His squadron was on a routine training mission when
his fighter caught fire. He was ordered to bail out, but refused. He
was over a populated area. By the time he got the plane over the
channel he was too low, and ditched her. He blew the canopy but must've
got caught in the harness or something, 'cause he went down with the
plane. He came back to the surface and some fisherman picked him up.
But he was pretty badly burned, and suffered brain damage from oxygen
starvation. His body disappeared only minutes after he died. Apparently
someone is impersonating him. His credit card was used last night at a
hotel here in London. But there's been no trace of him since! We don't
know if the incidents are related, but we thought you'd be interested."
Jo, who had been staring passed the Doctor at the man working at the counter, cleared her throat.
"Quite right, Jo," the man announced, "I am the same Capt. Oliver!
Doctor, I would appreciate it if you would use your influence to have
the Captain assigned temporarily to UNIT and to hush up the
circumstances of him leaving the hospital?"
The Brigadier, for the first time, noticed the stranger, stared at him for a moment, then stared at the Doctor.
"If you would, Brigadier?" the Doctor commented.
The Brigadier walked over, opened the file, stared at the picture, then
back at the officer. "Quite!" he said. "I hope, Doctor, I may have an
explanation later? If you feel it is important, however, I think it can
be arranged."
The Brigadier cleared his throat. "May I ask, sir, if you are really Capt. Oliver?"
"Yes and no," Oliver answered. "All of Capt. Oliver is here, but all of
someone else, also. Oliver, at the moment is perfectly capable of
functioning for himself. But to exist and function in this realm of
existence, in this dimension, the other must have a willing host.
Oliver has so volunteered to be my host. It would be the best, as far
as everyone else is concerned, that he is simply here to assist the
Doctor in some experiment, that may lead to better performance in your
fighter aircraft. In exchange for cooperation I will leave a small bit
of technical information in Oliver's mind that will provide such an
improvement."
"I see!" the Brigadier commented. "I'll get right on it. I'll have you a pass in a short time."
"No need," Oliver answered. "I already have one."
The Brigadier shook his head and hurried out the door. As soon as he
left Jo burst out laughing, and the Doctor, too, cracked a smile.
"A rather bewildered gentleman!" Oliver commented, "but quite efficient
in his own way. Your force field generator is fixed, Doctor. The
polarity of one of the coils was reversed. The sensors detected this,
and simply shut it off every time power was applied. It will function
perfectly, now."
The Doctor walked over. "Dimensions," he stammered, "dimensions! You
spoke of dimensions. There was only one time that I entered into
another dimension when Jamie and Zoe were with me. What brings you
hither, Lord Of Light?"
"I am pursing a criminal, Doctor, an outlaw. You met one of his kind
during our last encounter. They are a dime a dozen. Every level of
existence seems to have its share of them. Their goal is to rule all,
to have everything else subservient to them. The one I am pursuing is
called The Master."
"The Master?" Jo cried, giving the Doctor a startled look.
"It is not unlikely, Jo," the Doctor explained, "that a parallel
dimension would have a parallel evil to our own. Where The Lord Of
Light comes from, there is no time travel. His kind are roughly The
Time Lords of his dimension. It is quite possible that they not only
have their Master, but something equivalent to the Daleks and the
Cybermen. But that is unimportant. I take it your Master has developed
a machine to bridge the dimensions."
"Some time ago," The Lord Of Light explained, "he experimented with
sending some animals through, then went on to send some of his
subordinates. He built a second machine with materials from this
dimension to make sure he could return to his own dimension at will.
You see, the equipment is not transportable from one dimension to
another. He was just about to begin his operation here, when my
colleagues and I came upon him in his laboratory. During the ensuing
battle, he was mortally wounded. His physical form perished, but his
essence escaped through the portal the machine had opened. My physical
form perished moments later, and I followed. A few minutes afterwards,
his equipment blew up, sealing both in this dimension. neither of us
could survive long without a host, so each of us sought one that
matched our essence. The rest you know."
"I doubt if your Master would come here," commented the Doctor,
"without some diabolical plan in mind. Any idea what he's up to?"
"I know EXACTLY what he's up to!" The Lord Of Light answered. "He
learned from the demon I wounded on your vessel about this parallel
dimension, and that time travel was possible here. He spent the last
350,000 years developing the theory and machinery necessary to
transgress the barriers. His purpose is to acquire a time machine here,
go back into the past, reemerge in OUR dimension, and cause a battle
that he lost there, to be won, therefore altering the course of
history, and seeing to it that The Empire he created continues to
flourish. We cannot allow that to happen!"
"But how could he change history?" Jo asked.
"The forces of good," explained The Lord Of Light, "won the battle by
massing their forces and attacking the Lords of Darkness, one place at
a time. Though they were outnumbered three to one, by attacking the
three strong points, one after another, they were able to destroy The
Empire. If The Empire became aware, however, where and
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