He moved over to a second stand bearing a broad copper bracelet with a scrolled device mounted on it. 'Possibly this is simply an ornament, or perhaps it serves some other function entirely, as it emits low level energy. Whatever it is it seems to have been important to our new guest. He was holding on to it so tightly that, even though he was unconscious, they had to pry his fingers open to make him release it.

'It is vital that we learn as much from these items as soon as possible. We may be in a first contact situation with a member of an advanced technical society, with all the potentialities that implies. For security reasons these items may not be removed from this room without authorization, therefore all equipment you wish to use during your examinations must be brought here. Meanwhile, Colonel Andez and I will see if the man is ready to be questioned.'

He walked out briskly followed by Scout, leaving Tarron and her colleagues to their new challenge.

Dr Emberley was a thin dry woman, very competent but with a rather remote precise manner. She gave Kambril and Andez her latest report outside the stranger's guarded room in the hospital.

'Nothing much has changed. The patient appears to be a human male of indeterminate middle years. We treated him for the effects of shock and explosive decompression, consistent with an emergency evacuation from a s.p.a.cecraft. He speaks standard interlingua, but still can't give a clear account of himself due to his claimed amnesia.'

'Is this loss of memory genuine?' Andez asked.

'That is impossible to determine with the equipment I have available,' Emberley replied. 'However, temporary amnesia is not unknown after severe trauma, so I must suspend judgement. Usually memory returns after a few hours or days at the outside.' She frowned. 'Of course, he is not a usual case.

The gross physical anomalies I detected earlier have been confirmed. He has two hearts with a combined pulse rate of about ten per minute. His normal body temperature seems to be approximately sixteen degrees. His blood chemistry, especially the haemoglobin structure, is quite abnormal. He has a large cranial cavity and encephalographic activity of a most unusual pattern and frequency. My original conjecture still stands: he is either an alien or a radically genetically modified human. We're still running tests. Maybe they'll tell us which.'

'Is he fit enough to be questioned?' Andez asked.

'Physically, yes: he seems to have made an uncommonly rapid recovery. But mentally...well, see for yourself' She eyed Scout, who had followed silently behind Kambril. 'But I'd advise you not to take that thing in there with you. Some people find them disturbing.'

Their first view of the stranger as they entered his room was the seat of a hospital gown protruding from beyond the corner of the bed. Despite their concern, Kambril and Andez exchanged amused smiles. Kambril cleared his throat loudly.

The hospital gown disappeared, there was a rapid shuffling sound and a thick mop of curly hair appeared in its place.

From within this brown halo a bemused but distinctive face, dominated by a beaky nose and intense pale protuberant eyes, surveyed them curiously. Then a broad mouth slowly spread into a toothy grin of welcome.

'h.e.l.lo. I seem to have lost something. You haven't seen it, I suppose?'

'I'm not sure. What have you lost?' Andez replied cautiously.

The stranger scrambled to his feet and dusted off his hands and knees. 'Ah, now that's part of the problem I can't remember. I might be like the man in the coal cellar looking for the black cat at midnight who isn't there. Of course, I haven't had much to do with coal cellars recently, or at least I don't think so, but they used to be very popular.' He blinked owlishly at them. 'I like cats. Perhaps that's what I'm looking for?'

'It's unlikely,' said Kambril.

'So that's not what I'm looking for?'

'I don't think so.'

'Ah, so you know I don't own a cat.'

'Well, no, but '

'Then how do you know I haven't lost one?'

'Please, can we forget about cats and cellars '

'A torch!'

'What?'

'Why didn't the man in the cellar use a torch to find the cat? That's always bothered me.'

Kambril restrained himself with an effort. The stranger perched on the side of his bed staring at them with wide-eyed interest, while he and Andez sat in two rather hard visitor's chairs. Kambril tried to regain the initiative. 'I am Barris Kambril, Director of this facility, and this is Colonel Andez, our military liaison officer.'

'Well, how do you do, very nice to meet you,' said the stranger, springing up and shaking their hands heartily. 'And I am...er...' He frowned and sat down again heavily.

'You've lost your memory,' Andez prompted.

'I have? Perhaps that's what I was looking for? No, it was something else.'

'Your name?'

'More than that. Something missing or somebody.'

'Don't worry about it for the moment. It will probably all come back to you shortly,' Kambril rea.s.sured him. 'Dr Emberley said '

A sudden expression of delight crossed the man's face.

'That's it. That sounds familiar.'

'Your name sounds like Emberley?'

'No, no.'

'It is Emberley?'

'No: Doctor. That's right; I'm the Doctor.'

'A doctor. Well, that's a start. Now, Dr who?'

'Who?' The man tried the word out: 'Who, who, who.

Possibly, possibly...'

'Pardon?'

'Dr Pardon? No, I'm pretty sure that's not right. I can visualize the letters, you see, but I can't remember how they sound. Different language. Should be able to speak it but can't. Silly, isn't it? Still everything comes to he who can't wait.'

Kambril and Andez both sighed heavily. Humouring the stranger took more effort than they had expected. Kambril tried again. 'Perhaps if you try to recall your profession it would help. You're some kind of doctor, but of what discipline? Medicine, science, philosophy, literature...'

The man listened intently to the list, nodding happily.

Eventually Kambril ran down. The stranger looked hopefully at him. 'Yes, they all sound quite familiar. That must be what I am.'

'You can't be a doctor of all of them!' Andez said impatiently.

'Oh, can't I?' The stranger looked glum and his lower lip pouted disconsolately. 'Well, what ones would you suggest?'

'Never mind,' Kambril interjected quickly. "Doctor" will have to do for the moment. Do you remember how you got here?'

The Doctor frowned. 'I remember darkness and spinning round. We were travelling somewhere '

'We? Who was with you?' Andez said.

'I can't remember. There was a flash of light. Raw energy.

Separation and cold. I couldn't breathe.' He blinked. 'And then I woke up here.'

'I see,' said Kambril thoughtfully. 'Well, we found you drifting in s.p.a.ce inside an escape pod and brought you down here.'

'Oh, did you? That was very kind. Very kind indeed.'

Kambril found himself treated to the broad innocent smile again. The stranger seemed almost childishly grateful, but the eyes bothered him. Behind the sparkle they were disturbingly deep.

'But you see,' Andez said gently, 'it suggests that either you had an accident with your craft, or else you were attacked.

Does this look familiar to you?' He produced a folder of pictures of the mystery craft and showed them to the Doctor, who examined them with interest.

'Ah, accelerated ion drive tubes and gyronic stabilizer coils.'

'Then you do know this ship, Doctor?' Andez asked eagerly.

'No, is it yours?'

'Doctor!'

'But it is vaguely familiar. I think I've seen one like it somewhere, a long time ago...' He trailed off vaguely.

'Doctor, do you even know what part of the galaxy you're in?' Kambril asked, with barely concealed exasperation.

'No.'

'The Adelphine cl.u.s.ter? Does that sound familiar?'

'No. Is it nice there?'

Before Kambril could answer his communicator beeped for attention. He held it to his ear for a minute, frowned, then said, 'Yes, Academ Tarron, I understand. Well, you did your best.

We'll be along shortly. Yes, and our guest.' He glowered at the Doctor. 'He seems to be quite well enough to get up now.'

Cara turned from the intercom to survey the chamber once more. The initial examination of the mystery items had proved an embarra.s.sing failure, yet her feelings were mixed. The deductive challenge, so different from that of designing a new weapon system, had been enjoyable even if frustrating. There was an inherent pleasure in dealing with items from outside her carefully controlled world. Where had the stranger's pod come from, for instance? Another world beyond their understanding, perhaps.

Unfortunately the pod controls had also proved beyond their understanding. Though lights flashed and b.u.t.tons beeped softly when pressed, they could make no sense of their functions, which seemed to follow no logical pattern.

Hardened drill bits fused or shattered against its skin, and when they finally tried a portable laser to vaporize a sample a mirror force field briefly snapped on, after which the laser was abandoned and a technician left to have a minor burn on his arm tended. The copper bracelet had proved equally stubborn.

A high intensity portable scanner gave suspicious results, suggesting either it had an unheard of sub-atomic structure, or else the scanner was spectacularly malfunctioning. And then there was the hole in the wall insulation where the silver rod had been pointing when it had been inadvertently activated.

The shrill sound had also severely disrupted the coils of a test meter lying in its path, which was even now being dismantled by a technician. It was while their ears were still ringing that Tarron suggested calling the Director with the request that either he allowed the items to be taken to individual laboratories for examination under properly controlled conditions, or else they should seek the advice of the alien before they do any further damage. Her colleagues had agreed with surprising unanimity. Perhaps, brief as it had been, the challenge had provided a valuable lesson. Over the years they had become compartmentalized in their thinking, dealing only with Alliance or Union equipment. Yes, the Director had been correct: it was important to learn as much as possible about the alien's technology and of course, Cara thought, about the alien himself.

In fact Prander arrived before their guest. He exchanged pleasantries with the expectant group of scientists as he crossed over to Cara's side.

'What are you doing here, Neels?' Cara asked.

'Catching a first glimpse of our visitor for the official record, of course, Aunty Cara,' he replied lightly, flourishing his sketch pad. 'They wouldn't let me in to see him at the med centre until they'd checked he wasn't carrying anything infectious, so this is the first chance I've had.'

The thought of contamination had not occurred to her. The known worlds of the cl.u.s.ter had been free from that sort of problem for hundreds of years. 'He wasn't infectious, I suppose?'

'No. Unusually free of microbes and bugs and so forth, so I heard. Ah, here they come.' The door had opened to admit Kambril, Andez and the tall figure of the alien. Scout brought up the rear.

It was as though an untidy peac.o.c.k had entered the room, Cara thought afterwards. Compared to their lab coats, Kambril's conservative suit and Andez's dark blue uniform, the stranger's costume was a riot of unexpected line and colour. An outrageous soft broad-brimmed hat tilted back at a rakish angle, a long red jacket of a style she had only seen in history vids, a multicoloured scarf so long one end trailed on the floor and baggy trousers of a most curious texture. But dominating it all was his face. Though apparently quite human, it was a distinctive face, a new face which was alive with curiosity, eyes darting about to take in his surroundings.

How long was it since she had seen such a look? Taking in the group waiting for him he broke into a warm wide smile of delight and raised his hat in an odd gesture. Kambril opened his mouth to introduce him, but the stranger spoke first: 'h.e.l.lo, I'm the Doctor ah!' He pointed dramatically, jammed his hat back on his head, strode across the chamber and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the silver rod device with evident relief 'So there it is. I knew there was something missing.'

'What is it?' asked Farris, head of Structural Dynamics.

'Why, a sonic screwdriver, of course,' the Doctor replied, then blinked as though his words had surprised himself.

'And what is its function, exactly?'

'Oh, it can do lots of things,' he said casually. He noticed the technician standing beside the broken meter. 'Having a spot of bother? May I have a look?'

He bent over the open casing, long fingers deftly probing the internal mechanism. Then he adjusted the 'sonic screwdriver' and touched the emitter end to a coil. There was a rapid shrill sound. He adjusted the device again and it produced a deeper tone. He smiled in satisfaction, his hands seeming to blur as he rea.s.sembled the components, restored the connections and replaced the backplate. Four rapid whines and the locking screws had twisted themselves back into place.

He touched the test b.u.t.ton and the display lit up.

'There we are, as good as new. I'd say it had been exposed to a high intensity sonic field,' he p.r.o.nounced solemnly. 'You must be more careful with that sort of thing in future.' The speechless technician nodded and the Doctor beamed back benignly.

Kambril spoke up. 'Thank you, Doctor, a most interesting demonstration. Perhaps you can be equally illuminating about this.' He pointed to the escape pod.

The Doctor circled the tiny vessel cautiously, then bent down, took off his hat and peered inside. 'Did I really get here in this?' he asked, withdrawing his head.

'You did.'

'Can't remember a thing about it. It doesn't feel quite right.

And you say I was alone?'

'Well, we could hardly miss anybody else in there, could we?'

'No, I suppose not.'