Part 2 (1/2)

'Yes, yes, of course you do. I'm sorry, Bob '

'My name's Ben!'

'Ben! Yes, of course!' The stranger banged the side of his head quite hard. 'Still, I got the first letter right, didn't I?' He smiled happily at Ben. 'Yes, this must be a bit confusing for you'

'A bit?' Ben was taken aback by the remark. 'Blimey, you don't exaggerate, do you?'

The little man turned to look up at Polly. His eyes sparkled and a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. He suddenly jabbed a finger towards her and she jumped back.

'Keep away!' she cried.

Frowning, the stranger folded his finger swiftly back into his palm. 'I don't look as bad as all that, do I...' He concentrated. 'Polly? Yes, Polly!' He clapped his hands and laughed in childish glee. 'It's beginning to work again!'

'What is?' Polly asked, obviously interested despite her fears.

He didn't answer her directly. Instead he gripped the bridge of his nose between a finger and thumb and shook his head slightly. Then he tapped his temple. 'Just like a whirling roundabout in here, you know.' He gave her a knowing look. 'Very painful.'

Ben had had quite enough of this clown. He glared down at him. 'What have you done to the Doctor?' he demanded.

The stranger drew himself up to his full height, staring Ben right in the chin. 'I am am the Doctor,' he announced. the Doctor,' he announced.

3.

I Think We'll Make Some Changes 'No, you're not!' Ben snapped back.

The infuriating little man just c.o.c.ked his head to one side and raised his right eyebrow slight. 'Because I look different?'

'You're completely different,' Polly told him.

'I a.s.sure you ' he began, but Ben cut him off.

'You can make all the a.s.surances you like, mate, but you're not the Doctor.'

Biting his lower lip, the stranger turned his brown eyes from one to the other. He seemed to have suddenly realized that they didn't trust him. 'I see,' he said quietly. 'Two against one, is it?'

Polly opened her clenched fist. In her palm lay the ring she had picked up from under the console. 'The Doctor always wore this,' she said, challenging him.

Ben grabbed the other man's hand and held it up.

Hesitantly, Polly slipped the ring on to the man's finger. It was far too large for him. Ben gave a triumphant grin.

'That settles it, doesn't it?'

Pulling his hand free of Ben's grip, the little man sniffed loudly. 'I'd like to see a b.u.t.terfly fit back into a chrysalis case after it spreads its wings.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Ben demanded belligerently.

'It means that life depends on change and renewal.' He stretched up high, then bent to touch his toes before straightening up and smiling again. 'I have just been renewed.'

Polly slipped the Doctor's ring into her pocket, staring at the man with wonder. 'Then you did change!' she exclaimed.

Darting a filthy look at Polly for going over to the enemy side, Ben refused to surrender his suspicions so easily. 'Must be very useful,' he said sarcastically, 'this renewal business.'

Refusing to back down, Polly jumped to defend the person she was now almost certain was the Doctor. 'It sounds like fun.'

That was the wrong thing to say. The maybe-Doctor turned on her angrily. 'It can be agonizing!' he snapped.

'No one would ever submit to a process like that voluntarily!'

Even Ben was taken aback by the ferocity in his voice.

'But you said...' he started to break in weakly.

'I fought it!' The little man came down from his angry pinnacle almost to sorrow. 'I couldn't stop myself.' He shook his head. 'But I couldn't resist. It is a part of the TARDIS. Without it I could not survive. It is over seven hundred and fifty years since I left my home planet.'

Polly touched his arm gently, as if trying to soothe his pain. 'Then it hasn't happened to you before?' she asked.

The maybe-Doctor looked up at her. 'May I have my ring back?' he asked abruptly, holding out his hand.

Polly flushed, as if she'd been accused of stealing it.

Pulling it from her pocket, she handed it over. The little man took it from her and crossed to another of the many trunks in the room. He threw the lid open to reveal a glittering array of jewellery. Polly let out an astonished gasp, and Ben couldn't blame her. Neither of them had had any idea that the Doctor possessed such a stock.

The stranger smiled knowingly at them, and Ben was a little shaken. If this man wasn't the Doctor, how had he gone straight to this trunk? His doubts were not helped by what the little man said next.

Holding up an ornamental dagger inlaid with precious stones, he commented: 'A gift from Saladin, during the Crusades. The Doctor was a great collector, wasn't he?'

'But you're you're the Doctor,' Polly protested. 'Aren't you?' the Doctor,' Polly protested. 'Aren't you?'

'Am I?' He stared at both of them.

Ben didn't like the way that the odd man had referred to the Doctor using the past tense. As if he were dead. An awful suspicion slipped into his mind: he'd been a.s.suming that the Doctor had been kidnapped and replaced by this foe. But what if this man had killed the Doctor and taken his place? Then what? Would he try and eliminate them next?

Turning back to the chest, the newcomer held up a large earring. 'I used to wear this at one time. Very fas.h.i.+onable once...' He replaced it and then held up a thick bracelet that looked as if it were solid gold. There were odd pictures on it that Ben couldn't quite make out. Putting it back, he gave them a cheery smile. 'I really must dip into my collection more often' He was like a child playing with new toys. With an excited gasp, he pulled out a jade brooch. 'A memory of a visit to the Aztecs,' he told them. 'It was given to me by Cameca, a most extraordinary woman.' He sighed.

The next item he picked up was a dull triangle of metal. It looked worthless to Ben, but it clearly meant a lot to this odd figure. 'My granddaughter Susan gave me this,' he told them. 'We were on Skaro, fighting the Daleks. She picked this up on one visit to their control room.' He dropped the piece back and slammed the lid.