said Polly. 'They didn't want to lose you. De Sande told us that the Selyoids love us... perhaps he's right.'

'I guess,' Chate said, clutching his wounded chest, 'they've achieved their goal. Through me they lived again... and now they don't want to leave.'

'What do you mean?' asked the Doctor.

Polly decided to continue the explanation. 'Doctor, no one-else seems to have picked it up but there's something about the Selyoids... I keep getting visions, brief flashes of imagery, of the place where the Selyoids originate from.'

'Another planet?' suggested the Doctor.

Polly nodded. 'I think so. A planet where the Selyoids were Magnificent beings of solid light, but beings that were too big for one planet, it seems.'

The Doctor nodded. 'Go on.'

'Once they arrived on Earth,' Polly continued, 'they realised that all they needed was to be found by a suitable life form. A life form that would bond with them and find a way to restore their race to its natural form. Someone like De Sande.'

'But why Earth?' the Doctor asked.

Polly shook her head. 'The Selyoids are beings of solid light and fire. They're living stars and humanity is obsessed with the stars. The Selyoids work with a life form, changing them, bringing joy to their lives. With our media, with our capacity to dream... where better to rebuild their civilisation than on Earth?'

'But this isn't their planet,' the Doctor insisted. 'This isn't their time. They should be living their own lives rather than just being an audience to ours.'

'Do you think the Selyoids like being trapped in film chemical?' Polly asked. 'Or in jars of liquid or human blood like some primordial soup? They want to return to their natural form, they want to regain the status their race once held.

Through humanity they've found a way to do that. It will take a long time, many years and more resources than any one person could possibly hope to provide, but with the Selyoids living within some humans as a temporary measure and the rest of humanity devoting their lives to helping to restore them. . With our help they'll live again, live in their natural form, without needing projectors or lenses or any more human help. They'll live again, on Earth.'

'No,' the Doctor said gravely. 'Humanity has a better destiny than to become the servants of the Selyoids. This is not their planet. Tell them that, Polly. Tell the creatures inside you. This is not their planet. This is your your planet.' planet.'

'No,' Polly said. 'Everyone loves the Selyoids. Great things will come from them. It's the next stage in the world's existence.' She gestured to the crowds of people down below.

'Just ask any of them. All of them will gladly give their lives to the Selyoids. Not because they've been brainwashed, not because they'll be killed if they don't, but because they love the Selyoids, because they feel a happiness they never felt before.'

'But only because of the Selyoid propaganda,' the Doctor said desperately. 'The Selyoids know exactly what to say to win people's hearts and minds, exactly what to expose the humans to. They might as well be brainwashing them. At the end of the day humanity is still being manipulated. They're selling the Hollywood dream, but in reality it's nothing but a nightmare.'

'But you don't understand, Doctor,' Polly said. 'It's survival of the fittest. Every day thousands of people in this city spend money on things they don't need. Why? Because the media tells them to. They may be convinced they need things they don't, but they still only buy them because they want them. That's exactly what the Selyoids are doing. They have an idea to sell, and they use every way in their power to sell it. Is that so wrong?'

'But isn't there another way?' asked the Doctor.

'No,' Polly told him. 'De Sande's already poured millions into his research. His scientists thought they'd succeeded, thought they'd found a way to give the Selyoids life without projectors or screens or humans, but the prototypae went disastrously wrong. It took on the literal form of the demon creature it had been displaying in the film, a terrifying demon that lacked all remembrance of its true self. But more disturbing than that, in the transition to a solid form the Selyoid lost all its intelligence, all its memories, all its spirit. It was a living nightmare, and for the Selyoid a living hell.'

'This prototype. Was that the thing that attacked us at the premiere?'

Polly nodded. 'Barely capable of being anything else than a servant itself, and incapable of having any physical presence or power in bright light. The Selyoids would rather die than live such a pathetic existence.'

'Or at least,' the Doctor said, 'would rather enslave humanity.'

'They'd rather persuade humanity to aid them in their quest.

They need all our resources, all our wealth... anything we can do to push their research forward, to find a way for them to be revitalised that won't destroy their minds. They need our help, Doctor. Can't you see that? They deserve our help.'

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

'What the hell happened here?' Ben asked as he and Fletcher reached the high outcrop where the Doctor, Polly and Chate stood beside what looked like an abandoned police car.

'Captain Wallis,' the Doctor said, pointing at the ravine, 'had an unfortunate accident.'

'My God,' Fletcher said. 'We've lost a lot of good people today.'

'And we can't lose any more,' the Doctor said. 'I have to find De Sande. He's the only one that can stop this.' He turned to Polly. 'Where is he? Where can I find him?'

Polly looked as if she was scouring her mind for the information. 'I think... I think he's still in the marquee.'

The Doctor rubbed his hands together. 'Come on, then.' He pointed at Fletcher. 'Detective, I want you and Ben to come with me. Polly, you stay here.' He gestured to Wallis's car.

'You'll be safe and warm inside that. I'll come and find you shortly.'

'I don't think so, Doctor,' Polly said indignantly. 'I'm coming with you.'

'Polly,' the Doctor urged, 'you have to understand. You're still vulnerable, still very susceptible to the Selyoid influence. If you come too close to the nexus of things, come too close to De Sande... I fear they'll be able to fully reassert their control over you. Please stay here. It's for your own safety.'

Polly looked as if she was about to argue, then shook her head and got into the car. 'Don't be long, Doctor,' she said.

'Just stay there, please.' The Doctor glanced up at Chate.

'You'll look after her?'

Chate nodded. 'If she looks after me.'

'Maybe I should stay with Polly?' Fletcher suggested.

'Oh no,' the Doctor said vehemently. 'I need you to come with me. I doubt we can win the day without your help.'

The detective smiled, surprised at the Doctor's confidence in him.

Since the dramatic Selyoid show of power had begun, the queue for the marquee had dissipated. Everyone was far more concerned with watching the spectacle being projected in the skies above Hollywood. Now, while the fighting had stopped, the film reels continued to play out and the Selyoids continued to feed their propaganda to the masses.

This distraction meant it was easy for the Doctor, Ben and Fletcher to slip inside the marquee. They hid behind a canvas partition and stared at the scene inside. A large congregation still sat listening to the celebrities but the crowd had dwindled, sensing that the real excitement was happening outside. The queue to take the Selyoid communion was still long, however, and De Sande's corpses continued to feed people with the glowing substance.

De Sande stood gleefully on the celebrity podium observing proceedings like a marshal preparing his troops. A small group of corpses stood close to him like bodyguards. Their hoods were pushed back, exposing their rotting flesh for all to see. It was as if De Sande had decided that the macabre sight would serve as yet another reminder to the humans that the Selyoids were more powerful than they were.

'What are those things?' Fletcher asked, pointing to the corpses.

'Temporary Selyoid hosts,' the Doctor explained. 'In humans the Selyoids can live again, can slowly change a human body to a form more suitable for accommodating them. They can't do that with dead cells, but can still use the bodies as vehicles to move around in, to see the world through. I imagine they're the ones controlling the other Selyoids.' He pointed to one particular corpse that was wearing a blue robe rather than a brown one. 'You see that one in blue? It seems to stay unusually close to De Sande. I think it's the one that controls the others.

That's the leader, if you like. That thing oversees the Selyoid side of things, while De Sande oversees the human side. That corpse filters down orders to the other bodies, who instruct the rest of the Selyoids about how to act.'

'But why do they need to use living humans at all?' Ben asked.

'Probably because sharing in human life means everything to the Selyoids,' the Doctor suggested. 'The creatures in the dead bodies are the ones who don't want to take the risk of melding with a human who could reject them, and who are prepared to make the sacrifice of not merging with a living human. If we stop those monsters, the Selyoids' control over the humans should diminish.'

'But it's not control, is it?' Fletcher said. 'You saw how happy everyone is. How successful they are. Why shouldn't we all help the Selyoids? Why shouldn't we join with them?'

'Because it's not meant to be,' the Doctor said. 'It's wrong.

Humanity is not a race of slaves.'

'Didn't you see that film out there?' Fletcher asked. 'Didn't you listen to anything Polly said? The Selyoids aren't making anyone slaves. In fact, they're freeing us from everything that makes our lives so goddamn pointless in the first place.'

'He's right, Doctor,' Ben said. 'The Selyoids are only trying to help.'

'No, Ben,' the Doctor said. 'Remember what I told you. See things logically. You don't want them, you don't want to be a part of them.'

Fletcher looked at the Doctor. 'When I was out there,' he said, gesturing away from the marquee, 'when I was out fighting and defending myself and in the middle of a whole damn sea of movies come to life, I felt the Selyoids calling to me. Felt them telling me that they were part of my future. That with them I could make the kind of difference I never could with the goddamn LAPD. They want me to be one of their Chosen, one of those Joes who gets to live with our new friends living and breathing inside of them, being part of them.'

'No,' the Doctor said. 'You don't want that. You don't want what they'll give you. They'll change you, alter you. You'll be mobbed, you'll be attacked. You'll feel like you're a star, but it will all be surface detail. You'll still be the same person, but you'll be trapped, muffled by a creature that will come to control your every action. The change might appear beneficial, but that's only on the surface. When you realise what it will do to you, how they'll corrupt you, how they'll change you. . No, it's something you definitely don't want.'

'Who gives a damn? I'd be important. .' Fletcher's eyes were glowing with passion. 'I'd be somebody. For the first time in my life I'd be somebody.'

The Doctor nodded. 'But not through your own doing. Not through your own achievements. You'd just be using the efforts of others and taking all the glory yourself.'

'Doctor,' Fletcher argued, 'it doesn't matter how I become famous. This is the city of casting couches, of corruption, of blackmail, scandal and vice. No one gets to the top unaided, but all I know is I deserve to get there. I was born to reach the top.'

The Doctor waved his hands. 'I don't have time to argue with you. Let's go and see Mr De Sande. I'll do the talking!' He looked up at Ben and pointed to Fletcher. 'Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.'

Ben nodded, and the three of them marched through the centre of the marquee, up to the podium where De Sande and his corpses were standing and watching over the creation of their new world.

'Doctor!' De Sande said angrily as he saw the intruders approach. 'What the hell are you doing here?'

'Stop this nightmare now, De Sande,' the Doctor urged.

'People are dying out there!'

'But the Selyoids are living!' De Sande said gleefully. 'Soon they will all be housed in temporary hosts, and after that the rest of the population will devote their lives to finding a way to restore them to their true destiny. And as they do so I will lead them, as the most important, most respected, most loved person on this entire planet.'

The Doctor walked up to him. 'Stop this now!' he said forcefully.

As he got close to De Sande the corpses swarmed around him, stopping him front getting too close.

'You haven't seen what it's like yet,' the director said. He pointed to a table where a row of vials containing the Selyoid essence were sitting, waiting for willing humans to drink their contents. 'You haven't felt the joy, felt the pleasure, of being one of us... of being a star,'

Watching the fire in De Sandes eyes, Ben felt a strong desire to join him. He tried to remember everything the Doctor had said, tried to block the Selyoid attraction out, but it was incredibly difficult. This was pure happiness, pure perfection.

But it was wrong. Ben knew that, and he had to fight it. He had to fight the signals, light the messages the Selyoids were bombarding him with. He had to tell himself it was just propaganda. That nothing is as good as the movies make it appear to be.

He looked over to Fletcher and saw desperation burning in the cop's eyes. The poor guy hadn't even seen Dying in the Sun Dying in the Sun, but he had witnessed the spectacle projected outside the marquee a series of images impressive enough to convince the public of the Selyoids power as easily as the film could. Fletcher had been reasonably quiet since the fighting calmed, and Ben was starting to realise why. He'd seen something in the projections, felt a connection with the messages the Selyoids were sending out. An empathy.

Ben's train of thought was shattered as he saw Fletcher leap across towards the corpses.

'Oi!' Ben shouted, running after him.

He grabbed Fletcher and tried to pull him back, but the cop turned round and launched a heavy punch into his jaw that sent him crashing down to the ground. Ben saw Fletcher reach into his jacket and pull out the letter opener.

The detective grabbed the blue-robed corpse's face and slammed the letter opener into its decomposing skull.

'Stop him!' De Sande shrieked. The other corpses began to move in on Fletcher, who kicked and punched them away. The crowd surrounding the fight looked on in confusion, unsure whether to get involved, and so staying on the sidelines just to be on the safe side.

The corpse Fletcher had grabbed wriggled in his grasp, but the cop was too strong and it couldn't escape. He shoved the letter opener deeper into its skull and wrenched it apart as if it was a boiled egg. There was a flash of light and the Selyoid essence, golden ooze mixed with congealed blood, began to spill out of the shattered skull.

The other corpses shrieked and continued their attack, but half of them were little more than skeletons, rotting flesh falling off their bones as they moved, and they were unable to stop Fletcher who kicked them away like scavenging rats. He was far more interested in concentrating on the task ahead of him.

A wide smile crossed his face and he scooped the Selyoid essence out of the corpse's skull with his hands. He shovelled it in to his mouth and drank it, pools of glowing liquid spilling through his fingers. Ben had never seen anyone look so thirsty.

'Fletcher!' the Doctor shouted. 'Stop this now!'

Fletcher looked up and smiled, blobs of the liquid dribbling down his chin. He put his hands up and the corpse from which he'd stolen the Selyoids fell to the ground.

'I'm not Fletcher any more,' he said, his voice croaking. 'I'm one with the Selyoids. And I control hundreds of people!'

'You don't control them,' De Sande said angrily. 'You just direct them. Don't you understand? Why do you think the Selyoid leaders use dead bodies as their hosts? There's too much interference inside a living mind, too many other variables to worry about. They use dead people because that way the Selyoids can be in total control, and are free to communicate with any living person who shares in the Selyoid experience. You can't control them if you're alive, so give it up!'