The Doctor sat in his room deep inside the TARDIS. He was currently in his seventh incarnation, and below the brow of the small stature man with the gentle smile a storm was raging. The decor of his inner sanctum was sparse, but it mattered little to him, especially now. He rarely came here, and to his knowledge he was the only one who had ever ventured this deep into the TARDIS. He liked the solitude that it provided. But aside from solitude, he sought relief more than anything else. He held his head in his hands. He looked up briefly at his surroundings, a look of anguish pained across his face. He placed his head back in his hands. It was simply too much. He mumbled to himself "Too many lives that were not mine have been given in the game." He paused and then once again raised his head and looked around. "Too many decisions that were not mine to make have been made." He rose to his feet as memories filled his head. "My companions have always assumed that I was in control. That I knew what was going on. But I am a pawn." He knew the game was not his, yet he had to play it. The Doctor returned to his chair and sat down heavily. The wood creaked as he rested fully in the chair. As he sat with his eyes closed, his mind raced repeating bits of the puzzle over and over like a broken record. His analytical skills, perfected almost to the point of the Logopolians, tried to understand something that he could barely grasp.

He spoke through gritted teeth "Maybe the Timelords had been right when they put me on trial. Maybe I do go too far." He stood to his feet and yelled "But how can I stop?" His words echoed in his room, repeating again and again "how can I stop?" With each successive regeneration he became more enlightened, more aware of what the consequences would be if he did stop. But how could he continue, at what point was the price too high? It was a game that could never be won, nor would ever end. The odds were always against him. He never had an opportunity to act, only to react. It was always after the fact, always after the match had already begun.

By most counts, even for a Timelord , he was no longer young. His TARDIS was starting to show its age, outdated long ago. It was outdated when he first became aware of the game, back on his home planet of Gallifrey. Or was he aware of the game before that? It was so hard to tell. His awareness of the game seemed to lie just below his subconscious, but it was always there, always shaping his every move. Deep undercurrents, rushing, crashing, moulding, were always below the surface, but always present. How could he continue this fight? There was no solution, only more questions, and more obstacles. His own race, the Timelords, so advanced in many ways, could never grasp the full meaning of the game. How could they, it baffled him most the time. Yet, it had fashioned much of his life.

From deep inside the TARDIS came the forewarning toll of the cloister bell. The sound echoed through the TARDIS's almost limitless corridors resonating with a deep hollow sound. The early warning system of the TARDIS sounded a haunting alarm, one that could not simply be ignored. The TARDIS was in jeopardy; they were all in jeopardy. "Not now," he said, "I'm not ready."

The game was continuing, but then again, it had never really ended.

The Doctor wearily pulled himself to his feet, and found his way to the console room door. With each successive step he heard the toll of the cloister bell echoing in the corridors. Imminent danger. "Another game," he said. As he pulled the door open to the console room door he murmured "Maybe the last."

Ace was putting the finishing touches on a new batch of nitro-nine, or own creative twist of nitro, when the sound of the cloister bell filled the air. She sealed the top of the nitro-nine bottle and raced out of her room towards the TARDIS's main console room.

When the Doctor arrived at the console room he was met by Ace. She had beaten him there and was waiting for him to arrive. The young woman greeted the Doctor with a questioning look in her eye. She had travelled with the Timelord far too long not to know that he was in some way aware of what was happening. Before the Doctor could reach the console to check the controls she began questioning him. The Doctor raised his hands towards Ace and brushed her aside; then, he headed straight towards the console. A typical response she thought. He simply could never be bothered to disclose what was going on, at least not to her. No, he would wait until after it had become painfully obvious.

She queried him again, "Professor, what is going on?" She stood with her hands on her hips; she was expecting an answer.

He turned briefly to look at her but did not answer. Over time he had given in to her addressing him as Professor, but now he simply was too involved in the current situation to be bothered with her. The time rotor on the TARDIS was moving up and down as it normally did when the TARDIS was in the time vortex, but the engines of the TARDIS were grinding, struggling. The normal smooth sounding rhythm of the engines had been replaced by a jerking, trudging sound. Throughout the TARDIS the grinding sound of the engines cried out in chorus with the cloister bell; all singing of the forthcoming danger. Each rise and fall of the time rotor appeared to be a struggle for the TARDIS. A fight to survive. A fight to win the contest. A fight to stay whole.

"What is going on Professor?" Ace was more forceful this time; she met the Doctor's eyes with a long unyielding stare. Sometimes her eyes could penetrate the Doctor's protective exterior. But it was always like a Chinese puzzle box; a new puzzle was uncovered with each progression. He would answer her question. She knew that. But, it would be only when he was ready.

"Not now Ace! I'm busy." He raced around the console, rubbing his hands together after he checked each readout. There had to be something wrong. The data simply did not make sense.

"Doctor, Please tell me what is going on. Don't leave me out." Her eyes pleaded for an answer, for reassurance that the Doctor was in charge. Even in her full combat uniform she felt helpless. The courage that she tried so hard to project was not there for her this time. She felt a strange uneasiness, as if the very floor she was standing on was moving beneath her feet. She felt out of control.

The Doctor turned and looked at Ace. They had been through so very much together. "Very well." The Doctor continued to talk as he checked one instrument readout after another on the TARDIS console. "It appears that the TARDIS is being ripped apart. The very fabric that holds it together is in a state of flux that I don't fully understand."

It took a moment for the full meaning of what the Doctor had just told her to sink in. A straight sounding honest answer was surprise enough, but a problem for the Doctor with no apparent solution; that was much harder to fathom. Her mind raced for a solution, for some thread of information that might be of help to the Doctor, but she could think of nothing. "There must be something you can do."

The Doctor turned briefly to look at her, then turned his attention back to the controls "There is always something. But the right something, that is what is so elusive." The Doctor stopped for a moment to ponder the options. "Our only hope is to materialise the TARDIS. That should stabilise the barriers between the various dimensions. But it is not going to be easy."

"And if you can't?" Ace asked.

The Doctor continued to labour over the controls of the TARDIS as he answered Ace's question. "If we can't, no more rice pudding for the lot of us. The dimensional forces of the TARDIS will fold in on themselves scattering TARDIS and us through the space-time continuum. All and all, not a pleasant ending."

Ace was not so sure that she preferred these honest answers from the Doctor. She was used to elusive responses that left more questions instead of answering them. Whatever was truly going on, she already wished it were over and done with. Maybe it was better when the Doctor left her out and left the worrying to him alone.

The Doctor checked the co-ordinates on the console. They were flying blind. The systems of the TARDIS where so erratic that he had no way of telling where they might materialise, if they could at all. Even with the controls on the TARDIS working as well as normal, materialisation was never easy. But without any data the TARDIS could easily materialise inside the centre of a planet, or the core of a star. Either option did not please him. But with each passing second, each toll of the cloister bell, he knew the chances of materialising from out of the time vortex were dimming.

With a few wishful settings entered into the TARDIS console, he set the machine for materialisation, hoping that it could hold together long enough to make the transformation. He instinctively reached up to his lapel to rub the emblem of a cat that was no longer there - a flashback to an earlier incarnation - and activated the materialisation circuit on the console. The TARDIS shuddered, but then slowly began to make the familiar sound of materialisation.

Emerging from the time vortex, the TARDIS achieved materialisation upon a rocky hillside of an unknown planet.

The lights inside the TARDIS dimmed, the engines ground to a halt with a sickening sound, and the cloister bell went silent. The Doctor flashed Ace a reassuring smile when they heard the customary thump of the dimensional stabilisers transforming the TARDIS once again into a solid object.

Ace breathed out slowly. "We made it." She tried to return the Doctor's smile, but in good faith she knew she could not. This was not the ending, only the beginning.

The Doctor raced around the console of the TARDIS checking the instruments; every major component of the TARDIS had failed. He was looking at a totally inoperative TARDIS. He empathised with his old friend by giving the console a reassuring pat. He knew more than luck had saved their lives this time, and he chalked up another debt of gratitude for the old TARDIS.

The Doctor turned to Ace. "Go fetch Benny; I'm going to need both of you to help with the repairs. But, be careful-"

Before he could even finish his sentence Ace started with her objections "Repairs! Listen Professor, what in the hell is going on?"

The Doctor looked for a moment at his companion; he realised that she was more frightened than anything else. "I honestly can't say Ace. Give me a little more time to check things out. But first problem first." He tried to sound reassuring, but the situation, at least on the surface, appeared dismal.

"Well, I'm sure that Professor Summerfield can find her own way to the control room without my help. I know I sure would after all that noise and the terrible landing you just made."

"It is not going to be that easy," he said, as he thought to himself it never is. "The TARDIS's internal architecture has been altered. The TARDIS reconfigured itself to move us closer to the centre of the TARDIS's stabilisation field. But that really is not important right now. Right now I need both you and Benny here. Use that famous sense of direction of yours to find her and bring her back to the console room." The Doctor turned his attentions back to the TARDIS console, expecting Ace to leave but instead she just stood waiting.

Whatever response Ace was hoping for from the Doctor, it soon became apparent that he was done with her and his mind was elsewhere now. Ace did not like taking orders, especially from the Doctor, but she realised a lot more was happening here than he had let on. She decided for now it was best to do as he wished. She turned on one heel, and headed out of the console room to find Benny.

The exact whereabouts of Benny presented Ace with only a small challenge. She knew that the young woman would be in her laboratory, now the only challenge that lay ahead was finding where the TARDIS had moved the laboratory. Ace concentrated hard. She followed what she believed to be her basic instincts and in little to no time she was rewarded with the door to Benny's laboratory. She gently knocked on the door as she called out "Benny, the Doctor wants to see you." She quickly turned around hoping that the woman would delay answering her call and wind up wandering the TARDIS's corridors. But Benny was ready for a meeting with the Doctor and she had a few questions for him. Benny opened the door to find Ace already heading down the TARDIS's corridors. She quickly caught up with Ace, and, even though their path through the TARDIS seemed erratic, she did not question the young woman. Like Ace, she preferred to keep their conversations to a minimum.

Ace and Benny arrived back in the console room to find the Doctor on his knees beneath the central console of the TARDIS. The Doctor pulled himself to his feet. Benny turned to the Doctor with a smile. "All right Doctor, what is going on? I must say, this has not been a very smooth ride."

From Benny's flippant expression it was clear to the Doctor that Ace had not passed on the current state of affairs so he had one more problem to deal with. His close inspection of the TARDIS console had done little to relieve his earlier hypothesis of how grave their situation was. The need to make another decision sparked an internal debate. Should he inform them of the situation, as he currently understood it? It would only cause them worry. But then, you can't hide the truth from them forever; sooner or later they would all have to face it. At least this truth.

"As best as I can tell, the TARDIS has lost almost every major system," he stated in a matter-of-fact way. He did not want to cause undue distress. Panicking would do them no good, however he did want them to fully understand how grave their situation was. "We are currently running at half power on backup, and should be able to maintain this state, by my calculations, for at least five days. In that time, we will need to complete repairs on the TARDIS." It sounded absolute. A clear statement of the problem, and the action that was required. He could only hope they would not press him for more, for he had little more to give them right now.

"And if we don't, what will happen?" This time Benny's face showed considerably more concern. The smile that had been on her face when she greeted the Doctor was now nothing but a forgotten memory.

"I don't think you really want to know." He paused. They were pressing; they were looking for answers that the Doctor could not provide, at least not yet; he was not ready. "But, if we are lucky the time vector generator will be the first to go. In essence, the TARDIS will simply become a wooden box."

"And if we are not lucky?" Ace asked, now seeing the holes in the Doctor's statement.

"Just let that vivid imagination of yours run wild Ace." It was not an informative answer but one that Ace was more accustomed to. Here and now it comforted more.

"But that is only if we stay inside the TARDIS, right?" Ace added with a glimmer of hope that the puzzle would be that easy to solve.

"Yes, however, I would advise against us leaving," the Doctor stated.

"Why?" Ace demanded. One penetrating word that hung in the air for an answer.

The Doctor stepped back and thought for a moment; he weighed his options but in the end he reverted back to the truth for an answer. He'd try anything to get them thinking about the immediate concerns. "The whole exterior sensor array is down. We have no way of knowing where and when we have landed. Nor can we tell what the atmosphere would be like outside the TARDIS. We could easily open the doors and walk out into a strikingly beautiful planet or we could open those doors and all die instantly."

"But if we had to, we could. It is still an option - right?" Benny asked.

"Yes Benny, the controls for the door still work if that is what you are asking, but that is not an option right now. It won't be until we can ascertain more about the exterior environment."

Ace turned to look directly at the Doctor. "So what is still working in this heap of junk?"

The Doctor frowned. Junk or no junk, it was still his TARDIS - his home away from home these last 700 or so years. "The life support, and food dispenser. So, it appears neither will we freeze, starve, nor suffocate for the time being," the Doctor replied with a hint of a smile that was not returned by either Ace or Benny.

"Anything else?" asked Ace.

"Nothing much to speak of."

"Sounds as if we got lucky, at least the life support systems did not go out," Benny added, this time trying to look on the bright side.

"I don't think luck had much to do with it," was the Doctors only reply.

Ace did not press the Doctor any further. She knew now was not the time to concern herself with the Doctor's games; she would have more time for that later. However Benny, always utilising her scientific mind, started pondering their predicament. If she was going to be of any help, she needed the facts. Unlike Ace who acted better on pure instinct, Benny was comforted more by facts, by something that she could work with, and shape. "How did this happen? I thought the TARDIS was indestructible."

The Doctor did not waste time coming up with an explanation. To him, the facts of the situation presented a perfectly clear picture. He had formed a theory of which he was quite proud and he was eager to try it out. "Normally it is, pretty much. But something ripped a hole in the space time continuum while the TARDIS was travelling through it. We should have been destroyed, not just damaged."

"So, is that what set off the cloister bells?" asked Benny.

"Yes, exactly. By the time I arrived at the console room the damage had already been done. The force must have been extraordinary. It plummeted through the space-time continuum like a rock being thrown into a stained glass window, shattering and splintering the continuum just as easily. The TARDIS absorbed the brunt of the blow but in the process the stabilisation fields between the TARDIS's dimensions were weakened. It took everything we had to keep from folding in upon ourselves. In essence, the TARDIS was struggling to hold itself together."

"But what caused the force that tore through the continuum?" asked Benny.

"A very good question, Benny, and one I'm not sure how to answer. But we have more pressing problems at the moment."

Ace sat quietly listening to the exchange of techno-jumble between Benny and the Doctor, then she decided it was time to do one of things she did best - push. "I think that the exterior sensors should be our first order of business."

The Doctor turned to Ace, thinking that apparently her time in the space fleet had brought out her best abilities: to organise a problem and determine the best direction for a solution. Tact, however, was still missing. She had changed so much over the years. "My thoughts exactly Ace, and that was what I was about to suggest," the Doctor said, not wanting to lose the upper hand.

"Oh," Ace added with a slight smile upon her face.

Benny listened carefully to the exchange between the Doctor and Ace. It was clear that this was getting them nowhere, so she decided to get them back on the straight and narrow. "Where do you keep your replacement parts, Doctor? Ace and I are pretty handy with tools," she added with a grin.

The Doctor looked at Benny with surprise. "What replacement parts?"

"What?" Benny hoped that the Doctor was in some sick perverted way trying to joke with them. Please, let him just be joking.

"I've been meaning to stock up, but spare parts for an old Type 40 are not the easiest to come by."

Ace rolled her eyes. "So, let me get this straight. We are stuck, lord only knows where and when, with a broken down old TARDIS and no spare parts to fix it. Every major component appears to be destroyed, by causes unknown and we have less than five days to fix this mess."

"That, my dear Ace, while not the most optimistic sounding rendition, is a fairly adequate summary of our situation."

Benny absorbed the information carefully. She knew that somehow they should be able to work out a solution, they had to, they had no choice. "Doctor, you must have some replacement parts around here, something we can use? In all the rooms of the TARDIS there is nothing of use?" Benny was pleading for an answer.

"None that I can recall. And even if I could, we could spend days wandering the TARDIS corridors trying to find the room where they are stored now. However, I do have a plan of action."

"You always do, don't you?" The Doctor turned to look at Ace. Her statement was ambiguous enough, but he grasped the true meaning. She was becoming aware. Sooner or later they would need to talk, but not now. It would have to wait; one more problem to juggle.

"It is more of a last ditch effort, but it is a plan. I'm hoping that we can take the working parts from the systems that are damaged and be able to salvage enough so that we can get the exterior sensors back on line. Then, with any luck, we can get help from the outside. If we had to, I could develop replacement parts. It may take a few years, but what is an eon or two among friends?"

If that was another attempt at humour, it was hard for Benny to tell. For someone who had lived as long as the Doctor, the prospect of a few eons might not seem that bad. "Doctor, I'm quite fond of you, but growing old and dying inside of the TARDIS while you dibble with the parts is not how I've always envisioned the last days of my life."

"Hmm. Well then, my dear crew, I suggest we get started with repairs," the Doctor stated, while holding the labels of his jacket. Then, with a sweeping motion of his hand, he directed them towards the console.

The Doctor assigned Benny and Ace the task of dismantling the non-working components of the TARDIS. It was interesting to see the mixtures of technology scattered through the maze of electronics that made up the ship. It was quite obvious that the Doctor had envisioned taking time some day to properly complete repairs, but had done many a quick patch job to hold things together until then. As the scheduled repair time had not yet arrived, the quick repairs were still in place and many of them appeared to have been in place for years. At one point, Benny found a jelly like piece of candy that had been chewed and then used as a polymer to bridge the gap between two separate light conduits. As Benny and Ace disassembled the components, the alien technology started making sense. They soon realised what a miracle it was that the TARDIS worked at all.

Because of the TARDIS's age, in design it was a mixture of 20th century silicon components and light conversion technology. When the Doctor had left Gallifrey the TARDIS had been in for repairs. And from the looks of the circuitry, it appeared that the Doctor had never stopped performing those repairs. At the moment the Doctor had managed to find various tools in all sorts of odd places in the TARDIS and had found each of them a sonic screwdriver to work with. No matter which tool was really needed, it appeared that the Doctor would find some way to perform the task with his sonic screwdriver. He often went out of his way to use it.

As each component was removed, the Doctor would examine it and place it in either of two piles: working, and non-working. The non-working pile was growing in order of magnitude faster than the working pile. But no one seemed to take much notice. They were all working together. No fighting, no battling of wills, just simple labour. It was a rare sight, and unfortunately none of them had the time to fully enjoy it.

When they had completed their dismantling of the non-working components of the TARDIS the Doctor stood back and carefully studied the small pile of working parts. A look of distress was clearly visible upon his face. Ace turned to him. "It's not enough, is it Professor?"

The Doctor just continued to stare. Something was troubling him, nagging at his memory like a long forgotten friend. He knew he was overlooking something obvious.

"There is not enough here to get a good FM radio working, let alone a sensor array," Ace said. Ace was right, it was obvious even to her that the current pile of components was a sad sight indeed.

"Victorian!" cried the Doctor

"What?" Ace and Benny answered almost in unison.

The Doctor raced around the console room slapping his forehead as he ran with excitement. "Ah, wood grain, stained glass windows, very attractive indeed. The auxiliary Victorian control room - maybe it did not sustain as much damage as the main console."

Benny's face lit up, "So what you are saying is that we may have more spare parts?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying," the Doctor answered.

"Maybe a working control room, huh Professor?" Ace asked

"That is very unlikely considering that it is connected to the same circuitry as the main console, but working parts never the less. Now the only trouble will be finding it."

Ace brushed Benny and the Doctor aside. "Here, follow me." The Doctor and Benny obediently followed behind Ace as she swelled with pride over her small, and self-imposed leadership role. But it was one that was well deserved, because in no time Ace led the small party to the Victorian control room.

"How ever do you do that?" asked the Doctor.

"You have your secrets, Doctor, and I have mine," replied Ace.

"You should show me sometime Ace; my basic S.O.D. always seems to be out of whack," stated the Doctor.

"Your what?" Benny asked

"Oh, sorry - Sense Of Direction."

"Yeah, yeah, truer words and all that lot. Now what, Professor?" The Doctor took that as his cue to begin his survey. He turned his attention to the console in the Victorian control room, checking one instrument readout after another, rubbing the back of his neck and making small sounds to himself, or maybe the TARDIS. It was always hard to tell. The room was very different from the rest of the TARDIS. Most of the rest of the TARDIS was now a well-lighted off-white affair, with white roundels on the walls that gave an almost sterile look to its hospital / high-tech appearance. In contrast, the Victorian control room had the appearance of deep mahogany wood walls. It appeared to be more part of a library of some grand old estate than the auxiliary control room for a time and space machine. The time Rotor was not visible on the main console, and several of the roundels appeared to be stained glass. It was clearly in stark contrast to the Doctor and most of his TARDIS. The Victorian control room expressed a very classic reserved appearance.

The Doctor finished his close inspection of the console and stood up. "Well, it is not as bad as the other, but we will need to dismantle it to pull the working parts. Just as in the main console, none of systems are without damage." Once again Ace, Benny and the Doctor set about dismantling the console. This time they were old hands at the task and it went along very quickly.

Benny turned to the Doctor as they worked, hoping that he had ascertained more information about their damage. "Doctor, any more ideas about how this happened?"

The Doctor looked away for a second and then put his sonic screwdriver down. "Oh, I have ideas Benny, but none that I'm prepared to share just yet."

"Maybe later," Benny retorted.

Ace shot the Doctor a questioning look. It was short, but he caught it out of the corner of his eye. "So Professor, when we get this going - the sensor array - what makes you think we'll be able to find help? There are more people in this universe that would rather kill you than help you."

He grimaced at the remark; however, on close inspection it was true. "I'm sure, Ace, that we can find some form of intelligent life that would be more than happy to lend assistance to a humble traveller such as myself."

Ace just let out a deep sigh.

"I think that our first goal should be to get the audio subsystem working. With that we can determine what forms of life are around," the Doctor stated.

"Intelligent life," added Benny.

"Something like that," replied the Doctor.

"Why not the visual first?" asked Ace.

"Ace, I just don't think we will have enough working circuitry. Besides, that would only allow us to see what things look like a few hundred feet from the TARDIS. We may need a larger search area."

"Assuming there is any life around," Ace replied.

"Intelligent life," piped in Benny.

As before, the pile of non-working components far outnumbered the small pile of working components. However, now there was a larger total of working components than before. Even before Ace and Benny had finished dismantling the non-working systems the Doctor was working on the audio subsystem of the sensor array. He poked and searched through the pile of working components piled up on the TARDIS floor, carefully picking out what he hoped would be just the right piece to get his collection of circuits working. Ace looked up at the Doctor while he was deeply studying the pile, looking for what appeared to be the proverbial needle in the haystack. "So, Professor, when you get the audio subsystem back on-line can we tune up the local easy listening radio station and pipe it through the whole TARDIS like one giant mall?" She managed to make the statement with a straight face.

For a while her bluff worked. The Doctor stopped his work to comprehend the statement, then he frowned as he realised the joking nature of the request. "No Ace, I think we have more pressing matters." He paused. "Why ever would you want to do that?"

"Just to annoy you," Ace added with a particularly devilish look in her eye.

"You don't need a radio to do that!" the Doctor retorted back. The Doctor stepped up and wiped his trousers with his hands. He had completed the assembly of what he hoped would be a working audio subsystem and handed it to Ace and Benny to take to the main console. "Plug this into the exterior sensor array; it should give us at the very least a working radio module. I'm going to stay in here and see what else I can piece together. If you need me just press this button. If the audio subsystem is working it should provide an audio link between the two control rooms."

"All right Doctor, consider it done," Benny replied. Benny and Ace made their way back to the main console room with Ace carefully leading the way. It was clear that they were both tired from the whole ordeal. Benny, after enduring the silence as long as possible, tried to comfort Ace. "I'm sure we are going to be all right."

Ace looked at the older woman for a brief moment, then responded, "Yeah, but at what cost?" Ace had answered in a low voice, as if even the TARDIS might be listening.

Benny did not reply. Once back in the main control room Benny carefully inserted the audio subsystem into the console as the Doctor had instructed her to do. Immediately there was a crackle as the unit came to life.

Almost instantaneously Benny signalled for the Doctor in the auxiliary control room. "Doctor, you better come in here quick. I think we just got the communications system on-line. We are receiving a radio transmission."

"Yes, yes all right. Tell Ace I was sure there was intelligent life around here somewhere. I'll be by later to gloat and to send our SOS; I'm busy now."

"You still better come anyway. You need to hear this," Benny stated. There was a definite urgency in her voice, one that the Doctor did not pick up, but it was clearly present.

"I don't have time to listen to the music of this culture. I have important work to do, and so do you. We still are not out of the woods yet."

Ace now spoke up. "Professor, you better come. I think this is something you need to hear." This time the Doctor heard the urgency in the voice. He pulled himself to his feet and after a little meandering found his way to the main console room. As he neared the room he heard voices, no just one voice, repeating the same message over and over. As he opened the door to the main control room he immediately noticed Ace & Benny staring at the main console in disbelief.

"Attention all travellers. Warning! This area is not safe. We are leaving this radio satellite beacon as a warning for all that might travel through our solar system. Our sun is posed to go super nova in four hours. Please leave the vicinity. Attention all travellers ... super nova in three hours and 59 seconds..."

Dr. Julia Taylor's mind went back to 1988, it was like that day all over again. That was when she and her Father had first been brought in on the plans to build the Super conducting Super Collider (SSC) near Waxahatchie, Texas. The SSC was to be an enormous storage ring collider accelerator 54 miles long, and hopefully capable of providing a testing ground for a quantum accelerator. However, in October 1993 after about one-fifth of the tunnel had been completed, the Congress of the United States voted to cancel the project. The official story stated the cancellation was a result of the accelerator's projected cost of over $10 billion or so the official story always stated. There had always been persistent rumours that the British government or at least the United Nations secret agency known as UNIT had had the program stopped. But that made little sense to Julia. Why would they care? She figured it was a scapegoat that some poor political puppet with little imagination had dreamed up.

Growing up, Julia had watched as the brilliant ideas of her Father were wasted over the years. Now he was gone. He could never finish his work, but she knew she could. He had spent much of his life as a professor at a small university and while his job afforded him time to develop his theories - moneys and resources were always limited. For that reason more than any other she had joined the military. She served in a unit that most definitely had an agenda other than her own; how much different she had no way of knowing. She had managed to direct their research so that she was able to work on her own goals as well as meet those of her agency. The virtually unlimited funds and resources at her disposal had well made up the freedom of choice that the military cost her. That was clearly obvious in what stood before her, the resurrected SSC project. Three years after its death it was secretly and quietly brought back to life. The exact details of the 'public story' did not concern her; it was not her department, but she hoped it would be better than the British government rumour: a curly topped wild-eyed scientific advisor who put an end to things and insisted that his lab was somehow housed in an old police box!

With the SSC project she hoped to resume her Father's life work. What had begun as almost a joke between them, a light speed overdrive had become the basis for a quantum accelerator, was the dream that had shaped much of her life. With it, she could control the quantum reactions that take place inside of a particle accelerator; a feat that had never been successfully accomplished.

Until now, quantum reactions had been observed only on particles, but never on a whole object. Her goal was to accelerate a whole object though a quantum reaction. Normally, due to the nature of a particle accelerator, any object placed inside of the particle stream is ripped apart at the molecular level. But with the quantum accelerator on-line, she hoped to be able to move an object before the molecules could begin to dissociate themselves. Her goal was to be able to move an object from one location to another in an instant. She marvelled at the potential.

She went over and picked up the latest computer printout. Her calculations were right on the money. A tear ran down her cheek as she ran the experiments in her head. Soon, they would leave the confines of her skull. Soon her dreams would be true. If only her Father had lived to see this day.

The door closed quietly behind the General. "She is getting close you know."

"Yes," the Admiral said as he turned to the General. "I saw the printout last night."

"Does she have any idea?"

"Of what she is really making? No. She is too blinded by her own goals. Blinded to the truth."

"Is this the only way?"

"You know it is."

"That settles it. We are going to need outside help", stated the Doctor. The Doctor reached for the control to the exterior doors. He depressed the control and after a brief pause the doors to the TARDIS opened. The Doctor turned to his two companions. "Ace, Benny - stay here. I'm still not sure of what we may be facing." With his orders clearly given the Doctor turned and exited the TARDIS before either young woman could question him. They were left behind with the haunting radio signal warning of their impending danger.

From the ledge of the rocky hillside where the TARDIS had materialised, the Doctor had a clear view of the surrounding landscape. He took a deep breath of fresh air and then pulled the TARDIS doors closed. He turned back around and directed his attentions to his new surroundings. A broad-leafed plant jutting out of the hillside near his feet caught his eye, he reached over and touched the lush foliage with his hands. He allowed his gaze to flow upwards to the top of the peak and then pan around the lush mountainous terrain. His eyes settled in the valley below on a small river and a village.

He pulled out a pair of looking glasses from his jacket and peered into them. He saw stone streets; a collection of neat building that appeared to be a mixture of mud and rock, and not a soul in sight. It should be the perfect place to keep them busy for a while.

The wind picked up as the sky darkened a strong gust of wind gently tossed his hair about. On the horizon a storm was brewing. Flashes of lightening lit up the sky, outlining the terrain below. A few drops of rain fell upon his cheek and rolled down his face. He turned back towards the plant. "No one told you, I suppose, that this planet is a sitting time bomb." He stared at the plant a while longer. "Sorry I can't help." He waited, wanting to convey his true grief for being unable to help. Then he turned his glance once more to the village below. He reached for the handle to the TARDIS door and pulled it open. The clouds parted and sunshine shown brightly on the rocky hillside as the Doctor stepped back into the TARDIS.

Ace and Benny hurriedly met the Timelord as he entered back into the TARDIS. "So, what is it like?" one of them asked.

"Very pleasant very pleasant indeed, and very deserted. I spotted a small village just a few clicks down in the valley. I would say that it is just a short afternoon's walk away." He turned and studied both of their faces, and then the smile disappeared from his face. "We are working on a clock now ladies, and we are in dire need of help." Ace and Benny both listened attentively to the Doctor. They did not need to ask what the Doctor needed them to do, and they both knew that the answer was forthcoming. "Go see how advanced their civilisation appears to be. Maybe they will have something of use for us."

"What are you going to do?" asked Ace.

The Doctor paused for a moment. Maybe she knew, but he could not tell. He smiled at her and stated "I'm going to stay here and continue working on the TARDIS. It will be best if we divided our efforts."

Ace appeared to accept this answer. "And how will we know what to look for? I don't expect they will have a TARDIS repair shop," Benny asked.

"You won't. However you are both bright women. Look for signs of technology. I'll get a better inventory on what kind of parts we are going to need while you are gone, but first you two go case the area out."

"Case the area out? C-a-s-e it out?" asked Benny, the words stumbling out of her mouth.

"Sorry, one too many colloquiums from Earth dear Benny before your time. Survey the area. There, that should suit an archaeologist better." The Doctor reached over and patted Benny on the back. He considered doing the same for Ace but wondered how many fingers he would draw back. With that said, there were no more questions. His companions understood the importance of time.

The Doctor reached for the control panel and opened the doors to the exterior of the TARDIS. He walked out with Benny and Ace and pointed out a small trail that led down the rocky hillside to the village. Ace and Benny headed straight for the path and started their descent. Ace turned to wave good-bye to the Doctor. She glanced back just in time to see him closing the TARDIS doors.

While Benny and Ace worked their way down to the village, the Doctor typed in the last known co-ordinates for an SOS message to be sent. It was not a general alert, but a message intended for one person only; the only person that could provide the type of help he knew he needed. It was a last ditch effort. There was no way of knowing if his message would be received or what response he could expect. He had not been in contact with her since she left and the message would have to travel through the gateway and into E-Space, but it was their only real hope. A grasp. A gamble.

Ace and Benny continued working their way down the trail. Ace, always on alert, approached cautiously as Benny stormed ahead. "Oy," she called to Benny, "wait up before you get yourself killed."

"By whom?" Benny asked. Ace looked around. Even from this distance it was clear that the village below was deserted. Benny continued, "the Doctor said the village was deserted," and for once it appeared that he was correct.

Benny slowed her pace some, giving Ace time to survey the area and still catch up. The two young women emerged out of the woods into a clearing at the edge of what appeared to be the main thoroughfare. As they passed each house it was quickly noted that everything was still in place. At one small dwelling the front door stood open and a group of birds that resembled chickens ran to and fro in the front yard. Benny walked up to the gate that surrounded the house, swung it open and stepped in.

"What are you doing?" asked Ace.

"Looking around."

"You can't just go barging into someone's house."

"Who is there to ask?" Benny stated. Ace shrugged and followed closely behind Benny. To an archaeologist like Benny this was very much like her normal routine except this time she would not be digging up the remains. All the evidence of the people that lived here was laid out clearly in front of her.

Benny and Ace stepped inside the open door into the kitchen area. The dwelling was of simple design. The inside walls consisted mostly of a mud-like stucco and wood timbers. The dwelling's kitchen consisted of a large cast-iron stove that sat in the centre of a circle with a table encompassing the stove. A series of place settings were set around the table.

"Wood stove," Benny pointed out.

"Yeah, so - not what the TARDIS needs I would say."

"Nor the technology that you would expect from a planet capable of launching a radio beacon."

Ace turned and studied the house. Even to her untrained eye the place was very primitive. No signs of electricity or even running water.

"Come on," Benny called. "It is obvious that there is not much to see here. Let's continue on to the main centre of the village."

Benny and Ace worked their way to the centre of the village stopping along the way to occasionally peer into a house. Each dwelling appeared to be the same except for one. The first non-residential establishment that they approached in the village centre appeared to be a toy store. In the thick-paned glass window a reflection of a child's doll caught Ace's eye. She stepped inside and looked around while Benny pressed on into the village. Inside the shop, various toys surrounded Ace. Some resembled toys she had known growing up; others were without any form or function that she could recognise. She walked over and picked up the doll. It had a sweet face. It had a sad face. Benny called out, "in here, Ace!"

Ace raced out into the street. At first she could not tell where Benny's voice was coming from, but as she glanced down the main thoroughfare she saw Benny standing in front of one of the houses that they had passed when they entered the village.

"What is it?" she cried.

"You better come see for yourself." Ace raced towards the house that Benny stood in front of and walked inside expecting just about anything.

"What is it Benny?" she breathed somewhat out of breath.

"Technology!" Benny stated.

She handed Ace a metal pad with a LCD display located in the centre. Upon touching the pad the display light up and a map of the solar system was displayed along with data concerning the sun, and a planned evacuation. "Where did this come from?" she asked.

"Good question. I found it here on the kitchen table but it did not come from here."

"What do you mean?"

"I may be mistaken, but I don't think the local inhabitants of this planet possess this kind of technology."

***

The distress signal indicator on the console was a clear indication that someone was in trouble. Since her travels in E-space, she had never really expected to encounter a standard SOS signal, so the alarm itself surprised her.

She walked over and studied the display. It has hard to believe her eyes. It was he. After all this time, not a word, and now here he was in need of her help. That was so typical of the Doctor. She had to smile. At one time they had been almost inseparable. He had been an integral part of her life. He had given her true freedom. But, when the time for them to part had come, it seemed as natural as a river's forking. Still one part of each other, but taking separate paths. Now again, after all this time, their paths were about to cross again.

Her TARDIS, in the form of a polished marble statue materialised just a few feet away from the Doctor's own tattered TARDIS. The Doctor was waiting outside near the marble statue when the female Timelord exited from her TARDIS.

"You've regenerated again," he said.

"So have you. I can't say that I care for it."

"You know that is one of the problems with regeneration, you never know what you are going to get."

"Always a shot in the dark."

"Or a shot at something. Listen, I'm in a bit of a fix."

"So I gathered from your message. Have you thanked me for coming?" she added with her usual glee.

"Not yet, but you are most gracious and very understanding when I do."

"I thought I would be. How bad of shape is your TARDIS in?" she queried.

"Total systems failure."

"And how long before the sun goes supernova?"

"Approximately two hours, assuming that the radio beacon is correct," he stated.

"It is, I checked it with my own instruments. Not a lot of time."

"No, very little."

"So, we can just pop into my TARDIS, and be ready for tea in a matter of minutes."

"How about my TARDIS?" asked the Doctor.

"We don't have time."

"We don't have time?" he stated. "We are Timelords. It will be destroyed. I can't leave it."

"Come on Doctor, I never have understood your fascination with that old Type 40. It is so outdated. I can assist you in building another one, one that works. "

"My TARDIS works," he murmured.

"On occasion it has been known to, but not on a regular basis."

"Well, I don't want a TARDIS that works I want my TARDIS. We have an understanding."

"An understanding huh? I see this regeneration has done nothing for your stubborn streak, or your childish ways."

"Has to!"

***

A short time later Benny and Ace were able to access more information from the metal pad. It appeared to be a hand held computer system with a database specifically designed for one task - to supply information about and to assist in evacuating the planet. It was assumed that this computer was left behind in the whirlwind of activity to leave the planet while there was still time.

"So the locals needed help to get off their own planet," Ace said.

"Appears that way. Most likely a neighbouring planet. From the looks of that map several planets in this solar system could support life."

"So, there will not be any 'advanced' technology here except for maybe a wood stove, which we have determined the TARDIS does not need."

"It would appear that way," Benny agreed.

"Back to the TARDIS?"

"Yeah, looks like our mission to find spare parts has failed," Benny said. She hated the idea of failure. Their goal was far too important to be defeated but the evidence was pretty clear that they could expect to find nothing more here. "I hope the Doctor has an alternative plan."

"I'm sure he does," Ace said.

***

Out of the corner of the Doctor's eye, he caught some movement. A little early, he thought. "Ah, here comes my two companions now. Ace, Benny I would like you to meet an old friend, Romana." Romana extended her hand first to Benny, and then to Ace. "Romana, this is Professor Benny Summerfield, and my friend Ace, the Doctor stated.

Ace was taken aback. She had heard the Doctor mention Romana before, and here she was. A strange coincidence; too strange for her taste. She wondered what this ploy of introducing her, as his friend was all about. Did he think that would throw her off? She was way too clever for his masquerade of emotion. After all he was an alien, a Timelord, he was void of any true emotion. Ace turned to face the Doctor. "How did she get here?" she said, indicating Romana with a toss of her head. As usual the young woman got straight to the point; any tact that she might possess was merely an after thought.

"I sent for her, and she was kind enough to respond," was the only response that the Doctor could offer. The exact details would only bring about more unwanted questions.

Benny offered a smile of apology to Romana, which the Timelord returned. Then the Doctor and Romana turned and headed into the TARDIS leaving Ace with any remaining questions to herself. No sooner had the Doctor shut the TARDIS doors than Ace turned to Benny. "It was only a ploy. Played for the fool again. I'm not his puppet on a string." Her blood boiled as the incriminations filled her head. "He must have known she was coming all along. He is playing games again. Damn it, I hate it when he does that, and I don't even see it coming." Ace hated to confide in Benny, but there was no holding it back any longer.

"Games?" Benny asked questioningly. "What are you talking about Ace? I really think we are in too grave a situation for the Doctor to be playing games."

Ace grabbed Benny by the shoulders. She wanted her to see the clear truth in front of her face. "Right, for someone so damn smart Professor Summerfield, you simply don't get it, do you? We've been sent on a wild goose chase. Pawns, nothing but damn pawns."

Benny pulled herself away from Ace's firm grip. She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Ace, I know you and I have had our differences, and I know you and the Doctor have been at odds lately, but I really think you are seeing ghosts that simply aren't there."

"Am I? Oh how I wish I were. How I wish I could just believe that all of this just happened, but I can't. Not anymore. Look at the facts, Benny," Ace said shaking her fist as much at Benny as at herself. "Why has he not asked yet about what we saw in the village?" she demanded. She wanted Benny to answer; to renew her lost faith in the Doctor. Ace's face was void of any emotion but pure anger. She was flushed and stood with her hands clinched tightly in fists as she talked to Benny. "Why? I'll tell you why, he already knew the answer. He always does." Ace paused, "he needed us out of the way, but we spoiled it by coming back so soon."

Benny gave Ace a questioning look, one that Ace picked up on without a word. The young woman once again flew into her rage.

"We are simply his tools, a means to an end. Don't you get it?" She waited. She saw nothing but a faint concern in Benny's face. But no signs of true understanding. "But we aren't the first, or the last. Don't fool yourself Benny. I'm not so naive nor believe my self-worth is so great to believe that. Just try to ask him about Adric, which was one time when even he was not in control. He has secrets, Benny, that you and I can't even fathom. And what ever they are, he goes to great lengths to keep them hidden. Lady Peinforte new his secrets, and she died with that knowledge. Others have gathered a piece of his puzzle, but he keeps the pieces hidden, scattered. So until you've travelled with him as long as I have, don't assume you know him, because once you think you do, he changes his spots! Look behind his eyes, Benny. There is a storm ragging there. A conflict that shapes the universe."

Benny had nothing to say to Ace. It was clear from the rage in her voice that she meant every word. Evidently it was something that she had been mulling around in her mind for some time. Benny had no way to defend the Doctor, she only had a faith in him that he was trying to do what was best and she had to be content with that until she could either validate or invalidate what Ace was saying.

Dr. Julia Taylor sat in the massive control room of the SSC project. She personally wanted to check the instrument readouts of each system. Of course there were assigned engineers with the sole purpose of making sure everything was running correctly. But, she wanted to see for herself. All of her dreams were riding on this moment and she would be damned if she would let some over inflated engineer ruin this moment by lack of competence or just pure laziness.

As she studied the controls, two figures entered the main doorway of the control centre. The Admiral pointed in her direction. "See, General - that is what a woman obsessed looks like." Her concentration was so complete it was impossible for something as small as a voice to penetrate it.

The Admiral walked over and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up at him with surprise. She had no idea he was standing beside her, let alone in the room. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you but we wanted a status report," he said as he turned and indicated the General.

Julia took a moment to compose herself. "Sorry sir, all is on schedule."

"Good," said the Admiral with what appeared to be a genuine smile. "I knew you could do it."

"We should be able to start powering up the systems soon, and after the alpha and beta test be ready for our first trial run."

"How long will that take?" the general asked, already knowing the answer.

"A few weeks, it is all in the proposed time table sir," Julia answered.

"It will have to be sooner Julia, I'm afraid," the Admiral stated.

"Sooner? Excuse me sir how can the powering up of a particle accelerator be sooner?"

"Julia, Congress has gotten word of this project being resurrected and they are going to do everything possible to kill it. We need results and fast."

"But Sir, I can't change the laws of physics. We simply can't be online for a few weeks."

"Then Julia, go ahead and pack things up, because right now that is all the time I can give you."

Her mind raced. She could, in theory, jump start the particle accelerator with her quantum accelerator, but it had never been used like that. Hell, it had never actually been used, only envisioned, and never for that purpose.

The Admiral and the General turned and left Julia back in her own world. Back trying to solve a puzzle. It had almost become like a game to her.

The General turned to the Admiral, "That was pretty risky in there sir, playing your ace like that."

"My dear old friend, I have many more aces up my sleeve. That is just the opening move, but I know what her next move will be."

"But can she do it?"

"Oh, if there is a person alive today that can - she is the one. By the time she realises it, it will be too late."

"Is this the only way?"

"You know it is."

***