Dawn broke, slowly sending lazy yellow tendrils of light across the ice cold land.  The ground gently heaved a sigh of welcome relief, as the sun climbed higher into to sky, warming it with its constant, but kind, rays of tender illumination.  The plants acted first, slowly moving foliage to best catch the vital solar rays which gave them life.  Then the day-time animals too began to stir, their diurnal existence controlled utterly by the sunlight.  The night-time animals curled up in their lairs, ready to sleep during the day as their twilight world brightened uncomfortably.  The grazers began to tear mouthfuls of grass, smashing the cellulose into digestible fragments before swallowing the cud.  The predators began to feel the hunger pinching in their lean bodies, they needed a kill.  To them each day was feed or starve.  They depended utterly on the vast plain of feeding food below.  Elsewhere the top-level animals awoke within their dwellings of stone and wood.  These once cavemen now made their own caves to live within, a million year old instinct continued despite the apparent delusion of progress.

Onto this world of life and rare beauty arrived a traveller from another world, in a tired wheezy blue box.  The doors at the front of the box opened and from it emerged a blonde woman dressed in a burgundy velvet outfit.  She is the Doctor, a renegade and a romantic.  A champion and a cheerleader for the laws of time and space.  She is everyone’s best friend, confidante and favourite auntie rolled into one larger than life bundle of energy and fun.

Next to emerge is a seven foot tall silver giant.  She is Lucy, a rogue Cyberwoman who retains her own mind and memories.  “We have landed in the green, again.  The pollen clogs up nasal filters.”  She is a protector, an enquiring explorer and a hay fever sufferer.

Finally the third occupant emerges.  He is Yargrin Bey, a former space pirate and part-time freedom fighter on the run from the authorities from his own people.  “What’s that ungodly stench?”  Yargrin may look humanoid but thanks to a carefully applied foundation cream his naturally blue skin now looks like a deep mocha.

“Ah that would be the fresh smell of grass in the morning.  There’s just no mistaking that wonderful fresh smell.”  The Doctor dislikes violence, mostly having given up on using it a long time ago – well a year ago anyway.  Now she prefers to create resolutions to other people’s problems.  She’s not so much a problem solver these days as a solution saleswoman and consultant to the powerless and needy.

Lucy sneezed, the sound which was not unlike a shotgun being fired right next to you.  “I have allergies to the green.”

The Doctor fished into her handbag and pulled out a paper tissue.  “The TARDIS has an affinity for out of the way places.  I’ll try and find us somewhere more urban.”  Once they were all back inside the TARDIS she set course for the city centre.  “You’ll like Cambridge Lucy, there are lots of shops.  First though I have to see someone about their destiny.”

Harry Jones was not having a good day.  Tempkins had phoned up three times, demanding payment for services that they had never provided the firm and no amount of evidence would appease the wrath of the man known only as Mr Shouty.  “No, we did not have those services.  We do not show them at all on the invoice.  No the invoice is not wrong.  We cannot authorise payment for services you haven’t provided us with.”  A long pause, followed by verbal and threats.  “No, my manager is not in today, she’s on maternity leave.”

“Harry Jones?”  The Doctor asked the nervous young man.  “I’m Doctor Joan Smith.  Give me the telephone Harry.”

Harry looked at the strange blonde woman, he’d never seen her before in his life, but she had an air of trust about her.  “It can’t do any harm.”

The Doctor spoke into the telephone.  “Your secretary misfiled the paper work; you owe this young man an apology.”  She handed the telephone back to Harry.  “There you are.”

Harry listened to the shouty guy apologising.  “No problem sir, glad to be of help.”  He put the phone down.  “Who are you?”

The Doctor smiled.  “I’m just someone who knows everything, everything that was, is and will be.”

“Will be?”

“Yes.”

“So, who’ll win?”

“The world cup?  Do I look like a football fan?”

“Do you have to like something to know everything about it?”

The Doctor smiled.  “You know, you’re the first person I’ve ever met who actually understood.  If you weren’t needed on this planet to solve Fermat’s last theorem next year I might be tempted to whisk you off your feet and show you the galaxy.”

“Doctor.”  Lucy ducked down as she walked through the door frame.  “We should leave.”

“What is it?”

“Yargrin had a run in with a local law enforcement official.”

“It was only a matter of time.”  The Doctor sighed.  “I’d better be off Harry, take care now.”

Harry shook his head as the strange woman and the robot left.  “Who’s Fermat?”  He didn’t realise it, but his destiny had just been put back on track.

Yargrin Bey glared at the strange creature from behind the bars of the cage.  “You cannot contain me, I’m Yargrin Bey.  I’ve escaped from better constructed places than this.”

“Just keep it down sunshine.”

“My name is not Sunshine.  It’s Yargrin Bey, remember that name and remember it well.”

“Just keep it down…sunshine, or we’ll make you shut yer yap.  Ok?”

“I hope you’re not threatening my client.”  The Doctor said firmly.  “I’m Joan Smith; Mr. Bey has issues in his past.  Threats made from an authority figure would not look good on your record, would they?”

“I only meant that we’d put him in solitary.”

“Yes, I’m sure you did.”  The Doctor looked at her troubled companion.  “I wish to speak to my client, alone.”

“Of course.  You can use interview room 3.”

“We’ll need some tea and biscuits if you’ve got any.  Have they given you either Mr. Bey?  Basic sustenance is a requirement, is it not?  Two lumps in mine, no sugar, there’s a good police officer.”

Emma looked around the store.  It wasn’t easy to find dresses and she was a very awkward size.  “Excuse me miss, do you have this with a size 80 triple Z bust?”

Tanya looked at the huge woman.  “Erm we only do regular clothes…miss.”

“Story of my life.  Don’t worry; I’m sure I can sew seven of them together.”

“Is this a wind up?  Am I on the telly?”  Tanya fluffed her hair up, just in case.

“I don’t see how I was wrong.”  Yargrin said to the Doctor.  “That odious man was about to cheat someone.”

“He’s a traffic warden, being evil is part of the job description.  Of course they have special devices to make the meter’s run out of time.  It’s what they do, how else do you think an advanced society can subvert the desires of its psychotics?”

“We just give them guns and let them kill each other.”

“Yes, but I saved you.”

“They saved that perfidious moron.”

“Exactly.”  The Doctor smiled.  “It’s what we do, save people from themselves.  In this case though I save people from their mistakes and the police save people by making mistakes.”

“That doesn’t make sense Doctor.”

“Yes, I know.”  The Doctor looked around the room.  “By not making sense, it makes perfect sense.  Do you understand?”

“No, but you’re always right so I’ll take your word for it.  Now do I walk out of here or will we play their games some more?”

The Doctor looked at the door, before it opened a few seconds later.  “One might almost think you were hoping to catch my client in some sort of compromising position by not knocking before you walk into a private conference between client and lawyer.  I’ll forgive you this time, as you brought digestives, but don’t let it happen again.  After all technicalities can ruin a CPS lawyer’s whole day, can’t they?  Do you think this sort of thing is really for you?  I mean here you are, Helen Teller, failed actress now spying on wrongly arrested people in the hope of finding a minor offence for your boss to pin on my client.  It’s not what you call right at all, is it Helen?  You’d rather be an actress again; you’d rather do theatre or TV work.  Take my advice, go to Hollywood be an extra for a few films and then you’ll be discovered.  That Oscar is as good as yours Helen, but only if you resign now, today.”

Inspector Dawkins looked at the technician.  “Why won’t the security camera work in that room?  I want to see and hear what they’re saying.”

The engineer shrugged.  “Don’t know mate, there’s some sort of disturbance.  Your equipment tests fine.”

The Doctor twirled the pen-sized jamming device in her fingers.  “The police have gone downhill since my old friend patrolled Dock Green.”  She dunked a biscuit into her cup of tea, before nibbling the softened part.  “At least they still make one of the best cuppas in the Universe.  I do hope Helen takes my advice, nice girl, which is why working here is killing her one day at a time.  More and more sleeping pills every night to shut out the faces and then one day too many and it’s too late.”

“So can we go now?”  Yargrin asked.

“In a minute.”  The Doctor replied and finished off her biscuit.  “You should learn to appreciate the good things in life Yargrin.  There’s nothing better than a cuppa shared with a friend or knowing that you’re doing the right thing.”

“Yeah, you keep saying that.  All I want to do is get out of this place.  You know I don’t like being inside.  The walls, closing in.  My people are an outdoorsy culture.  We need huge open skies.  See your prey, see your predators, see your family, and see your safety.”

“You’d hate London then.”  The Doctor replied.  “Cambridge isn’t too bad though.  I was at college here once or twice.  Study is good for the soul and what’s a couple of years to a woman who lives in eternity?  At least it’s not Oxford, that place is a complete dump.”

“Sounds like my sort of place.”  Yargrin smiled.  “We’d better go and make sure Emma doesn’t get into trouble.”

“Yes, if she tries to go shopping without me there could be a riot.”

They sat in a park and threw pieces of stale bread to the ducks.  Then the Doctor looked at the sky.  “There’s a storm coming.”

“How can you tell?”  Yargrin asked.  “Should it really be that depressing blue colour?”

“It’s the oxygen.”  The Doctor explained.  “Your planet has less of it and more methane.”

“It just looks wrong.  I’m used to yellow.”

“We could visit LA; the smog hangs yellow brown in the air, a suffocating blanket of death.”

Yargrin shook his head.  “I think we should find Lucy first.”

Marty Strom jogged past the oddly dressed couple.  “Afternoon.”  He said before moving on.

“Marty Strom?”  The Doctor called out.  “Yes, it’s you.  Can I have your autograph?”

Marty stopped running.  “How do you know my name?”

“It’s not everyday I meet the inventor of the world’s best weapon of mass-destruction.”

“How do you know about that?”  Marty demanded.  “It’s a private programme.  Are you spies?  For the Russians?”

“Good grief no.”  The Doctor replied.  “I work for the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce.”

“UNIT?  They have spies everywhere.”

“I can assure you I’m no spy.  I saw the testing of the prototype next year.  You’ll get used to not having a moon, although the lack of tides will confuse many of the oceans fish.”

“What are you on about?”

“The test on the moon.  It was vaporised, it was sad too, I’ve had many interesting adventures there in the future.”

“You’re crazy.”

“No, I’m the Doctor.”

“I know that designation, UNIT’s mysterious scientific advisors go by that designation.  It’s almost always been a man.”

“Yes, that’s me.”  The Doctor took out her game boy advance.  I modified this to show true events.  You can clearly see the launch control.  Look, there you are.”

“This is a fake.”

“No, it’s just not happened yet, at least as far as you experience time.”

“Are you saying that the device I’m building to secure world peace can and is powerful to destroy the moon.”

“Oh easily.  It could destroy Jupiter if you really wanted accuracy.”

“Jupiter?”  Marty gasped in shock.  “They’d never use it though.  It’s a deterrent.”

“They used Little Boy and Fat Man, didn’t they?  Killed millions of innocent civilians.  Then it’s only a matter of time before someone figures out what you did and builds their own device and then they get into the hands of a madman and the next thing you know the grim reaper is offering you a game of chess you know you cannot win.”

“But I, I, what if I didn’t.  Could it be stopped?”

“Every second the future is created from the actions made in the present.  You could destroy all research; all possible traces, yourself and perhaps the future would be different.  Or you could do nothing and hope for the best and you might get your wish.  The future is never certain, it’s uncertain and that’s the way it should be if you ask me.  However humans prefer certainty and if you need to achieve that certainty then there’s nothing I or anyone else can do.”

Marty ran away, crying.

The Doctor looked at Yargrin.  “He had such promise too.”

“He will build the device?”

“No, he’ll still be found dead tomorrow in the remains of the research building.  However he won’t take his assistants with him this time.”

“Why do you do this?  Rescue some and condemn others?”

“You’d like me to save everyone?”

“Isn’t it the trying that makes the difference?”

“Maybe you missed the point of what I said to Marty.”

“You knew he’d kill himself?”

“Some people are born to have great things happen to them, others are born to stop nightmares by sacrificing their lives.”

“Then there’s you.”

“There’s always a me.”  The Doctor smiled, knowingly.

“The fly in the ointment of the world?”

“Better than the spider in the web, don’t you think?”

“You don’t sacrifice your life.”  It was a statement, not a question.

“I sacrifice myself every day.  Somehow I survive it, usually.”

“But not always?”

“You can’t win every battle, you shouldn’t win every battle.”

“I hate losing.”

“You never learn anything by winning.”

“You can learn from your mistakes?”

“Learn to do better, learn to do things differently, learn to play a different game or a difference dance.  Sometimes you have to lose in order to win.”

“How can you win by losing?”

“That’s a complicated question.  We should find Lucy before she gets herself into trouble.”  The Doctor and Yargrin left the park to go and find their erstwhile friend.

Lucy glared at the UNIT soldiers.  “You know who I am; I used to work for UNIT.  Ask them if you don’t believe me.  How many other seven foot tall and exceptionally well built Cyberwomen do you know?  Ask that nice Alistair chap if you don’t trust me.”

“Don’t listen to it.”  Private Barnes yelled in shock and terror.  He aimed the RPG at the Cyberwoman and fired.

“I’m on your side.”  Lucy caught the rocket propelled grenade and threw it up into orbit where it exploded safely.  “If I get knocked down, I get up again.  There’s nothing about your weapons that can harm me.”

“Retreat, we need a nuclear strike.”

The Doctor tutted and incapacitated the soldier with the application of her index finger to his forehead.  “Shush, there’s a good boy.  Have a nice sleep, the Doctor’s here now.”

Yargrin drew his own gun and aimed it at the other soldier before he could react.  “Lucy is your friend; give me a reason why I should be yours.”

“He’s scared.”  Lucy said to Yargrin.  “He can’t be held responsible for his actions.”

“I’ll just use a stun shot then.”  Yargrin shot the soldier in the shoulder.  “I hate people who don’t know how to use their brain.”

The Doctor glared at Yargrin.  “How many times have I told you to leave that thing in the TARDIS?  You can’t just shot people, even if it’s a stun shot.”

“The Doctor is right.”  Lucy agreed.  “We should help people not injure them.”

“I’m used to looking after myself.”  Yargrin replied.  “I guess part of that involves trusting the opinions of others.”

“My opinion is always the right one.”  The Doctor replied and smiled.  “Except when I’m wrong of course.”

“Maybe we can both learn something.”

“As long as it doesn’t involve hugging.”  Lucy replied.  “I’m having servo issues at the moment and I could accidentally crush someone to death.”

“I’ll take a look at that later if you like.”  The Doctor replied.  “I used to be in Michael’s pit crew when he was with Ferrari you know.”  She helped one of the soldiers back to his feet as he regained consciousness.  “Patrick Charlie Bronson, private soldier.  Seconded to UNIT after seeing a Dalek during the second Gulf war and killing it.  Trained in special operations to combat alien menaces and threats.  Considered valuable enough to train but not promote.  You shouldn’t be so eager to prove yourself.  Relax a bit, ok a lot.  You’ll get your promotion; you care about others and can keep them alive in combat situations.  You’ll make an excellent drill sergeant one day because you like helping others and you prefer tough love to molly coddling.”

Bronson looked at the weird blonde woman.  “Are you the Doctor?”

“You’ve heard of me?”

“Our last scientific advisor talked about you all the time.”

“Well I expect everyone’s heard of me.  I get around a bit you know.”  The Doctor looked at the other soldier.  “He’s not UNIT material.  He’s trigger happy and afraid of the unknown.  He’s going to get himself and others killed.”

“I’ll have a word with Sergeant Benton; she can sort him out or get him returned to his unit.  He’s 2 Para as well.  Most of them do ok.”

“Yes, well I helped train 2 Para.  I also helped Alistair work out UNIT’s training to, to help sort out those unable to deal with the reality of aliens.  I guess he just seemed suitable.  He may have more success as a botanist.  The Brown Institute at UCLA is doing some interesting work in hybridising alien plant forms, I think a UNIT trained spy is just what you need over there.  Especially one willing to take the necessary actions to curb any threats of an unfriendly nature.”

Lucy looked at the Doctor.  “Shouldn’t we leave now?  Before the guns bring people and the people start getting worried?”

“Relax Lucy, we’ll just tell them we’re filming a TV show.”

“A what?”

“It’s an entertainment thing.  They transmit them into people’s houses for amusement.  They tell people what to think, that to buy, what to say and what to do.  It cuts down on mind control drugs.  I’m against them on the whole, except for my soaps of course.”

“I don’t see the need for soap.  I do use perfume though.”

“I mean soap operas and Lucy, honey, WD40 is never a perfume.”  The Doctor felt a little bitchy saying it, but it was for Lucy’s own good.  “Have you considered something more…fragrant?”

Yargrin led the way as they headed back towards the TARDIS.  He really didn’t like this planet.  There were too many of these buildings, they were too tall and full of people.  He was used to the open plains of his home world where a single family could live in isolation as they tended to their farms and herd animals.  “This is a mad place; it is a world of insanity.”

“Maybe you’d be more comfortable in Australia?”  The Doctor mused, mainly to herself.  “Great big open spaces, vast and ancient scenery.  No one to disturb you, the only way to visit your neighbour is by aeroplane.”

“Now you’re making me homesick.”  Yargrin looked at Lucy.  “Is she always like this?”

Lucy shrugged.  “Sometimes.  At least you don’t need her to make sure your systems are functioning properly.  My bad circuit’s playing up again today.”

“I still don’t understand you Lucy, but you remind me of my cousin.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“More of an observation.”  Yargrin spotted a group of teenagers nearby, talking.  Their style of clothing and mannerisms didn’t seem to indicate their individual genders.  “Hey Doctor, why don’t you try ruining their lives?”

“I never ruin people’s lives.  I simply tell them the truth.”

“You talked that guy to death Doctor.  I gotta tell you that was seriously impressive.”

The Doctor scowled.  “One life for 6 billion is still one life too many.”  She looked at the teenagers.  “They have no future.”  She looked at Yargrin and Lucy.  “You have no future.”  Then she took out her compact mirror and looked at herself.  “Oh my, now I don’t have a future.  The end of me. I guess it had to happen.  Finito Doctor, ciao world it’s been a great half home.”

“What are you on about?”  Lucy asked.  “My body is almost totally resistant to damage.  I can’t be destroyed very easily.”

Yargrin looked up into the sky.  “Erm when did that huge approaching comet get there?  I’d have remembered it when I was looking up at the sky earlier in that park.”

“Good question.”  The Doctor mused.  “Quickly, into the TARDIS.”  She rushed over to the blue box she called home and unlocked the doors.  “We can save the planet by going back in time and preventing the comet from entering its doomsday orbit.”

“We can?”  Lucy asked as she walked into the TARDIS.

“Why bother?”  Yargrin asked as he was the last inside the strange bigger-on-the-inside-than-the-outside spaceship.  “It’s a natural event, isn’t it?”

The Doctor began to dematerialise the TARDIS.  “Comets don’t just appear in the sky like that Yargrin.”  She explained things to Yargrin.  “There must be a time shift involved.  And if there’s a time shift then it’s an unnatural event and it’s one that I can fix.”

Lucy sat down on her specially constructed reclining solid iron chair.  “What can we do though?  Use explosives to blow it up?  Nudge it out of orbit so it hits the sun or Jupiter?  Maybe we can send it outwards towards Telos?  Maybe I don’t ever have to have been like this?  I could be a proper woman again.  I don’t have to put mascara and lipstick on my faceplate.”

“Yep, almost exactly like my cousin.”  Yargrin said to himself.

The Oort-Opik cloud, vast and glittering.  Like a cloud of diamonds surrounding the solar system.  It’s from here that comets are born, when a collision or the influence of a passing star disturbs one just enough to send it hurtling inwards towards the sun.

The Doctor brought up the cloud of would be comets on the wall-sized display screen.  “Hmmm, this doesn’t appear to be the spot.”

“Shouldn’t we go back in time a bit?”  Lucy asked.  “I mean it does take years for comets to orbit near the Earth, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, but I thought this the best possible time frame.”  The Doctor went back over to the controls.

“Hey, look there.”  Yargrin pointed at one of the icy comets moving slowly towards them.  “It’s us; we moved the comet out of its orbit.”

“Oh dear.”  The Doctor said to herself.  “I think I made a mistake.  I do so hate these temporal paradoxes, they always give me a behind the eyes stinker of a headache.”

“Can we stop it?”  Lucy asked, hoping that the Doctor could find a way.

“I supposed I could use a gravitational repulsion device, except I’d have to build it and I don’t have the spare parts.  Unless I construct one in the future and bring it back in time and leave it here, underneath the console.”  The Doctor picked up the gravitational repulsion device.  “I must remind myself to send myself a fruit basket.”

“I will use the device.”  Lucy volunteered.  “Space does not bother me like it affects you and it would certainly kill poor Yargrin in seconds.”

“One of the few benefits of being a Cyberwoman?”  The Doctor asked Lucy.

Lucy nodded.  “Yes, that and I’m now good at calculus.”

The Doctor ushered Yargrin into the inner depths of the TARDIS.  “You’d never survive the exposure to a hard vacuum.  Your species has far too much pressure inside of you.  Even I can’t last more than a few minutes in space.  Now shall we play cards, or have you learn how to make a prefect cup of tea, for your best friend?”

“Both?”  Yargrin really didn’t care but he sensed the Doctor was nervous so he played along to help her keep calm.  “As long as it’s not poker or gin.”  They walked down the corridor and found the kitchen.

“Snap is about all I can manage, Yargrin, dear.  Now find two cups and you’ll want to warm the teapot first.”

Lucy aimed the device at the comet.  The repulsor had looked big in the Doctor’s hand but in her own it was a small and fragile thing.  She hoped to be able to aim the device at Telos but it was in altogether the wrong part of the sky.  Instead she aimed it straight at the heart of the Milky Way, the vast and deadly black hole that caused the appearance of all spiral galaxies.  One day this whole galaxy would be gone, consumed by itself and then the remaining killer would draw in other things, rogue stars until one day it would reach another galaxy and consume that one too.  On and on the endless hunger would consume the whole universe.  She fired the device and sped up the certain finality of the Universe by a fraction of a second.

Time did not run out for Earth and soon enough the Doctor returned to her favourite home away from home.  The Doctor approached the crown of teenagers.  “Brandon Yang and Tiffany Jones?  You two will have the most splendid wedding ever and Tiffany you should take that job in your father’s research company, I know you don’t want to but you’ll do wonders for the company and save thousands of lives when you discover a new and revolutionary type of fabric.  Brandon, don’t go SCUBA diving next summer, your friends will pressure you to, but the equipment is faulty and the baby will grow up not knowing who his father was.”

Lucy and Yargrin spent the day in a hardware store.  Lucy didn’t understand why Yargrin needed to look at all the tools, but he needed her strength to carry them all back to the TARDIS.

“I’m building something.”  Yargrin replied evasively.  “Something for all of us to enjoy.”

Lucy looked closer at the tools.  “Do you really need three different sizes of hammer?”

“Yes, it’s a builders thing.  Normally I’d build my own tools, of course, but this is not my world and this one has most of what I need.”

“Can I help?”  Lucy asked.  “The Doctor said that I should help you.  I can be very helpful, I’m strong and I’m going to keep annoying you until you let me help you.”

“Oh very well, I don’t see why not.  My cousin was quite handy too.  She built her own house when she was younger than you.  My species values self reliance and skill development.  We have none of this gender division nonsense that this planet has.  What one can do all can do on my world.  You should see what I can do with a side of trzanigu and some root vegetables.”

“Although I do not need to consume complex food items, my biological components do need an organic paste rich with all the basic nutrients.”

“I’m sure I can make you something that you’ll like.  I’ll even have a look at your circuits if you want me to.”

The Doctor smiled as she approached one of her old friends.  “Hello Tegan.”

“Do I know you?”  Tegan asked the strange woman.

“We’re old friends, although we parted under very sad circumstances.”

“I think I’d remember a weirdly dressed mad woman.”  Tegan started to reply, and then a strange idea popped into her mind.  “Doctor?  No, it can’t be you.”

The Doctor nodded.  “Yes it’s me Tegan.  I’ve changed quite a bit since you knew me.  Several times in fact.  You remember meeting some of my other selves in the Dark Tower, on Gallifrey?”

“Yes, but I didn’t really believe they were you.  I mean I saw you change, after you died, but it’s too fantastic to think that you’d change this much.”

“Change is always random, unexpected.  I quite like this me, it’s comfortable.  How have you been?  I hope you’ve forgiven me?”

“A long time ago.  It was a silly childish tantrum.”

“No it wasn’t.  You were in pain, you were hurt.  It was only natural that you’d want to protect yourself from further harm.”

“I’m married now, to an English bloke.  I didn’t want to go back to Oz just yet and he’s a really great guy, great in bed too.”  Tegan realised that maybe she shouldn’t treat the Doctor quite like one of her other female friends, after all she was still a Time Lord no matter how much make up she now wore.  Instead she showed the Doctor her engagement and wedding rings.  “His name’s James, he’s very nice.  We have a daughter, Adelaide.”

“I’m glad you’re happy.”  The Doctor smiled.  “Now what about you though, have you considered returning to work?  A little part time job perhaps?  Just to get you out of this post natal depression.  I’m sure a nanny could look after the little one while you’re out.”  The Doctor looked at the pictures of the baby.  “She’s adorable.  She’s got your eyes.”

Tegan smiled.  “I have been a bit down lately.  Maybe I could do with a few hours to myself.”

The Doctor nodded.  “It’s not unreasonable.  We went through so much and you’ve got so much to offer.  You’re a fighter at heart Tegan, a protector.  You’re good in a crisis and a natural leader.”

“I guess we did have some good times.”  Tegan couldn’t stop smiling.  “Remember when Adric slipped and fell on that cow pat?  I thought Nyssa was going to explode with laughter.”

“I still miss him too, in a way I miss all of you.  Now though I have Lucy and Yargrin to worry about.  It’s probably for the best if you didn’t meet Lucy.  Too many bad memories I expect, and Yargrin is quite the rogue I can assure you.”

“Sounds like you’ve got your hands full again Doctor.”  Tegan looked at her watch.  “Rabbits!  I’d better hurry.  I’m meeting James in a few minutes.”

“Don’t worry, let him find you.  Brave heart Tegan, brave heart.”

Lucy helped carry the last of the building materials into the TARDIS.  “Are you sure the Doctor will like this?”

Yargrin sighed.  “Of course she will.  How can she not?  I’m building us something that we can all use.  She’ll be happy and if she’s not then the wardrobe I’m making for her with the left over material will sway her into the yes camp.”

“I still fail to see how I need one.”  Lucy just couldn’t see how Yargrin’s project could benefit her.

“It’s quite simple Lucy.  You’re a human woman; I’ve researched your species’ history, so I know that you’ll like it.”

“I’m not a human woman though, not physically anyway.  I’m more of a machine than a person now.  I don’t even have a brain anymore; it’s all circuits and memory chips.”

“Ah, but you’re not a soulless monster though.  You have a great sense of humour and you like flowers and cakes.  The Doctor said that anyone who likes cakes just have a soul.”

“It’s true I do like cakes.”  Lucy agreed.  “Although no one else will eat them once I cover them in diesel oil.”

“Well that’s everything inside the ship.  Do you want to have a break before we get started?”

“Get started on what?”  The Doctor stood behind her two dearest friends.  “What are you two up to?”

Yargrin turned to look at the Doctor.  “It’s a project.  Lucy is just helping me carry the supplies.  She’s not to blame.”

“We’ll discuss blame after we discuss just why you have this…equipment…in my ship.”

“We’re building something.”  Lucy broke and tried to confess everything.

Yargrin put his hand over Lucy’s mouthpiece.  “It’s a surprise, for you Doctor.  A gift for saving me from certain death.”

The Doctor looked at Lucy and Yargrin.  “A surprise?  For me?  I’m…I don’t know what to say.  I’d better leave you to it.  I don’t want to ruin the surprise.  Forget I know about it.  I’ll be in the kitchen making some tea.  I’ll stay out of the way, I don’t like DIY much anyway.  My 6th self had a passion for it, but I prefer a good pedicure and a nice cuppa.”

Yargrin looked at the Doctor.  “I’m not a pedicurist.”

“I am not programmed for those duties.”  Lucy added quickly and tried to hide behind Yargrin, using him as a shield.

“Never mind.  So I’ll be going.”  The Doctor remained where she was.  “Any hints, no, it should be a surprise.”  Still she didn’t move.  “One clue, go on, that’ll keep me guessing.  Make it a cryptic one.”

Yargrin walked towards the exit.  “I’ll be going then.  I’ll be in my room if anyone wants me.”

The Doctor looked at Lucy.  “Was it something I said?”

“Yargrin is a very prideful male, he wishes to impress you.  You should allow him to have his petty moment and then you can pretend to enjoy it and it will comfort him.  He wishes to be useful; you should allow him that courtesy.”

“So you think I should pander to his wishes?  Ok, but if it’s not very nice then I’ll blame you Lucy.”

“I will see that he does not go too far.”

“Remember he comes from a very different culture to any we’ve met.  It’s not my fault they tried to proclaim me a deity.”

Once the Doctor left Lucy went to find Yargrin.  “She has vacated the construction area.”

Yargrin looked at the building plans.  “Did my fake tantrum work?”

“Yes, she doesn’t wish to enquire further.”

Yargrin smiled.  “Sometimes she’s her own worst enemy.”

“Aren’t we all?”  Lucy asked in return.

Yargrin nodded.  “I rather suspect that most people are.  Luckily I’ve already killed my worst enemies, never leave any surviving enemies Lucy.  They can pop up at the most awkward of times.”

Lucy picked up the largest piece of wood.  “I will hold this while you cut it.”

Yargrin picked up the power saw.  “Once the Doctor sees the finished product she’ll wonder how she ever did without one before.”