"The equipment down here is phenomenal," the Zygon disguised as McGillop states as he roams about the shelves of alien technology. "The humans don't realize what half this stuff does. We could conquer their world in a day."
A full-fledged Zygon leans against a metal table sitting in an open area. "We were fortunate, then, in our choice of duplicate," it says.
"If I were human," says Zygon-McGillop, "I'd say it was Christmas."
"No, I'm afraid you wouldn't," Kate Lethbridge-Stewart growls, entering the room commandingly with Osgood right behind her. "We're not armed. You may relax."
"We are armed," the Zygon replies forcefully. "You may not."
Kate turns to her assistant. "Lock the door," she orders. "I'm afraid we can't be interrupted. You don't mind if I get comfortable?" she adds to the Zygon, sitting down at the metal table and crossing her legs. She has a frighteningly peaceful expression, as if she is daring the creature to confront her.
"You don't mind if I do?" the Zygon shoots back. It morphs into her lookalike and seats itself opposite her. Kate swallows hard.
"You'll realize there are protocols protecting this place," she informs the creature. "Osgood?"
"In the event of any alien incursion," the assistant spits out at once, "the contents of this room are deemed so dangerous, it will self-destruct in—"
"Five minutes," Kate finishes.
At the sound of her voice, an alarm begins blaring. The human copies start and glance around. Their apprehension is not well-hidden. A screen to the real Kate's right glows to life with a red-numbered countdown. It boldly tells them that there are four minutes and fifty-four seconds to go. "There's a nuclear warhead twenty feet beneath us," real Kate shoots out. "Are you sitting comfortably?"
"You would destroy London?" sneers her Zygon twin.
"To save the world, yes, I would."
"You're bluffing."
"You really think so?" Kate leans forward onto the table in front of her, arms crossed over each other and her jaw set. Her gray eyes gleam. "Somewhere in your memory is a man called Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. I am his daughter."
Her duplicate's eyes grow wide, and the copy sits back in its chair, seeming, for a moment, stunned.
"Science leads, Kate," a man's voice breathes from an intercom somewhere above them, and everyone in the room looks up at the ceiling. Kate knows the voice very well. "Is this what you meant? Is this what your father meant?"
"Doctor?" she asks of the disembodied speaker.
"Space-Time Telegraph, Kate," he answers sharply. "It was a gift from me to your father, a hotline straight to the TARDIS."
The sound of the machine suddenly fills the silence behind his voice, and Kate bristles, preparing for a fight.
YOU ARE READING
The Time of Change
FanfictionThere are some people who seem destined for greatness. There are others who seem stuck on the path of failure. For most of her life, Annalise Song felt as if she was the unhappy median between the two: bound to be nothing more than mediocre and soli...
