'Surprisingly well. When the Sontarans pulled out, the Earth colonists pulled out too just in case the Sontarans changed their minds and came back again!'

'So the Jekkari are happily back up their trees?'

'Oh yes. The forests are almost completely reestablished.

I'm not too sure about the jekkarta weed crop though.'

'Shame on you, Doctor. Don't you know that stuff's illegal?'

The Doctor turned to Lisa. 'Do forgive us, nothing worse than other people's reminiscences of places you've never been. It's your adventures I really want to know about. Please tell me.'

Lisa, although inclined to be suspicious of strangers on principle, found herself responding to the Doctor's charm.

Skilfully, he drew out of them the full story of the events on the Tiger Moth Tiger Moth's shakedown cruise.

'You're sure the Rutan was killed?' asked the Doctor.

Kurt shrugged. 'It was in the a.s.sault craft.'

'And so was the bomb,' said Lisa. 'I put it there.'

'And we both saw the a.s.sault craft go up,' concluded Kurt.

'Rutans can survive almost anywhere,' said the Doctor.

'Even in s.p.a.ce if they have to. But in a small craft in close proximity to a large bomb...'

'There'd have been other explosives on the ship as well,'

said Kurt. 'That ship went nova. Believe me, that Rutan got scattered all over deep s.p.a.ce.'

'It's a pity,' said the Doctor. 'A very great pity.'

'Come on, Doctor,' protested Roz. 'That thing was a killer.

It left a trail of corpses over a dozen planets.'

'It killed my engineer, Robar,' said Lisa. 'And most of my crew as well. How can you be sorry that it's dead?'

'I know,' said the Doctor. 'I know.' He looked around the group. 'Maybe it's time I told you all what this is about.'

'Don't mind us, Doctor,' said Roz sourly. 'We'll just go on dodging the blasters and collecting the corpses.'

The Doctor winced. 'I'm sorry, I know I've asked you to take a great deal on trust. It all begins with a Rutan spy, their greatest spy of all, operating behind Sontaran lines in Sontaran form. At that time he called himself Karne...'

There was a moment of silence when the Doctor finished his long and complicated story.

Then Kurt said, 'Let me see if I've got this straight. The Sontarans have learned some great Rutan secret a secret they could use to win the war. This Rutan spy, Karne, found that the Sontarans knew '

'That they were on the track of the secret at least,'

corrected the Doctor. 'But that's near enough.'

'The spy gets blown up in a battle with the Sontarans,'

continued Kurt. 'But somehow he survives.'

The Doctor nodded. 'Weak, wounded, and possibly partly amnesiac as well. But the memories revived, and he became obsessed with one overriding mission. To get back to his people and warn them that the great secret is in danger.'

'And where do you come into all this?'

'I was involved in that battle myself,' said the Doctor. 'It was a long time ago it almost seems like another life. But I didn't really become concerned until some time later, when I picked up some partial information from a damaged Sontaran computer system on Jekkar. Then I got a report from from my own people. They drop me little t.i.tbits of information from time to time when it suits them. They know I can never resist sticking my nose in.'

'You'll lose it one day,' said Roz.

Lisa was staring hard at the Doctor. 'Who are you?' she asked. ' What What are you?' are you?'

'Just a wandering scholar,' said the Doctor hurriedly.

'Anyway, my people informed me that Karne had survived, that he was on the move, and that the Sontarans were on his trail. So I thought I'd better get after him as well.'

Lisa frowned. 'I don't understand. You wanted to stop him?'

'Oh no,' said the Doctor. 'I wanted to make absolutely sure he survived to complete his mission.'

'Why?' said Lisa angrily. 'What does it matter if the Sontarans wipe out the Rutans? I'd say it was good riddance.'

The Doctor leaned forward, fixing her with his cool grey eyes. Lisa felt the full impact of his mind and his personality.

'It's hard to see past the death of a friend,' he said. 'Believe me, I know, I've lost too many friends myself. It always sounds cold and calculating to say look at the broad picture.'

The Doctor smiled ruefully. 'But look at the broad picture.'

'What broad picture?'

'You've seen something of the Sontarans and their methods by now. Did it ever occur to you to wonder why they're not better known? Why they've always been distant bogeymen, somewhere on the far fringes of the galaxy?'

'Rutans,' said Kurt.

'Exactly,' said the Doctor. 'They've been fighting a war with the Rutans for hundreds of years. It takes up all their energies and all their resources, and it's an utter deadlock, no one wins, no one loses. But what do you think will happen if the Sontarans do win? If they achieve a decisive victory?'

'They'll look round for someone else to fight,' said Kurt.

'It's all they know how to do.'

The Doctor nodded. 'Their whole society is one vast war machine. They won't turn it off, they don't know how. They don't even want to. Believe me, if the Rutans ever lose, we'll all be seeing a lot more of the Sontarans.' The Doctor stared into s.p.a.ce, as if seeing a galaxy swarming with Sontaran troopers. 'Where was I?' He nodded towards Roz and Chris.

'My two friends here had relevant experience, so I put them on Karne's trail. They nearly caught up with him too.'

'Nearly,' said Chris.

'He was planet-hopping,' said Roz. 'Killing to provide himself with resources and cover. We were right behind him on Alpha.'

'Then he smuggled himself onto your ship,' said Chris, giving Lisa his best smile. 'And you blew him up for us!'

'Sorry,' said Lisa, not sounding sorry at all. 'It seemed a good idea at the time.'

'I don't blame you in the least,' said the Doctor.

'Unfortunately it means I've failed.'

'Can't you warn the Rutans yourself?'

'I tried,' said the Doctor sadly. 'Unfortunately the Rutans are paranoid, they only talk to other Rutans. Well, they're all the same Rutan really they only talk to themselves. They'd believe Karne, but they won't listen to me.'

'What about Benny?' asked Roz.

'I was forgetting poor Benny,' said the Doctor guiltily.

'I'm getting confused again,' said Kurt. 'Who's Benny?'

'I have another colleague, an archaeologist called Bernice Summerfield. I sent her to Sentarion, the Library planet, to research the Rutan-Sontaran war and to see if she could get a line on the secret. I don't suppose she found anything out, it was more of a holiday for her really. When I get the TARDIS back we must go and pick her up.'

The thin, fair young man was called Rye, and he was a steward on the s.p.a.ce liner Hyperion Hyperion. He had an hour to kill before take-off time and he decided to go to Bay Seven and visit the solar yacht Tiger Moth Tiger Moth. Everyone was talking about Lisa Deranne's epic battle with the Sontarans, and it would make a good story to tell the pa.s.sengers.

Bay Seven was empty when he arrived. He studied the little ship for a moment, noticing the shattered solar sail, still projecting fin-like from the hull. Then he saw that the airlock door was open. The ship was being checked over, prior to eventual refitting and the workman had been careless.

Rye hesitated for a moment, but the temptation was too great. Actually to have been on board would make an even better story. He went up the ramp.

Excitedly he moved along the ship's dimly lit metal corridors, imagining the thrilling scenes that had taken place.

He made his way to the power room, the very place where the Rutan had been found lurking.

The faint glow from the power drive didn't alarm him, not at first. He simply a.s.sumed the drive had been left on.

Curiously he approached and a glowing sphere surged out of the power drive and engulfed him. He tried to scream, but it was far too late.

The sphere hovered about the body for a very long time, as if somehow unaccustomed to its grisly task. But the necessary dissection was completed at last, the information stored.

The sphere blurred, solidified and a pale-faced version of Rye appeared beside the body. Moving stiffly at first, the figure made its way along the corridors and out of the airlock.

Not long afterwards, the s.p.a.cedock technician returned from his break. He slipped as he entered the engine room, bruising himself against the machinery.

Then he saw what he'd slipped on, and started to scream.

The s.p.a.ceport security man came into the bar, looked round and spotted the party at the corner table. He handed Lisa a sealed message flimsy and stood waiting.

Lisa tore open the seal and read the message. Her face tightened. 'They've found a dead body in the power room of our ship. Apparently it was mutilated. Partially dissected.'

'Come on,' said Kurt. They jumped up and headed for the exit. It seemed quite natural for the Doctor and his friends to come with them.

In the power room, the appalled little group stood looking down at the blood-soaked body.

Roz knelt to examine it. After a moment she straightened up.

'Rutan work.'

'You're sure?' asked the security man.

'We've seen it before,' said Chris. 'Too often.'

'We've all seen it,' said Kurt.

'The Rutan's dead,' whispered Lisa. 'We both saw it die.'

The Doctor looked at the body, at the pale face and the lank blond hair. 'Do we know who he is?'

'Name's Rye,' said the security man. 'Steward on s.p.a.ce liner Hyperion Hyperion.'

'Where's the ship now?'

'En route for Sentarion. Only...'

'Only what? Speak up, man!'

'We contacted the ship.'

'And?'

'They said no one was missing from their crew.'