So what will be our heroes' next move? And is the Bogron's presence all it seems to be?

Without even looking up at her, the Doctor began flipping switches on the console until a large video screen in the corner came to life showing the exterior of the Tardis. He panned the image left and right, trying to ascertain whether or not we were surrounded. He needn’t have bothered as they soon could hear the pounding on the outside of the ship.

As the Bogrons struggled in vain to gain access to the inside of the Tardis, Simon asked, “Isn’t there something you can do? Shoot them or something?”

“Shoot them?” replied the Doctor incredulously. “That would go against everything I believe.”

“I thought you were here to save the Earth!” shouted Simon.

“Simon,” interrupted Cathy. “Calm down. We’re safe in here, so please just give him a chance to figure out what we’re going to do.”

“A-ha!” said the Doctor suddenly. He pulled a lever on the control panel and suddenly the pounding stopped.

“What did you just do?” asked Cathy.

“Indeed, do tell,” added Stella.

“A simple force field,” replied the Doctor smugly. “It repelled them and should keep them away for a bit.”

“So what’s next?” asked Cathy. As she asked it she realized that once again the Doctor was paying no attention to her at all. Frustrated, she turned to address Simon and Stella. “Do you have any idea what’s going on here?”

“None,” answered Stella. Simon simply shrugged.

“I don’t care at all for standing around here doing nothing. Any ideas?” asked Cathy.

Out of nowhere the Doctor said, “I knew there was something that didn’t seem quite right about all this.”

Returning her attention to the Doctor, Cathy asked, “What’s that?”

His air of certainty returned, he said, “There is no way Bogron technology could have brought them here now. When their planet was destroyed they did have simply space travel, but nowhere near advanced enough to have brought them this far in nine hundred years.”

He paused before adding, “Even if they came straight here.” He then returned to the control panel and started turning knobs while looking at a monitor screen.

“What now?” asked Stella.

“Just as I thought,” commented the Doctor. “No signs of craft on the surface or in orbit.”

Confused, Simon asked, “What does that mean?”

“It means, dear boy,” replied the Doctor. “That whatever means they used to arrive is currently cloaked.”

“So?” asked Stella.

Cathy responded, “If they’re trying that hard to hide something, they must have something up their sleeves.”

“Well stated,” beamed the Doctor. “I might need to keep you around for a while.”

“I don’t think so,” commented Simon.

“Quite right,” said the Doctor. “If you came with me, then who would save your little furry creatures?”

“But how do we find out what they’re hiding?” asked Stella.

“Cloaking systems invariably have weak points. Usually there is a cycle that dips for a nanosecond as it re-cycles. If I can scan during that period…” the Doctor let the thought trail off.

Completing it for him, Cathy said, “Then you can see what it is they’re hiding.”

“Exactly!” beamed the Doctor.

After a few moments of button pushing, lever pulling, and knob turning, the Doctor had set the Tardis scanners to continually search for anything out of the ordinary. It took three complete scans, but it did eventually find a point where there was a blip.

“There it is,” commented the Doctor. “Now all we need do is narrow the scan field and wait.”

“Will this really work?” asked Simon.

“Of course,” the Doctor replied indignantly.

Defensively Simon said, “Sorr-ee.”

Nearly an hour later, the scanner detected another blip. Having already narrowed down it’s location, the Doctor was able to see through the cloaking device. What he found did nothing to easy his concerns, “Oh dear,” he muttered.

“What’s wrong?” asked Cathy as she made her way to beside the Doctor.

“Just as I feared,” he commented, oblivious to the fact she had just asked him a question.

“What is it, Doctor?” Cathy implored. “Doctor?”

To Be Continued…