"We don't have enough people to hit two targets at once and if we hit one then they will increase security on the other."  Julie Parish was once a trainee surgeon but the invasion by the Visitors had thrown her into the thick of the resistance and she had somehow ended up keeping the few resistance members alive.  Of course once Mike joined up his alliance with the 5th Column leader Martin had brought the resistance much needed resources.  Eventually they won, or at least they thought they had.  The damn lizards had stockpiled their ships on the far side of the moon and when Diana had escaped the Visitors managed to start it up all over again.  "Perhaps we should think laterally?  Hit something that doesn't seem too valuable but is far away from the fuel depots.  They will have to pull some troops away to investigate and by the time they get back we can have our people in place for the second attack."

Donovan thought about this for a while; Ham Tyler had been their military specialist but he was needed to help the freedom network in New York.  It was a good plan, as long as they fell for it.  "Who do you have in mind for the diversion?  They're going to be going into a lot of danger."

Julie smiled.  "Kyle's the perfect guy for the job; he knows the local area even better than anyone and on that motorcycle of his he can easily out run any of their vehicles."  Before Julie could continue, her train of thought was interrupted by the unexpected appearance of a large blue box in the corner of the room.  It was accompanied by a grating sound like a piano wire being tortured that set her fillings on edge.  "What on Earth's that?"

"Nothing on Earth I think."  Donovan picked up a firearm and rolled over into cover, keeping his gun trained on the side with the handles.

Slowly the doors opened and three figures emerged, a short man in baggy clothes, a girl in a skin-tight silver outfit and a taller man in a kilt.

"Well I think we've arrived at Skegness this time."  The shorter man, the Doctor, clapped his hands together and smiled at his two friends.  He looked around the small room, his smile slowly fading.  By the time he saw the man with the gun his smile had vanished and he carefully raised his arms in the air.

"Hey now, divn't shoot.  Yer can see we haven't got any of yon gun things."  Jamie raised his hands in the air as well.

Donovan aimed his gun at the young woman but Julie walked into his line of fire, spoiling his aim.

"Hi, sorry for the welcome but you really took us by surprise."  Julie shook hands with all three newcomers.  "By the manner of your arrival I take it you're not from around here?"

"What she means to say is, are you aliens?"  Mike Donovan got straight to the point.

"I'm from bonnie Scotland."  Jamie puffed his chest out in pride at the mention of his country.
 
 

Meanwhile, at the Visitor's command centre, Diana and her nemesis Lydia were fighting once more.  The blonde haired commander was sick and tired of her subordinates constant bucking of authority.  When Charles had still been alive he had made her his adjutant after all and second in command of the whole operation here on Earth.  Diana was relegated to head of the scientific wing and should report to her, but she constantly tried to meddle with the Leader's plan.  Now that Philip had taken command of the invasion she once again relished having authority over Diana; it gave her the chance to pull rank like now.  "I won't tell you again Diana, you're not responsible for security.  If you ask me, you're not responsible -- full stop."

"No one's asking your opinion, darling; you were Charles' second in command and you were ideally suited to it.  I, however, am used to leadership and I should be in charge of this operation."  Diana smiled at Lydia and wished that she would do something useful like dying in an extremely painful manner.

"I am in second in command here Diana, under the leadership of Philip and you are a subordinate officer."  Lydia smiled at Diana's frown.

"Oh well, thank you for explaining it for the benefit of the rest of the ship, Lydia dearest.  I'm sure everyone knows exactly what you are now."  Diana stalked back to her laboratory, feeling the hatred of Lydia's gaze on her back.
 
 

"Yes, I've never heard of them either."  Zoe, a citizen from Earth's future, had never heard about this alien invasion and she had been privy to every scrap of historical information about such encounters.
 

Downtown Kyle Bates and Elizabeth Maxwell were escaping from a trio of Visitor motorcycles on the back of Kyle's own customized bike.  He weaved left and right to shake off his pursuers and his efforts were rewarded when one of the cyclists skidded into the path of a car coming in the other direction.

The two remaining cyclists opened fire with their hand-weapons but the deadly laser bolts were mysteriously deflected thanks to Elisabeth's strange powers over matter and energy.  The shock made them loose control and they ended up falling on their dignity and hurting their pride.

"Lets get back to the others."  Kyle revved his motorcycle's engine and changed direction, heading out of town towards the movie set.
 

"Now Zoe don't assume that records were kept about every alien invasion.  Remember how my dear friend Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart kept the news of the Cybermen's invasion under wraps?  Of course we know that because we were there but the rest of the world are totally oblivious to the events.  I shouldn't worry about it too much if I were you."

"You mean to say they covered it up?"  Zoe couldn't understand why her ancestors behaved in this erratic manner.

The Doctor turned back to the two resistance leaders.  "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes, you can make your box appear inside their HQ and throw a few sticks of dynamite at them."  Donovan held up the brownish grey sticks of the explosive for effect.

"Anything sensible?"

"What about taking a group of people back in time after they blow up a fuel depot so they can blow up a second one at exactly the same time as they destroyed the first?"  Mike Donovan was sure this plan would work but he was dismayed by Jamie and Zoe's laughter.  "What?  What did I say?"

"The Doctor can't control yon box at the best of times."

"No, we always end up millions of miles and years away from where we want to go to."

"Yes well, perhaps something that doesn't involve using my ship to cause unnecessary damage then?"

"I have just the thing."  Julie had an idea...
 
 

"Ah Lydia dear, so nice of you to drop by and see me."  Diana's fake smile turned to a glaring sneer behind her technically superior officers back.  "I do hope you're not staying long, this is a delicate experiment."

"What does it do?"  Lydia hoped that Diana's natural love of boasting would work better than diplomacy any time.

"Why Lydia dear, I'm surprised you don't know.  Well I suppose that line officers don't get the chance of a good education, a pity, but it's to be expected I suppose.  This is a biological tracer.  A sort of flying bomb to put it literally.  I've almost managed to remove all traces of the original genetic markers to enable us to insert it into a target.  Once of these large birds, I think it's called an Eagle, will do nicely.  Once the tracer detects the chosen life form it takes control of the poor birds brain and redirects it towards the target.  Once inside a specific range the device will explode killing the target."

"How many of them do you have?"  Lydia was appalled.  As a trained soldier she was used to killing in the field.  Indeed she welcomed it; but this wasn't honourable combat, it was the tool of an assassin.  She had to get rid of it otherwise the responsibility would lie with her and not Diana.

"Only one at the moment, Lydia dear, but soon we shall have all that we require."

"I want it readied for testing as soon as possible, I'm sure Philip will enjoy the display.  I'll brief him myself of your achievement.  Once we know it works you can build as many as you want...darling."  Once I've destroyed her notes Lydia thought to herself and she smiled as she court-martialled Diana for loosing information vital to the war effort.  It was a win-win situation if you thought about it.
 
 

The Doctor talked with Julie and Mike as they went over the plan carefully.  They were interrupted when a sandy haired man dressed in a red jumpsuit and wearing dark tinted eye goggles entered the top-secret base.

"Philip, what's up?"  Mike rushed over to shake hands with the leader of the Visitor's fifth column.

"Mike, I'm glad I found you.  It's Diana; she's invented a new weapon.  Some sort of flying bioorganic bomb.  Lydia briefed me on it just an hour ago.  She informed me that it could be programmed to seek, locate and eradicate any target.  It has some sort of biological tracer that can detect the scent of an individual anywhere in Los Angeles."  Having told the information to the resistance Philip turned to leave, but he paused when he saw the Doctor and the other two newcomers.  "Forgive me, but haven't I seen you before?"

The Doctor frowned for a few seconds before smiling broadly.  "Of course, I rescued you when you were wounded.  It must have been, oh, three of your years ago.  Some silly skirmish in the belt of Orion as I recall.  Jamie, you remember helping me carry him to the field hospital, don't you?"

"Och, aye ah do.  That Draconian nurse was very rude ta me ye ken?  Victoria told that Ice Warrior exactly what he could do with..."

"Well that's quite enough Jamie, I'm sure our guests have better things to do that listen to us talking all day."  The Doctor removed a small bag of sweets and handed them around to the others.  "Dolly mixture anyone?  They're very nice."
 
 

Diana and Lydia watched as the preliminary test data was displayed on the computer screens.  Diana gloated as her creation was proving an obvious success.  Lydia scowled at Diana's success.  "You see, Lydia dear, with a thousand of these Earth will be ours for the taking.  The Leader will be most pleased."

"The Leader would be more pleased with faster, more accurate devices."

"This is just a demonstration darling, the final production version will be bred from much better gene stock.  I want production to be stepped up and all the resources that can be spared."

"It will be difficult, but I don't see how Philip can refuse."  Lydia knew that if the plans were destroyed there would be nothing for Philip to agree to.

"Neither do I.  Where is Philip by the way?  I thought he would have liked to watch this demonstration.  After all, the target is the illustrious Mike Donovan.  The man who killed his brother Martin."

"You killed Martin Diana, why lie to the Inspector General?  Martin was a traitor and a rank coward so why lie?"

"Politics Lydia dear; Philip is better off believing the resistance killed his brother.  The Leader feels it is in our best interest to have Philip's aggression focused upon the enemy."

"The Leader is wise.  I just hope Philip doesn't find out the truth."

"How can he?  I won't tell him and I'm sure no one here would disobey the Leader's orders."
 
 

The bioorganic bomb floated into the saloon bar seconds after the occupants had dived for cover.  It followed its scent towards its victim, Mike Donovan.

Mike broke cover as it sped towards him.  He opened fire at it, three rounds striking its compact frame.  Green blood began to drip from the wounds and it spiralled slowly to the ground.  Casually Mike walked over to it and crushed the vile thing under his foot.
 

"A fool proof weapon Diana?"  Lydia gloated over Diana's failure.  "I'm glad I insisted on this little test.  You would have cost our forces dear with this poor excuse of a master plan.  I'm going to request that the leader program the Battle Sphere for us; then we'll see victory in our grasp."

"The Battle Sphere?  I've always felt its effectiveness is highly overrated, dear."

"Victory over the humans will soon be ours Diana; cheer up darling."  Lydia smiled to herself over Diana's failure.
 

"I had better be going; I'll try and drop by if I hear of anything new to tell you."  Philip made his excuses.

"I think Zoe would like to accompany you to your spaceship, she's very keen to learn about your technology and there may be one or two items I can use to repair my ship with."

"I have spare uniforms in my shuttle for the three of you."

"Ah think ah'll stay here if it's all the same, ah kind of like it here."

"Very well Jamie, you can help the resistance.  We'll be back shortly, once we've had a look around."
 

Zoe found the red jumpsuit to be a perfect fit.  It was made of a very elastic material that was also nice and warm.  A cap, boots and darkened glasses completed the outfit.  She looked at herself in the mirror and tried to imagine herself as a Visitor trooper.

"My word, you do look the part."  The Doctor approved of how good Zoe's disguise looked.  "Now all we need do is have a look around and see what we can see."

"Are you sure you want to go through with this Doctor?  I cannot see the logic in this venture."

"I need to repair the TARDIS guidance systems and your people have a somewhat simple but compatible electronics schematic.  Besides don't you think red is my colour?"

"Very well Doctor, I owe you a debt of life.  This way leads to our spare parts storage bays."  Philip led the way through the dark corridors of the Mother ship.  They turned left three times, right twice and a final left turn saw them at their destination.

"Oh good, this will be fun.  I've always enjoyed a good rummage around.  Come along Zoe, let's see what we can find."

"Oh you go ahead Doctor, I've seen something I really want to try.  They have a great logic testing machine just back down the corridor."  Zoe pointed back down the grey passageway.

"Ah Zoe, remember what happened the last time you tested your intelligence?  You were almost turned into a living battery by the Krotons."

"Yes, you're right Doctor.  I still say I scored more than you did."  Zoe smiled at the Doctor.

"Another time perhaps?  We don't have long before the inspection team arrives to perform the routine checks."

"Yes you're right of course Philip."  The Doctor hurried inside the room.  "Well this is a bit disappointing isn't it?"  The room was bare.  "Now I know how old Mother Hubbit felt."

"We should leave, now.  I suspect there is something amiss."  Philip drew his handgun just as Diana turned the corner.  Acting fast he grabbed a hold of Zoe's arm.  "You're under arrest for treason, Zoe."  Philip locked the Doctor inside the spares bay before he could interfere.  "You can expect no mercy for your act of betrayal.  Ah Diana, good.  Take this one into custody and convert her.  I want to know who her friends are by noon today."

"Consider it done, Inspector.  I'm glad that your instincts for the law are as keen as ever.  She will be broken and then given the reward she deserves for treachery.  Come along my dear."  Diana grabbed Zoe's wrist and dragged her off towards the conversion chambers.

Philip opened the door to free the Doctor.  "I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do.  If Diana found out I was the traitor we'd all be dead by now.  At least this way we have a little time."

"We do perhaps, but what about Zoe?  She trusted you Philip."

"I'm sorry Doctor.  Come on, we'll rescue her ourselves."
 

Diana smiled, as the small woman was strapped into the metal chair and the conversion dome lowered onto her head.  The flood of the conversion beam into Zoe's brain always excited her.  To see the pain almost made Diana feel warm inside.  "Come now Zoe, you don't want to go through all this unnecessary pain do you?  I'm your friend and I don't want to have to do this, but if you don't help me then I can't help you."

"I don't know what you mean."  Zoe gritted her teeth and promised herself she wouldn't betray her friends.

"No don't fight it, give into it.  Give into it and be redeemed.  You cannot fight it and you cannot win.  All you can do is beg my forgiveness, Zoe dearest.  Yes that's it, tell me who your traitor friends are and I will let you go."
 

"Come on Doctor, this way.  We don't have much time."  Philip led the way through the corridors to the facemask application room.  Philip created a duplicate copy of Zoe's face out of the special latex like material and he summoned one of Diana's lackeys.

"What do you want, Inspector?"

The Doctor had to admit that Amanda was the right size as Zoe and once the facemask was applied he couldn't tell the difference.  Only the voice gave Amanda away.

Philip gave Amanda a yellow substance to drink and he fed the video transmission from the conversion chamber into the room.

"How does my voice sound now?"  Amanda asked in a perfect imitation of Zoe's voice.

"Yes that's it."  Philip injected Amanda with a green drug.  "This will give her amnesia for two days.  Once we make the switch Diana won't know the difference until it wears off."  Philip and the Doctor carried the unconscious Visitor towards the conversion chamber.  Philip called Lydia on the intercom and asked her to tell Diana to report to his office at once.  After an angry Diana left the conversion chamber it was a simple matter to disconnect Zoe from the barbaric device and substitute the cringing Amanda in her place.

The long walk back to the landing bay was slow going, as they had to avoid a number of patrols.  Eventually they made it and Philip ordered a fifth column pilot to fly the two aliens to safety.

"I have to go and make sure Diana doesn't suspect anything.  It's been good seeing you again Doctor.  Tell Zoe how sorry I am for putting her through that nightmare."
 
 

"Oh my head.  It feels as if there's an elephant setting up home in it."  Zoe sipped the glass of water Julie handed to her.  "Thanks.  Oh I think I'm going to need a lie down for a whole week after that."

"You'll be fine after a few days, trust me."  Julie had also been partway through the conversion process and she knew exactly how Zoe was feeling right now.  "You can stay here for as long as you want to."

"Oh that's all right.  Zoe can get plenty of rest in the TARDIS.  I have a room somewhere that's perfect for this sort of thing.  Say goodbye Jamie."

"Ah hope we see each other again, it's been canny talking to yer all.  Come on Zoe, up yer get."  Jamie lifted the young lass to her feet and carried her into the Doctor's TARDIS.  "Yer need to diet Zoe, yer weigh a ton."

Mike, Julie and Kyle all laughed at Jamie's statement before the doors closed and the strange blue box vanished before their very eyes.
 
 

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