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Nick looked out from behind a large boulder on the other side of the river. He watched as Alf and the Vogans entered one of the tunnels and vanished from sight. He could not help but smile as realisation hit him. God, I love that woman! Once he was sure that no one else was in the cavern with him, Nick stepped out from behind the boulder. He looked down at his clothes. They were clean again. Torn still, but clean. And very wet. He momentarily thought about removing his t-shirt and ringing it dry, but decided against it. There really was no point, besides which he had to find the Doctor. Nick squelched his way across the riverbank to the nearest tunnel entrance. The Figure looked up at the cry of alarm that came from the clone. ‘I can’t lift it!’ The Figure left the console. The Doctor-clone was sweating as he looked down at his right arm. The arm was shaking as if it was under a great deal of pressure. The clone looked up at the Figure. ‘My arm, it won’t move!’ ‘Yes, the final stage,’ the Figure said gravely. ‘Your autonomic impulses are failing. The synapses in your brain are weakening.’ The Figure reached out to comfort the clone, but the Doctor-clone pulled away. His eyes were wide with fear and anger. ‘You did this to me, didn’t you?’ The Figure sighed. ‘Qux cloning technology is not as advanced as they like to think. Their technology cannot cope with Time Lord DNA.’ He stopped talking, noticing the look of confusion on the features that once belonged to the Doctor. ‘What is it?’ ‘You. What are you talking about?’ The Figure’s face fell. ‘Oh. You do not recognise me?’ The clone shook his head. ‘And you do not know who you are?’ ‘I do not know anything!’ the clone yelled, the anger and frustration poring out. ‘What the hell is this place? What’s going on?’ He banged his forehead with his large fist. ‘So many questions in here, and not one answer!’ ‘Stop this!’ the Figure snapped and took hold of the clone’s hands. ‘You must trust me. I can help you. Restore your memories; heal you. But you must trust me.’ The Doctor-clone’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why should I trust you? I don’t even know you.’ The Figure smiled. ‘Oh yes you do. We have known each other for centuries.’ Unseen by either the clone or the Figure, the doors to the Temple were opened slightly and a head poked through to see what the commotion was. The Vogan’s eyes widened in wonder at the sight of the Figure. ‘The Gods have returned,’ the Vogan whispered to himself, as his eyes darted from the Figure’s robes and high collar to the statue at the far end of the Temple. He smiled and withdrew from the hall as quietly as he had arrived. Alf looked up as the door opened. Two Vogan guards, both holding guns, stepped aside to let a smaller Vogan enter. Alf recognised the small Vogan as the one who had saved her back at the river cavern. The small Vogan exchanged a few words with the guards and they left the room looking distinctly unhappy about something. Alf smiled, certain she knew why. ‘You’ve got guts,’ she said to the small Vogan. Megrig smiled and spread his arms. ‘I do not know that expression, but I understand the meaning. You have no weapons on you, so what do I have to fear?’ ‘Nothing from me.’ ‘As I thought.’ Megrig shuffled closer. ‘Besides my curiosity always gets the better of me. The chance to view an alien is not something I have ever had. It is has been centuries since Voga has had visitors.’ He reached up for Alf’s forehead. ‘May I?’ Alf nodded and lowered her head. ‘Sure.’ Megrig ran the palm of his hand over her forehead. ‘So smooth yet quite strong. What race are you?’ he asked, as he pulled his hand away. ‘Human. From a planet called Earth.’ Alf was not surprised by the blank look on Megrig’s face. ‘Why did you kill Rymor and Stirum?’ The question was so abrupt that for a few seconds Alf did not know what the Vogan was talking about. Then she realised. ‘I didn’t mean to. I didn’t realise that your windpipes are so weak. If I had hit a human like that they would have had trouble breathing, but they would not have died.’ Alf looked away and sniffed back the tears that were beginning to form. Pull yourself together, this is no time for an emotional shower! She looked back at Megrig and said softly, ‘I am sorry, I did not mean to kill him.’ Megrig nodded. ‘Yes, I believe you. There is honesty in your eyes. But what about Rymor, did you mean to kill him? You did shoot off his hand with Stirum’s gun, after all. If not you, then that other human.’ ‘I didn’t even know that Rymor was dead until your fanatic told me by the river. I only coshed him with the butt of the gun.’ Megrig considered this. ‘Ignorance of Vogan physiognomy. I am not sure if the Elders will take that in to account. Murder is the most serious crime on Voga. But as I said, it has been centuries since an alien has set foot on Voga. We can only hope that the Elders are not subject to such prejudices. Although that hope is only small. Rymor and Stirum would not have killed you, even if they said they would. The Elders would have wanted to question you and the other human first. To find out if anyone else knows of our existence.’ ‘And then they would have had us killed?’ Megrig nodded. ‘Yes. I am the only Vogan I know who is interested in life beyond Voga.’ ‘Why do your people fear outsiders? Forgive my ignorance, but twice today Nick and me have almost been killed because we are outsiders. Why so xenophobic?’ ‘Because of Cybermen.’ Alf tensed at the mention of the silver giants. ‘You know of the Cybermen?’ Alf nodded. ‘Yeah, unfortunately.’ She smiled. ‘For them, that is.’ The little Vogan was about to ask something, but Alf wanted information off him first. ‘Tell me why the Cybermen have made you xenophobic.’ ‘Very well.’ Megrig walked over to a wall and placed his palm against it. Alf watched as a section of the wall opened and a stone bench slid out of the gap. She smiled, wishing she had known about that before. ‘Let us sit down and I shall tell you.’ They did so. ‘Centuries ago, in another far off part of the galaxy, Voga was a big power in the galaxy. Trading our gold with other planets. Gold is nothing special for us; we have it in abundance. And then the Cybermen invaded our system. Many worlds gathered together to fight back, but the Cybermen were too strong. Until we learned about their weakness. Gold! The Cyber war was going badly, but not for the people of our system. With gold we were winning. The Cybermen learned where the gold was coming from and they sent an armada of ships to Voga. Their attack was decisive. Voga was almost destroyed, but it survived. The planet was knocked out of its orbit and has since roamed the galaxy. We Vogans retreated underground and the Elders decided that we should never make contact with aliens again. If no one learns of our existence then the Cybermen cannot find out.’ Alf digested this and they both sat in silence for a while. Alf got up and walked over to the door. She looked back at Megrig. ’Look, let me go and I assure you no one will learn of your presence. The Galactic Federation has no need for another planet, and no need of gold. We beat the Cybermen ourselves without it.’ ‘There are Cybermen in this area of the galaxy?’ Alf raised her hands in an attempt to placate Megrig’s rising panic. ’Take it easy. The planet of the Cybermen, Nova Mondas, has been made uninhabitable. The Alliance destroyed the Cybermen fleet. They’re gone.’ Megrig stood up and shuffled across the small cave-like room. ’The Cybermen are a constant threat.’ He stopped by the door and looked up at Alf. There was no mistaking the sadness in his eyes. ’I’m sorry, human, but I cannot help you now. The Elders must know of the Cybermen threat.’ He banged on the door. ‘What? No, wait...’ The doors opened and Megrig rushed out. Alf made to follow him, but the guards turned on her. ‘Megrig, wait! You’re not listening...’ Together the guards threw Alf back into the room and slammed the door shut. Alf lifted herself off the floor and looked at the imposing door. ’Shit!’
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