Part 6 (2/2)

Mike shrugged embarra.s.sedly. 'You said it.'

'Yes, well,' said the Doctor, nonplussed, 'when one matures, one irons out these little foibles.'

'Matures?' said Mike. 'But you look so much younger!'

'Appearances can be deceptive, you know.'

'My point exactly,' said Mike triumphantly.

The Doctor sighed. 'The thing about regeneration is that it's something of a lottery. But whatever I look like, I'm still fundamentally the same underneath. How can I convince you of that?'

Before Mike could reply, the Doctor's eyes widened. 'What date is it?' he asked.

Puzzled, Mike told him.

The Doctor gazed into the middle distance as if looking back through time. 'So you've not been back on active duty for long. You've been recovering from the events at Llanfairfach.'

Mike frowned. 'Go on.'

The Doctor snapped out of his semi-trance. 'How are you feeling now, Mike?'

'Fine.'

'No ill-effects?'

'No, I don't think so.'

The Doctor looked at him strangely, reached out and patted him on the forearm. 'You're a good man, Mike. I've always thought so.'

'Thanks, but I don't -'

Breathlessly the Doctor said, 'BOSS took you over. I brought you back with a blue crystal from Metebelis Three. I sent the crystal to Jo for a wedding present.' His hand dipped into his pocket and he produced a small card which he handed to Mike. 'My UNIT pa.s.s. Now I wouldn't let this fall into the wrong hands, would I? The Brigadier would have my guts for garters.'

Mike took the card and looked at it perfunctorily before handing it back. Smiling he said, 'All right, Doctor, let's say I believe you.'

The Doctor grinned. 'Splendid. Then we can get down to business.'

Mike ushered the Doctor in, then crossed to the bed and sat down. The Doctor wandered around the small room as if restless, hands in the pockets of his striped trousers. 'So what caused you to regenerate?' Mike asked.

The Doctor swung round from his contemplation of a rather poorly-executed print of a sailing yacht hanging above the dressing table. 'Hmm?'

Mike repeated his question.

'Ah,' said the Doctor, and crossed the room to sit in the armchair beneath the alcoved window. 'It's rather complicated. You see, since you last saw me I've regenerated twice. But that doesn't mean you've seen the last of the me that you know. I'm just popping in while I'm away, so to speak. The next me to arrive will be the old me with no knowledge of the new me - presuming that none of the other mes drop in in the meantime, of course.'

Mike looked at the Doctor deadpan for a moment, and then said, 'Thank you. That makes everything perfectly clear.'

His ironic tone seemed lost on the Doctor, who looked at him keenly. 'Tell me about the light that Mr Elkins saw.'

'You know about that?' said Mike.

'I've been doing some investigating.'

Mike pulled a dismissive face. 'Load of rubbish, if you ask me. The man's an old soak. Probably fell asleep and dreamt the whole thing.'

'Hmmm,' said the Doctor thoughtfully. 'You saw the bodies on the fis.h.i.+ng boat?'

'Yes.'

'I understand their injuries were rather severe?'

Mike raised his eyebrows. 'That's putting it mildly. Apart from one chap who looked as if he'd had half his throat torn out, there were only bits left behind.'

'Indeed,' said the Doctor thoughtfully. 'And what could cause that degree of damage, do you think? An aquatic mammal, perhaps ?'

'Well... I don't know. The police seem to think one of the men went berserk and killed the others.'

'Is that possible? Given the injuries you saw?'

Mike looked dubious, but paused before replying. 'Those men were torn apart, Doctor. Not cut or chopped. Torn. Torn. If one of the crew If one of the crew did did kill the others, he did it with his bare hands.' kill the others, he did it with his bare hands.'

'Interesting,' said the Doctor. 'In which case a much more likely supposition would be that the men were killed by whatever came out of the vessel that Mr Elkins saw land in the sea. Wouldn't you agree?'

Mike pulled a face. 'The thought had crossed my mind. But old Elkins seems such an unreliable witness I'm reluctant to involve the Brigadier until I've got more evidence. I don't want to haul half of UNIT up here only for them to find they're faced with nothing but an old drunk and a local squabble.

You know, first day back on the job and all that.'

The Doctor nodded his understanding and said slyly, 'Is it really necessary to involve UNIT at all? I've never been overkeen on the military marching about, upsetting everyone.

I'm sure if we put our heads together the two of us could sort this matter out without any fuss.'

'I'm sorry, Doctor,' said Mike, 'but I'm answerable to the Brigadier. I have to inform him about what's going on.'

For a moment the Doctor looked like a little boy who has been refused a packet of sweets. 'Well, if you must, you must,' he said. He thought of the alien mind he had briefly touched earlier that day, and sighed.

'Is something the matter?' asked Mike.

<script>