He flung the box away. The Doctor looked up tosee the weapon aimed straight at him. Sebastiene grinned.

   `The only real test would be if I shot you and youchanged shape. You know, like the Time Lords weresupposed to. What were you doing with that computer lastnight?'

   The Doctor stared into the black cylinder. Indeed thegun was crude but at this range cruelly effective. `I wastrying to find out who had operated the transmat. I thoughtthe switchover might throw up an anomaly.'

   `Did you really?'

   `I... I... thought that... but I was wrong... maybe I'm toostupid, but I couldn't really operate the computer... Youdid say I could use the control room. It was just athought...'

   Sebastiene pulled the trigger. The Doctor flinched.

   The gun's hammer clicked. No blast, no shot. Empty.

   Sebastiene whispered, `Bang.'

   The Doctor again wondered what Baris would do anddecided yes, this time he probably would panic. Heshrieked and dropped his gun. `P-please Sebastiene...look... what can I do... ?'

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   `Oh forget it. If there is a traitor, I'll find him. You wantmy real opinion? I think the Doctor's playing us along,trying to get me to think he's stupid.' Sebastiene tappedhis fine nose. `I think there's a big plan.' He nodded,mock-serious.

   The Doctor pretended to recover. He clutched his chestand sat down. He allowed his breathing to slow until hewas able to speak again. `That does fit the profile,' hesaid. `Perhaps the companion... yes, perhaps thecompanion. You know, I could...'

   Sebastiene was already shaking his head. `No, Baris.Not the companion. She's mine.'

   `What... what are you going to do with her?'

   Sebastiene dropped the pistol, clapped his hands andannounced, `Bored! Let me show you my pride and joy!'

   He looked up as if expecting something to happen.`Ah, keep forgetting. We'll do it the old fashioned way.Shanks's Pony. We walk!'

They returned to the Chateau. Sebastiene led the Doctor atgreat pace through the marble halls. The Butler followeddaintily behind.

   `Where are we going?' asked the Doctor.

   `Oh you'll love it,' Sebastiene replied as he marched toa pair of large doors. Two robots bowed and opened them.The Doctor followed, as did the Butler.

   `Not you,' Sebastiene snarled at his slave, who bowedungraciously and scurried off.

   `In here,' he waved for the Doctor to follow. `Ifmemory serves.'

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   Clearly memory did serve.

   The room was vast, even by the standards of theChateau. Dark too. The Doctor could not tell what wasfloor, what was wall; in fact, what was anything. The lackof reference points gave the room a sickly feel, likestanding on a ship in a storm. After the garden he feltexposed. The only illumination came from tight shafts ofartificial sunlight beamed down from the unseen ceilinglike pencils. Inside each beam of light was a creature,perfectly still; some human but most not.

   The Doctor understood the room's function. He wasinside a trophy cabinet.

   `Walk with me,' said Sebastiene.

   The Doctor followed but stopped as Sebastiene froze.`I forget,' he said. `You're not the Doctor with all hisbroad-minded experience of the universe. Careful, Baris, Ishould warn you that this room may well blow your tiny,sheltered mind.'

   He grabbed the Doctor's hand and led on. Clearly, thiswas to be a guided tour.

   They passed creatures with scales, with fur, withfeathers, with nothing at all. There was a giganticarmoured insect as big as an oil tanker which the Doctorrecognised as a formic-acid-spraying Mmtefl Beast. Therewas an two-and-a-half-metre-tall cat creature caught in theact of pouncing.

   `Beserkat Feline from the planet Florinux,' saidSebastiene and walked by without stopping. `Easy meat.'

   They passed a passive Raston Warrior Robot, which theDoctor was certain was watching him from its smooth

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silver face. There was a Wirrn here and a Collective ofHive Rasps there. There were Omplets and Podropeds,horned Candellax and bio-mechanical NominateDevourers. There were... well, there were too many for theDoctor to be bothered to count.

    `I fancy I possess the largest collection in the galaxy,'said Sebastiene after half an hour's walk. `I have everykind of predator here, from Aords to Zzorg Numerates. Ifit's dangerous, I've bagged it.'

    `And you captured them all yourself?' said the Doctor.

    `Captured and killed. Don't worry, Baris, they're alldead.'

    `Heads on the clubroom wall...'

    Suddenly, the Doctor felt sick. How could anyone getpleasure out of surrounding themselves with corpses,whatever species they might be?

    For once, Sebastiene seemed genuinely excited. `I likelures best. I love it when a target falls into a trap of itsown making; when it can't help itself. For example, thatHasarian Renderer ' Sebastiene pointed to a vicious-looking, toothy amphibian `I convinced her I was hermother.'

    The Doctor nodded. `The only thing the Hasarian isfrightened of... the big queen.'

    `Led her a merry dance. She was cautious, oh yes. Tookme two weeks, up and down the canals of Hasaris, but shebelieved me in the end. Got her suckling and BANG!'Sebastiene clapped his hands and sent a chilling series ofechoes around the endless space. He smiled at the Doctor,who saw Sebastiene's teeth gleam in the pale light. `You

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could say: I'm like a Terran angler fish.'

   `The ones that grow fishing lines out of their heads?'The Doctor sniffed. `Not very pretty though, are they,your angler fish? Wouldn't have been my first choice ofmetaphor but then again '

   The teeth stopped gleaming. `Why, Baris,' saidSebastiene. `Well done you. You're developing his talentfor the obnoxious. You're becoming more like the realDoctor every day.'

   Although he kept a neutral expression, the Doctormentally ticked himself off. Stop being clever. You're notsupposed to be you.

   `Which coincidentally brings me to the reason you'rein the Trophy Room,' Sebastiene squeezed the Doctor'shand. `A room into which you are the first organic beingever to step. After me, of course.'

   `Oh yes?'

   Sebastiene walked to a new exhibit. `This specimenI'm sure you'll find particularly interesting. Come on, hewon't bite.'

   With a gnawing feeling growing in the pit of hisstomach, the Doctor walked to the trophy. `The latestaddition,' and the Doctor saw a gap-toothed grinninghuman. He held a cigar in one still hand, a glass ofchampagne in the other. `Say hello to Lord Percy.'

   The Doctor decided to look appropriately scared again.`Sebastiene...' he mumbled, `I...'

   `I thought he might amuse you. Bit of fun. Before weget down to work.'

   `What do you mean, work?'

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    There was a chuckle from the dark. Butler Freddie hadgot here ahead of them. And if Butler Freddie waschuckling, this was going to be bad. Sebastiene clappedhis perfect hands again and more shafts of light flickeddown from the impossibly distant roof. This time thebeam illuminated not a specimen but a leather couch.

    `If you please...' said Sebastiene.

    The Doctor backed away. `Now look. What's goingon?'

    Butler Freddie giggled again.

    `Come on,' said Sebastiene. His voice was soft andpurring. He made out that sitting on the couch would befun. `Play the game.'

    `What do you want from me?' asked the Doctor. Hewondered whether now would be a good time to run.Would Baris run? Would he act anything like this? It wasso difficult to pull off a good impersonation on thestrength of one brief meeting. And there was always thatnagging feeling that Sebastiene had seen through him allthe time.

    `This won't hurt a bit,' said Sebastiene. `But the Doctordid escape. I'm sure you're just who you say you are, butlet's bung you through the scanner to be certain, eh?'

    `I am Baris. You know I am.'

    Sebastiene, for once, looked sincere. `What you shouldknow about me, Baris, is that I am incapable of takinganything at face value.'

    Butler Freddie pointed and laughed. `He's scared.'

    The Doctor decided to give in. He had to see thisdeception through.

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    `Actually I'm not scared,' he snapped. `Big-hands.'

    Butler Freddie stopped laughing. `Get on the scanner orI throw you on.'

    `Fine.' The Doctor sauntered under the light beam tothe couch. A smiling Sebastiene watched him all the way.

    `No worries,' said the Doctor. `I don't mind. In fact, I'dlike to be scanned. Great. I think scanning's a really goodidea. Let's confirm my identity. It would make me feel alot better, oh yeah. Scan me. Fine. Everybody's goingscanning. Scanning USA.'

    `Stop babbling and get on,' snarled Butler Freddie.

    Something metal snaked out from the couch andwrapped itself around his arm. The Doctor jerked back butthe metal strap held firm. `Intelligent handcuffs,' said thestill-smiling Sebastiene. `My idea.'

    Another strap spewed out from the couch and encircledthe Doctor's body. More followed. Their strength wassurprising as they lifted him from the ground and loweredhim onto the couch.

    A bulky machine descended from the overheaddarkness. As it approached, large stainless-steelimplements extended out from the main body. Electroniclights flickered. The Doctor fancied he could even hearthe sound of a dentist's drill.

    `Sebastiene,' he moaned.

    `Just a little toy to see who's who,' said Sebastiene.`DNA checker, Psyche-profiler, even a little gizmo thatchecks how many hearts. Oh, and when I said it wouldn'thurt, that was a little porky pie...'

    The machine started to hum.

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Two hours later, the Butler lifted the Doctor out of thechair. The Doctor's face was white, ashen even, but hewas still conscious. He glared but said nothing.

   `Had to check, you understand?' said Sebastiene. `Nohard feelings?'

   Trying to speak, the Doctor realised his mouth hadgone numb. He pushed the Butler off and forced himselfto stand.

   Sebastiene blew at the nails on his right hand. He hadbeen filing them throughout the process. `Now let's getback to the game. Baris, you stick to keeping an eye onthe Doctor. Don't let any robot stop you. You're the onlyone I'm sure of. Everything he does, you do. I want you tobecome the Doctor.'

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    Donna made a decision. She was going to get out of

    Bracknell.

       Quite how she had travelled from an Antarctic Base to

    an Exquisite Traveller Hotel on the Reading roundabout

    was beyond her. Whatever the explanation, the time had

    come to get active.

       Donna had been at the hotel for a day now, staying in

    Room 218. The weirdest thing was that although she often

    heard people talking in the corridor outside, when she

    opened her door there was never anyone there; just a

    snaky horrible carpet, closed doors and silence. Also,

    when she was upstairs she often heard guests downstairs

    but whenever she went to look there was never anyone

    around.

       The lobby was always deserted, except for Sadie, the

    smiling, perma-tanned receptionist who was always

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behind her desk. Donna was not warming to Sadie, whowas too quick to offer a helping hand.

   Too quick because, despite being terribly eager, Sadienever did any helping. She just came up with excuses. Thepublic telephones had been taken out just last week;mobile reception was too weak to get a signal; the wi-fiwas temporarily on the blink.

   Donna could never get anywhere. Sadie wasapologetic, but the result was the same. Of course, Donnacould have just walked out, but the Doctor had left herthat note. He had left the note with Sadie who, for one souseless at everything else, always knew exactly where tofind it. The note was simple and in the Doctor'shandwriting. Maddeningly, it just said: `Wait for me.'

   Who was paying for her room? He was.

   The restaurant was always empty. Last night's excusewas that it was just closing, although Sadie did Donna `afavour' and managed to fit her in.

   The `Anchor Suite', as the restaurant was called, wasdeserted, although two young bland waitresses wereclearing up the plates from what seemed to have been abanquet. There must have been a hundred people in here.How could they have got out without Donna seeing any ofthem?

   When she asked, one of the waitresses replied thatDonna had just missed the other guests, who had all `gonefor a night out'. Donna gave up and sat and stared at somephotos of ships and tried to figure out what ships had to dowith Bracknell. Her meal was carried to her table. Roastpork, roast potatoes and veg. Hotel food. Pensioner food.

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   Last night had been dull. Even for Bracknell the hotelwas dull. Donna had gone down to the Castle Bar (`try ourdelicious cocktails') but it never opened, not for deliciouscocktails or anything else. It just stood in the dark; quietand unmanned. Staff shortages, Sadie said.

   At this point, Donna let rip. She gave the smiley cowan earful. Sadie smiled through the whole rant and couldonly apologise. No, the manager was away at the moment.Sadie was left in charge and she was only the receptionist.

   After banging her head on the reception desk, Donnaannounced she was going for a walk despite the fact thatthe sun had set and the day's incessant rain had still notstopped. She asked for a brolly but, of course, the hotelhad lost them all. `Normally we're chock-a-block,' smiledSadie. `The day trip, I expect. Not your lucky day is it,madam?'

   Donna looked out at that dark, drizzly night thendecided to go to sleep. Maybe the Doctor would turn up inthe morning.

   When she got back to her room, the telly was on theblink. What a surprise. Without the energy for any morecomplaining, she flopped onto the bed.

   Trouble was, at eight o'clock in the evening she wasn'tsleepy. She stared up at the badly artexed white ceiling. Ateight thirty she decided to blame the Doctor foreverything. That sent her to sleep.

   Next morning was breakfast in the Anchor Suite.Alone. Once again, she had just missed the other guests they had apparently gone to a nearby shopping village.Back this evening.

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    Well, today Donna had had enough. Even Bracknellwas better than this.

    She started in her room. Donna squinted through hersmeary window to see what she always saw: rain andanother wing of the hotel just the same as this one. Shecould hear a distant rumble of traffic, the source of whichshe had not yet been able to locate.

    No people.

    Donna nodded to her reflection in the glass, watching itdistort as the rain streamed down the outside pane. Shesighed. `Time to...' she said and then stopped talking.

    `Time to hit the road', she was going to say, then hadthe strange thought that someone was listening. Someonelistening on headphones for something important shemight give away. Something creaked in the bathroom.Maybe he, whoever he was, was in there, listening away,keeping himself quiet; a human earwig.

    She felt her heart beat. She could of course just openthe door. Open the bathroom door and see that there wasno human earwig in there listening to her. Just open it likeshe had opened it five minutes ago. No big deal.

    Except, she already knew she wasn't going to open thedoor. Not in a million years.

    She started to wonder just how real this hotel actuallywas. She started to wonder just why she was here. Somepart of her mind, a very important part, was starting toslip. She had to leave. Leave now.

    `Time to... look at yourself in a window.' She winced athow that sounded and ran out of Room 218.

    Two minutes later she was hiding behind a fire door,

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peering into the lobby. Halfway down the stairs she hadheard a vacuum cleaner start up in the corridor she hadjust left. Donna knew that if she went back up, thecorridor would be empty again. Leave. Leave now.

   Donna creaked the fire door open. In the lobby,decrepit ferns sat in pots, bad RnB music played. NoSadie. Excellent.

   Outside, rain was sweeping across the hotel car park.The wind threw itself at her as she ran outside.

   No fanfare, no klaxons. Just a stiff breeze and theknowledge that to avoid suspicion she had come outwithout a coat.

   The car park was full of cars. Every space was taken.There was still no one about.

   `Hello?' she yelled, surprising herself. Her voice fellflat in the rain. `Hello!'

   There had to be someone. She was shocked at howmuch she had been hoping.

   Donna looked back into the hotel. Nothing. Nomovement.

   `Just go,' she made herself say. Then louder: `Just tothe shops! Won't be long!'

   She sniffed and waited for a reply. `All right, then!Here I am, going to the shops!'

   The road led up a hill. Not a steep hill, but enough tohide the traffic she heard moving just on the other side.That way to civilisation.

   Donna started walking.

The road was longer than she had first thought. Must be

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the hill. She looked back to see the Exquisite Travellersitting snugly in its place, looking like all the otherExquisite Travellers she had ever seen. Except there wasstill no one about. She tried to remember how she had gothere. She couldn't, simple as that.

    Donna started to run. The traffic noise was louder now.She was nearly there.

    She raced up the hill, reached the top and stopped. Theroad ended at a T-junction. Straight ahead, a line of treesblocked a long ploughed wet field, which stretched on toanother line of trees in the distance. There was a right turnand a left turn but nothing forward. No road signs and,strangely enough, the traffic sounds were now on eitherside.

    `This can't be right,' said Donna.

    Still the rain dropped. The roads curved out of sight inboth directions.

    `There has to be a way out.' Her voice was gettingstrained.

    Donna was aware that wherever she was it wasn't anExquisite Traveller Hotel off a roundabout in Bracknell.But then again, she had really known that for ages.

    `You don't beat me,' she growled. She raised her headand looked at the sky. A satisfying anger burned throughher. `You don't beat me! Whoever you are! I'll find a wayout!'

    She turned right and marched along the road. Therewas an exit and, come hell or high water, Donna wasgoing to find it.

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Night had fallen again when Sadie the receptionist heard anoise outside. She walked out into the rain to find asoaked, wide-eyed Donna in the car park, screaming andbegging for the Doctor. She was on all fours and coveredin mud like she had fallen over in a field. Sadie put a coataround the girl and brought her back inside.

The Savannah was harsh country. Two suns suckedmoisture from the air and baked the ground hard asdiamond. Nothing lived in the Savannah except Suckweedand Soresox, the first a giant cactus with buried spinesthat waited for its once-in-a-hundred-years prey to walkover it, the second a scaly crocodile that looked like arock. Both could survive without water for cosmologicalamounts of time.

   Indeed, the Savannah was a deadly place, unless ofcourse you had your mechanised armoured Carapace tocarry you round. The exalted biological remains of theArcturan noble called Draxyx wore one such device andhe loved it here.

   In fact, the Semblance of Draxyx had himself a greatCarapace, with specially designed six wheel drive,telescopic eyes that could see in nineteen differentspectrums and a Hurt Limb equipped with a poisonoussting accurate up to two kilometres.

   The Semblance loved the Flux Savannah. He loved itsstark brutal simplicity. When he was hunting, his prey ofchoice would be dropped into this environment and hewould chase round after it, wearing it down until finally itcould run no more. Sometimes the prey would last for

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days; slogging on in agony, refusing to give up. TheSemblance would perch in a gully or on a flat hilltop andsuck on his moisture straw; telescopic eyes zoomed in onhis quarry's plight.

   Only when the light of resistance had totally gone outwould the Semblance take pity on the poor creature andmove in for the coup de grâce.

   That was the moment the Semblance relished whenthe quarry knew its only relief was death. When he stunghis prey, it loved him for it.

   The Semblance was very excited about the Doctor.Although the Time Lord was of course known onArcturus, there was very little hard information. What wasnot in doubt was that he was a very dangerous animal. TheSemblance knew to be wary.

   Once he had detected the Doctor's DNA signature, theSemblance projected his likely path. The Carapacecomputer flagged up a suitable killing ground: a shadowedgully between two rocky mesas; one of the few possibleshelters in the blindingly bright desert. The Semblancemotored to the gully and used his Excavator Limbs to diga hole. He then sat in the hole, covered his Carapace indust and waited.

   In case he really was as dangerous as the legendsclaimed, the plan was to hit the Doctor with a paralysingsting and then see what happened. Not so much fun buthopefully there could still be some chasing and wearingdown and despair. The Semblance switched his Carapaceto stealth mode. The quarry was heading for the shadowygully, right on schedule.

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   When the Doctor appeared in visual range andappeared to be nothing but a ragged, exhausted human ina torn suit white with dust, the Semblance wasdisappointed. Sebastiene's big talk had unsettled theSociety, even him. What a letdown. Suddenly bored, theSemblance decided to kill his prey immediately.

   The Doctor stumbled towards the trap. The Semblancearmed his Hurt Limb. Poison hissed through its fleximetaljoints. A thought command unhooded the sting. As theSemblance giggled, the Carapace wheels began to turn inthe dust.

   And stuck there.

   An alarm thought triggered in the Semblance's brain.His Carapace wouldn't move.

   The Doctor was closing; there wasn't much time.Snarling, the Semblance revved harder. What washappening?

   Something crunched into the wheels. A Suckweed!

   The Semblance cursed. Of all the bad luck! He hadbeen caught in the same trap he had set for the Doctor. Buthow could the weed have tracked him? The Semblanceused screening sprays to stay undetectable.

   Something else landed with a thump on the windscreenbubble. Cold, crystal eyes gazed in. Baked jaws opened toreveal a mass of stone teeth. The Semblance shivered infear. A Soresox!

   This couldn't be happening. A Suckweed and a Soresoxtogether! Unheard of.

   The Semblance, sweaty in his pickling juices, activatedthe Carapace charger. A quick powerful burst should do

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the trick.

   A blast of electricity shook the Soresox but did notdislodge the beast. Mineral drool dropped onto thewindscreen bubble from a wide, wide smile. At the edgeof his perception, the Semblance saw the Doctor walkright past and through the gully. They were all so wellcamouflaged he hadn't noticed a thing.

   The next thought that came to the Arcturan was thatboth the Suckweed and the Soresox were actuallySebastiene's robots but as soon as he remembered that, hehad other things to worry about.

`Enlighten me,' said Sebastiene.

    `The Doctor tricked the robots,' the Supervisor replied.It looked about to wet itself. The robot quivered; toweringover the seated Sebastiene. `The on-site robots. Heactivated their Priority Override command.'

    `The robots cannot be reprogrammed.' Sebastienespoke in a monotone, stating a fact. He returned to hislunch; a vast lunch covering a whole banqueting table, allto himself.

    `He didn't need to reprogram. The Suckweed andSoresox robots received input identifying the Arcturan asa Class 1 threat.'

    Sebastiene spat out half a roasted quail. `Class 1? Me?You mean, they thought the Semblance was in the processof attacking me? Despite all the evidence of their senses?That's...' he searched for the word and found one he didn'twant to say, `brilliant!'

    `They had to attack to protect you; couldn't help

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themselves. In fact, they couldn't do anything else.'

   `And just how could the Doctor make this happen?'

   The Supervisor slumped. `Assuming it isn't Baris...'

   `Which it isn't...'

   `In theory, activating the Priority Override would notbe hard. He would just need to know the robottransmission codes. Now we're no longer using IMT, allhe had to do was look them up on a database. Assuminghe had access to a terminal, of course.'

   Sebastiene stood up, wiped his chin, and overturned thebanqueting table. He spent a satisfying few minuteshurling food around. Silver plates rattled on the marblefloor. The Supervisor stood still as his master raged.

   At last, Sebastiene was calm again. He looked at theSupervisor. `Get out of my sight. Find out.'

   The Supervisor turned and trotted from the room,grateful still to be functioning.

The cold ruins stank of death. The shell hole was damp;full of bent iron and thick, grey slush. Overhead he couldsee a dark sky smothered by smoke. The only light camefrom the occasional orange flare falling from the clouds.Gunfire sounded tinny in the freezing fog. There was awar on.

   The Doctor, or rather Baris who believed himself to bethe Doctor, shuffled under a fallen concrete slab andshivered.

   Any normal man would have been terrified at theprospect of being dumped in the war-torn wreckage of analien city in a punishing winter, with no food, weaponry or

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means of survival. Luckily, thought Baris, he was theDoctor and he was no normal man. He was the Doctor,and he had to find Donna.

    Cold though. His teeth chattered and his hearts pumpedto keep the blood supply moving. Would have been handyto have a little bit more clothing than an old blazer,plimsolls and a skinny tie. Even the sonic screwdriver,with which he obviously could have warmed up snow orsomething, was missing. He must have dropped itsomewhere.

    Stone chinked over the lip of the crater. Baris stayedstill, pressing himself into the wet shadows. He looked upto see the skeleton of a burned-out factory etched black inlight from a flare. Figures were moving in front of it,breath streaming from their mouths. They were hunchedand bulky in ragged furs. Even from below, Baris couldsense their hopelessness, their hunger. One whispered toanother, a starved sound, thin and wispy. He didn'trecognise the language but it sounded harsh and merciless.He didn't want to be spotted by these people. The figuresmoved slowly but carefully, long rifles ready, used tothese ruins.

    Baris had the strangest thought that if they found him,they would eat him. Abruptly, they were gone.

    He pressed his fingers into the snowy, frozen rubble.Sweat turned to ice on his forehead. Baris forced himselfto take a deep breath. He needed to shake off this strangeparalysis that afflicted him. He had to work out who wassending him to these strange, deadly places. And why.

    `Come on, Doctor,' he said to himself. `You're better

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than this.'

   And overriding everything, he had to find Donna.

Commissar Weimark had almost forgotten he wasn't athome. He was so busy interrogating promising traitorsthat he hardly knew where the time went. As forSebastiene and his wager, that all seemed a long time ago.

   When the radio crackled, Weimark assumed themessage was from his superiors; those cowards bunkeredbehind the lines at headquarters. Only Sebastiene's voicecaused him to pause in his work.

   Weimark straightened up from the reorientation chair.His client slumped. That man could wait. He had Societywork.

   Out of the bunker, Weimark sniffed and smelled corditeand ozone. The night air was cold and crisp. Indeed nowhe remembered, the planetary re-creation was amazing.

   `I need my heavy weapons pack, dust coat and boots,'he ordered. His number two, Sub-Commissar Franz,clicked his heels and scampered back inside.

   Rather: a robotic copy of his number two. Never befooled, thought Weimark.

   A missile whistled over the cityscape like a comet.Commissar Weimark read nothing into the phenomenon.He did not believe in omens.

   `The Doctor, then,' said Franz upon his return.

   `Indeed,' Weimark replied. He wondered how much ofa memory Sebastiene had imprinted into this duplicate. `Ithink we are not the first. I have been here a long time.The Doctor must have bettered at least one.'

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   `Should be a challenge.'

   Weimark did not like talking to this robot. It was onething to use them as servants, another to hear it addressone with such familiarity.

   `Let us not confuse the hunt with sport,' he told therobot. `Sebastiene expects us to lose.'

   `Sebastiene is indeed mighty.' Franz's fat face wasexpressionless. He handed Weimark his equipment.

   `The Doctor isn't exactly a novice either,' Weimarksnapped. `He'll be ready for me.'

   `You know him?'

   `By reputation only. He once landed on our planet.Damn near ended the war in half an hour. No one couldwork out how he had reprogrammed our battle computersto shut themselves down like that. He had half the EasternMark army after him and still came through. Oh, he'sgood.'

   The Commissar hauled his tight black boots and dustcoat over his body armour. The regular troops inBeriagrad received no such luxuries, only the SpecialExecutive. The Blood Hounds.

   Finally, Franz passed Weimark his weapons kit. TheCommissar stripped and assembled his 8.25-millimetresniper rifle. The case contained an impressive array ofammunition, steel tipped to high explosive; also aninfrared heat scanner and HUD night sight. Old friends.

   Weimark recalled his greatest triumph: the eighteen-week hunt for the Western Mark's Chief Sniper. In theruins of Beriagrad, sniping was the most effective methodof waging war. The craft became an art, almost a religion,

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calling on the best of men. Snipers became legends, andWeimark was the greatest of them all. He had nevermissed. The Doctor would be the greatest triumph of hiscareer.

   `You know the reason for my success, Franz robot?' heasked.

   `You are prepared for every eventuality, Commissar,'Franz replied, grinning graciously.

   Weimark shoved an ammunition clip into his sparepistol and fired a high-explosive bullet into the robot'sbrain. There was a loud crump and Franz staggered back,circuits fizzing and sparking in what was left of its head.At last, the robot realised it was dead and fell into thesnow.

   `I work alone,' said the Commissar, blowing the smokefrom the gun and sliding it into its concealed holster.

   The hunter went to find the Doctor, not even botheringto acknowledge the starved soldiers already moving in onthe robot's body; ready to strip it to cogs and wires.

Night in the Chateau was a lonely, unnerving experience.The hollow rooms echoed with the slightest noise. Theshadowy statues of its ruler glared from all sides.Footsteps banged and shuffled and echoed like noisybreezes. Not that the Butler cared; he was too angry forthat.

   The hulking robot entered the moonlit control room.Unfamiliar green and red function lights gleamed on theconsoles. The Butler didn't like the lights, or the consoles.The back-up technology units were all over the Chateau

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and that put him in a bad mood. They made the place lookmessy.

   `What do you want?' he snapped at the Supervisor, whowas wired into a skull-dock terminal.

   The Supervisor pointed to a computer array. The Butlerproduced his own elegant skull-dock cable and pluggedin. Digits and colours flashed past his eyes at vast speed.`Do you know how many systems are online at any onetime on Planet 1?' said the Supervisor. `An almost infinitenumber.'

   `And? I do have duties to perform...'

   `And with the changeover, virtually impossible tocheck.'

   `Yes yes...'

   `He knew that. Virtually impossible. But it's notcompletely impossible. I've had two million robotsworking on it down in South Continent. Over ten thousandprime units have burned out in the process.'

   `Don't bore me with technical details,' snapped theButler. `You know I'm on call. What are you talkingabout?'

   `A manual operator trace: who used which air-screenwhen.'

   The Butler's mood was improving. It could see wherethis was leading. `Go on...'

   `I've back-checked every air-screen operation onPlanet 1 during the time period the Doctor transmatted outof the Oroobian Jungle Zone. That command came froman air-screen in this control room. And guess whoactivated that air-screen?'

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   If a robot could wet itself, it would have lookedsomething like how the Butler was looking now. `You'rekidding?' it squealed.

   `One hundred per cent sure.'

   `Oh goody,' said the Butler. They looked at each other.

   `Hurr hurr,' chuckled the Supervisor.

   `Hurr hurr hurr,' chuckled the Butler.

   `Hurr hurr hurr hurr,' they chuckled together.

`What does a fellow have to do to get some sleep roundhere?' demanded the Doctor.

   Butler Freddie scooped him out of bed and tucked himunder an arm.

   Upside down, the Doctor smiled. `You look happy.Your lottery number come up?'

   Butler Freddie licked its lips. `Mm,' it said. It stompedout of the bedroom.

   As the Doctor was carried along various wood-panelledcorridors and through a multitude of doors, he presumedthe game was up. They must have discovered one of themillion loopholes in his disguise. He was unmasked. Hadto be. Expected, of course, but not so soon. The Doctorsagged in the robots hands. No point in fighting what hecouldn't do anything about. Better to use this time tothink.

   At last, they reached a room. The Trophy Room. Bynow, the Doctor was hanging upside down in ButlerFreddie's hands. A spotlight blinked on.

   `Morning, Baris,' came Sebastiene's cheerful voice.

   `Morning!' yelled the Doctor, equally cheerful. `Excuse

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me for not shaking hands. I'm upside down.'

    `Not to worry,' said Sebastiene. `My Supervisor says hehas some news.'

    `How lovely for him. Love a bit of news, me.'

    The Doctor was turned right way up and thrown ontothe nastily familiar leather couch. A second spotlightflicked on right into his face. `Ooh, now I'm thinking:interrogation.' He raised his hands over his eyes to seewho was in here. `Would I be right?'

    `You would,' came the flat tones of Supervisor Freddiefrom the gloom. `You would indeed.'

    The Doctor heard a horrible flat noise, like a series ofsnuffles. `Robots laughing,' he said. `Not nice.'

    `You're a dead man, Baris,' said Supervisor Freddie.`Or whoever you are.'

    The Doctor tried to sit up but the flexible cables firedout from the couch and wrapped themselves around him.`Sebastiene,' he said, `we've been here, done this.'

    Sebastiene walked to the couch. He was wearing a veryfetching velvet smoking jacket and sipping at a small cupof coffee. `Apparently not. My Supervisor believes he hasincontrovertible evidence that you were up to somethingnaughty in the control room.'

    The Doctor tried to think. What had they had foundout? Some discoveries would be worse than others.

    Supervisor Freddie loomed into view. Its eyes were bigand bulging. It sang: `You operated the transmat... youoperated the transmat...'

    OK, the Doctor had to admit, that was worse.

    The Supervisor took its time. It intended to draw the

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demonstration out. A 3-D holograph projector tookSebastiene through a very long-winded graphics sequenceconsisting mainly of how brilliant Supervisor Freddie hadbeen in isolating air-screen operations. The Doctorwatched along with the Butler, who was trying to hide itssmirk.

   Two minutes in, Sebastiene snapped. `Can we get to thepoint?'

   `Yes, my master, of course,' the Supervisor bowed andput the display into fast-motion.

   The holograph fired its way through a coloured lightshow of fast-moving lines, flashing every time it hit anetwork point. The whole effect was of a digital bullet, theSupervisor's detection protocol, streaking along IMTnetworking nodes towards its inevitable destination. Thebullet fired through zones, areas, districts, buildings,rooms into finally into an outline of the Chateau.

   `As you can see,' said Supervisor Freddie, `our tracernarrows down the operation to the Chateau control room.'The robot looked at the Doctor. It no longer bothered toconceal its triumph. `The numbers count down to one veryinteresting coordinate. And a very interesting operator.Because at last we come to the air-screen used to save theDoctor from Lord Percy.'

   Despite the cool temperature in the Trophy Room, theDoctor was uncomfortably hot. He lay back, thinking. TheSupervisor looked at its master for its final revelation. Thedigital bullet stopped and flashed red. It had reached itsdestination.

   `And now, after days of fantastic effort from a whole

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continental mass of dedicated robots, the results are in.This evidence cannot be challenged. After a long andpainful series of calculations, the air-screen registration isrevealed to be: HGcccc2930-5890.276. Operated...' Itpaused for effect. `By Baris.'

   The holograph froze, leaving the air-screen numberhanging in the air. The Supervisor, as if exhausted by itsefforts, dropped its head. It waited for its reward.

   The Trophy Room was silent. The Supervisor glancedup, wondering how long before they could get round toharming the Doctor.

   The Butler coughed; the sound echoing round the vastempty space.

   `You said: HGcccc2930-5890.276?' asked Sebastiene.

   `Yes, my master. There can be no possible room forerror.'

   `Well,' Sebastiene continued. `That's not the number onthe screen.'

   Suddenly, the Supervisor felt very, very sick. It couldsee what was coming. What it had walked into.

   `The number up there is: HGcccc2930-5890.275. Andaccording to your databanks, that particular air-screen wasoperated by you.'

   `I know how he did it, my master, he programmed atrojan to reset the registration if detected... if you wouldallow me to...'

   `Enough!' Sebastiene's voice rang round the TrophyRoom. The Supervisor fell silent.

   The Supervisor sneaked a look at the Butler but its so-called friend would not meet its gaze. The Doctor was the

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picture of innocence, wrapped in his cables on the couch.How the Supervisor wanted to pull his arms out. If only ithad checked the program for booby traps; a simpleoperation, easily done. In its rush to tell its master, theSupervisor had failed to keep its discovery safe. And nowit was going to pay.

    Sebastiene was grinning like a wolf. `Release Baris.'

    The metal cables slid away and the man the Supervisorabsolutely knew to be the Doctor sat up.

    `Supervisor, get on the couch,' said Sebastiene, notraising his voice.

    `C'est la vie,' said the Doctor. He almost looked sorry.

    Knowing he was doomed, the Supervisor obeyed. TheButler was watching him now, worried, but not helping.Not saying anything to stop what must now happen.

    The automatic restrainers wound themselves round therobot and pinned it to the couch. It looked up and saw thetorture machine dropping down. The implements extendedout. The Supervisor knew this machine and understood itwas going to enjoy its work.

    Sebastiene coughed, hiding a smile. `I've alwayswanted to say this.' He looked sternly at the Supervisor.`You know the price of failure,' and he turned theatricallyaway.

    `I love you, master,' said the Supervisor, and meant it.It really did.

    A sound like a dentist's drill started up. Theinterrogation machine went to work.

Sebastiene put his arm round the Doctor and led him out

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of the Trophy Room. He shouted over the drill: `Let's getaway from all this racket!'

   Once outside, the Doctor allowed some of his pent-uptension to release itself as anger. `Listen, Sebastiene, thatthing scared the life out of me. I'm only trying to help,and you keep... you keep... my God, what if it had...'

   Sebastiene eyed him with amusement. `Now now,Baris. My Supervisor was only doing its job. You have toexpect this kind of thing until we find out what the Doctoris really up to. I mistrust everybody!' He laughed, as ifthis final sentence was the punch-line of some terrificjoke. `Breakfast!'

`A man as clever as the Doctor has to have some bigoverarching plan. I'm absolutely convinced. I mean, he'sgot another ten hunting zones to get through. How is hegoing to do that? Make up escape routes one at a time?Never do it; not even him. There's a plan. A brilliant planand you know, Baris, I'm certain that I'm on the brink ofunderstanding it.'

   Sebastiene looked up from his plate as the pair againbreakfasted in the garden.

   `I feel that the answer is on the tip of my tongue.'Sebastiene scooped out a grapefruit and gobbled down itspulpy contents.

   `You mean the answer's staring you in the face?' askedthe Doctor, staring Sebastiene in the face.

   Sebastiene nodded. `I don't know how he got to theSupervisor, but he did.'

   The Doctor was playing with his food, trying to catch

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Sebastiene's mood. He was still unsure whether the rulerof Planet 1 was really a psychopathic dandy withterrifying mood swings, or just looked like one.

    `Why would the Supervisor drop himself in the souplike that? He seemed convinced I had transmatted theDoctor.'

    Sebastiene pinged his spoon on his bowl. `Oh, Baris,you really are a poor naive fool. The Doctor wants me toknow he got to the Supervisor, one of my oldest and mosttrusted servants.'

    `Why would he do that?'

    `To rattle me, of course. To make me think he iseverywhere. But I've got his measure, oh yes. I've got alittle scheme of my own to find out what this big planreally is. Can't fail. No, I'm not going to tell you what itis, Baris. All you need to know is that I shall be goingaway for a while. Oh, and I've voided your access codesfor the computer network. Don't worry; my Butler willlog you in whenever you need it. He'll be keeping an eyeon you. Oh yes, a very careful eye...'

    `Fine,' the Doctor replied. He pushed his plate away,not hungry.

    Sebastiene dabbed his chin with a napkin. `Just toeliminate you from further suspicion, you understand?The Doctor is in the Beriagrad Zone with CommissarWeimark, a most efficient and deadly hunter. Let's seehim get out of this one.'

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    Snow began to fall as the weak sun rose over the ruined

    city. Thick clouds blotted out the red fingers of light that

    had temporarily brought some cheer to this barren ruin.

    Baris was running for his life. Again.

       He slipped on hidden ice just as a decaying concrete

    post by his head burst into fragments. The hunter had

    found him once more.

       Baris whimpered, brushing shards of concrete from his

    face.

       This was the second shot. The first had turned his coat

    into rags. Baris had been saved only by the sheer amount

    of clothing he had wrapped around himself. His body was

    so bulky he looked twice his real size, and the bullet had

    punctured a non-existent tummy.

       He had been in this godforsaken city for two days

    before the assassin tracked him down. Two days of

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sleeping in frozen shell holes with rats and rubble forcompany. All the water was frozen and he had no meansto melt it. He was dying of thirst and knew that even witha Time Lord's metabolism he would not last more thananother day.

   `Dammit!' he yelled and punched the snow. `Donnaneeds me!'

   Breath held, waiting for the next shot from the killer hecouldn't see, Baris forced himself to get up and run.

Commissar Weimark looked up from his telescopic sight.Without hurry, he ejected the spent cartridge. For a secondhe thought he had hit the Time Lord but no. The figurecrawled into another scar in the city's ragged foundations.Weimark cursed. He had been hoping for a clean kill. Hisprey's apparent incompetence was deceptive.

   Weimark had picked up the Time Lord's trail withinhours of starting to look. This ruined city was his helper,every burned-out building and crater as familiar to him asthe seams in his cold, slack face.

   That morning he had been certain. He was not fooledby a mound of snow and some clumsy rubble. A humanshape twitched in its sleep. Weimark could have walkedup to the Doctor and cut his throat. The idea was tempting,but somehow Weimark doubted he would succeed thateasily. The Doctor's reputation preceded him and therewas bound to be a trap; which was why the Commissardecided to shoot him from long range instead, only to endup missing. That was what you got for being cautious.

   Now his pride was at stake. Commissar Weimark

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shouldered his sniper rifle and began to hunt properly.

Barely had Butler Freddie logged him onto the Planet 1network, barely had the Doctor pulled on his VR glovesand goggles, when he realised the game was over. Bariswas about to die.

   On camera, the Doctor's hapless double slithered downa precarious-looking slope into a crater and attempted tocover himself in snow. Even a child could have foundhim.

   The Doctor stabbed one of the whirling holographicicons, and the camera angle changed to the hunter's pointof view. Commissar Weimark was a dark wraith, flittingwith expert grace over rubble and ruin. He reached the topof the crater and settled like a shadow to watch Baris'spanicked attempt to hide.

   `Ah,' said the Doctor. He watched Weimark watchBaris. Butler Freddie watched him.

   After all his clever work to get rid of the Supervisor,basically there was no obvious way of rescuing Bariswithout being unmasked.

   Strike that, there was just no way.

   Weimark silently drew the rifle from his back.

   The Doctor looked at the floating menu screen forinspiration. The icons shone in coloured letters:COMMAND,               OPERATIONS,          TRANSPORT,SECURITY. Which controls were unsecured? Whichcould he get to?

   He had no time at all.

   Butler Freddie was transfixed by the image on the

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screen. `Nice to be in at the death, eh, Baris?'

   Weimark produced a high-explosive rocket grenade,which he fitted to the end of his rifle. He was going toannihilate the entire crater.

   For a second, the Doctor wondered why he shouldbother. After all, Baris had set him up for this stupidsafari. Wasn't this poetic justice? There was no earthlyreason to save this ridiculous duplicate.

   `Que sera sera,' said the Doctor and touched a virtualcommand icon. A klaxon screamed out an alarm. Thelights turned red. The robots stopped and stared.

   `Sabotage!' yelled Butler Freddie. `Get away fromthere!'

   `Me?' the Doctor replied and pressed another icon. Andanother six icons.

   Butler Freddie literally threw him out of his chair. Thegloves and goggles snapped off and flew across the room.Security robots cruel-looking noblemen with pencilmoustaches and white stockings leaped on top of theDoctor, pinning him to the marble floor.

   `What have you done?' screamed Butler Freddie.

   `What, little old me?' said the Doctor from under thepile of bodies. `To be honest, I'm not sure I know myself.'

No good. He was completely spent. Baris came to thatrealisation as he saw the glint of the hunter's rifle. Hispursuer was hiding in the rubble, aiming at him from thetop of the crater. Baris gave up. Let the hunter fire; let himkill. There was no more.

   He was the Doctor, and he had to rescue Donna.

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   Baris twitched. He jumped up. Stones moved and hislegs slipped out from beneath him. For a moment he wasweightless and then he was tumbling.

   In a way he was lucky. Baris dropped eight metres andfell shoulder first into a huge pool of ice, which shatteredlike a bomb. He dropped under.

   The water was deep and unbelievably cold. Freezingmush forced its way down his throat and numbed himcompletely. Baris rolled over, clenched in a fist of ice.Cold pressed his head like a band of metal.

   Death here would be welcome; an end to theexhaustion of the chase.

   He was the Doctor, and he had to rescue Donna.

   No, Baris thought. I can't. Not any more. Let medrown. Stars exploded in his eyes. He sensed his handswere gripping an iron railing but he felt nothing.

   He was the Doctor, and he had to rescue Donna.

   A black cloud spread through his body suffocation. Ifhe let go of the railing he would drift up into the hunter'sgun site. He was finished whatever he did.

   The water moved beneath him. Baris opened hisnumbed eyes and saw a bright, artificial light. Was thisdeath? The light was moving... until he realised the lightwas staying still and he was being pulled; down the plughole, down the drain...

Commissar Weimark stood up. The Doctor had to be dead.Except... that water-filled crater was probably deepenough to stay concealed. If a man could hold his breath;if he could survive the cold...

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   Weimark knew from experience just how muchpunishment a body could take. The Doctor could still bealive. Therefore he was.

   Weimark began to rush down the side of the crater. Forsome reason, the water was churning and seemed to bedraining away.

   He saw a blurred yellow light in the pool. Instinctively,Weimark raised his rifle and fired a high-explosive shellright at it.

   The blast was far more powerful than even heexpected. Water, concrete, metal and stone erupted in aflash and boom of incredible power. He had hitsomething, something explosive.

   Weimark allowed himself a shout of triumph thenlooked up. Debris and water from the huge blast droppedlike hail around him. The ground under his feet shiftedand, as Baris had before, Weimark skidded. The crater wasfalling in. He cursed and tried to stay upright. Before hecould regain his balance, the Commissar was buriedbeneath a cascade of rubble.

The security robots pinned the Doctor to a wall.

   Butler Freddie glared. `What did you do?'

   `Your wig's got all mussed,' the Doctor replied. `Youshould powder it more.'

   `Stop this waffle!'

   The klaxons ceased. The Control Room was nowunnaturally quiet. Skull-docked Freddies twitchedfrantically.

   `Monorail Station Red 552, Beriagrad Zone.

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Activated.'

    Butler Freddie checked a console. `You uncloaked asupply monorail junction access nodal...'

    `If you mean I opened a door to a hidden train station,you should just say so...' the Doctor looked irritated. `Ihate technobabble.'

    Butler Freddie rubbed his moustache. `The Doctor. Yousaved him.'

    `No I didn't!'

    `I saw you!' The robot was so angry that little sparks ofelectricity were spitting from its mouth. `You helped theDoctor escape! Don't deny it!'

    The Doctor grinned. `Oh. All right then. But look, I didit for you just as much as for me.'

    `In what way for me?'

    The Doctor tapped his nose. `You'll have to take myword for it. Top secret. You need Security ClearanceAlpha; yellow, red and ultra-violet level... For your eyesonly. And that. Just go about your business.' He began toshout. `Move along! There's nothing to see!'

    Butler Freddie thought this through. He nodded,coming to a decision, and beckoned the two securityFreddies. `He's lying. Kill him.'

    The robots pulled jewel-studded revolvers from ornatebelts. They smiled at the Doctor, who raised a finger. `Ah,now wait just a cotton-picking minute. You know theorders. Remember the Supervisor! You can't kill me...' hisvoice trailed off and he shifted his eyes to Butler Freddie.`Can you?'

    Butler Freddie was positively smiling. `Actually, yes I

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can. Bye-bye.'

   The security robots stepped forward.

   `Err,' said the Doctor.

   The security robots aimed their guns.

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    `One word,' said the Doctor to the robots in front of

    him. `Sebastiene.'

        The robotic arms holding the guns twitched.

        `Oh he's bluffing,' said Butler Freddie. `Kill him.'

        There was a pause. Everyone was looking at the

    Doctor.

        Who started to laugh.

        Butler Freddie flinched as the laughter roared out. It

    was a deep bass laugh, a fruity laugh, a rather if truth be

    told unhinged laugh.

        `Bwah ha ha!' roared the Doctor. `He's got you right

    where he wants you. He's playing you like insects on a

    string instrument.'

        He saw Butler Freddie was hooked. It didn't want to

    be, but it was hooked. The robot waved the guns away and

    sighed. `What are you talking about?'

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   The Doctor wiped his eyes. He shook his head, as ifpitying the robots. He looked positively demonic as hesaid: `You poor deluded fools. Have you never heard of...the Doctor Trap?'

Donna heard a vehicle drive down the road that lednowhere. At last, someone was coming.

   `Doctor,' she said without thinking. Unwanted tearsswelled in her eyes.

   She had thought she would go mad. Three days she hadbeen here. Three mind-numbing, empty days. Donna haddone some boring temp jobs in her life, but the hotel was anew definition of dull.

   To cope with the boredom, she had taken to eating.Whatever else the Exquisite Traveller lacked, there wasalways plenty of food. Sandwiches, cakes, muffins,chocolate, whatever, whenever.

   Once she had ordered, Donna would lie on her bed andstare at the ceiling until she heard the knock on the door.She would get up, open the door and pick up the tray inthe empty corridor. She never saw who delivered the foodbut she was getting used to that now. The Doctor wasrunning up a painful room service charge. Doubly painful;for when he arrived Donna was going to break his jaw.She was going to get even for sticking her here in thisliving hell. Oh yes, there was more than one bill to settle.

   At first she believed the car engine to be anotherphantom noise, another little devil put here to torment her.However, she couldn't help herself; she got up to look.She swung herself off the bed, noting how heavy her

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stomach felt. She was already out of breath; how long hadit been since she had been on her feet? The ever-presentrain streaked down the window.

    Tyres squealed on tarmac and scrunched gravel. Ahandbrake creaked, and the engine stopped.

    Donna waited. Sticky raspberry jam lined her lips. Shedidn't want to leave her food dream; she wanted to goback to the nothingness. Best to ignore the sound.

    Then car doors were slamming, and a young man wasshouting, `Where am I? What is this place?' Donnarecognised a tremble in the voice. The tremble of barelycontrolled hysteria.

    `Damn it,' she snapped. She should get back to bed; thesound was a trick. There was nothing to see. Anotherphantom noise indeed. More torture.

    Donna sagged against the window; cold glass againsther face. She moaned.

    Then she saw the man. He ran onto the little square ofgrass between her block and the wing opposite. He wasquick and fit and blond, looking around sharply. Lookingfor a way out.

    Good luck, mate, she thought.

    Three other men dressed as hotel porters skidded roundthe corner after him. The hunted man ran to a downstairswindows. He banged his fist on the glass and cursed whenit failed to smash.

    The three porters were quickly on him. Five minuteslater, they bundled him away but not without cost tothemselves. The blond man knocked out quite a fewporters' teeth before he was overpowered and dragged off.

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  Donna walked into the bathroom and looked in themirror. She wiped her mouth and stared her puffy, indolenteyes down. This was no time to lie in bed waiting for theDoctor. She had work to do. She was going to find thatyoung man if it killed her.

There was absolutely no point asking the receptionist.Sadie would be her usual helpful self and end up no helpat all. Donna knew she would have to hunt the newprisoner room by room. They, whoever they were,wouldn't want Donna and him to get together, which wasas good a reason as any for trying.

   She decided to search the opposite wing. Logically,they would put him as far away from her as they could.

   Donna ignored the chat and bustle she heard in all theparts of the hotel she wasn't in. Didn't they tire ofthinking she was fooled? Were they even bothering towatch her? She crossed the courtyard, into the lobby andwalked up the stairs to the first floor of this identical wing.

   `Hello?' she called.

   `Who's that?' a voice responded. The desperationconvinced her. This was for real.

   `Me!' she shouted, far too eager. She thought she wasfalling for another trick when the man walked out of aroom and looked at her.

   Now Donna considered herself a very good judge ofmale beauty. This was a subject that had interested hersince, well, let's say thirteen...

   He was without the doubt the most handsome man shehad ever seen. Dare she say it, more handsome even than

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the Doctor.

   Tall, blond and deeply tanned. He was wearing anexpensive grey suit which barely hid a body that lookedlike it saw six hours gym a day.

   `Oh my,' she couldn't help saying.

   `Who are you?' the man asked. He dropped into ananimalistic pose, ready to run or fight. Donna realised shewas blushing.

   `I'm... er... Donna, that is. Noble.'

   `Noble?'

   `That's my name. I think so anyway. Yeah. Sorry.'

   The man smiled. `Are you all right?'

   Donna nodded, feeling foolish.

   He looked round. `I'm guessing you're not one of the...well, whoever they are.'

   `No, I'm a prisoner too,' she replied. `Assuming youare... I mean...'

   `Yes, I'm a prisoner. The prisoner, you might say. Iwasn't expecting anyone else. Listen, do you know whereI might get a cup of tea?'

He was clever. Despite his outward charm, Donna realisedthe prisoner had given almost nothing away about himself.On the other hand, he knew almost everything about her,including the message from the Doctor.

   She was pleased to see he had no fear of Sadie or anyof the other so-called staff. Once in reception he hadwinked at Donna then bellowed for tea and cake.Immediately! He then sat down in the biggest, comfiestsofa right in the middle of the lobby. Donna followed his

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example, giggling.

   For the first time ever, she saw Sadie scowl, and thatcheered Donna up considerably. The receptionist skulkedoff to the kitchen and returned with a tray brimming withtea pots, milk and muffins.

   `Careful with that,' the prisoner ordered, just as Sadiewas lowering the tray.

   `Yes, sir,' replied the receptionist, much too brightly.She smiled and tottered back behind the reception deskand the safety of her office.

   `Might as well enjoy ourselves while we're here,' saidthe prisoner.

   `Why not?' Donna said back.

   `So you're a friend of the Doctor?'

   `I'm sorry,' she said, `but I don't even know yourname.'

   The prisoner laughed. `Sorry. Pleased to meet you,Donna. I'm Sebastiene.'

Concrete shifted. The patrol sergeant noted the movementout of the corner of his eye. He waved his hand and hissquad dived for cover.

    Of course, this wasn't really Beriagrad, and the patrolsergeant and his squad weren't real soldiers. They justthought they were. The moving concrete was real though.

    Sergeant Laki had heard the blast ten minutes ago. Atfirst he had taken it for another downed aircraft. Whenyou had been in Beriagrad as long as he was programmedto believe he had, you got able to identify what had blownup by the type of explosion it made. Helped to tell the

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difference between a wreck from which you could salvagefood and ammunition and one that was going to machinegun you down.

    When he looked, Laki saw a hole at the bottom of thecrater that looked like no other hole he had ever seen. Thehole was large and perfectly square and pouring outsmoke.

    Laki whistled and his ragged squad of two men andtwo women began a careful descent over the loose debris.Falling snow was covering their tracks as they closed inon the hole. They were just getting to it when the concreteshifted.

    Laki reasoned that someone had got themselves buried.Maybe it was an enemy. One of the few perks ofBeriagrad was finding a helpless Western soldier to playwith. Gave you something to do to take your mind off thehorror. Bit of fun.

    The concrete moved again. Laki waved at one of hissoldiers to take a look. Could be a booby trap theWesterns were cunning and the sergeant wasn't going tobe the one who did the poking around.

    With understandable reluctance, the nominated privatesneaked up to the rubble. She held her rifle out bayonetfirst and jabbed the concrete. She stepped back.

    `Again,' said Laki.

    Swallowing, the private obeyed.

    The rubble erupted. A dusty white arm grabbed theprivate's rifle. Instinctively, she stepped back and pulled.Another arm appeared, this one holding a pistol. Thepistol roared and the robot soldier collapsed. The report of

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the weapon echoed across the snowy crater.

   Laki's squad dropped to their knees and aimed. A manemerged from the rubble. His face was gaunt, white andexpressionless.

   The ghost man pointed his smoking pistol straight atthe sergeant. Dark, expressionless eyes gazed into his. `Goon,' said the ghost. `Shoot.'

   Laki made a strangled sound in his throat, realising hissquad was aiming rifles at the Eastern Marks' most seniorpolitical officer.

   `Where is the Doctor?' asked Commissar Weimark.

   `W-who?'

   Weimark holstered his pistol, dusted himself down andstared down at the ruined entrance. `An exit point.'Weimark paused for thought. `The Doctor was allowed toescape. Sebastiene cheated. Very well. Sergeant, bringyour squad. We're going after him.'

   Surprised but compliant, Laki did as he was told.

`So what you're saying,' said Butler Freddie, `is thatgetting killed is all part of the Doctor's plan.'

   `The Doctor Trap,' said the Doctor. `Exactly.'

   For want of anywhere better, Butler Freddie hadbrought the Doctor to the conference room, with itsmahogany table. The TARDIS stood in the shadows, as ifplaced there to taunt the Time Lord.

   The robot was agitated, and the Doctor felt it his dutyto make it feel worse. He poured tea and milk into one ofSebastiene's priceless cups and stirred vigorously. Theroom rang with the annoying metallic chink.

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    Butler Freddie's moustache quivered. `I don'tunderstand.'

    `Of course you don't. That's the whole point.'

    `And you're saying Lord Sebastiene knows about thisDoctor Trap?'

    The Doctor gave Butler Freddie a look. `Der! He's theone who told me about it! Why do you think he let me de-cloak the monorail station?'

    Butler Freddie wanted him dead, it really did. `Look...'it spluttered, trying to find a loophole in the story,`there's... it's...'

    `Listen, robot. As soon as the Doctor is killed, the trapis going to spring. Then we're all in trouble: me, you andespecially Sebastiene. Why do you think he keeps beingcaught so easily? Being caught and killed is exactly whatthe Doctor wants. It's logic. You see?'

    `No.'

    `This is way beyond your little megatronic brain. It's todo with squishy human stuff. Ask Sebastiene when he getsback. I don't mind.'

    Butler Freddie nodded. `I will. You can be sure of that.'

    The Doctor swallowed his tea. `Where's he goneanyway?' he asked. `Just asking.'

    `I don't know. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you.'

    Putting his cup back on the silver tray, the Doctorleaped up. `Anyway, time's a wasting. I'm sure you've gotall sorts of robotic butler duties to be getting on with. AndI've got a fiendish Doctor Trap to unravel, so...'

    `Wait,' said Butler Freddie.

    The Doctor slumped. `What now?'

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   Butler Freddie stood. Dark eyes glared. It was thinkingthings through.

   No, thought the Doctor with regret, this one isn't asstupid as it looks.

   `If the Doctor is killed, he is dead,' said the Butler,slowly. `What sort of trap is that?'

   The Doctor smiled yet again. `My friend. It isn't myplace to call you stupid. You're a robot, it isn't your fault.'

   `Explain it then. How can the Doctor want to die?'

   `Haven't you worked it out yet? Whoever is out thereisn't the Doctor.'

The afternoon passed quickly in a blissful haze of tea andchat. Sebastiene was charming and handsome and hisstory was ever so tragic.

   `I created this world. Well, I fashioned it anyway.Planet 1. My home.'

   Donna smiled. `I knew this couldn't be Bracknell. Sohow come you're trapped with me, then? And how do youknow the Doctor?'

   `Everyone knows the Doctor. I was in trouble. I sent amessage asking him for help. Which is I guess why you'rehere. I am afraid this is going to get complicated.'

   Donna looked around. Muzak was creeping round thelobby; glitzy and tatty like Christmas decorations left uptoo long. Donna felt if she heard the Sugababes one moretime she would scream. `Anything that stops meremembering I'm here is fine.'

   `Please don't blame me for this place,' said Sebastiene.`The planetary terraforming circuits have a telepathic

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quality. They use your emotional secretions to model ananalogue environment.'

   `Uh?'

   Sebastiene smiled. `Don't worry; I don't understandhow it works either.'

   `I thought you said you run Planet 1.'

   `No, Planet 1 runs Planet 1. I'm more like a... an ideasman. A consultant. When I arrived, all the machinery wasalready in place. I just figured out how to use it. Use it,but not understand it.'

   `Sounds like me and Microsoft Excel.'

   `Mm?'

   `Don't worry,' said Donna. `So where are you fromoriginally?'

   Sebastiene stood up and stretched. `Would you believe:Earth?'

   Donna realised she had stopped breathing. Sebastiene'sstretch was about the most graceful and attractive malemovement she had ever witnessed.

   `Earth 1973, to be exact,' he was saying. `I was ascientist. Well, a student. I was only twenty, a not verybrilliant undergraduate at Cambridge completely out of hisdepth. I volunteered for this little project. There was thisweird meteorite that they wanted investigating. I was to sitin a lab and squint into an electron microscope and waitfor it to do something. What that might be they never toldme. If anything did happen, I was supposed to run and tellthe experts. Eventually, something did happen. There wasa blinding flash and suddenly here I was, lying in the dustof an alien planet.'

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   `How?'

   `Do you really want to hear the theories? I've spent along time on them.'

   `I'm guessing I don't.'

   `You're right. Anyway, here I was a million lightyears from where I was supposed to be. For a while I justpanicked. The sky was different, all purple and no Moon.There was only desert and these strange metallicformations, like gigantic radio antennae. Only theyweren't radio-wave receivers. They were thought-wavereceivers. Specifically, my thoughts.'

   `How did they get there?' asked Donna. `Who builtthem?'

   `I don't know. The old long-dead civilisation story, Iexpect. I remember thinking, if I had to be transportedsomewhere, why couldn't it be a tropical beach inMauritius? Next thing I knew, there I was: on a beach:white sand, clear sea, sunshine.'

   `The antenna things had picked up on that.'

   `Right,' said Sebastiene. `And from then on it was justa matter of working out how this massive powerhouse of aplanet worked. You may have noticed this physique, thisface?'

   Donna could feel herself blushing. `Not really. Well, allright. Yes.'

   Sebastiene smiled, his perfect teeth flashing in the lowlight. `I made it myself. You don't want to know myoriginal appearance. Let's just say: science geekmultiplied by a thousand.'

   He looked at the reception desk. Sadie had come out of

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hiding and was watching them. Her jewelled fingers werescratching at the counter, tearing up brochures. She didn'tseem to know she was doing it.

   `I rather think we've run out of time,' said Sebastiene.

   `Wait,' Donna snapped. `How did it go wrong? Howcome you lost it all?'

   Sebastiene smiled. `Someone came, stole my identityand took it all off me.'

   `Who?'

   `I don't know. But now he also calls himselfSebastiene... and he looks like me. That's why I put outthe emergency distress call. I hoped the Doctor wouldpick it up and find me. The situation here is desperate.This imposter may well have fooled the Doctor intothinking he's me. Planet 1 has become dangerous.'

   Through the windows, Donna saw the male portersstanding outside in the rain, not moving. Not for the firsttime, Donna noted how smooth and expressionless theirfaces were. `When did they get here?' she asked. `Who arethey?'

   `Androids,' said Sebastiene. `Constructs. His.'

   Donna stood up. She looked around then picked up apadded chair. `If they're androids,' she said, `we shouldfight our way out.' She raised the chair. It was heavyenough to do a good job.

   `We can't,' Sebastiene replied. `This hotel is amolecular bonded micro-zone. There is no way out.'

   `There has to be a solution.'

   `Yes,' said Sebastiene. `Someone must rescue us.'

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    The water poured down the station steps and dumped

    Baris onto a simple underground platform. Luckily for

    him, a train had pulled in. The train was a long featureless

    piece of metal: bronze and smooth like a section of pipe.

    Baris slammed into its side. The water spread in a thin

    gruel across the platform.

       Battered and exhausted, shocked and in agony, Baris

    scrabbled for a handhold. He barely knew what he was

    doing; a primitive instinct for survival all that functioned

    in his bruised, frozen, soaked brain. `What more...' he

    moaned. `What next?'

       The train trundled forward, picking up speed. Baris

    scrabbled at its smooth sides. If he stayed on the platform,

    he was a dead man. This was his only chance. He saw a

    bump in the smooth metal some way down the train's

    side. A handle heading his way. Had to be.

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   Baris instinctively grabbed the handle. The train spedup. He closed his eyes and started to run. `Open the door!'he yelled. `Open the door!'

   Aware that the platform was about to run out, he triedto let go. His hand, however, seemed clamped to the hull.`Don't let me die,' he pleaded, `don't let me die...'

   He felt a force grip him, like gravity or magnetism orsomething, and he was swept up and pressed hard againstthe metal side.

   Then he was in darkness, travelling at a speed he knewshould have been impossible to survive. He should havebeen torn from the handle and hurled back down the track.

   The train hissed up and down through tunnel aftertunnel, turning unbelievable angles and once even leavingthe monorail track altogether and dropping down into alower tunnel. Baris felt very sick but he knew better thanto let go.

   Finally, there was light again and the train slowed andgravity suddenly gripped his body. He weighed a ton. Hisarms couldn't hold on any more. With a yell, he fell.

   Onto another platform.

   Baris lay spread-eagled. He couldn't move. He hadbeen chased without respite from one end of this planet tothe other. Wherever he had ended up would have to wait.Even his need to find Donna would have to wait. Thisfloor was hard but safe. The train whooshed off.

   A long time later, Baris looked up to see a long metalbench lining an empty platform. Hardly able to walk, hecrawled to the bench, lay down and fell asleep.

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`Curse him!' bellowed Commissar Weimark. `He has theluck of the Western devil.'

   The featureless train had left the station with the Doctorclinging to its side. Weimark stared down the tunnel. Heneeded to think.

   `What is this place?' said the sergeant. `I've never seenanything like it.' The android soldiers ran their handsacross the smoothly bored platform walls.

   `Yes you have,' Weimark replied. `You were probablydelivered here.'

   Ignoring Laki's puzzled expression, Weimark tried tothink how he should proceed. `The Doctor must haveknown about the station. This is treachery.'

   Unfortunately, this realisation did not help him catchthe Time Lord. He could hardly walk down the tunnelafter his quarry. Not with 500-kilometre-an-hour trainscoming up behind.

   `We should get back to the city,' said one of thesoldiers. `This is a bad place.'

   `That's right,' said the sergeant. `Commissar, we shouldgo.'

   Their programming, Weimark realised. They wouldreact in this way to any breach of the Beriagrad protocol.Anything the squad could not understand they wouldavoid. He had to make them understand. He would needthese robots.

   `I am afraid not,' he told them. `Sergeant. This is aWestern Mark transportation tunnel. We have been awareof them for some time but chose not to tell the commonsoldier. We wished to maintain the pretence of ignorance.

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The enemy was not to be alerted. Until the final victoriousassault, of course. You understand?'

   The sergeant's neck clicked strangely. The robot wasmaking up its small mind. `Yes, Commissar,' it said. `AWestern Mark transportation tunnel.'

   `Consider yourself under my command. We have workto do. You will discuss this mission with no one. You willnot ask questions. Just follow my orders.'

   `Yes, Commissar.'

   Weimark heard a hissing noise. A new train wasarriving. Apparently driverless, it sidled up to the platformand stopped. The Commissar nodded at the vehicle. `Wemust follow the Doctor.'

   `The doors do not open,' said one of the privates. `Howdo we get onto the train?'

   Weimark raised his rifle and fired an armour piercinground into the side. The metal burst inwards. The gunshotechoed down the tunnel, getting fainter as it travelled.

   `We use our initiative,' he said. `Get on.'

`I love you, my master,' said the Butler on the TV screen.`Please don't be angry.'

    `Yeah, all right,' Sebastiene replied. `Let's not getgooey.'

    The Butler looked almost mournful. Sebastiene wastouched; well he would have been if he hadn't known hehad programmed the robot to act that way.

    `Baris?' asked Sebastiene.

    `I'm not clever enough for him.'

    Sebastiene leaned back on his bed. `You're worried

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about this "Doctor Trap".'

   `That's right,' said the Butler. `I've thought and thoughtbut I just can't understand how it might work. Now theDoctor's disappeared into the monorail network. He couldbe anywhere. I think this whole Doctor Trap is just a packof lies.'

   Sebastiene sneered at the screen. `You idiot. That's justwhat he wants you to think. Of course there's a DoctorTrap. A fiendishly clever trap. He's not the Doctor fornothing.'

   `I don't trust Baris.'

   `I don't trust anyone,' Sebastiene replied. `That's whyI'm here instead of there. You think I'm on holiday? Youthink I want Baris running round the Chateau poking hisnose in? Look, if it makes you feel better, be assured Bariswill not leave Planet 1 alive.'

   The Butler smiled. `Yes, that makes me feel a lot better.Thank you, my master.'

   `But until I get back, you give him enough rope.'Sebastiene reached to turn the screen off.

   `To hang himself?' asked the Butler brightly.

   Sebastiene sagged. `You robots really know how toruin the moment, don't you. Yes: enough rope to hanghimself. Oh... go away.'

He had no idea how long he had been asleep. Time hadlost its meaning here in this monorail station. Barisguessed some days had passed. Any relief he'd had fromescaping his hunters had long worn off. He needed food,badly.

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   He had found water, if you could call it that.Condensation formed on metal handrails and doors andalthough it kept him alive, the liquid tasted foul.

   He had tried all the potential exits, all the ways toescape. The platform was essentially a slightly wider partof the tunnel with lights and somewhere to sit. No doors,no ladders.

   Baris had thought about grabbing the handle on anothertrain as it passed through but he knew he lacked thecourage. He had been lucky once with that tactic. Neveragain. He was marooned, as surely as on a desert island.

   At some point, he was going to have to go into thetunnel. He was going to have to try and walk out. If he didthat, which would happen when he could no longer standthe hunger, a train was going to come along and flattenhim.

   He tried to think back. After all, he had plenty of timefor reflection. As the Doctor, surely he could expect toremember a past adventure in which he had escaped asimilar situation. No memories came. His past was acomplete blank.

   Well, not complete. For some reason, he wasremembering a totally different life. He could picture asmall housing unit in a conurbation in a sprawling city. Hecould remember sitting in a dark, square bedroom. Heremembered being plugged into an i-Dock, scouring theGalactic Neural Net. He remembered linking to otherminds and searching for information. Searching for news.News, scraps of information, anything that would numbthe tedium of his everyday boredom.

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   Where were his real memories? Where was Rose? Heknew the name but couldn't put a face to her. He knewthey had fought Daleks and Cybermen and even met herfamily but he didn't have any emotional attachment to thatknowledge. How could he have forgotten Rose?

   He lay on the bench and tried to relax. Hunger did notmake that attempt difficult. As he closed his eyes, Barisfelt this new memory rising to block out those othermemories. No, not blocking; superimposing. A face: hisown. The face looked at him and spoke. `You are theDoctor,' it said. `Donna is in trouble. You must find her.'The voice grew louder and louder until he couldn't hear orsee those initial memories at all. His own voice? Hissubconscious encouraging him to resist?

   Baris thought about what had happened to his mind. Hethought and thought until finally he thought he knew whatwas going on in there. Someone had implanted falsememories. Maybe they used the i-Dock to do it. Someonewas trying to convince him he was someone else.Someone wanted him to think he wasn't the Doctor.

   Baris sat up. Well, he wasn't going to let them.However they attacked his mind he would resist.

   `Time to go, Doctor,' he said. He would get down thattunnel and no, a train wouldn't come along and flattenhim. He refused to allow that possibility.

   He heard a familiar whooshing sound and, as if to testhis new determination straight away, a monorail train slidinto the station. If he followed the train out, he wouldprobably have some time before the next one turned up. Ifhe was lucky.

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   Only this train was different from the others. This trainstopped. The metal segments wheezed and groaned asthey cooled. Steam bled from its joints. A door towardsthe front fizzed with discharged static electricity andhissed open.

   Baris looked around for cover. There was none.Whatever was hiding behind that smooth bronze door wasgoing to step onto the platform and catch him in the open.

   No one came out.

   The train sat panting, like a dog waiting for its master.Baris smelled cooked food. He did not need to thinktwice; he ran for the open door.

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    They     were beating Sebastiene. Donna would wait

    outside his door, which she couldn't break down no matter

    how hard she thumped. The sounds from within, the

    muffled cries and the thuds, the mumbled questions and

    the defiant replies, left her in tears.

       When the sessions ended, when they had had enough,

    the door would click open and Sebastiene would stagger

    out. Donna would help him down to the lobby, their nest.

       Practised now, she dabbed his bruised face with cotton

    wool and water scrounged from the Exquisite Traveller's

    meagre first-aid box. Every day he took longer to recover.

    `Why are they doing this?' she asked.

       `They like it,' he said back.

       `There must be a reason. There has to be.'

       Sebastiene winced and held his jaw. `It's the other

    Sebastiene. He comes in with his pals, works me over and

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leaves.'

   `Where?' She tried not to sound hopeful. `I mean, ifthey've got a secret exit we could--'

   `Forget it,' said Sebastiene. `They're using thetransmat. I thought I had arranged it to be switched off but--'

   `If we got hold of this man. If I got in the room, put agun to his head, held him hostage...'

   Sebastiene smiled. `It's a nice idea, but there's a reasonyou can't get that door open, Donna. There's a molecularseal. You couldn't break it down in a million years. But Iadmire your imagination.'

   Donna dropped her cotton wool into the bowl. Thewater was red now. `That's the best I can do, Sebastiene.I'm sorry.'

   He sat up, wincing as he did so. `Listen, you'reterrific.'

   `I don't understand why they're beating you up. If theywanted to kill you, wouldn't they have done it by now?'She didn't wait for an answer. `Why bother to send youhere to meet me? They must want something.'

   She looked at him. He looked at her. They both spokeat once. `The Doctor.'

That afternoon, Sebastiene decided to take a walk roundthe grounds. `Sod the rain,' he said. `Let it fall.' And forthe first time in what seemed like for ever, Donna laughed.

   Sadie watched from the reception desk as they linkedarms and stood in the doorway.

   `We're off,' said Sebastiene. `We're taking a

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constitutional.'

   `A perambulation,' said Donna.

   `A walk!'

   Sadie smiled. `Have a nice time,' she said.

   `Oh Sadie, while we're out...'

   `Yes, Sebastiene?'

   `Don't forget to kill yourself. A really excruciating andhideous death would be ideal.' He smiled back.

   `Have a nice day,' said Sadie again, without changingher expression.

   `Why do they want the Doctor?' asked Donna. `Andwhy don't they have a go at me?'

   They had reached the road's first pointless turn. Fromhere they would be walking in an endless loop. All roadsled to the Exquisite Traveller.

   Sebastiene shrugged. `Good question.'

   `They must ask you something.'

   `I think he's worried. Afraid, even. The Doctor hasdone something to him.'

   `That sounds familiar.'

   `No, I mean really afraid. Is he really as terrifying asthe stories say?'

   Donna remembered her first encounter with the Doctor.When she had been supposed to be getting married. Sheremembered what she said when he asked her to join him.

   `I told him once he needed someone to stop him.' Shelooked at Sebastiene. `Yeah, he is that terrifying. Yourinvader bloke is right to be worried.'

   `You care about the Doctor very greatly, don't you?'

   Donna nodded. She hadn't pressed that sore point for a

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while.

    `Sometimes I don't want to,' she said. `Sometimes Iwish I didn't feel for him. He is big and he is scary, and Ishouldn't let the way he messes about and pretends to be abig kid fool me. But I do.'

    `Why? I mean, if you know he's trying to fool you?'

    `Because I like it. And that's part of the Scary. I don'tlike what he brings out in me.'

    Sebastiene chuckled. The chuckle turned into a coughas the wounds kicked in. Donna held him up as hestumbled. `You shouldn't laugh,' she scolded.

    `I can't help it,' he replied. `What you say about theDoctor. It sounds just like what I thought about Planet 1when I first figured the place out.'

    `Uh?'

    `Without any effort, I just suddenly had access tomassive power. Just me: an ordinary man from Bexley. Icould change my physical structure. I could alter thegeography of an entire planet. I could, quite literally,create matter out of thin air. Yes, you could say I didn'tlike what it brought out in me. What was possible in mylife had changed. Big time.'

    Donna thought about this for a while. `That's it. Withthe Doctor... I feel I could get anything I want. But it's notquite like that.'

    `What do you mean?'

    `He's... just good. I mean, he can be mischievous andannoying. But he's good.' Donna sensed her face glowingred. `Good in that if there's bad, he fights it. And thisbloke that's forced you out, well anyone who can give out

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a beating like he gives you, he has to be bad. If Planet 1can give what you want, the Doctor's job is to get you towork out what's worth wanting.'

   She squeezed Sebastiene's hand. `Which is why I havefaith. The Doctor will find us.'

The beatings continued. Donna was beginning to believethat this other Sebastiene, the imposter, just hit the realone because he liked it.

   Her helplessness in the face of the violence was the realtorture. She pounded on the door but no one everanswered. They took not a blind bit of notice. Just thosesame old rumbling voices and the barked questions.

   They were going to kill him.

   When he came out, she dressed his wounds. Everytime. Sebastiene remained chirpy, never giving in, but hewas fading away. Each time, he took longer to recover. Healso had information.

   Sebastiene lay on a sofa in the reception. The woundswere starting to look permanent. He needed seriousmedical attention and fast.

   Donna listened as he croaked out what he had learned.`The Doctor is loose,' he said. `He has escaped and is outand about somewhere on Planet 1. From the level andintensity of his anger,' and here Sebastiene rubbed his jaw,`I think the imposter has messed up. He totallyunderestimated the Doctor.'

   `He wouldn't be the first,' said Donna. `But don't youget it? The Doctor is coming for us. He has to have aplan.'

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    `That's what I thought.' Sebastiene looked at her withthose heavily lidded eyes. `Are we talking about theDoctor Trap?'

    Because of that, because of what he said, Donnarealised what was going on.

    She felt like she had just woken up. Anger flared upinside her, a quick intense burst of real wild rage. She feltlike blasting off, lashing out.

    However, she was learning. If the Doctor had taughther anything, it was that she could focus her anger and useit as a weapon. Much more destructive. Let's hold back alittle, she thought. Let's wait.

    `Are you all right, Donna?' asked Sebastiene. `You'vegone a funny colour.'

    `What do you know about the Doctor Trap?' she askedin a shifty little voice. Like he had just said some magicwords.

    Beneath his wounded-soldier act he was all smugrelaxation and ease. `Almost nothing,' he said sincerely.`Just the words. When they beat me, that's all they keepasking. What is the Doctor Trap?'

    `If they're beating you to find out what it is, wouldn't itbe better if I didn't tell you?'

    Sebastiene leaned to the teapot, as if to pour himselfanother cup. Donna tried not to smile.

    `Hmm,' he said.

    `No, it's probably better if I tell you what the DoctorTrap is,' she said.

    He stopped squirming. Immediately. `So there is one?'

    `It might get us out of here, mightn't it?' She smiled her

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dumbest smile. `It might help?'

   `If you're sure,' he replied, trying to catch her mood.

   Donna looked around, cagey. Her voice dropped to awhisper.

   `When I first met the Doctor, I was going to getmarried, see? To this bloke I really liked, called Lance.You with me?'

   Sebastiene nodded.

   `Lance spent ages chatting me up, being my mate. Wegot on really well. Whenever I needed a shoulder to cryon, there was good old Lance. He seemed too good to betrue. He told me he loved me, yeah, and that we shouldget married. Only thing was, the Doctor turned up andworked out that all the time Lance had been playing thisgame with me, tricking me, using me. Why don't you pourthe tea, Sebastiene?'

   Sebastiene seemed to be struggling. He was squirmingagain. `Yes, sure.' He sat up and fiddled with the teapot.

   `This... oh what's the word for my lovely Lance... ohyeah: scumbag. Well, he was being manipulated bysomeone smarter than him, promising him all sorts ofanything, and he fell for it. Like an idiot, you know what Imean? You all right there, Sebastiene? Hasn't gone cold,has it?'

   He gave her a wan smile. `Cold? I don't understand.'

   `The tea, Sebastiene, the tea. So ever since then I'velearned to become just a little bit suspicious of prettyyoung boys who think Donna's a bit desperate and a bitthick, and they can do what they want with her. Not beingrude am I?'

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    `Donna, what are you saying?' said Sebastiene. `You'rewrong, listen. They tortured me... in there...'

    Donna put on her mock-offended look. `Thinking theycan mess me about so they can find out what the Doctor'sup to. What's up, Sebastiene? Ain't we friends any more?'Only now did Donna realise her voice had been gettinglouder.

    Sebastiene stopped playing with the tea service and satback on his sofa. They stared at each other. For the firsttime, Donna could see what was really going on inSebastiene's mind. He wasn't used to being sussed out,and he wasn't doing a very good job of hiding it.Sebastiene hurled the tea tray off the table then returned tostare again. In the distance, Donna saw Sadie step back.The receptionist was frightened.

    `Why don't you shut up?' he whispered.

    She refused to be cowed. The best way to handlebullies was to give it back to them. She hoped.

    Donna stood and put her hands on her hips. `I'm gonnatell you exactly what the Doctor Trap is. You want toknow? Do you really want to know? Do you?'

    `Just tell me,' he snarled. `Tell me what the Doctor Trapis.'

    `It's a warning, for me to avoid you.'

    `That's not a trap.'

    `Yes it is. It's a trap for you. He wanted you to ask meabout the Doctor Trap, so when you said those specificwords to me, I would know you were a scumbag too.'Donna laughed. `The Doctor, he's brilliant, he is.'

    She had him. All he could do was sit and stare. `I'm

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right,' she said. `I am, aren't I?'

   Sebastiene smiled and, for the first time since she hadmet him, Donna was frightened. She realised he probablywasn't a very good loser. In fact, he was actually insane.Very calmly, he said: `You know I could kill you instantly.It would be so easy.'

   `Shut up, I'm sick of listening to you.'

   He walked towards the exit. `Enjoy the rest of your lifeDonna,' he said. `I'll send someone for you. Soon.'

   `Get back here!' Donna snapped. She didn't want to beleft alone, not again, but she was damned if she was goingto let him know that.

   Sebastiene waved an idle hand goodbye and walkedinto the rain. Donna stared after him. She stared for a longtime, afraid to let her anger go, afraid generally.

With that smug, error-free brain process called hindsight,Donna worked out she probably could have played thatsituation better.

   Donna paced the hotel waiting for something nasty tohappen. When nothing did, she wondered whether thewaiting was the vengeance. Perhaps he had just left herthere to rot.

   She started to feel sleepy. Really sleepy. Funny whatstress could do to the mind. She felt she ought to bemaking plans for whoever he would send, but she justcouldn't summon the energy. She tried eating, but eventhat didn't work. In the end, she just went to bed.

   Delayed shock, she guessed, as she lay back and staredat the ceiling. Must be why she was so tired. Bit of sleep

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and she would be as right as rain. Yeah, bit of sleep, and ifthe Doctor finally actually turned up, she would be ready.

   Donna wondered what the Doctor was doing right now.Her last thought was that the one thing he definitely wouldnot be doing was being asleep.

The lights snapped on. Butler Freddie scooped him out ofbed again.

   The Doctor struggled in its grip. `Oh come on,' he said.`You cannot be serious.'

   There was an urgency in Butler Freddie's stride as hemarched the familiar route to the Trophy Room. Uh oh,thought the Doctor.

   Once again, Sebastiene was waiting for him. Only thistime he was angry.

   Uh Oh Chongo. Danger Island...

   The Butler threw the Doctor onto the couch. Theintelligent harnesses snaked their way around his body.`There's no need for this,' the Doctor insisted. He squintedat Sebastiene's face. `Have you been in a fight?'

   Sebastiene stood in a pool of light. He seemed onlyhalf-aware of the Doctor's presence. He was dressed in atorn suit, a rather fetching torn suit actually that made himlook very cute and vulnerable. `Like it,' said the Doctor.`The whistle. Goes well with those bruises on your face.Who did that?'

   `Stop your infantile prattling,' Sebastiene snapped. `I'msick of the sound of you.' In the background, ButlerFreddie giggled.

   He pressed a button, and a giant LCD screen dropped

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into view. Sebastiene waved a hand and his face rippled.The bruises on his face began to fade. Within seconds,they had all gone.

   `Clever,' said the Doctor. `Look, what have I done?' Hewas desperate to figure out what they had found out abouthim. `The Butler's been telling tales, hasn't he?'

   Sebastiene wiped his face with a towel and, for the firsttime, the Doctor saw the extent of his rage.

   The screen flickered into life. It revealed a small,featureless hotel room. The curtains were drawn, and afeeble light turned everything inside grey. A body lay onthe bed, immobile.

   `Donna Noble,' said Sebastiene, spitting the words out.`The feisty, strong Miss Donna Noble.'

   Donna. The one sure trump card Sebastiene held to gethim. The Doctor bit his lip.

   `I want the truth, Baris,' said Sebastiene. `I knowyou've been lying to me and it stops here. Who are you?Really?'

   The Doctor tried flim-flam; for old times' sake. `Mymaster, I don't know what you mean. I'm...'

   Sebastiene raised a finger. `Just to let you know, I'veturned off the oxygen supply for Miss Noble's littledomain. She is breathing the last of what remains.Already, she is unconscious. Planet 1 informs me that shewill die of asphyxiation in somewhere between six andtwelve minutes. Of course, brain damage will occur muchsooner than that.'

   The Doctor struggled in his bonds. `She's done nothingto you. Let her go.'

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    `I know you covet her, Baris, or whoever you are.You've been trying to find her since you arrived. So if youwant her you're going to have to tell me who you reallyare.'

    `Oh, master,' said Butler Freddie. `I knew you wereclever. You're cleverer than... the world. You see that girl.'He tapped the Doctor. `She's going to die.'

    `Sebastiene!' the Doctor snapped. `I'm warning you: letDonna go.'

    `Warning me?' said Sebastiene with the utmost calm.`Tell me, imposter: who are you?'

    `She's dying,' giggled Butler Freddie. `She's goingdown...'

    The Doctor looked at the body on the bed. He looked atthe black, endless Trophy Room with its motionless,illuminated treasures. He looked at Sebastiene, wholeaned casually against the dangling screen. And when hehad looked everywhere, he knew he had no choice.

    `You've won,' he said. `I'm the Doctor. I'm the realDoctor.'

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    Sebastiene put his hand over his mouth. He coughed. No,

    not a cough: a giggle.

       The Doctor wasn't in the mood. `All right,' he

    muttered. `Now let Donna go.'

       The restrainers held him firm. Up on the screen, in her

    pretend hotel room, Donna slept. How long, he thought,

    how long does she have?

       Sebastiene composed himself. He took a deep breath

    and started to speak. However, before any words could

    emerge, he snorted out a laugh. His gorgeous blue eyes

    were moist as he erupted into a fit of loud gusty chuckles.

    He wept with laughter.

       `Share the joke,' said the Doctor.

       Sebastiene held up a hand, indicating he would reply

    when he could. The Doctor stared at him, stern and angry.

       Finally, Sebastiene managed to control himself. `I

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apologise. It's just that... that I get it! I understand theDoctor Trap! Damned obvious if you're in the know;impossible if you're not. Brilliant, Doctor! Oh, what aclever fellow you are.'

   The Doctor strained against the metal bonds. `Thankyou, but Donna... safe... right?'

   `Oh I wouldn't go as far as to say "safe",' saidSebastiene. He looked up at the screen. `What use is shenow?'

   Her chest was rising and falling. But was it slowing?The Doctor couldn't be certain. How long would she lastwithout oxygen? How much was she using up?

   `I'm warning you, Sebastiene, all games apart, if youharm her...'

   Sebastiene grabbed the Doctor's face, inspecting it.`Quite, quite remarkable. What a clever chap. Fiendishlyclever. Devilishly clever, in fact...'

   `Can I kill him now?' asked a hopeful Butler Freddie.

   `Oh no,' boomed Sebastiene, raising his arms to thesky, making his speech to the heavens. `We don't kill ourfriends. Do we? Eh, Baris?'

   It took a moment for the Doctor to take in the words.He struggled round to look at Sebastiene. `Baris?'

   The Butler also realised. It visibly sagged, knowing theeffort to come. `Er, no, my master. This is the Doctor. Thereal Doctor. He told you.'

   The robot shook the Doctor, who took that as a hint.`Yes, I told you. I am the Doctor.'

   `Let's think this through,' said Sebastiene. `Release.'He clicked his fingers and the metal bonds relaxed and

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withdrew.

   `Sir,' stumbled Butler Freddie. `You're wrong.'

   Sebastiene gritted his teeth. `I run this planet, so do as Isay or you can join your scheming little friend theSupervisor on the scrapheap.'

   The Doctor rubbed his wrists. He had to get Donna outof that room.

   Sebastiene's face was without expression. `I reallydon't see any need for Donna any more. Not when I haveyou. Don't you understand, Baris? The Doctor hashypnotised you into thinking you're him. He must havewrestled the hypno-device from you and reversed itseffect. He sent you here to help him get through thehunting zones. The fifth column; the fly in the ointment.The Doctor Trap, brilliant!'

   The Doctor sighed. `No, it's the other way round, don'tyou see? I am the real Doctor. I am. Look, I've got the twohearts, the Time Lord DNA.'

   Sebastiene nodded indulgently. `As does Baris. There isno physical way to tell you apart.'

   `Sebastiene. Come on. You know I'm telling the truth. Iknow things only the real Doctor would know.'

   Sebastiene thought this statement through. `If theDoctor has made you believe you're the Doctor, then yourunderstanding of being the Doctor is based on your ownknowledge of the Doctor's history. As none of us know asmuch about the Doctor's history as you do, how are we toknow whether what you know is what the Doctor reallyknows or just what you know about the Doctor?'

   He smiled. `You see?'

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   Butler Freddie scratched his head. `My master. Can yousay that again?'

   `No.'

   The Doctor tried another tack. `Look, remember whatyou said the other day. You can kill me and I'll regenerate.Well, if it saves Donna's life.' He closed his eyes noblyand stood to attention. `I'll even let the Butler do it.'

   `Oh, yes please,' said Butler Freddie, licking his lips.

   `You've perked up,' the Doctor opened one eye andglared.

   The Trophy Room was quiet. The Doctor felt the coldeyes of the lifeless exhibits boring into him. How soonbefore he joined them?

   `No,' said Sebastiene.

   `You know it's the only way to be sure!' the Doctoryelled. `Do it, Sebastiene!'

   Sebastiene giggled. He was enjoying the intrigue; thegame.

   `Here's why not. You might believe you'll regeneratebut you won't. What killing you will do is lose me achance of catching the real thing.'

   `I am the Doctor!' shouted the Doctor. `I swear onmy...'

   `Now I'm interested. What will you swear on?'

   `I swear on my lives, as the last Time Lord. Terminatemy life. Regenerate me. Just save Donna.'

   He looked up at the big screen again and could see thatDonna's breathing was... well, it was gone. She wassuffocating.

   `You really would do that?' Sebastiene finally started to

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look convinced. He stared at the Doctor.

   `This is my problem,' he said at last. `If you are the realDoctor, then I don't need Donna Noble any more. Ifyou're Baris, I still need her, and for that reason I'll saveher life. Which is it?'

   The Doctor was stuck. Completely stuck.

   `Well?' asked Sebastiene.

   `I must be Baris,' said the Doctor.

   Sebastiene shouted, `Oxygenate Exclusion Zone 15.There. Wasn't so hard, was it?'

   The Doctor sagged. `Thank you, Sebastiene.'

   Sebastiene nodded, his charm and good humour backon show. `A fine night's work,' he said. `Shall we taketea? We can talk about what I want you to do next.'

The train seemed to know where it was going. Whateverthe destination, they were travelling there in a real hurry.Someone had a plan.

   Which was lucky because Baris was busy. The traincompartment was well furnished and luckily there was areally nice comfy bed for him to fall onto. Now hecouldn't get up again.

   The false memory implant was growing stronger. Thischaracter, this other person, was rattling around inside hishead. Whoever he was, he was responsible for a dullbanging in his mind that wouldn't let up. Literally a painin the neck.

   As the Doctor, Baris knew he was strong enough toresist any attempt to overwhelm him, but by heaven it washard work. The other personality was so real; so detailed.

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   `I am the Doctor,' Baris shouted, although he couldn'tremember that at all.

   Instead, he kept thinking about a large country house...no, not a house, a palace. Overdone like a giant weddingcake. And there was a man there too a really attractiveman, the kind of man you would lay down your life for.The man was smiling at him, and Baris rememberedwords. These words were joyous words, for the beautifulman was offering him everything he ever wanted. If onlyhe could remember what he wanted. What did the Doctorwant? Apart from to find Donna, of course.

   He remembered a bright white medical room.Incredible machinery; almost alive in its sumptuouscomplexity. Subatomic body scans, liquid diagnosis baths,infinitely tiny nano-scalpels. Him, cocooned in a bath ofthick multicoloured sludge, swirling lights, the scalpelstickling his insides.

   What did it mean? Why would this memory beimportant? There had to be a reason for the level of detail.

   The other character was much stronger now; the sadone who lay in his room and electronically scanned thegalaxy day after day after same old day. Baris knew thischaracter's habits, the rituals he went through beforeinserting the i-Dock. He knew the names of thischaracter's colleagues: Mou Loobom from Jupiter colony,obsessed with `sorting' the Time Lord's timeline, upsetwhen it just refused to make sense. Princess Po clonemonarchist of Derridan, who had turned her entire towninto a replica TARDIS. The smug Hamble Consort withhis insane theory that the Doctor was an anti-capitalist

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white magician.

   Acolytes, the same as him. No, not the same: rivals,envious of him. Because he knew more, was the best.

   Sitting on this train hour after hour, Baris came torealise the pain had reversed. Now the headaches werecoming when he forced himself to remember he was theDoctor. This other personality was a relaxing place to be,an easy place. The Doctor sparked painful lights in hismind. Much easier to go with the flow, let the train takethe strain; let in those memories of life in the ProximanHousing Unit...

   No!

   Baris sat up and a bolt of pain travelled from his brainthrough his hearts and down his spine. He punchedhimself in the forehead. `You are the Doctor!' He willedthis to be true. `You. Are. The. Doctor.'

   He had to stay awake and sane, no matter how painful.If he gave in, the Doctor would be lost for ever.

`She's never going to believe me.'

   `She had better, Baris, or she dies.'

   `This doesn't make any sense. What if I am the realDoctor?'

   `You're not.'

   `I don't get how you can be so sure?'

   `You're not the Doctor. You're Baris, and the realDoctor has hypnotised you into believing you're theDoctor.'

   `Why?'

   `To help him survive the hunters.'

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    `I've got the Doctor's memories!'

    `He implanted them.'

    `What? In five minutes in a corridor in a base undersiege? I'm good but I'm not God.'

    `He could have taken you to his TARDIS. Time has nomeaning there.'

    `I have no memory of being Baris.'

    `He's wiped them.'

    `Even if I'm not the Doctor, the fact that I'm helpinghim is going to be dangerous to you. And how about this:if you put me in that Trophy Room and pretend, who'sgoing to know? No one goes in there anyway.'

    `I want the real thing.'

    `Sending me there doesn't make any sense. Why?'

    `The Doctor Trap.'

    `There is no Doctor Trap.'

    `The Doctor Trap. Saying there isn't one is proof thereis. That's why you're going.'

    `You're crazy.'

    `Yes. But you're still going.'

What the robots could never get, what they could neverunderstand, was that he enjoyed taking risks. His Butlermoped around the control room. Why did the robot haveto be so negative? All it did was drag everyone down.

   `Bored!' Sebastiene announced. The servants lookedup. `As soon as the Doctor is stuffed and mounted,' hesaid, `I'm going to change everything. The Chateau, theway I run things and you lot. I'm going to get you tothrow yourselves in the furnaces.' The thought made him

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laugh. He gestured the robots to join in and they did.

   `Oh, shut up. You're getting on my nerves.'

   The laughter stopped and the control room fell silent.

   `My master, hasn't the time come to restore the IMT?'asked the Butler.

   Sebastiene sighed. He clicked his fingers and his giantthrone rose through the marble flooring. Its componentsshifted and clicked as it assembled itself. Sebastiene fellback on his pillows. Negative, he thought. Robots.

   `Look,' he explained, `if Baris thinks he's the Doctor,that makes him the perfect undercover man. He's the oneperson Donna Noble trusts. Eventually, she'll let out whatshe knows about the Doctor Trap.'

   `But putting them together like that?' asked the Butler.`Heaven knows what they'll get up to. And what about thereal Doctor? He's still loose in the monorail network.'

   `Don't be such a baby. I will explain this once, just toavoid any more impertinent questions. If I were theDoctor, I would have implanted instructions that if Barislocated the girl, he was to drop everything and use allavailable means to contact him. The Doctor did after allcome to Planet 1 to find her.'

   The Butler thought it through. `Soo... by doing exactlywhat the Doctor wants, you're wrecking his plan?'

   `Exactly. We don't need to scour the planetary monorailnetwork. He'll come to us. Or rather, Baris.'

   `I can see that, my master. But won't they just escape?Without IMT, we can't keep track of them.'

   Sebastiene pointed to the screen. `Look. Use those bigeyes of yours. What's that?'

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   The Butler looked harder. He squinted. `Um.'

   `It's a prison zone, numpty!' Sebastiene hurled acushion at the gargantuan robot. `Once in, no one getsout.'

   The Butler stepped back. He looked to the screen, thenback to Sebastiene. Then to the screen and back to hisbeloved master. `That's... that's brilliant, master.'

   `Of course.'

   `And even if that is the real Doctor...' it continued.

   `Which it isn't...'

   `He's trapped there anyway.'

   Sebastiene leaned back into his remaining cushions. `Iwish you lot would have a bit more faith sometimes.Honestly, I'm surrounded by dullards. At least Baris andMs Noble were interesting. When they're dead, I'll haveto build some just like them.'

   He sat up. `Now listen carefully. I want you to contactthe rest of the hunters. I'm changing the game. Get themto the prison zone. They can fight it out betweenthemselves. You never know; maybe one of them willeven manage to get the Doctor. And charge up my trustyatmosphere craft. The green one. We're going on theattack!'

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    Either Sebastiene was very smart, or he really was that

    stupid. For the lives of him, the Doctor couldn't work out

    which.

       Somehow, unbelievably, the last-gasp plan had worked.

    By claiming to be the Doctor, Sebastiene had instinctively

    not believed him. The more the Doctor insisted, the less

    he was believed. There was even a bonus: he had been

    sent to contact Donna.

       When he was caught by the Butler, the Doctor had

    forced himself to stay calm and think his way through

    Sebastiene's thought processes. He needed to find a

    weakness, a key. That or he and Donna were dead.

       Sebastiene was a schemer; he was a planner, a second

    guesser. And, sometimes, he would over-guess and see

    complications where there weren't any. The Doctor had

    gambled on that flaw in Sebastiene's character and it

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appeared to have paid off. Not without some damage tothe Doctor's nerves, however, which were well and trulyshredded. More than once, he had been sure he wasdoomed. The stress had been monumental.

   `Forget it,' he said to himself. `There's work to do.'

   So forget it the Doctor did.

   The sliding doors swished open, and he stepped intothe lobby of the Bracknell Exquisite Traveller Hotel. Justbehind a set of closed double doors, he heard a largegroup of diners eating.

   `Aural triggers? Bit sad, Sebastiene. Don't you haveany friends you could use to make the place sound full?'He thought about that. `Actually, you don't, do you...' TheDoctor brushed off the sprinkles of rain that had blottedhis suit.

   How on earth had he ended up here? Not only that:what had possessed Sebastiene to send him? There mustbe a plan. He had to be bait in some extravagantlyprepared trap.

   The Doctor stopped himself. He was using the sameflawed thinking that had snared Sebastiene. At some point,you had to stop seeing plans behind plans. Sometimes,you just had to take what was in front of you at face value.So, excuse the pun, let's face it, Sebastiene could just bethat stupid.

   Where to find Donna?

   The lobby was bland; entirely without character. Afterthe excesses of the Chateau, the Doctor found the noveltypleasing on the eye. Although there was no one about, hehad the strangest impression that a lot of people were just

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about to walk in; that they were just out of sight,watching.

   The Doctor sniffed the air, then licked and held up afinger. `Pheromone Conditioning Unit.'

   He decided to address the unseen, imaginary audience.`Smell molecules swished through the air to give theimpression that living people are around. PCU's do lots offun things. Sneak one into a séance, or a supposedlyhaunted house, engineer religious epiphanies, fool well-meaning parapsychologists... fun stuff. No party should bewithout one.'

   `Welcome to the Exquisite Traveller,' said a brightvoice from reception. `My name is Sadie. How can I makeyour day better?'

   `And pass robots off as human beings,' the Doctorsummed up. He swung round to face Sadie the smilingreceptionist.

   `Ah,' he said, rushing up to her. `Most twenty-first-century Earth hotel receptionists only resembleemotionless artificial constructs. You're the real thing.'

   `How lovely,' said Sadie then repeated: `How can Imake your day better?'

   `Just this,' said the Doctor as he leaned over thereception desk and pressed the back of her neck. Sadiestood stock still, grin fixed to her face. The Doctornodded. `That's just in case you start sprouting weaponsfrom unexpected places. I know what you robots are like one minute it's all "humour, an interesting concept", andthe next your hands drop off to reveal deadly whirlyblades.'

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   He heard a thump from the floor above. Somebodyhitting something hard with some sort of object. TheDoctor heard a woman laugh.

   `Now, you can't fake her,' said the Doctor and dashedto the stairs.

Donna was using an umbrella to knock holes in doors.Every time she smashed one open, she put her face to thegap and shouted: `Here's Donna!'

   OK, an Exquisite Traveller Courtesy Umbrella wasn'texactly Jack Nicholson with an axe, but she was havingthe best fun she had had in ages. Actually: the first fun.

   She reached Room 212. Inside, a man and a womanappeared to be discussing something urgent. Donnacouldn't make out what they were saying but it definitelysounded urgent.

   `Go on! Have a good old natter!' She swung the brolly.The plastic handle cracked into the wood, causing moredamage to the weapon than the target. Hitting the doorstopped the voices within.

   `What's the matter?' Donna shouted. `Cat got yourtongue?'

   Angered beyond endurance, she hammered away.When the umbrella splintered into fragments, she hurled itaside and kicked until she broke the lock. Like all theothers, Room 212 was empty. There was the same well-made bed, the same little TV, the kettle on the shelf andthe same bowl containing the same sachets of tea, coffeeand sugar.

   Donna marched inside, triumphant. `Yeah,' she said.

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`Now you shut up.' She was aware of the tremor in hervoice. She was close to cracking up. Another door, shethought, just keeping breaking the doors.

    She marched out to see the Doctor in the corridor. Hewas just standing on that horrible carpet waiting for her.

    `Hello, Donna,' he said and smiled that smile that madeeverything better.

    He was the Doctor and he was here. No mistaking thattatty suit and trainers, his elfin face, those sharp eyes thatdidn't miss a thing.

    Her first instinct was to burst into tears. Everything wasgoing to be all right again.

    He held out his arms for a hug. However, Donna hadlearned not to trust first instincts. Not here in this prisonwhere nothing was what it seemed.

    `Prove you're you,' She took a pace back. Her eyeswere filling with water. `Prove you're my Doctor. I don'tget fooled again.'

    `The Who?' he said.

    `Shut up. Prove you're the Doctor.'

    `How?' He looked shifty, as if someone was watching.

    `You already know. The Doctor would know.'

    `Donna, what's happened?'

    Donna pointed at him, choking the sobs back down herthroat. `He said he would send someone for me. I neverthought it would be you. So maybe you're someone wholooks like you.'

    `Who said? Sebastiene?'

    `Prove you're you.'

    `Donna, I... look, it's difficult.'

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    `Prove it!' She held up the broken handle. `Or I'llwhack you.'

    She expected a wisecrack or a quip and was confusedwhen all she saw in his eyes was sorrow. `I... I'm notgoing to be able to do that,' he said.

    She raised the brolly higher.

    `How about a truce?' he suggested. `You don't have tobelieve I'm me, but we can still share information, right?'

    `Share information... so that's what it's about.'

    `Eh?'

    `You want me to tell you about the Doctor Trap.'

    The Doctor looked surprised. `How do you know aboutthe Doctor Trap?'

    `You told me, remember?'

    `No.'

    They stood and looked at each other. She wanted tobelieve him, she really did. But how could she trustanybody here?

    `I've got an idea,' she said.

    `Oh good.' He looked genuinely relieved.

    `You tell me how to get out of here and I'll tell you...I'll tell you what I know about the Doctor Trap.'

    For a second, she saw him smile. An old smile thatappeared on his mouth only on the rare occasions shemanaged to get something right. A warm (and althoughshe would never tell him) human smile.

    She nearly gave in and believed him there and then, butjust as quickly the smile was gone and he was... well,whoever he was again.

    `You get me?' she asked.

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  `I get you.'

  `Deal? Or... um... no deal?'

  `Deal. Let's get downstairs.'

Donna watched him as he walked into the reception.There was something missing from this Doctor, despitethat tricky smile. He lacked his usual zip, his usualenthusiasm. That could never be duplicated. The real thinghad twice the standard energy.

   Yeah, this one was a fake all right. But maybe if shejust went along with the game, went along with him, hewould actually get her out.

   Why not? She could happily tell this fake Doctor whatshe knew about the Doctor Trap because she didn't knowanything about the Doctor Trap.

   `I've tried the road,' she told the Doctor. `Don't thinkyou can get me to fall for that one.'

   `Wouldn't dream of it,' he replied. `Say goodbye toSadie on the way out.'

   He had done something to the receptionist. She wasfrozen like a shop-window dummy. Just standing therewith that big stupid grin on her face. Her jewelled handwas raised in frozen greeting.

   `I knew she wasn't human,' she said. `Can I knock herhead off?'

   `Well, I won't stop you.'

   Donna looked at the stopped robot. She had hadenough of breaking inanimate objects. `She ain't worth it.Not her fault, is it? Just get me out of here.'

   The Doctor stopped, right at the exit. `I've thought of

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something.'

    `Here we go...'

    `When do you tell me about the Doctor Trap? Before orafter we're out?'

    `Are you taking the mick?'

    `No, no. We both know Sebastiene wants the secret ofthe Doctor Trap...'

    `Well, I didn't until you just said... but I had guessed.'

    `I presume he's listening or watching all the time. So ifyou were to tell me now he doesn't have much reason tolet either of us go, does he?'

    Donna pushed him to the doors. `Only if you're the realDoctor.'

    `I'm just wondering how this is going to play out.Sebastiene's not particularly stable, you know.'

    Donna kept pushing him. Through the doors and outinto the rain. `To be honest,' she said. `I don't care. I don'thave a clue why I'm here or what's going on.'

    The Doctor turned; he stumbled on the wet gravel. `Ah,now I can help you there. You see, Sebastiene is thisdespotic but rather lonely ruler of a planet where throughrobotic technology he has the power of a god. Becausehe's really, really bored of being all-powerful on a planetwhere there's no one to boss around, he organised thislittle safari with me as the target. It's wet.'

    `You'll get used to the rain. And by the way,' she put ona sweet voice. `You're not convincing me.'

    `Only he made a mistake with the lure...'

    Donna screwed up a face. `The Lurgh? What's that? Analien?'

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    `The bait,' said the Doctor patiently. `To get me to hisplanet. He found this bloke who knew lots and lots aboutme and did him up to make him look like me. Operated onhim big time. Really went to town on the whole makinghim look like me business. DNA, two hearts, the lot.'

    `Why would he want to do that? Frame you for a crimeyou didn't commit and have you arrested?'

    The Doctor laughed. `You watch too many movies. No,he did it to convince you to come with him to Planet 1.'

    Donna winced. She remembered, Snowcap Base andthe creature. The doubts in her mind she hadn't paidattention to. `That seems like a million years ago.'

    `Sebastiene knew I would follow, especially as he hadmy TARDIS. My double had my DNA and a key fromsomewhere, which meant he could operate the TARDIS.'The Doctor paused. `You see, that annoys me. That reallygets my goat that does.'

    `So you say. Or you've been told to say.' Donna pushedhim on.

    `Why would I make that up?'

    `To gain my sympathy.'

    The Doctor shook his head. `So much cynicism in oneso young.'

    `It passes the time. Where are we going by the way?'

    Donna said this as the Doctor seemed to be leading herexactly the same route she tried when she attempted herfirst escape. `I told you, that road doesn't go anywhere.'

    The Doctor kept moving. `Yeah it does.'

    `No it doesn't.'

    `It does.'

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   `I'm telling you, no...'

   He stopped and Donna cannoned into his back. Thenon-existent traffic droned over the hill. Putting his handson his hips, he turned to her. `Look, do you trust me ornot?'

   `No.'

   `Good, then just do as I... what do you mean, no?'

   Donna put her face to his. `That road does not goanywhere. It's a big circle.'

   He nodded. `That's because it's not a road.'

   `What is it then?'

   `A train station.'

   Donna looked at her feet, then up at him. `You arekidding me,' she said.

   The Doctor was also looking at the ground. `Should behere somewhere... ah!'

   Kneeling, he gave her a wicked look. He pressed apatch of ground and the grass slid aside. Underneath was abig red button. The Doctor thumped the button.

   Donna stood back in disbelief as concealed hydraulicsbegan to whine and a whole section of road slid apart toreveal a set of gleaming silver steps. `You are kidding...'she managed.

   `The great thing about Planet 1,' he said, `is that onceyou're in the know, you understand you're never morethan a kilometre away from a robot workshop, or a trainstation.'

   Donna jumped and clapped her hands. `You beauty!'

   The Doctor winked. `All aboard.'

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As the IMT was disconnected, Sebastiene was forced torely on microphones and cameras. To be fair to Planet 1,these cameras and microphones were totally undetectable hidden as they were in insects or seeds or blades of grass but it was annoying to have to keep switching angles.Still, these things were sent to try him.

    He watched Baris and Donna descend the steps to themonorail platform. The robots watched with him,including the Butler who wanted to complain aboutsomething but didn't dare.

    `He really believes he's the Doctor,' Sebastieneremarked, fascinated. `I wonder what he'll do next. Isthere a monorail on the way?'

    An operator robot read the screen. `Yes, master.Scheduled maintenance components carriage M-Z44i3.Dropping off spare parts for the prison zone.'

    Sebastiene looked at the screen. In the zone the rainstill fell, the trees rustled in the artificial wind. The hole inthe ground dripped.

    `Switch to station cameras. I can't wait to see whathappens next.'

The Carpalian Witch was in that strange state of wakingsleep. She was both at once, an ability unique to herspecies. Wrapped in her web on the first floor ceiling of anold abandoned house, the Witch could spend weeks in thiscondition.

   Part of her brain was aware of every creak and scrapewithin a two-mile radius. At the same time she wasdreaming, conserving her strength, wrapped tightly

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against the damp and woodworm.

   The Carpalian Witch was waiting for the Doctor. Whenhe arrived, her telepathy would detect him and she wouldemit suitable scents that would entice him into her room.Once inside, she would unfurl her hidden legs and dropdown. Game over.

   With the dream side of her brain, the Carpalian Witchrelived her previous biggest catch. The Sontaran. A clonespecies with no imagination was a tough call. She got himin the end, of course. She hid inside his bubble spaceshipfor six weeks and slipped a finger into his probic ventwhen he recharged. A doughy, flavourless quality had theSontarans. Not worth bothering with twice.

   Not like the Doctor. The Doctor was class.

   To be honest, the Carpalian Witch wasn't expecting theTime Lord to show. The odds were against it. She knewher fellow hunters by reputation and it was a fair bet oneof them would get him. Still, if there was one thing shewas good at, it was waiting.

   Her telepathy tickled. Something had entered herhunting range. She phased into full wakefulness. Sheflexed her fingers.

   Someone was kicking up dust outside. They weren'ttrying to hide their footsteps.

   The Carpalian Witch readied herself. The prey openedthe door. The Witch made herself as still as concrete.

   The figure walked in. Silent as death itself, theCarpalian Witch dropped.

   She had extended her furry legs round its side and wasbusy biting its plastic neck before she realised this was a

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servitor android; one of Sebastiene's confectionary-coloured servants.

   The android stood still as the Carpalian Witchdisengaged and retracted her fingernails. She dusted offthe remains of her web and put her hood back over herdark, glittering eyes. She stood in the room and resembleda human again.

   `A change in the rules,' said the robot. `Read this.' Ithanded her a palm-sized digital screen. `You leave atonce.'

In Hunting Zone 9, Zzorg Zero was surprised to receive avisit from Sebastiene's servant. Not that Zzorg Zero didnot understand that the whole tribe around him wererobots too. He was well aware of that fact. He wassurprised that this one completely broke the illusion bywearing the uniform of the Chateau. He was also surprisedthat it walked out of a sudden hole in the methane swampnot twenty metres away.

   He was even more surprised to receive orders tellinghim to get on a train that was waiting for him in a hiddenmonorail system beneath the same methane swamp. ZzorgZero was surprised but he wasn't thrown. Unfurling hisgossamer wings, he buzzed down to the waiting train.

Colonel Sty of the Bolken Context read his orders, fixedhis watch to Stable Time, loaded his considerable array ofweapons and marched into his train. As the station doorsclosed above his head, his squad of native huntersdisconnected and dropped, ready for collection and

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recycling. The Bolken Zone went dark.

   All across Planet 1, the members of the Society forEndangered Dangerous Species were requested to movezones. They weren't surprised. No one had expected theDoctor to be an easy catch, and none of them trustedSebastiene.

   All relished the challenge. Eight trains containing eighthunters converged on one zone. They travelled alongPlanet 1's frictionless tunnels with a speed beyond most ofthe passengers' imaginations. Still, they were pleased bythe pace.

   They all wanted the Doctor.

There came a whistling from the tunnel. Donna felt nowind pushing against her like she would have on theLondon Underground, but she understood that somethingwas approaching at an incredible speed.

   `Just in time,' said the Doctor. `We should get out ofhere, fast. I don't know what Sebastiene's up to, but I'msure it didn't involve me knowing about this train station.'

   `More of a platform really though isn't it?' said Donna.`Station is a bit of a big word for what we have here.'

   `I've missed you, Donna.'

   `Sarky...'

   The whistling increased in volume, then stopped. TheDoctor looked impressed. `Hmm. Audio Vacuum Filters todissipate the ultra-frequency sound. Good thing too, or thetrain's arrival would have burst your eardrums.' Heseemed incredibly pleased by that notion.

   Silent, the train slid into the platform, at which point it

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stopped dead. Donna found the sensation alarming. `Howmany laws of physics just got broken there?'

   `Lots,' came the Doctor's reply.

   The train hummed with power. Two solid double doorsstood in front of them.

   `You know,' Donna said, feeling tender, `I'm beginningto believe you.'

   The train doors opened. `I'm going to say it again,' saidthe Doctor with a big smile. `Cos I like saying it.' Hecleared his throat. `All aboard!'

   Donna wasn't laughing. She wasn't saying anything.She was just looking. At the Doctor who stood on thetrain.

   `Donna!' said the new Doctor. `I've come to rescueyou.'

   By her side, the real Doctor just moaned, `Oh no.'

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    `Shut down! Lock it down!' Sebastiene yelled at the

    operator.

        Not fazed by the outburst, the robot obeyed, punching

    in a code. A satisfying electronic alarm blared out. `Prison

    zone secured, my master.'

        Sebastiene didn't move. His face remained completely

    still. He stared at the screen; at the two Doctors looking at

    each other.

        Sebastiene's left cheek twitched. His upper lip

    quivered. His eyes closed. `I was right,' he whispered.

        He opened his eyes again and turned to the cowering

    Butler. `I've done it.' He grabbed the Butler by the

    shoulders. `I was right. I was right! I've sprung the Doctor

    Trap!' He kissed the Butler and threw him off.

        Sebastiene punched the air, ran, then fell to his knees

    and slid along the floor. `Result!'

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   The Butler smiled, slowly understanding. `He got him.My master got the Doctor!' Out of nowhere, a stadium fullof cheering and applause rang round the control room.

   The operator robots joined in. They clapped Sebastiene.

   Except one. He was the robot monitoring the monorailnetwork.

   `Err, my master?' The robot looked pained as itcoughed to get Sebastiene's attention.

   Sebastiene was busy on his knees, taking in theapplause. He wiped the tears off his face. `What is it?'

   The operator robot winced. `There's... there's anothertrain heading towards the prison zone.'

   Suddenly, the lights in the control room turned red. Thecheering and clapping was replaced by a cool, emotionlessfemale voice droning: `Emergency! Collision imminent.Emergency! Collision imminent...'

   `Eh?' said Sebastiene.

The Doctors' eyes were bulging so hard they threatened topop from their sockets. All four of them.

   Donna was looking from one to the other. `Oh myGod,' she kept saying. `Oh my God.'

   They were exactly alike. They were both the Doctor.Not look-a-likes, not impersonators, not stand-ins. Theywere both the real thing. Except of course, one of themcouldn't be.

   `Donna,' they both said at once.

   The Doctor from the train said, `That man is animpostor. He's been surgically altered to look like me tolure you to Planet 1 and hunt me down.'

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   The Doctor she had been with, the one she had foundoutside the hotel room, was deep in thought.

   `Well?' she couldn't help but ask him. `We need to sortthis. What have you got to say for yourself?'

   The hotel Doctor seemed to be in physical pain. `Allright,' he said. He glared down the platform. `No choice. Ihope you're paying attention, Sebastiene.'

   `I'm the Doctor,' said Baris, butting in.

   `And I'm Baris,' said the Doctor.

   They looked at each other.

   Donna looked at them. `That feels right,' she said.`There's an emotional subconscious bond thing I havewith the real Doctor. Call it woman's instinct, call itwhatever. And I never trusted you,' she pointed to the realDoctor. `You were always too good to be true.'

   She pointed at Baris. `I feel a connection with you. Itjust feels right.' She eyeballed the real Doctor. `Got that?Fake?'

   He sighed. `Yes, Donna, I got that.'

   Donna clapped her hands. `Then let's get the hell out ofhere.'

   The ground began to shake.

`What's going on?' Sebastiene stared at a red pixelated dotracing through the computer-modelled tunnel. `This can'tbe...

   `Terminate that train!' yelled the Butler, taking over asSebastiene dithered.

   `I can't,' replied the operator robot as it franticallyflexed its hands.

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   Sebastiene grabbed the skull-docked robot's hand andsnatched at the floating icons.

   No change. The red pill-shaped light representing thetrain was moving quickly along a black line representingthe tunnel. Sebastiene looked up, stunned.

   `Even the Doctor couldn't... not from there... what haveI missed? What have I missed?'

   He looked around the room for clues. The Butlershrugged.

   `Someone in the Chateau? Still. Surely not...'

   For the first time since the Butler's activation, it sawthat Sebastiene looked frightened. The robot'sprogramming refused to comprehend the emotion.

   `My master?' it said, a chill in its own voice. `What'swrong? Do you need tea?'

   Sebastiene started to bite his nails. `I should haveknown about that train. I rule here. I should have known!'He thumped the operator robot.

   The Butler thought. `Perhaps the Doctor pre-arrangedthe train to go rogue before you sent him to the girl.'

   `Impossible. No one could have that amount offoresight. And it wasn't the Doctor I sent there, it wasBaris. How come the computer didn't pick up the trainjumping the tracks? Why didn't we have alarms?'

   `The train went offline from the network forty-sixhours ago,' said the operator robot. It opened a large-scalevirtual chart of the monorail system. `At the BeriagradZone.'

   `That's the other side of the planet. How could it go allthat way and not be picked up?'

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   `I cannot explain.' The operator robot's voice was amonotone. Its plastic face had no emotion.

   Sebastiene looked round. Suddenly, the control roomseemed a large, cold and unfriendly place. Too manyshadows; too many robots. He bit his lip. `Find out,' hebarked at the Butler. `And get my transport. I want to beairborne in ten minutes.'

   `Impact in ten seconds,' said another robot.

   `Move the first train, the Doctor's train. Get it out ofthere.'

   The operator robot looked up. `I cannot, my master.You have ordered that zone to be locked down.'

   This time Sebastiene did not just look frightened. Hisface was utterly pale, his voice a whisper. `Who's doingthis?'

The Doctor knelt and felt the platform floor. The vibrationmade his arm shake. There was a familiar shrieking noisein the tunnel. The train on the rail was not apparentlygoing anywhere. He looked up.

    `I'm sorry to break up your cuddles, chaps, but I thinkwe're in for quite a sizeable train crash any second now.'

    Donna released the man she mistakenly presumed washer companion. She looked at him for guidance.

    `Don't worry, Donna,' Baris said. `I'll get us out ofhere. The stairs!' He pointed and pushed her towards theexit. He turned, gave a melodramatic look to the tunnel asif to emphasise its peril; then sprinted away.

    `Oh great,' said the real Doctor and followed. Surely hedidn't go in for those kind of theatricals? Mind, he upped

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his pace as the whistle of the approaching train grewlouder. And he looked back.

The noise penetrated even above ground. The bland treeswere shaking rain from their branches and leaves. Donnaand Baris ran across the mud towards the hotel.

   `We'll be safe in there!' shouted Baris. `That buildingthing!'

   `The hotel? Are you sure?' Donna yelled. `What if itcollapses?'

   She heard a shout from behind. The other Doctor.`Don't go in the hotel!' he was yelling. `Just get on theground!' As if to set an example, that Doctor dived ontothe mud and covered his ears.

   `Into the building,' insisted Baris, although he did notactually sound that sure of himself.

   The grass in front of them rippled like a gigantic wormwas burrowing underground. Suddenly, the fake cars inthe fake car park jumped and their windows shattered. Adozen blaring alarms added to the noise. The hotel itselflurched and a huge crack spread like forked lightning upfrom its base. An entire side of hotel room windows fellout.

   By now, the ground wasn't rippling; it was churning.

   `Donna!' came a hoarse, tiny voice in the distance.`Just... duck!'

   She didn't know why she obeyed; she just did. Shepounced on Baris and dumped him into the mud. Its stickydamp shoved itself into her face and eyes and up her nose,just as the ground burst open and they were both lifted on

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a raft of turf and shoved a couple of metres backwards.The noise of the underground explosion wasindescribable.

   She hit the ground, or whatever the hard horizontalthing was, and the air was shunted out of her body.Because the noise had deafened her, she had a pleasantfew timeless moments of nothingness. That was good; thatwas soothing. But all too soon the whistling in her earsand the mud in her eyes brought Donna back to horriblereality.

   Something was wrong. The ground appeared to be ontop of her. She had been buried. She punched an arm upthrough the soil and felt cold rain on her fist. Not allowingherself to scream and the mud to sink in, she wriggled andwriggled until she got enough purchase to push her otherarm out. She then spent ten panicked seconds tearing thatmud away. At last, she levered her head up and felt thewind on her face. Spitting the gritty mud out, she wipedher eyes clear.

   The hotel had been destroyed. Apparently, a silvervacuum cleaner had come out of the ground and eaten it.

   No, not a vacuum cleaner. A hissing, steaming metaltube train with a flattened front end. The machine laybroken-backed on top of a pyramid of cheap Bracknellbreeze blocks.

   Donna knelt for a while; then managed to stand. Shewas caked in filth. The whistling in her ears died down tobe replaced by the crackling of flames from a firesomewhere under all that brickwork. The monorail wascrushed, wrinkled with dents and full of holes like its hull

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had been attacked by a giant tin-opener.

   The train had punched right through the lobby of theExquisite Traveller. Her old wing had been turned insideout. The wing next to it still stood, but it was going toneed one hell of a paint job if it was going to attract anymore exquisite travellers. The walls were scarred andburned black, and all the glass in the windows wasbroken.

   Donna staggered to the ruined entrance. Cars had beenscattered like toys, overturned, torn and crushed.

   She spotted clues as to what once had stood here: half asofa, a little potted tree, a battered sign with the wordsTHE ANCHOR SUITE in scuffed gold letters; all stickingout of mounds of bricks like grave stones. And a hand.

   A woman's hand, gold rings decorating the middle andfourth fingers.

   `Sadie,' Donna breathed.

   The hand moved. The fingers flexed.

   Donna scrabbled over the concrete ruins. There must behalf a ton of hotel on top of the robot. She didn'tunderstand why on earth she would want to help such avile creature that wasn't even alive, but she just couldn'tstand the idea of anything suffering, even Sadie.

   She knelt down and pulled the trembling hand out ofthe rubble. She had expected a pull but there was none.Instead, she fell back, holding the hand at its severedwrist. As she rolled down the bricks, the hand crawled upDonna's arm.

   Donna screamed and tore it off. She hurled the handaway. It flopped into the mud, then turned round as if

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trying to locate her again. The fingers scrabbled in themud. White fluid dribbled from plastic circuits in thewrist.

    `That is disgusting,' Donna said and found herselflaughing. She put her own hand to her mouth to stop thenoise. She didn't want that thing finding her again. Nothere on her own.

    Except of course, she wasn't on her own. She hadforgotten him.

    `Doctor,' she whispered.

    She turned back to the mound of mud that had buriedher in the field. The same rain was still falling. Sherealised that if these fields were real, they should havebeen as flooded as paddy fields.

    A pair of plimsolls was sticking up in the air. Donnahoped that this time a body would be attached to them.She ran to the plimsolls and tore at the mud. How long didit take to suffocate a man, even a man with two hearts?How long had he been under there?

    At last, she scooped away the soil that was covering hisface. The Doctor was pale but breathing. His eyes werefirmly closed. `Wake up!' she yelled.

    The eyes opened.

    Someone tapped her on the shoulder. Donna shriekedand rolled over. It was the hand, it had to be.

    `We need to think seriously about vacating thepremises,' said the other Doctor. `In an orderly fashionwould be best, but a madcap dash would do.'

    Donna couldn't help it; she smiled. `And which one areyou?'

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    `The real one,' he replied.

    `You would say that, though.'

    `I would. Sorry. Know that doesn't help.'

    There was an explosion inside the train; a sharp crack.The Doctor looked round. `I think that train was sent hereto stop us leaving.'

    `How do you know?'

    `Because it's probably Commissar Weimark's train, andit disappeared off Sebastiene's rail network two days ago.He didn't notice, but I did. Wondered where it might havegot to.'

    Another sharp blast and a metal hole the size of adustbin lid blew out the side of one of the compartments.`He's after me,' said the Doctor. He looked at his doublelying in the mud. `Us. He won't mind taking us both to getthe right one. We'd better bring him.'

    Together, they lifted the prone Baris. He gurgled andspat but didn't manage full consciousness.

    `Who is this guy?' asked Donna. `And where are wegoing? Answers in reverse order, please.'

    The Doctor hefted his duplicate onto one of hisshoulders. `Blimey, I'm heavy. Grab the other arm.'

    `Doctor?'

    `First question last: we're heading into what's left ofthe hotel to hide. Our pursuer is a desperately humourlesstorturer called Commissar Weimark, who will enjoytaking his time over killing us. By my reckoning, we'veprobably got five minutes to find a way out of thisimpregnable prison zone. Second question first: hisname's Baris, and he's my number one fan.'

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  There was more metal banging from the train so theDoctor and Donna got a move on.

The journey had been long, boring and entirely free ofincident. Commissar Weimark had enjoyed it immensely.For the first time in years, his life was not in danger ofrandom annihilation by bullet, rocket, mine or bomb. Theprecarious day-to-day existence in the Beriagrad Warzonesuited his character, but there was, he realised, somethingto be said for the quiet life.

   Still, there was the Doctor to think about. Weimarkhadn't a clue how he was supposed to track his quarrydown across a whole planet. He needed to find out whatwas going on in the world. Was he doomed to ride thistrain for ever?

   The speeding train carriage carried no communicationdevices that Weimark could find. He tried talking to hisrobot squad, but the soldiers had dropped into some sortof standby mode. They sat still, eyes closed, proppedagainst the bouncing carriage walls. Their lack of pretenceunnerved the Commissar.

   After a day or so, the Commissar had a thought. Hecould just give up the game. Why not?

   Sebastiene was not playing fair and, strictly speaking,this kind of time off from his real work was soon going toannoy his superiors in Beria. Letting the Doctor go wouldbe an affront to his pride, but he could live with that.

   There was always the possibility that Sebastiene wasup to something. What if this safari for the Doctor was notwhat it seemed? What if the whole point of this exercise

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was actually to trap someone entirely different? For thesake of argument, let's say a highly important, supremelyskilled and dangerous political officer.

   Sniffing conspiracy, Weimark decided getting out wasthe sensible option.

   The problem was that in this sealed compartment therewas no way of communicating his intentions. `Whathappened to Molecular Technology?' he asked himself.`What happened to transmat here, there and everywhere?'

   Then something extraordinary happened. The trainengines increased their whining and the vehicle increasedspeed. Big time.

   Also, Sergeant Laki perked up. It opened its eyes andlooked at Weimark.

   `Commissar,' it said in a strangely neutral voice. `Wewill be arriving in two minutes. You are advised to braceyourself.'

   Suspicious, Weimark drew his pistol. `Why?'

   `This train will be crashing at that time. The impactwill be severe.'

   `What game is Sebastiene playing?' asked theCommissar. `Where are you taking me?'

   Laki seemed dazed, his stubbled, weather-beaten facetwitching, as if he was listening to a different voiceentirely one that existed only in his head. `This is nolonger Sebastiene's game,' it said. `You are advised toutilise the safety harness.' Laki looked up at Weimark. `Iwill now issue your instructions.'

   Commissar Weimark listened, shocked by the robot'stone. He listened and understood. And then the train

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crashed.

Excitement, tension, the thrill of the chase, these were afew of his favourite things. Oh yes, thought Sebastiene.He had spent too long cooped up in the Chateau worryingabout screens and traitors and double crosses. Action wasexactly the ticket to get him back into sorts. Get huntingagain; put a new exhibit in the Trophy Room. Why, heshould never have bothered gathering the hunters at all;should have personally gone for the Doctor from the off.Sebastiene couldn't wait to see that smug, smiling stickinsect cold and still and illuminated in his very ownspotlight.

   That would stop him worrying how Weimark's trainhad got off the network grid.

   The atmosphere craft had not been in the air for over ayear but, thanks to constant maintenance by the robots,Sebastiene could not tell. Shaped like a boomerang, itstiny but powerful jets were almost silent as theycompacted and ejected air at an incredible rate. The landbelow flowed past like liquid.

   `I should do this more often,' Sebastiene said aloud.His eyes, augmented by Planet 1 surgical techniques, wereimpeccable. They were digitally aligned with the sights ofhis Tauran Hunting Revolver, meaning he was always alethal shot without the tiresome bother of having topractise.

   Bored, he flopped into his padded seat. The atmospherecraft was automatic, so he didn't even have to pilot thething. He thought briefly about taking control and then

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decided his mission to capture the Doctor was tooimportant.

   The landscape below never failed to fascinateSebastiene. When was the last time he had taken a decenttour of Planet 1? He had re-shaped the place so often hecould hardly remember what it looked like himself. Halfthe zones he sculpted were never completed. He quicklylost interest after the initial burst of excitement had got aproject on the go.

   Planet 1 looked very different now. Communicationand power masts were strung along the surface like linesof string. Bursts of white and blue lightning were gatheredinto unbelievably powerful electrical exchanges channelling pure energy into almost infinite-capacitygenerators below the planet's surface. Planet 1 used morepower in a week than most solar systems did in ageneration.

   Sebastiene sat back and chewed on his perfectfingernails. All this for him. He liked that. He liked seeingthe millions of robots down below as they trudged andtoiled without rest. The sight put his worries intoperspective.

   What could the Doctor do against him; really? OK, lethim mess about with a train, but that was as far as he wasgoing.

   Sebastiene had him, had him and Baris in anunbreakable prison zone. One train wasn't going to breachthe molecular skein that held the area separate. The skeinwas a leech; that was its strength. You could throw anyform of energy at the defences and they would absorb that

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energy to reinforce themselves. As for getting out: no. Notpossible. Only he could walk out of a Planet 1 exclusionzone. Some laws could not be broken. The Doctor, Barisand Donna were in there for good. And he and the hunterswere on their way.

From all corners of Planet 1 they came. The members ofthe Society for Endangered Dangerous Species werebored and fractious and had waited too long. They wantedblood, and they were damn sure they were going to get it.

   In the Chateau control room, the Butler observed thetrains as they converged on their designated zone. Thehuge robot kept another eye on Sebastiene's atmospherecraft. And across Planet 1, millions of robots went abouttheir business. All was proceeding exactly according toplan.

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    If  Commissar Weimark was aware of any rain, he

    certainly didn't let on. In fact, he found the temperate

    weather of this pretend Bracknell uncomfortably warm,

    wrapped as he was in his leather armour. His only

    concession to the humidity was to unwrap the scarf from

    around his mouth and loosen the top button of his great

    coat. His used the infra-red sights on his rifle to scan for

    thermal signals. People.

       The reading was indeterminate. There was too much

    heat from the train wreck.

       Weimark climbed out from the carriage and onto a pile

    of rubble. He did not note that the ruins on which he stood

    had once been a bland hotel. He would not have cared

    anyway.

       He whistled and the rest of the squad climbed out from

    the wreckage.

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    Something had broken in one male soldier's head. Theskull kept dropping backwards between its shoulderblades. Internal gears whined in a wrong kind of way asthe mechanical muscles hauled it up on its neck again. Thesoldier staggered out of the hole in the carriage andstumbled on the bricks. Inevitably, it slipped and tumbledall the way down.

    `Sorry, sir,' it said from the grass.

    `No problem, Private,' Weimark replied and blew therobot apart with an explosive bullet. Laki and the tworemaining soldiers looked on.

    `Now then,' the Commissar continued, `let's find theDoctor and kill him.'

    Careful not to slip, Weimark made his way down thebrick slope.

A light winked on the dashboard. The atmosphere craftwas on approach, through the exclusion-zone barrier andinto descent. Sebastiene expected that the other huntershad already arrived. No matter.

   He checked his appearance in the mirror. Dark was themotif he had selected for this final round with the Doctor.Accordingly, he had darkened his moustache black. Hehad also changed into a very fetching Edwardian greyfrock coat; a clergyman's collar (he just couldn't resist),and a fetching black top hat with matching brass goggles.He felt every inch the hunter. `You'll do,' he whispered,seeing an irresistibly wicked glint in his eye.

   The atmosphere craft touched down with theatricalsteamy hisses and extra-extending landing gear, just for

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effect. Sebastiene loaded up and waited for the hatch toopen. He hefted his stylish brass-finish revolver in hisright hand, selected and twirled the stylish woodenhunting stick in his left, and took a deep breath. The realgame was on. `Much more like it,' he said to hisreflection. `What a relief.'

In the still-standing wing of the Exquisite Traveller, theDoctor and Donna carted Baris up a set of fire stairs.

   `So we're safer up here, are we?' asked Donna. Thecrash combined with the effort of dragging anunconscious man had taken the wind out of her.

   `Not really, no,' the Doctor replied.

   `Then why are we going?'

   `I like stairs. And the Commissar being a thorough manwill undoubtedly start at the bottom and work his way up.Maybe give us some time.'

   `Maybe we'll tire him out, all those steps,' Donnachuckled, hoisting the dead weight of Baris up anotherstep.

   `Maybe he's stair-phobic.'

   An explosion rocked the wing.

   `Or he could just blow up the hotel,' the Doctorconcluded.

   Baris groaned as they hauled him through the fire doorsand into a corridor. `Come on, mush,' Donna snapped.`This is hurting.'

   She fell to her knees on the carpeted floor. `Can't goon,' she said. `Too tired.'

   The Doctor hoisted Baris up, holding an arm against

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the wall to take the weight. He looked around and lickedhis lips. `Into a room. Maybe he won't blow it up just yet.304 does that sound like the kind of room you'd fire amortar shell into?'

   Donna knelt, catching her breath. `You just need a fewminutes, don't you, to... to work out a way to escape,yeah?'

   The Doctor thumped Baris against the door and bargedit open. `Oh no,' he said absently. `This place has amolecular barrier. No way to get out; not even for me.'

   Donna sagged. `So we're finished then. That bloke'sgonna kill us.'

   The Doctor smiled. `Looks that way, doesn't it. Unlesswe get him first, of course.'

   `What with?' she snapped. `Courtesy soap?'

   `There's always a way,' he replied, serious again.`Come on.'

   The room was the same as all the others. The Doctordropped the moaning, mud-caked Baris onto the blandbed.

   Donna thumped the door shut and didn't look at herhideous reflection in the mirror. Instead, she looked atBaris.

   `We could, you know, hand him over,' she said.`Pretend he's you.'

   `What?' the Doctor sounded outraged. He ducked downand crawled to the smashed window frame. The airsmelled of burning oil.

   `Well, he did frame us both. Bring us here to be killed.'

   The Doctor held a finger to his lips, hearing something

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she couldn't.

    `Yes, I've been thinking about that. SomethingSebastiene said to me about Baris.'

    `What?'

    `Well, Sebastiene just could not accept that I could bethe real Doctor; that Baris and I might have swappedplaces.'

    `It does seem a little far-fetched,' Donna said.

    `Oh come on, even his robot servants worked it out.But Sebastiene insisted that out of all possibleexplanations, me being Baris was actually impossible. Iwonder why he thought that? Highly unlikely I grant you,but given my genius, my ability to triumph...'

    `Yeah yeah,' she interrupted. `You're you, all right.'

    He looked at her. `So you have accepted that?'

    Donna shrugged. `Don't think I've got much choice.It's you or the unconscious one, so I damn well hope youare the real Doctor.'

    `So much for women's instinct...'

    `Yeah, I'd leave it if I were you. Get back to theexplanation.'

    There came a loud crump from downstairs.

    `Concussion grenade,' said the Doctor. `They're in thebuilding.'

    Donna felt sick. `Oh yeah.'

    Again, the Doctor seemed to find this fact highlyentertaining.

    `And you haven't yet thought of an escape plan.'

    `Nope. Not a chance.'

    `Better keep telling me the story then.'

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   The Doctor nodded. `I felt insulted. And mystified.Why would it be so impossible for me to get the better ofBaris back at Snowcap? Especially as the boy spent somuch time gloating. A child could have--' He broke offand looked at Baris.

   `What?' asked Donna.

   She saw that the Doctor was about to start that littledance thing he did whenever he had a really big idea. Hestarted to shake. She gestured at him to stay down. Herolled his eyes. `Of course!'

   He frog-legged his way to the bed. His image, hisdouble, was starting to come round. There was a nasty-looking cut on his forehead, but apart from that Donnasuspected most of the damage was concussion from thecrash. Baris would live.

   `What? What is it?' she asked.

   The Doctor crawled onto the bed and looked at Baris.He stroked his hair. `You brave little idiot,' he said.

   More explosions sounded from down below. ThisCommissar wasn't taking any chances. `I don't get it,' saidDonna.

   `My number one fan,' whispered the Doctor. `Theclue's in the title. Baris didn't want me captured or killed.He didn't want to be me. Maybe he wanted to try outbeing me, see what it was like for a while, but you don'tkill your heroes.'

   `Cast all modesty aside for a moment, Doctor,' saidDonna.

   `Not unless you're a total moron. Oh yes, Baris wastempted. Sebastiene is pretty good at temptation.'

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   She remembered the beautiful man and the honeyedwords. `Yeah, I remember.'

   `The offer was too good to refuse. He went through thesurgical procedures, the DNA transfusion, but that wouldhave been enough for him. The idea that he was going tobe used to hunt me down was too much.'

   Donna thought she was catching on. `He couldn't do arunner...'

   `Not on Planet 1. Sebastiene would have been watchinghim all the time.'

   `So he thought up a way to swap places, to give you achance.'

   The Doctor nodded. He looked at Baris withadmiration. `He knows me better than anyone, exceptperhaps those who have travelled with me.'

   `Hang on,' Donna insisted. `Don't even think I knowyou.'

   `You'll learn. You're young. He knew that if you gloatat me, I'll punish you for it. He wanted me to hypnotisehim and swap places. Maybe he even wanted me to thinkhe was... a... well, a villain. If I knew his real motives, thathe wasn't really a bad guy, I wouldn't have the heart tosend him to the hunting zones.'

   Baris's eyes were flickering in their sockets. His mouthuttered a disturbingly Doctorish groan.

   `That's a real risk,' said Donna.

   `Huge,' said the Doctor. `And that's what Sebastienecouldn't understand. What he wouldn't accept. Sebastieneis a paranoid sociopath. For him, killing your heroeswould be everything. Anything less would seem insane.

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Oh Baris, why would you do that for me?'

   Baris looked up at him. `You're the Doctor. You wantto try living in Apartment 4589/DYY Block N in ProximaCity's Second District for twenty years. You and everyoneelse exactly like you; nothing changing, nothinghappening. And then I get offered the chance to be theDoctor. Wow! I'd do it all again if I had to.'

   `Here, sit up,' said the Doctor. `Get him some water.'

   `From where? The taps ain't working.'

   `Anywhere. Sit up, Baris, there's a good fellow. You doknow you're Baris, don't you?'

   Baris gave the Doctor a bleary smile. `I knew you'd getme out of those zones.'

   `Well, I didn't have a lot of time to hypnotise youproperly. That beepy stick thing you had was good butdidn't come with any instructions. All I could do was giveyou the `Find Donna' command; program it to loop in ifyour real personality started to come through, and sendyou on your way. I didn't do half of the rescuing. Youmade it easy for me. I understand now why I got awaywith messing about with the computer so much. You're areal forward thinker, Baris. Give yourself a pat on theback.'

   `What do you mean?' asked Baris. `Oh, and can I haveyour autograph?'

   `Later. I mean those twiddles and override wotsits youput into the computer system to help me work it so easily.Thought my number was up when the big Supervisortracked me down.'

   `Not me.'

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   The Doctor smiled. `You're concussed still. Rest easy,you've had a busy day.'

   Baris clutched his shoulder. `It wasn't me. I don't knowhow to operate the Planet 1 computer system. Sebastienewouldn't let me near it. Why would he?'

   The Doctor's eyebrows squiggled, like they did whenhe was confused.

   Donna handed him a cup of water. `Don't ask mewhere I got it,' she said.

   Cold air was seeping into the room now from thesmashed window. The explosions downstairs had stopped.

   The Doctor was still thinking as he drank the water.Baris stifled a laugh.

   `That wasn't for you,' said Donna.

   The Doctor gulped. He stared at the cup in his handlike it came from another planet. `There's someone else,'he said.

Commissar Weimark took a while to work out what wasunnerving him, but he got there in the end. There was nobackground noise. There was rain, yes, but nothing...nothing lived here. Nothing at all. Even the icy ruins ofBeriagrad managed to sustain a few birds and rats, thosewhich avoided being eaten, and when you had lived thereas long as Weimark had, you always heard them. Theywere your guide and your warning system; their liferhythm woven into your fabric. This place had nothing.Even the grass felt wrong.

   Weimark did not concern himself with this knowledge.He had long learned to ignore any data that did not aid

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him in the hunt. If the lack of noise became important, hewould register its existence; otherwise forget it.

   The building must once have been a barracks ormeeting house, consisting as it did of identical livingunits. His prey was hiding inside. There was nowhere elsefor them to go.

   `Inside!' he shouted, and his squad followed him acrossthe churned-up gravel of the old car park.

   Something moved in a puddle, and Weimarkinstinctively fired a shot. Sadie's robotic hand burst into athousand fragments. The Commissar allowed a tight smileacross his white face. Nice at last to shoot something.Suddenly his day seemed a lot brighter.

   The robot squad reached the ruined door. Weimark reada battered gold sign: `Exquisite Traveller'.

   He nodded. The Doctor.

   Weimark pointed at a soldier, a woman. `Stay outside.Use your motion detector to mark them if they try to slipout.'

   He and Laki and the other private searched the roomson the ground floor. They grenaded and flamed whereverthey went. Weimark was impressed. The robots' combatprogramming was as efficient as that of a real EasternMark soldier.

   Once satisfied no one was downstairs, Weimark andSergeant Laki took a staircase each. The private remainedon the ground floor, to catch any runners.

   The Doctor and his allies had taken the coward'soption. They preferred to run than stand their ground. Afatal mistake. Statistically a cornered combatant, even an

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unarmed combatant, stood a thirty-two per cent betterchance of survival if he confronted his pursuer. Retreatwas the worst course of action.

   Two stairwells led up to a single corridor. Closed doorslined that corridor. His prey was behind one of thosedoors.

   Laki whistled from the far stairwell. The sergeant heldout a hand to indicate his presence. Weimark whistledback.

   Together, they moved onto the carpet and kicked intheir first doors.

Wood splintered under heavy blows. Somewhere downthe corridor, a gun blasted.

   Donna looked at the Doctor. `So, escape plan?'

   The Doctor was fiddling with the air-conditioningcontrols. `Can't you think of something? I'm busy.'

   As Donna looked disbelievingly at Baris, he continued.`Is it me, or is it getting cold in here?'

   `He'll find a way,' said the duplicate. `He always does.'

   Another crump from a grenade.

   `They're getting clo-ser,' Donna sang.

   She looked around but the room was the same.Bathroom door: closed. Window: broken. Telly: off.Nothing else.

   She shivered. `Doctor!'

   At last, he stopped fiddling. `You know what'sbothering me?'

   `That there's thirty seconds before hunters kick thedoor in and spray us with bullets?'

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    `That distress signal. You know; the really loud one.'

    Baris was smiling. `He's thinking. He's doing histhinking face. Can you put your glasses on? What do youcall them: your clever glasses? Can you do that?'

    `Brainy specs. And shut up.' Donna felt only mildlyhysterical. `Can we do distress signals another time?'

    A thump. Much closer.

    `Ooh they're right on us,' said Baris, looking at theDoctor with happy expectation. `I wonder what he's goingto come up with.'

    A draught of freezing air shot from under the bathroomdoor. The Doctor snapped his fingers. `I've got it!' Hestopped to listen. `Is there a fly in here?'

    Donna held her breath and her patience. `I can't hearanything.'

    `That's no fly... that's robotic...' Baris climbed off thebed. He looked at the Doctor, who looked at him. Theyboth grimaced.

    Donna lost it. She put her hands on her hips, leaned herhead back and yelled. `Oi! What is going on?'

    The Doctors' mouths opened in toothy surprise.`Ssshh!' they hissed.

    Baris blinked. `I know what to do,' he said. `For thefirst time in my life, I know what to do.' He dashed to thedoor and pulled it open. `Make sure you get away.'

    `Baris, no!' The Doctor ran forward, only for Donna tojump on him. Together, they bowled into the wall.

    `Go on!' she yelled. `Get going!'

    Baris gave Donna a frightened wink. `I'm a hero!' hesaid. `Maybe they'll look me up on the neural net. Me.

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Baris.'

   He darted into the corridor and slammed the door shut.

   `Baris!' the Doctor shouted. He shoved Donna aside.

   They heard Baris yell: `Come get me! Come get meyou scum!' There was an explosion, gunfire and thenquiet. He was gone.

   The Doctor jumped up to follow. Donna pinned himdown on the bed. `Leave him!'

   The Doctor stopped wriggling. He glared at Donna.`Why?'

   She grabbed his hand to keep him still. `That was whathe wanted, can't you see? He wanted to be the Doctor. Todo what you would do. He wanted to be you.'

   He stared at her. Accusing.

   `Don't...' she said. `I feel rotten enough.'

   `Door,' said the Doctor and looked at the bathroomdoor.

   `What?'

   The Doctor freed his hand and stood up. `It's time togo.'

   He opened the bathroom door and Donna gasped.

They had him cold. In the split second before being shotdead, a small part of his brain bathed in his bravery. Atlast, he was the Doctor.

   Except, unlike the real Doctor, he wasn't going tooverturn the odds and pull through. In fact, his plan reliedon his being killed.

   Baris recalled his dull, grey suburban existence back onProxima. The years of dreaming. Comfortable, safe, but

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not enough. Not nearly enough. Here on Planet 1, Barishad just made a difference. The Doctor and Donna weresafe because of him. He was their Doctor.

    Ahead, a soldier stepped out from a room. His face wasimpassive as he blocked any escape.

    Baris was aware of fear growing cold in his stomach.Even that fear felt right. He found he wanted to rememberthe details of this moment: the sound of flames, thedreadful weave of the carpet, the smell of the thick smokyair.

    The fly that wasn't a fly buzzed in Baris's ear. Thesoldier raised his rifle and aimed. Baris didn't care. `Youwouldn't be the first,' he said. `Go on then.'

    The fly noise whipped by his ear to the man holdingthe rifle. As Baris waited for death, the soldier flinchedand his robotic head blew up.

Weimark cursed. Once again luck was against him. TheDoctor had run to Laki and not to him. The Commissarran out of the burning room to see the sergeant all set togun his target down. Despite having given the order,Weimark was disappointed. He would not personally bethe man to get the last Time Lord. Trapped in the corridor,the Doctor could only wait for the bullet.

   Except that, for no reason whatsoever, Laki's headburst apart.

   Sparks and metal and fluid flew in all directions in ahalo of energy. The sergeant dropped his rifle, staggeredand tumbled. The Doctor looked as surprised as anyone.He turned, saw Weimark and ran.

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   Weimark raised his weapon. He heard an insect's buzzand saw a tiny ripple in the air heading straight at him. Hethrew himself to one side, still managing a snap shot at theretreating Doctor. The bullet blew a chunk out of the wall,but that was the extent of its damage. The Doctordisappeared round the corner and down the stairs.

   The buzz grew louder again. Some kind of miniaturemissile. Tiny but devastating if it went off in the rightplace say a neck or a head. Someone had someinteresting toys.

   Weimark rolled and listened for the buzz. Heconcentrated on its sound and, as it swooped, he pulled hispistol and fired. The air in front of the Commissar burstinto flame, its expanding fire washing over him. Weimarkblinked at the pain and slapped his burning face with hisgloved hands. He had hit the micro-missile at the last vitalsecond.

   `Damn you!' he yelled as he rubbed his eyes. Waterpoured from the dark sockets. His skull felt singed raw.Weimark blinked the tears away. Ignoring the pain, hepicked himself up.

   Commissar Weimark was going to get that Doctor, if itwas the last thing he ever did.

Giddy with excitement, almost wetting himself with terrorand laughing like a loon, Baris bounced down the stairs.The smashed windows blew rain and wind over him, andthe thick patterned carpet squelched beneath his feet.

   He had escaped after all. Heaven only knew what hewas going to do next, but he had escaped.

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    A second soldier appeared at the foot of the stairs. Yetanother gun was pointed at him.

    Super-confident now, Baris jumped out of the first-floor window.

    He dropped head first towards a mound of bricks. Theylooked very hard and although some distance below,approached very quickly.

    At this point, he was willing to accept that perhaps hehad been just a little too confident. Being the Doctor hadgone to his head a situation that was about to be ratherbrutally rectified. Baris held his arms out in a futileattempt to cushion the impact, knowing already he wasdoomed.

    Energy hummed around him and, as he should have hitthe bricks, he bounced as if he had landed on an invisibletrampoline.

    Baris cartwheeled down the brick slope, cocooned in aflickering blue light. He was caught in an energy bubble.

    `There you are, old chap,' said a voice Baris had notheard in a long time.

    Sebastiene, resplendent in his new black hunting outfit,was manipulating his bracelet. The energy bubble rolleddown the rubble slope to stop at Sebastiene's feet, next toanother dead robot soldier. `Game over,' said the hunter.

    Wriggling himself upright, aware that rain was slidingdown the bubble around him, Baris tried to clear his head.Even the Doctor didn't face death three times in oneminute. Well, not normally.

    `You've proved quite a challenge,' said Sebastiene.`Jolly good for you.' He smiled a deep, white-toothed

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smile.

   Baris collected his thoughts. `Wrong one,' he said. `I'mBaris.'

   A flicker of irritation crossed Sebastiene's perfect face.He was thinking through the possibilities. `Nice try,' hesaid. `But we're done. Baris only looks like the Doctor; hedoesn't act like him. Did you like my midge-missiles?'

   Baris smiled. `You don't know anything. Somethinghas happened. There's another player. We're all beingmanipulated. Especially you.'

   Sebastiene blinked in the rain. He tapped his bracelet.`Prepare to open the zone,' he commanded. `I'm in chargehere, Baris. I've always been in charge here and don't youforget it...'

   Baris heard a metallic click. Sebastiene's chest eruptedand the ruler of Planet 1 was hurled into the mud, hatflying off. He clutched the ground; fingers digging intothe earth in shock. `Now that's damned inconvenient,'Sebastiene sighed and stopped moving.

   The bubble around Baris fizzed and he rolled over.

   Upside down, he saw the hotel and the white blob of aface leaning out from a window. Commissar Weimarkejected the spent cartridge from his rifle and punched theair; the first emotion Baris had ever seen in his pursuer.

   `I win!' screamed the Commissar. `I win!'

   Baris then heard a cluster of buzzing sounds, sawCommissar Weimark flap at his face, and the wholebuilding exploded.

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       `How could you know?' Donna demanded. `No one

    could possibly know.'

       `What do you mean? Know what?'

       `Come on, you planned the whole escape all along.'

       `I didn't plan anything.' The Doctor stopped and wiped

    frozen moisture from his face. `It wasn't that hard to

    figure out.'

       `That you open a door in a Bracknell hotel bathroom

    and boom: there's the Antarctic? Drifts, glaciers,

    crevasses, the works? Do I look stupid?'

       They were trudging through snow again. The Doctor

    was determined; he was on a mission.

       Donna still wasn't sure he had forgiven her for the fight

    in the bedroom. She wasn't sure she forgave herself. `If

    I'd let you stop Baris, he'd have come through the door

    with us. He'd still be alive, wouldn't he?'

       The Doctor stopped and smiled. `Like you said, he did

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what he wanted to do. It's not your fault.'

    `How was I supposed to know?' she moaned.

    `You just had to think it through,' he said. `I thought itthrough.'

    Donna grabbed him. She was now freezing and wasastounded how warm he felt. `Look, this is the Antarctic,right? Where we first appeared?'

    `Well...'

    `There's a base around here with a big scary monster init, right? It's Earth, yeah?'

    The Doctor took a deep breath. `There's a base with abig scary monster somewhere... but this is not the Earth. Itnever was.'

    Never mind the cold. She stopped and poked his chest.`Explanation,' she demanded. `In English. Right now.'

    The Doctor smiled. `You'll freeze to death standingthere looking all stern.'

    `I don't care. Tell me. And don't give me that "there'snot a moment to lose". If this ain't the Earth, where onEarth are we?'

    The Doctor gave Donna his special `let-me-off' lookbut she wasn't having any of it. `And don't give me thathandsome face 'cos it don't work on me, mister.'

    He put his hands in his pockets and kicked some snow.`You never quite grasped the fact that you weren't inBracknell, did you? Be honest.'

    `Was I asking about Bracknell? If this ain't the SouthPole, where is it?'

    `Planet 1,' he said. `Can we go now?' He pointed. `Ah,there's a chimney.'

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    By now, Donna's teeth were chattering so hard shecould hardly speak. `W-w-what's Planet W-w-w-won?'

    `Sebastiene's planet.'

    `You said we were on Earth. I distinctly heard you sayit. In the TARDIS.'

    The Doctor looked hurt. `He fooled me. I don't knowhow, but he fooled me. I don't like that. Let's get youwarm.'

    The snow next to them burst into flame. Donna and theDoctor pitched over into the snow. Donna screeched withshock.

    `I didn't mean it literally!' she heard the Doctor shout.`Donna, stay down!'

    `Who was that?' she asked.

    `Hunter.' He crawled to her, looking around. `I imagineSebastiene has called them all here in the hope that--'

    The snow exploded again. The Doctor flinched as hewas showered with wet, white powder. `Long way off andtrying to scare not kill. We need to get inside.'

    Donna grabbed his wet arm. `There's a monster in thatbase!'

    He smiled. `Yes, but I contained it in a sonic stasisfield. Ah, there's the hatch. Come on!'

    He hauled her up just as the third explosion rocked theground.

Colonel Sty of the Bolken Context brushed the snow offhis thick hide. As the cold did not affect him, he haddecided to use his thick rubbery skin as an advantage anddig in. He had hoped to capture the Doctor before the

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Time Lord went underground.

   Colonel Sty looked at his rifle. The weapon must bemalfunctioning. He did not comprehend. The computerinside calculated every possible force that would affect theexplosive bullet's trajectory, be it range, wind speed oratmospheric pressure. The rifle was even vacuum sealedto enable space firing. He should have hit the Doctor threetimes.

   Not daunted, Colonel Sty snapped the expensiveweapon in half. He threw the pieces into the snow. `We'lldo this the old-fashioned way.' He unsheathed his Kratdagger and stood up. `Hello old friend,' he said,remembering the blood he had taken with it. Colonel Styof the Bolken Context began to march.

   As he did so, Zzorg Zero, who was hovering over theColonel, dropped a plasma bead onto his striding head andblew his fellow Society member to smithereens.

   `One lesszz,' the creature buzzed and landed in thesnow.

The Doctor let Donna climb down the Snowcap Baseladder first. Which was unlucky for her as her feettriggered an energy net on the steps. A sticky metal webenveloped her. Struggling, she fell and hit the ruined tileson the floor with a crunch.

    The Doctor looked down into the gloomy base. Handsyanked Donna out of view. They intended to use her as ahostage. Sebastiene had summoned the hunters here towrap the game up.

    Well, that was just fine.

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    The Doctor stood in the cold light, snow swirlingaround him. `All right,' he said. `No more running.'

    Nothing. No movement or sound of any kind. He felt asif Planet 1 itself was holding its breath.

    `One warning!' the Doctor shouted. `Leave now ornever leave.'

    He climbed slowly; each tread deliberate and solid. Themetal ladder rang with his footsteps. His plimsollssplashed onto the puddled floor. Snowcap Base was dark,the emergency strip lights smashed either by Sebastiene'smonster or a hunter seeking cover.

    They were hiding in the shadows; he could sense them.They were watching and waiting.

    `Never leave, then,' he told the dark. `The Society forEndangered Dangerous Species? You're the endangeredspecies now. I've destroyed worlds, civilisations; my ownpeople. So run; run and hide because now I'm huntingyou. Fear me. I'm the Doctor and I'm coming for you. Allof you.'

    He turned and pointed the sonic screwdriver up at thehatch. Zzorg Zero, who had crept up to the edge, screamedin pain as the reinforced metal lid dropped onto his frontlegs. Pieces of insect feet floated down. Pinned by theimmense weight, Zzorg Zero squirmed and wailed, hiswings thrashing feebly against metal.

    The Doctor twisted the sonic screwdriver. A great roarerupted deep inside Snowcap Base. The sonic fieldholding Sebastiene's monster was gone. `I'm coming,' hesaid. `And hell's coming with me.'

    The Doctor walked into the darkness.

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The Society for Endangered Dangerous Species fled interror. Their plans, their lures, were in disarray. What hadthey been thinking? To take on the Doctor? Madness.How had they allowed Sebastiene to fool them intobelieving they could trap him? And now there was no wayout.

   They ran anyway.

   Two hunters collided in a scramble for an exit andshoved blades into each other before they had time tothink. Three more ran straight down into the lower levels,where Sebastiene's pet Thing eagerly received them.

   Only one hunter kept a cool head. This final hunter waseither arrogant or stupid enough to believe it could stillwin the game. The trick was to keep waiting. Wait untilexactly the right time.

   The Doctor walked the tunnels of this fake SnowcapBase. He never faltered and never turned aside. He walkeduntil he found Donna.

   `Doctor?' she asked, crumpled up in the energy net andshoved into a crack in the floorboards.

   His face was in shadow as he leaned towards her.

   `You look different...' she said, suddenly afraid.

   Only when he appeared in the light, he was all smiles.`Donna. Donna Noble. I'm really glad to know you.'

   He cut the net apart with the sonic screwdriver andhelped her to her feet.

   `What did you do?' she asked.

   The Doctor shrugged. `The Society disbanded.'

   She hugged him, although she wasn't quite sure why.

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`So what do we do now?' she asked. `Sit round a campfire and "be there" for each other?'

   They walked through the wrecked remains of SnowcapBase. Nothing moved here now. Even the monster hadgone. Well, Donna hoped it had gone. The Doctor led herdown stairs and along corridors until they found aseriously mashed-up laboratory with what looked like ahollowed-out ice cube rapidly melting over a table.

   Donna could see all too clearly what had happened.The creature inside the ice cube had lurched straightupwards, smashing a hole in the ceiling. It must have beenone hell of a fight. There wasn't a single item ofequipment in here that wasn't wrecked.

   `What happened to the men? You know: the guys wholived here?'

   The Doctor dropped the twisted, wiry internal heart ofa computer onto the floor, knelt down, put on his brainyspecs and began to work. `There weren't any men. Justrobots. Sebastiene's toys. Like all spoilt little boys,breaking his toys is easy because he knows he'll just getbought some more. Snowcap Base and the ice creaturewere just bait for his ridiculous safari. The worm to temptus onto the fishing line. Or should that be fishing hook?'He shook his head. `What a rubbish lure. I can think of abillion less complicated and more effective ways to reelme in.'

   Donna knelt down in front of the wiring. `What's that?A lash-up? An improvised wotsit to signal the TARDIS?'

   The Doctor threw the machine away. `Nah, I was trying

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to get Radio 2. We're just waiting for Sebastiene. I want aword with him.'

    He must have seen how much his words had deflatedher, because he plonked a half-broken beaker onto atwisted tripod. He reached into his jacket and produced alittle paper packet, which he waggled in front of her. `Seeif you can find some water,' he said. `I'll make us a cup oftea.'

The night passed slowly. At least, Donna guessed it wasnight; she couldn't really tell. Night just seemed to suit theway time went in Snowcap Base. And it went slowly.

   `Who is Sebastiene?' she asked, when the Doctor hadwoken her up for the third time with his infernal fidgeting.`I mean, I don't know at all. He told me he was a scientistfrom Earth in 1973. That wasn't true, was it?'

   The Doctor watched her stretch and yawn and listenedto the cracks in her vertebrae as she stretched her spine.`Perhaps he was,' he replied. `Once. But you know howthese legends are. I mean, every planet's got a legendabout Sebastiene and Planet 1.'

   `I haven't. I mean, we haven't.'

   `Every civilised planet. You lot are too busy watchingJamie's Home Cooking to take any notice of what'sactually going on the universe. Mind you, he does run upa mean pasta bake.'

   `Sebastiene?'

   `Jamie! I remember this party in Tuscany...'

   `Doctor!'

   The Doctor rubbed his chin. `I don't think Sebastiene

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really knows who he is himself. He thinks he does; but hedoesn't. He said something to me once; he said: `I amincapable of taking anything at face value'. I didn't thinkanything of it at the time but now I'm not so sure.'

   `What do you mean?'

   The Doctor laughed. `He simply couldn't accept that Icould have switched places with Baris at the Chateau.That thinking was beyond him. There had to be a hiddenplan... the Doctor Trap. I think Sebastiene literally cannotaccept anything at face value. He's not made that way.'

   It took a moment, but Donna got there. `Made thatway?'

   `We're all made in some way or another. Drink yourtea. I don't want to say until I'm sure.'

   `Doctor?' she asked. `What is the Doctor Trap? There'sno such thing, is there? You made it up, right?'

   He took a gulp of tea. `Of course there's a DoctorTrap.'

   `What is it then?'

   `Donna,' he said. `It's the nagging doubt. The DoctorTrap is what you think they know and you don't. It's beingsure the other person is getting one over on you.'

   `So it's what they know and you don't.'

   `No. It's what you think they know. It's what you thinkthey've got over you. The Doctor Trap. I'm rather proudof having coined the phrase, now I come to think of it.'

   `How about the door in the hotel?' she asked. `Comeon. And who is this other person you mentioned? Youknow, the one who you think is really controllingeverything?'

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   `I didn't say it was a person.' His voice was mock-mysterious; full of humour. The Doctor looked up at theruined ceiling and yelled. `Come on, Sebastiene! Bored!'

   Nothing. The silence was so great Donna thought shecould hear the blizzard raging a hundred metres overhead.

   `You're enjoying this,' she said, realising it was true.

   There came a metallic clang from above. Donnashrieked. `Someone's coming!'

   The Doctor dusted himself down. He took off hisbrainy specs. `About time,' he said. `Let's go to work.'

A man walked in through the ruined doorway.

   `Been waiting for you,' said the Doctor. He lay on adamaged table, scrutinising the ceiling.

   Sebastiene was smiling. He was dressed in dark clothesnow, with a black wide-brimmed hat. He held a strangebrass pistol. Donna had to admit he looked mighty fine.

   `So, here we are,' he said. He looked at her. `Helloagain, Donna Noble. No hard feelings?'

   `Get lost,' she growled.

   `Hard feelings then. Oh well. Brought someone...'

   He stood aside and the Doctor walked in, lookingsheepish and forlorn. No, she had to remember. Baris.

   Donna could have died. `You made it!' she squealed. `Idon't believe it!'

   Baris did not reply. He looked frightened. Veryfrightened.

   Sebastiene laughed. `Lighten up! This is a party! Weshould have pop and cakes, isn't that how you do it inLondon, Donna?'

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   `What exactly are we celebrating?' she asked.

   Sebastiene was inspecting the damaged room. `Ouch,'he muttered. `Someone really went to town, didn't they?'

   She saw what they were up to, the pair of them,Sebastiene and the Doctor. They were playing tough guys;pretending the other was too small to be a threat. Both asbad as each other.

   `Celebrating?' Sebastiene continued. `Why, theDoctor's triumph of course. Got to hand it to you, sir. Youreally are the bee's knees. The entire Society forEndangered Dangerous Species. I hoped you would bestthem, but I didn't really believe it.'

   `He's scared,' said Baris. `He's afraid of you, Doctor.'

   Sebastiene gave Baris a stare. `Now, now, old chap.Behave. Or I may be forced to chastise you.' Bariscringed.

   Sebastiene looked at the table where the Doctor waslying. `What do you say? Back to the Chateau for a glassof bubbly?'

   The Doctor said nothing.

   Sebastiene was still smiling but his eyes were cold anddark. `What's up, old chap? You won, didn't you?'

   The Doctor did not look up. He seemed to be asleep;until he spoke. `Sorry, mate. I only speak to the organgrinder, not the monkey.'

   Donna saw Sebastiene flinch. He had lost his temperbut fought to conceal it. `I am the organ grinder. I couldkill you instantly, of course.'

   The Doctor swung himself off the table. `Well, youmight have been able to once upon a time, but cleverly

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you switched off the Intelligent Molecular Technology. Sono more point and click.' He pointed a finger at Sebastieneand said: `Boom.'

   Sebastiene raised his pistol. `All right,' he said. `Let'sskip the pleasantries. The Trophy Room beckons.'

   Baris took a step forward. `Doctor, Weimark shot him.Right in front of me. I saw him die...'

   Sebastiene fired at Baris who glowed red, screamed inpain, then disappeared.

   Donna let out a roar of anger and charged atSebastiene. Amused, he rolled away and kicked her in theright knee. She dropped like a stone. Agonising fire shotup her leg. She moaned.

   `Do shut up, there's a good girl,' said Sebastiene,dusting himself down.

   Donna put out a hand. `Yeah, a little help here, please.'

   She tried to move, but the Doctor glared at her. She gotthe message: stay down. For once in her life, she did whatshe was told. Whatever was going on here was beyondher. Be nice if they could give her something for her leg,though.

   `How do you know you got the right Doctor?' askedthe Doctor. `You might have killed the real one. Wouldn'texactly be a successful end to the safari would it?'

   `He's not dead. This gun gives me limited transmatcapacity. I've just popped him off for a while. So even ifhe is the real you, I'll have you both. I win whatever.'

   `So you were killed?' The Doctor spoke as if Baris hadconfirmed a suspicion. `How d'you get over that then?Reincarnation?'

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    Sebastiene looked bored. `I rule Planet 1. I have lots ofnice nano-technology inside that augments my body.Don't ask me to explain it; far too boring. You think theplanet would let me die? Look, I'd love to stand aroundand chat, but this really is a very dreary place and I'mdying to get you on display. Move.'

    The Doctor stayed still. `Why do you think CommissarWeimark shot you when he would have thought I wasstanding right next to you?'

    Sebastiene shook his head. `A little less conversation, alittle more action... Bye-bye.' He held up the gun againand pulled the trigger.

    Nothing happened.

    Blinking, Sebastiene tried again. The gun still failed tofire.

    The Doctor put his hands behind his back. `You'vealready lost everything, and you still don't know it. Letme tell you why the Commissar hit you and not me. Well,Baris, really, but as good as...'

    `Oh please,' said Sebastiene, starting to look flusteredbut fighting it. `Enlighten me. Let me learn from you...'

    `You were his target.'

    Sebastiene snarled and threw the gun aside. `All right,we'll do this the traditional way.' From his coat,Sebastiene produced a smaller, deadlier-looking pistol.`You know what? I'm going to do something I shouldhave done ages ago. Right or wrong Doctor, I'm justgoing to kill you, because I'm sick of hearing your voice.'

    `I wouldn't,' said the Doctor. `Because I think you'regoing to need my help.'

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   Sebastiene laughed. `Oh, of course I will. I mean, I justrun the planet and who... who are you?'

   The Doctor sniffed. `Oh, I'm no one. Except I don'tthink you run the planet any more.'

   Donna thought Sebastiene was going to shoot, shereally did. Here in the dark of this ruined base, shethought the Doctor was really about to die.

   Instead, however, Sebastiene saw sense.

He had so many plans. There was so much to do. Planet 1was his; had always been his. What was Planet 1 withoutSebastiene? What was Sebastiene without Planet 1?

   What was he?

   `This had better be good,' he warned the Doctor.

   `If you want my real advice, we should stop wastingtime talking and get to the TARDIS. Is it in the Chateau?'

   `Not yet.' Sebastiene had to keep his face fromtwitching. This was still the game. The Doctor Trap. `Giveme one good reason I should believe you.'

   `You won't like it,' came the reply. The Doctor movedto help his friend. `Do you mind, she is in pain.'

   `I'll shoot her dead if you do anything I don't like,'Sebastiene warned. `I am an excellent shot.'

   The Doctor helped Donna to a broken chair. She wasrubbing her wounded leg and looking daggers atSebastiene. Let her.

   `Come on then, Doctor,' he said. `Where's thisevidence that's going to blow my socks off?'

   `All right. The hunters were offered a new challenge.Why bother chasing me and get whatever scraps you were

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offering? Why not try for a new trophy: Planet 1 itself?Planet 1 is nothing without its ruler, its organisingprinciple, its... heart. All the technology in the universe isno use without a creative mind to put it to good use.'

   `Are you here to warn me or compliment me?'Sebastiene sniffed. He knew he was vain enough to betickled by the Doctor's words. `Yes,' he said, `my geniusis vital to the legend.'

   `How old are you, Sebastiene?' asked the Doctor.`When was the last time you did anything because youneeded to, instead of because you couldn't think ofanything better?'

   `Here we go...' Sebastiene yawned. `The moral.'

   `Donna says you told her you're from Earth.'

   `Possibly,' he replied.

   `You did,' she said.

   `What does it matter?' Sebastiene didn't like thesequestions. `More games, more fudges. Get on with it.'

   `It matters to you, I think,' said the Doctor. `Because Ithink you're a robot.'

   Sebastiene nearly shot him there and then. Not becausehe couldn't believe the Doctor but because he could.

   `I'm me,' he insisted. `I'm Sebastiene.'

   `No,' said the Doctor. `You're a robot who thinks he'sSebastiene.'

   Outside, thunder rumbled. Oh very good, very gothic,thought Sebastiene. The planet reflects my inner emotions.`You're lying,' he said.

   `Am I?' the Doctor replied. `How do you know? Whycan't it be true? You're always looking for the meaning

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behind the meaning; the real story. After all, you thought Iwas Baris. You couldn't tell us apart...'

    `No one could!' Sebastiene heard himself shriek.

    `Your Butler could. So could the Supervisor. But youcouldn't. Your programming wouldn't let you.'

    Sebastiene felt something like water rising in his headand blurring his brain. Fear. Genuine unadulterated fear. Itcouldn't be true. It just couldn't.

    `I'm flesh and blood, you idiot,' he told the Doctor.`I'm organic.'

    `No. You're just a very, very expertly constructed... er...construct. You believe you are real because Planet 1programs you to believe you're real. How else do youthink you survived Weimark's bullet? Nano-technology inyour bloodstream? Come on...'

    Sebastiene needed to get out of this dingy place; heneeded fresh air and someone to hit. How could heconvince them? When everything he said could be putdown to programming?

    `Let's face it, Sebastiene. If Planet 1 is best at anything,it's best at building brilliant robots really quickly. Thereare robot workshops all over the place. There's probablyloads of replacement Sebastienes in storage who allbelieve they're the real thing. Save a fortune on bus fares.'

    Sebastiene raised the bracelet again. `Comms terminal!'he yelled. `Now!'

    The table in the centre of the room split and fell as theground lifted. A surprised Donna was raised upwards andtipped out of her chair. `Awww!' she bawled, falling into apile of wrecked, and sharp, lab equipment. `Why is it

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always me?'

    Lights flickered and a hologram shuddered into life.The Butler's head appeared in transparent colour. `Mymaster?' it asked.

    `Immediate restructure in the Snowcap Zone. Get anatmosphere craft here; I want to come home. It's cold andI'm fed up.'

    The Butler just stared. The holograph flickered.

    `Well?' Sebastiene demanded.

    The Butler smiled. A really cheery smile. `I don't thinkI want to do what you tell me today, Sebastiene.'

    Malfunction. Had to be. It had happened before. Thetechnology was brilliant but not perfect.

    `What?' Sebastiene asked coldly. `How dare you.'

    `Get lost,' the Butler replied. `Or better still, stay there.I'll send someone to warm you up.'

    The holograph went dead.

    `Oh dear,' said Donna, not bothering to conceal thesmile.

    Sebastiene fired a bullet into the machine. He felt angeroverwhelm the fear. `What's going on here? Am I masteror aren't I?'

    He swung round, arms outstretched, daring the planetto respond.

    `Not any more, it seems,' said the Doctor. `And theanswer to the question of how a door in a hotel can openonto an Antarctic snow scene is that it's a transmat portaland Planet 1 put it there for me.'

    Sebastiene didn't want to believe. But he did believe.The Doctor looked almost sorry. `You see, I don't think

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you rule very much any more.' He rolled his hands into apretend megaphone. `Come in, Sebastiene, your time isup.'

   Donna gasped. `I get it! I get the whole thing. TheDoctor Trap. The safari. The planet wants you to takeover.' Sebastiene barely heard her.

   `Yes,' said the Doctor. `I think it does. I guess I'm nextin line. Fresh blood. Sorry,' he winced at Sebastiene. `Ithink your planet's bored of you.'

   Donna almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Sebastienelooked around. His full bottom lip quivered, with anger orgrief she couldn't tell.

   `How dare you...' he whispered.

   `We should escape,' said Donna.

   `How dare you!' Sebastiene screamed. He worked hisway systematically round the lab, wrecking the wreckage.He went absolutely mad. `I rule here! Me! I'm in charge,I've always been in charge!' He turned to Donna, whowinced. The rage in those eyes defied sanity. Although hespoke to her, she realised he wasn't even seeing her. `I amPlanet 1,' he snarled. `Planet 1 is me. I'll destroy it beforeI give it up. I'll tear this world apart with my bare hands ifI have to.'

   Donna felt a thump overhead and the base shook

   `Missiles, I imagine,' said the Doctor. `The Butlerhaving some fun. I bet they're blowing the upper levels,sealing us down here, ready to send in the cavalry. `Heclapped his hands. `Escape; now that's a great idea.'

   `How?' Donna managed to stand. She pointed to thestaring Sebastiene; who appeared to have fallen into some

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kind of trance.

   `There's only one way out for all of us, Sebastiene,'said the Doctor. `The TARDIS. Only I don't know whereyou've put it.'

   Sebastiene said nothing. The turmoil in his head wastaking his whole concentration. He muttered to himself.`You're mine... you don't tire of me; oh no...'

   The base shook again. Dust fell from the ceiling.

   `The robots think the TARDIS is in the conferenceroom,' said the Doctor. `But it's not, is it? You'reSebastiene. You wouldn't just leave her lying around likethat.'

   Sebastiene ignored him.

   The Doctor pulled him round. `Listen to me. You canhave your revenge, but we have to get away. Now tell meyou didn't leave the TARDIS in the Chateau, did you?'

   `Chateau, yes. Must get there... take... take the IMT...'

   `Sebastiene! Where is the TARDIS?'

   `It's here,' Sebastiene replied. `Where you materialised;covered by a cloaking device. It's out there in the snow.'

   The Doctor squeezed his hand. `Good old Sebastiene. Iknew we could rely on you to be as sneaky and underhandas humanly or robotically possible.'

   `Hang on,' said Donna. `Won't Planet 1 just move itsomewhere else?'

   `If I'm right, Planet 1 can't move it because Sebastienewill have put one of his little impenetrable security thingsround it. Our man here would have to unlock it in person,like the prison zone. I guess. Or rather, I hope.'

   Sebastiene was muttering. `Yes, take the TARDIS.

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Regroup, plan the counter-attack. The Chateau is the key...we get to the Chateau, overrides...'

  `Sebastiene,' said the Doctor. `We need to leave now. Ifwe stay, we're finished. You must know another exit.Something the robots don't know about.'

  `He can't hear us,' said Donna. `He's gone.'

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    The Butler was enjoying itself. It found the new emotion

    exhilarating. Just for fun, the robot dialled the holograph

    in the base lab again but someone, presumably Sebastiene,

    had broken the projector.

       The Butler was skull-docked in the control room

    watching three robot armies close in on the Snowcap

    Zone. Orders had been given to restore IMT functions and

    in six hours the atmospheric blocking crystals would be

    flushed out. The transmat would be up and running within

    a day, and Planet 1 would soon be back to normal.

       Sebastiene? Well, Sebastiene would be gone.

       The Butler closed down the strategy screen and was

    about to remove the skull-dock when, on impulse, it

    double-checked the conference room. The captured

    TARDIS was still within, where it had remained since the

    day the Doctor arrived. Its presence reassured the robot.

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Even if he should escape the armies, the Doctor had toreturn to the Chateau. Hopefully he would bringSebastiene with him.

   The Butler was looking forward to the brave new worldthe Doctor would help them build. Away with all thedecadence and frippery and selfishness of old. The Butlerloved the idea that, with the Doctor being who he was,Planet 1 might become a good planet, a planet that helped,even a selfless planet. Be nice to do something positivefor a change.

   The robot looked round for reassurance. The controlroom was bustling normally. The Butler undocked.

   Soon they could get rid of all these messy consoles andgo back to air-screens. After a while, it realised, theycould get rid of a physical control room completely.

   An energy web hummed in the centre of the room.Baris floated inside; watching.

   `You've got the wrong man,' he said again. `I'm theDoctor; release me.'

   `Now, now, Baris,' said the Butler. `There's a goodboy.'

   `You don't understand: this is all part of my plan. I'mgiving you one more chance. Release me or suffer theconsequences. That one at Snowcap, that's Baris. Youmissed a switch; you all did.'

   The Butler froze. What if Baris was right? What if thiswas just another facet of this incredibly complicatedDoctor Trap? That would mean everything the robot didwas contributing to its own downfall. The whole of Planet1 could...

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  The Butler chuckled. `Well, you're certainly asannoying as the real Doctor but... no. Not any more.'

Atmosphere craft landed on the snow. Hundreds of them.They surrounded Snowcap Base. Before the engines evencooled, the doors were open and security robots werepouring out through clouds of frozen moisture. Thermalimaging units were activated. If the humans were inside,the robots would find them. Smoke drifted up from thebase chimneys: gas dropped down the pipes to stun anyorganic life forms below.

   Luckily, the Doctor and Donna and Sebastiene were nolonger below.

   After a decent interval, the Doctor blew out the snowthat had fallen into his mouth and sat up. He had coveredhimself in a drift to observe the landings. The atmospherecraft looked like sycamore seeds spinning in the distance.Occasionally, a squadron flew overhead, but where theyweren't looking, they wouldn't find.

   He brushed a dewy icicle from the end of his nose andtrudged back to the concealed Snow-Cat. They had spent agood hour of back-breaking labour covering the vehicleafter the Doctor had dropped it into a crevasse. The thingwas wedged in tight.

   The Doctor jumped down onto the roof and kickedaway the snow. `How we all doing?'

   Donna was moaning, of course. He hauled her out ofthe tiny gap in the door.

   `Although the camouflage idea was a winner in theory,'she said in a prissy voice, `we ain't never going to be able

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to drive this thing again. How do you even know wherethe TARDIS is?'

   `Because I'm really good at remembering where I leftthe TARDIS. Even if it is invisible.'

   Sebastiene climbed up onto the roof. He looked at theplumes of smoke that marked the base. `Won't take themlong to realise we're not there. They will have expected usto get out.'

   `You seem to be feeling a lot better,' said Donna.

   She changed her mind when he smiled at her. He wascalm for now, but there was extreme violence inSebastiene, ready to emerge.

   The Doctor clapped his hands. `No worries. This is theexact spot where the TARDIS landed.'

   `How do you know?' Sebastiene asked. `Have you gotsome sort of symbiotic telepathic link?'

   `Naah,' he replied. `There's a big square hole in theground. Look.'

   They did. There was.

   `OK, Seb,' the Doctor continued. `Just operate thesecurity diddly and in we go.'

   Sebastiene twisted his bracelet and the air shimmered.The familiar blue police box materialised in the snow.

   The Doctor produced a key. `Won't be a mo.' Heunlocked the door and went inside.

   Donna looked Sebastiene up and down. `What are yougoing to do?' she asked. `Now you're a robot andeverything.'

   Sebastiene smiled his chilling smile again. He seemedto have regained some of his old, cruel humour. `Some

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redecorating at the Chateau. Revenge...'

   `Oh that...'

   `I am going to disconnect my Butler. Very, veryslowly...'

   `Oh, you...' came a shout from the TARDIS.

   The Doctor marched out. He looked accusingly atSebastiene. He held the door open so he and Donna couldsee the four wooden walls and the tiny, empty spacewithin. `You've been sussed, me old son,' he said. `That'sjust a blue box.'

   There was a scream from the sky and they looked up tosee atmosphere craft already approaching.

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       The robot army reported in. They had found and

    captured the fugitives. All three.

       IMT was twelve minutes and forty-eight seconds to full

    operation. Beneath the planet's surface, huge generators

    were powering up. All was well with Planet 1.

       There were big plans for the Doctor. The Butler was on

    a schedule.

       The Doctor, Donna and Sebastiene were being ferried

    by atmosphere craft to the Chateau. The Butler went to

    meet them personally. He snarled at the pompous horse-

    drawn carriage as it drew up in the courtyard. Another

    confection soon to be dismantled. The Butler was looking

    forward to meeting his old master again.

       First, the Doctor had to become the planet. The Butler's

    programming was far too limited to comprehend what that

    meant, or how it could be achieved, but it knew this first

    step was vital. And the Doctor was tricky and more than

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likely to resist.

   A fleet of atmosphere craft flew through the forceshields. One broke off from the formation and droppedonto the highly decorated tarmac of the landing site.

   The horses pulled up and the Butler exited the carriage.

   Doors opened on the steaming atmosphere craft.Eighteen armed security robots escorted the Doctor,Sebastiene and Donna out.

   The prisoners were downcast, not talking, eyes rootedon the floor. Only the Doctor showed signs of life, lookingaround without emotion.

   Searching for a way out, thought the Butler. Oh, he wasa clever one.

   `Into the carriage please,' it sang. `Nearly there.'

   It was just about to taunt the depressed-lookingSebastiene when a command sparked inside the Butler'sbrain. Planet 1 was informing the robot that IMT was backon-line. `We have Molecular Technology again...' Therobot sighed. What a relief.

   The entourage immediately stopped moving. No needfor them any more.

   The Butler snapped his fingers and a security fieldmaterialised around the three prisoners. They lookedabout in surprise.

   Raising an air-screen, the Butler organised immediatetransmat to the control room. The robot took one last lookat the horse and carriage and smiled. That was the lasttime it was going to have to put up with this kind ofnonsense.

   They travelled.

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`Donna Noble is a useful tool,' said the Butler. `Sheensures compliance. I'm sure I'm not the first to say it.'

   Donna and Sebastiene were secure enough. Theydangled in fizzing energy bonds next to Baris. The Doctorwas standing in hand and wrist molecular restraints.Planet 1 needed him mobile. All around the control room,operator robots were busy with air-screens. The old VRequipment had been junked, and not before time.

   The Butler waved a giant hand and the control roomfloor opened up. A vast hum rang out from fathomlessdepths. Far below, unearthly purple light pure living,breathing energy danced and swam across chasms ofunimaginably advanced technology. Snake-like cables thesize of tower blocks erupted upwards. They writhed in andout of each other, eager to get their hands on the last of theTime Lords.

   `The heart of Planet 1,' said the Butler. `Ready for you,Doctor. You and Planet 1; together for ever.' The robotchuckled. `At last: no more errors; no more decadence,just purpose.'

   The Doctor did not react.

   `Why so glum?' The Butler was in a chatty mood.`You're about to become a god!'

   The Doctor said nothing.

   `All the experience, imagination and wonder locked upinside you will keep Planet 1 occupied for millennia.We're all very excited. Who knows, perhaps eventuallywe will find a way of moving through the universetogether. Imagine that? Planet 1, mobile. We might even

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learn to create a new universe, whole dimensions, just forus.'

   The giant cables writhed in anticipation, like restlessfingers. Sebastiene wriggled in his bubble. `Traitor,' hesaid tonelessly.

   The Doctor looked sad. `All that energy, all thoseresources, and you don't know what to do withyourselves.'

   The Butler pulled up an air-screen. `Excuse me,' hesaid. `Before you start trying to talk me out of this, I needto perform a bio-check. So we know you are who you sayyou are. You remember.'

   Molecular scanning lights flashed up and down theDoctor's floating body. Operator robots read information.

   `Jolly good,' the Butler said. `Now. This will take onlya few seconds. And then we'll have you.' The giant cablesreared and pounced.

   An alarm sounded. The Butler froze. The cablesretreated. Operator robots looked up in horror.

   `I'm not the Doctor,' said the Doctor. `I'm a robotbomb. And you've just armed me.' He jumped into thechasm.

   The Butler and the rest of the operator robots looked upto see another Doctor and Sebastiene attaching a device toBaris's floating body. All three disappeared.

   There came a great mechanical roar of pain and angerand fear from the depths of Planet 1.

   The Sebastiene and Donna robots smiled. Sebastienegave the Butler a little wave. And went off.

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The Doctor, Sebastiene and Baris shimmered and droppedonto the snow.

   The air shimmered again, and Donna appeared. Alongwith a familiar blue box. Donna gave the Doctor athumbs-up.

   `Intelligent Molecular Technology,' said the Doctorbrightly. `What a marvellous concept.'

   Somehow, this made them all giggle. They couldn'thelp themselves. For a good minute, all they did waschoke. Not the most obvious sign of a good time but agood time nevertheless.

   `With the amount of explosive in those robots, we'veobliterated half the northern hemisphere,' said Sebastiene.He looked pleased with his statement.

   `Does that mean Planet 1 is dead?' asked Donna.

   The Doctor inspected the TARDIS. `Oh I doubt that.We gave it a little sting; a headache. Enough of adistraction to get away.'

   He looked at a small opening in the frozen ground.Down below, large blocks of grey machinery throbbed andclunked. Pipes hissed with releasing steam as the robotshaping devices cooled. Automatic cables detached andwent dormant.

   `I don't get it. What the hell just happened?' askedBaris.

`Like I told Donna,' said the Doctor, `you're never morethan a kilometre away from a robot workshop. EvenPlanet 1 can't think of everything.'

   `The Doctor Trap,' said Donna. She pulled her parka

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tight around herself. `Can we go?'

   `Eh?'

   Sebastiene was suddenly gloomy. He seemeddisappointed. `Without someone to organise its systems,Planet 1 is nothing but a lifeless machine. Once I waskicked out, there was no creative mind behind itsreasoning. Until it could claim the Doctor, Planet 1 had tothink for itself. And we out-thought it.'

   `Sebastiene knew there was a robot factory here, so wewent underground and built some robots...' said Donna.

   `Disguised them as us and gave them up to Planet 1. Toblow up the Chateau,' continued the Doctor. `We gambledthat Planet 1 would instinctively want full power and rushto get the IMT back up and running. Once it did that, wewere able to transmat in and rescue you and the TARDIS.'

   Sebastiene sneered. `Dumb. Very dumb. If Planet 1 hadtrusted me more, we would never have succeeded.'

   `A machine is a machine...' The Doctor patted theTARDIS. `No offence.'

   They stood in the snow and looked at each other. TheDoctor, Donna, Sebastiene, Baris.

   The blizzard, artificially generated though it may havebeen, howled round them. The distant sun was setting.

   `Well,' said Donna, `nice meeting you.'

   They stayed looking.

   `You know I'm coming with you,' said Sebastiene.

   `No,' the Doctor replied. `Baris, but not you...'

   Baris was rubbing his arms. The end of his nose wasdripping ice; otherwise he still looked like the Doctor.`You can't just leave him,' he said. `Once Planet 1 is

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recovered it's going to come hunting.'

   `Good,' said Donna.

   Sebastiene smiled at the Doctor. `You misunderstand.'He opened his coat and produced a short, gleaming sword.`Rustled it up in the lab when you were fussing over therobots. Thought it might come in handy. And, yes, I am anexpert.'

   The Doctor laughed. `You misunderstand me,Sebastiene. When I say not you, I don't mean I won't takeyou. I mean I can't.'

   Sebastiene twitched. `No more games.'

   `You're a construct. A product of Planet 1. You can'tleave; you physically can't. Whoever you once were, nowyou are joined to Planet 1. It's what feeds you; whatpowers you. It's the price you pay for all your gadgets andlong life and indestructibility.'

   Donna began to back-pedal. She felt for the reassuringdoor of the TARDIS. `That's all settled, then,' she said.`Personally, I'd leave you here anyway.'

   Sebastiene flashed the sword up. Its tip hovered acentimetre in front of the Doctor's nose. `You're lying,' hesaid. The doubt in his voice was clear. `I'm not a robot.I'm not!' He recovered himself. `Anyway, there's no harmin trying. Move.'

   Something was breathing on Donna's neck. Somethingthat smelled like overripe fruit. Dusty cloth tickled herhair. She saw Baris react in shock at whatever wascrawling down the TARDIS behind her.

   `Doctor...' he said. `Doctor!'

   They looked at Donna and gasped. She felt talons clasp

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her shoulder and the sticky breath waft over her cheek.

   `The Carpalian Witch,' said Sebastiene, a vibrant smilereturning to his face. `Oh, very good.'

   Donna glanced sideways to see a grotesque jawstretching out from beneath a black hood. The jawcontained what appeared to be a cross between an insect'smandibles and human teeth. A voice like dry twigs spokein Donna's ear. `Did you really think to end the hunt soeasily?'

   Claws clasped Donna's face. `Give yourself to me orthe girl dies.'

   Donna waited for the Doctor to say something. Hedidn't.

   `Doctor...' she reminded him. `A little rescuing here,please.'

   Instead, he folded his arms and regarded the pair ofthem as if they were an interesting puzzle to be solved.`The real question is,' he said, `who are you after? TheDoctor? In which case there's a choice of two. Sebastiene?Bit difficult to know which one of us is supposed to giveourselves up? Strangely enough, the only one youdefinitely don't want is Donna.'

   Donna tried to stay calm. `Doctor, stop talking and dosomething.'

   `I'm the Doctor,' said Baris. `Here...'

   He took a step forward. The real Doctor held him back.`No he isn't. Listen, you're between me and my TARDISand that won't do. If you want Sebastiene, you go get him;otherwise, we're going to have words, and I'll finish youlike I finished the rest of your stupid Society. So make up

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your mind and act like you mean it.'

   That did the trick. There was a pause as the CarpalianWitch drew in an insulted breath, bellowed an insectscreech, then launched its black-hooded body at the group.

   Specifically: at Sebastiene. He whooped for joy andbrandished his newly forged sword. The Doctor and Barisstumbled backwards as the creature pounced.

   Sebastiene stood his ground. He slashed at theCarpalian Witch, who howled and fell. A thickly furredlimb lay thrashing in the snow.

   `It's not dead!' Baris yelled as the Witch leaped upagain. Claws extended, mandibles spitting, it launcheditself at Sebastiene. He dodged as its talons raked hischest. Beating the creature back, he looked at the bloodspilling down his tailored black coat. `I-I'm hurt...' hewhispered in disbelief. `Why you...!'

   He took a step backwards, ready to launch a full-onattack, and fell through the hole into the roboticsworkshop. The Carpalian Witch squatted then sprangdown after him.

   `Run, Sebastiene!' the Doctor yelled. `Run!'

   He made to follow, but Baris held him back. `I'll go,'he said. `You've done enough. You need to get away fromPlanet 1. Now.'

   The Doctor pushed him aside. `After everything he'sdone, even if he escapes the Witch, every part of thiswhole planet is going to be after him. I have to try...'

   With a surprising, new-found strength, Baris shovedhim over. The Doctor fell onto a bed of snow.

   `I'm the Doctor today, mush,' said Baris. `Look, I do

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owe him. He made me the man you are today. So in a way,you will be trying.' He looked down at the hole andyelled. `The Doctor to the rescue!'

   And he jumped.

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       The TARDIS was lovely and warm. Really, really

    lovely and warm. Donna was never going to leave it

    again; not until she knew for absolutely definite that the

    sunshine level outside was nothing less than Tenerife.

       The Doctor was brooding over the console. He wasn't

    his usual self.

       Donna stopped there and told herself off. Don't talk

    about `usual selves'. We've had enough trouble as it is.

       `Sebastiene?' she asked instead.

       The Doctor shrugged.

       `You liked him, didn't you? A little bit? Eensy-teensy?'

       He seemed to be talking to himself. `Oh, he'll probably

    be all right. Deep down, he's a resourceful bloke. Even

    without the toys. Probably end up running Planet 1 again.

    Especially with Baris looking after him.'

       `He couldn't leave the planet, you said so yourself. So

    don't worry about it.'

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   The Doctor looked up, as if suddenly remembering shewas there. `What do you mean?'

   `He was a robot, wasn't he? You said he was reliant onPlanet 1. You couldn't take him even if you wanted to.'

   The Doctor gave her a look. A look that told her sheshould know better. `Donna...'

   She stopped. `You mean... he wasn't? You mean... Youlied?'

   He didn't react. Not in any way whatsoever.

   Donna held a hand over her mouth. She began togiggle. `Oh my God. You know what, if he ever susses,he's going to be really annoyed with you.'

   The Doctor began to play with the TARDIS controls. Anew energy coursed through him. `Too complicated!' heannounced. `I'm done with complicated. I wantexplosions and spectacle and chases again.' He looked upat her, smoothed his wild hair back and gave her hiswidest grin. `Let's do something simple.'

   `Warm,' said Donna. `That's all I want. Warm.'

   `All right. Warm.' And with a laugh, he yanked thelever.

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You will be told this: Planet 1 is real.

   And you never know; perhaps one day the invitationwill be for you.

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                  Acknowledgements

Thanks to: Justin for remembering me. Mark and Mark: good luck! Gary

                    for a great day out. Caz, of course.

Also, the next generation: Nina, Matthew and Polly Body, Emily, Lauren

                           and Sam next door.

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