By the time the Doctor returns, I have gotten enough of it out of my system to sit upright again. My eyes and throat are sore but I manage to hide most evidence of my breakdown. He still knows. Of course he knows. He spares as no glances, no words, just goes right back to the laptop.

It isn't long before Martha returns with a few plastic bags. "How'd it go?" I quietly ask.

She has also been crying but does well to hide it. Sniffing, she shrugs. "I don't think anyone saw me. Anything new?"

Jack heads over to help her with the bags, holding up his vortex manipulator for her to see. "I've got this tuned into the government wavelength so we can follow what Saxon's doing."

"Yeah, I meant about my family."

The Doctor looks up, accepting a parcel of chips "Still says the Jones family were taken in for questioning. Tell you what, though. No mention of Leo."

She grins. "He's not as daft as he looks." Then, shuddering, she slumps into a motheaten chair by the fire. "I'm talking about my brother on the run. How did this happen?"

"Nice chips," Jack praises.

I pick at mine, my appetite failing even more when the Doctor joins us. He tries one. "Actually, they're not bad."

Silence falls. Catching Jack's eye, Martha tilts her head in the Doctor's direction. He clears his throat. "So, Doctor... who is he? How come the Ancient Society of Time Lords created a psychopath?"

She nods, adding, "And what is he to you? Like, a colleague or..."

"A friend, at first."

"I thought you were gonna say he was your secret brother or something."

Pausing, he looks up from his dinner. "You've been watching too much TV."

Jack chuckles, tossing a chip into the air and catching it in his mouth. "You know, all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect."

"Well, perfect to look at, maybe. And it was. It was beautiful." With a long sigh, he kicks his feet up on the table. "They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems... and on the continent of Wild Endeavour, in the mountains of Solace and Solitude... there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords - the oldest and most mighty race in the universe - looking down on the galaxies below. Sworn never to interfere. Only to watch."

As hard as I try, my gaze is drawn to him, as if by some magnetism, like gravity. I can still see the planet clearly in my mind as he describes it.

"Children of Gallifrey, taken from their families at the age of eight, to enter the Academy. Some say that's where it all began, when he was a child. That's when the Master saw eternity. As a novice, he was taken for initiation. He stood in front of the Untempered Schism - it's a gap in the fabric of reality, through which could be seen the whole of the Vortex. You stand there. Eight years old. Staring at the raw power of time and space. Just a child. Some would be inspired, some would run away... and some would go mad."

I find myself playing with the ring again. Right, left, daring to remove it just for a second before it falls again. I stop at the feeling of him watching me.

He shrugs and settles back in his chair with a mutter, "Oh, I don't know."

"What about you?" Martha gently asks.

Tossing another chip into his mouth, he scoffs, "The ones that ran away! I never stopped."

A beep catches our attention. Jack offers an apologetic grimace and flips open his vortex manipulator. "Encrypted channel with files attached. Don't recognise it."

"Patch it through to the laptop."

He hesitates. "Um, since we're telling stories, there's something I haven't told you."

Unwilling to completely explain it himself, he opens up the laptop and lets the file speak for itself. A logo pops up on the dark screen - hexagons arranged in the shape of a 'T'. The Doctor crosses his arms, immediately disapproving. "You work for Torchwood?"

"I swear to you, it's different. It's changed. There's only half a dozen of us now-"

"Everything Torchwood did and you're a part of it?" he spits.

I roll my eyes. "Please. You didn't care when I said I'd joined, don't get all defensive now."

Jack gestures to the screen as he tries to reason with his anger, "The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf. I rebuilt it, I changed it... and when I did that, I did it for you. In your honour."

With one last glare, he seems satisfied and presses play. A woman appears on the screen, dressed smartly and in some sort of office. "If I haven't returned to my desk by 22.00, this file will be emailed to Torchwood - which means, if you're watching this, then I'm-" Tensing, she takes a deep breath and presses on. "Anyway, the Saxon files are attached. But take a look at the Archangel document. That's when it all started, when Harry Saxon became Minister in charge of launching the Archangel Network."

"What's the Archangel Network?"

Shrugging, Martha takes out her phone. "I've got Archangel. Everyone's got it."

Jack explains, "A mobile phone network, 'cause look-" he points to the image of a globe displayed on the screen "-it's gone worldwide. They've got fifteen satellites in orbit. Even the other networks, they're all carried by Archangel."

The Doctor snatches it up and scans it with his sonic. "It's in the phones! I said he was a hypnotist! Wait, wait, wait. Hold on." All of a sudden, the phone begins to beep. It's the same rhythm, four at a time. "There it is. That rhythm. It's everywhere. Ticking away in the subconscious."

I can feel it. Even as we speak, that noise digs its way under my skull, burrowing into my brain.

"What is it, mind control?"

"No, subtler than that. Any stronger and people would question it. But contained in that rhythm, in layers of code, 'Vote Saxon. Believe in me'. Whispering to the world." His eyes widen. "Oh! Yes! That's how he hid himself from me. 'Cause I should've sensed another Time Lord on Earth, but the signal cancelled him out."

We share anxious looks. "Any way you can stop it?" Jack asks.

"Not from down here. But now we know how he's doing it..."

"We can fight back!" Martha realises, anger still brewing in her voice.

"Oh, yes!"

Fixing a set of movable lenses over one side of his glasses, he sets to work. At his request, Martha and Jack hand over their keys. I can feel his gaze on me as I remove my necklace, letting the key slip off the chain and into his hand.

I can't help but watch in fascination as he fuses a tiny circuit onto each of them, tying new necklaces of string for them. "Three Tardis keys - three pieces of the Tardis - all with low-level perception properties, because the Tardis is designed to blend in," he elaborates. "Well, sort of. But now, the Archangel Network's got a second low-level signal. Weld the key to the network and... Martha, look at me. You can see me, yes?"

She awkwardly answers, "Yep."

"What about now?"

He puts the necklace on. The air around him seems to blur, the edges around him drawing my attention away. She seems to suffer the same thing, her eyes drifting. She blinks, trying to refocus, but shifts away again.

I am vaguely aware of him waving. "No, I'm here. Look at me."

"It's like..." she says, struggling for words, "I know you're there, but I don't want to know."

The necklace comes off and he reappears. "And back again! See? It just shifts your perception a tiny little bit. Doesn't make us invisible, just unnoticed. Oh, I know what it's like. It's like- It's like when you fancy someone and they don't even know you exist. That's what it's like. Come on!"

We follow him out of the warehouse, heading towards the shops. I anxiously fidget with the string and wait for the go-ahead to put it on. "Don't run," the Doctor reminds us. "Don't shout. Just keep your voice down. Draw attention to yourself and the spell is broken. Just keep to the shadows."

Jack nods. "Like ghosts."

"Yeah. That's what we are. Ghosts."

------

Our first destination is the private airstrip on the outskirts of London. We watch from the edge, silent, as the President's plane rolls in.

Saxon greets him with a cocky salute. Even the sight of him unnerves me.

He seems to have the same effect on the President. "Mr Saxon, the British Army will stand down. From now on, UNIT has control of this operation."

It doesn't surprise me. Havung learnt from my time with Torchwood, I am well aware of how UNIT takes primary jurisdiction over these cases.

Saxon scoffs, "You make it sound like an invasion."

"The First Contact Policy was decided by the Security Council in 1968 and you've just gone and ignored it."

"Well, you know what it's like - new job, all that paperwork. I think it's down the back of the settee. I had a quick look. I found a pen, a sweet, a bus ticket and, er- Have you met the wife?"

Lucy Saxon steps forward. Her saccharine smile is not enough to distract him. Still stiff and pompous as ever, he huffs impatiently. "I'm not sure what your game is, but there are provisions at the UN to have you removed from office unless you are very, very careful. Is that understood?"

He mimes a zip across his mouth.

"Are you taking this seriously?"

He nods animatedly.

"To business. We've accessed your files on these... Toclafane. But First Contact cannot take place on any sovereign soil. To that purpose, the Aircraft Carrier Valiant is en route. The rendezvous will take place there, at 8 A.M."

The President waits for a response. All he receives are incoherent mumbles behind sealed lips. His eyes narrow. "You're trying my patience, sir!"

The zip comes off. "So America is completely in charge?" Saxon repeats.

"Since Britain elected an ass, yes! See you on board the Valiant."

Before he can leave, the new Prime Minister calls out to him, "It still will be televised, though, won't it? Because I promised. And the whole world is watching."

I notice a slight air of triumph about him as he retorts, "Since it's too late to pull out, the world will be watching... me."

The security teams leave bit by bit. I hear one last snippet, a whispered remark to his wife - "The last President of America".

Finally, it's just him left, as the teams of UNIT soldiers march off to their vehicles. He turns. His eyes drift over where we stand but he shows no sign of noticing us.

With the wail of a siren, a police van stops on the airstrip. He laughs and runs over, waving and cheering. "Hi, guys!"

Martha's parents and sister are dragged out, fighting and shouting. Their wrists have been cuffed. She watches on, unable to help as they are forced into Saxon's car. "Oh my God."

"Don't move," the Doctor warns.

"But the-"

"Don't."

"I'm gonna kill him."

Jack's eyes narrow. He mutters, "What say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?"

I tilt my head to one side in approval "I second that."

"Now that sounds like Torchwood."

We both look over to the Doctor at his comment. "Still a good plan."

"He's a Time Lord, which makes him my responsibility. I'm not here to kill him. I'm here to save him."

Slowly raising his wrist, Jack starts to input the codes to his vortex manipulator. "Aircraft Carrier Valiant. That's a UNIT ship, at 58.2 North, 10.02 East."

Martha tears her gaze from the disappearing motorcade. "How do we get on board?"

"Does that thing work as a teleport?" the Doctor asks.

"Since you re-vamped it, yeah. Coordinates set."

Piling our hands on top of the device, the Doctor and I find ours touching. I hurriedly look away and wait for the light from the manipulator to engulf us, transporting us away.

------

My back hits a metal railing and I fall, hissing in pain. Landing next to me, Martha groans, "That thing is rough!"

Jack cricks his neck with a shout, "Oh, I've had worse nights!" We have landed in what looks like an engine room. "Welcome to the Valiant."

She frowns, following the light shining out of a porthole window. "It's dawn?" I look out beside her, seeing the airstrips below, and the expanse of clouds beyond that. "Hold on, I thought this was a ship. Where's the sea?"

"A ship for the twenty-first century. Protecting the skies of Planet Earth."

We run along the narrow corridors, the walls covered in thick pipes and fuse boxes. The Doctor pauses.

Stopping for him with an impatient sigh, Jack hisses, "We don't have time for sightseeing!"

"No, no, wait. Shh! Can't you hear it?"

"What?"

Martha looks around us anxiously. "Doctor, my family's on board."

He keeps a hand raised, commanding silence. "Brilliant. This way!"

There isn't much time for us to question it. Sprinting after him, we head down a flight of metal stairs and take a few turns, a set of doors flying open to reveal the Tardis. A grin breaks across my face. "I thought we'd lost her!"

"What's it doing on the Valiant?"

We ignore Jack's question and enter the ship. My smile vanishes

Red light washes over us. The console has been trapped behind a mesh fence. Tubing and cables tangle within, as if strangling her. "Oh my Gods."

"What the hell has he done?" Jack gasps.

"Don't touch it!"

"Not going to."

I stumble up the ramp to get a better view. I can hear her cries and wheezes. She's begging for help.

"But what's he done, though? Sounds like it's... sick."

The Doctor stares up at the barrier in horror. "It can't be. No, no, no, no. It can't be."

"Doctor, what is it?"

"He's cannibalised the Tardis."

Jack meets my terrified stare. "Is this what I think it is?"

"It's a Paradox Machine."

My hand tentatively rests against the wall separating her from us. He gently pulls me back. Anger boils in my blood. "How do we fix this? Doctor, what do we do? Because if the Master isn't made to pay for this, you'd better have a damn good alternative."

Whatever he sees in my eyes, he doesn't like it. He steps away, tapping the dial attached to the barrier. "Soon as this hits red, it activates. At this speed, it'll trigger at two minutes past eight."

Following his glance at the vortex manipulator, Jack notes, "First contact is at eight, then two minutes later..."

"What's it for? What does a Paradox Machine do?" Martha asks.

"More important, can you stop it?"

The Doctor stares off at the Tardis walls, looking for any glimmer of what she once was. It's all gone now. "Not till I know what it's doing. Touch the wrong bit, blow up the solar system."

She crouches beside him. "Then we've got to get to the Master."

"How we gonna stop him?"

"Oh, I've got a way." To our surprise, he grins. "Sorry, didn't I mention it?"

-

The President's address has already begun as we sneak onto the ship's bridge - a spacious board room with wooden panels on the walls and a large conference table at the centre. He stands on a raised platform, looking out over the gathered officials, security officers and journalists. My attention immediately shifts to where Saxon and his wife sit. Burning fury rises again but I suppress it with a clenching of my fists. We blend into the background, unnoticed.

"I stand before you today as an ambassador for humanity, a role I will undertake with the utmost solemnity. Perhaps our Toclafane cousins can offer us much, but what is important is not that we gain material benefits, but that we learn to see ourselves anew. For as long as man has looked to the stars, he has wondered what mysteries they hold. Now we know we are not alone."

Skirting around the edge of the room, Jack whispers, "This plan, you gonna tell us?"

The Doctor touches the key around his neck, nodding over to Saxon, who lounges in his seat at the table. For a second, the Time Lord's cold eyes flicker over to me but, once again, he shows no reaction or acknowledgement of our presence. "If I can get this around the Master's neck, cancel out his perception, they'll see him for real. It's just hard to go unnoticed when everyone is on red alert. If they stop me, you've got a key."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll get him."

We look to Martha. The quiet rage in her voice is something none of us has heard from her before. It's almost scary, seeing her so focused and out for revenge.

It's almost time.

"And I ask you now," the President continues obliviously, "I ask of the Human Race, to join with me in welcoming our friends. I give you the Toclafane."

The air above him fizzes, four metal orbs materialising from nothing. They float silently.

"My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President Elect of the United States of America and Designated Representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to the Planet Earth and its associated Moon."

An eerie voice replies. Like before, I hear the softness of it; the innocence. "You're not the Master."

Another chimes in, "We like the Mr Master."

"We don't like you."

Opportunity brightens his face. Attempting to remain casual, he replies, "I can be master, if you so wish." They circle him and the air hums, growing more and more agitated. "I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will."

"Man is stupid. Master is our friend."

I glance over to the Doctor as he edges closer, frustratingly slow in his attempts to not get caught. My patience wears thin. Whatever these creatures are, I have a horrible feeling that they are about to do something. Very soon.

"Where's my Master, pretty please?"

Sighing, Saxon gets to his feet. "Oh, all right then. It's me! Ta-da! Sorry, I have this effect, people just get obsessed! Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don't know! It's crazy!"

Winters can barely control his rage. His broad face tinges red. "Saxon, what are you talking about?"

He strikes a pose, arms crossed, feet planted. "I'm taking control, Uncle Sam, starting with you. Kill him."

Needlesharp blades appear from the base of the sphere closest to him. It aims a blast of energy. Winters disappears in a cloud of ash.

The room erupts into chaos as everyone runs for the edges, the doors already locked. In the panic, someone knocks into me and I lose my footing. I crawl under the table to avoid being spotted.

He laughs wildly. "Guards!"

More screams sound as they aim their guns at the small crowd. "Nobody move!"

Once a terrified quietness has fallen, Saxon jumps up onto the platform to address the news cameras. "Now then! Peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully."

The Doctor lunges at him but is dragged away by the guards. The key is torn from his neck. I have to bite back a panicked shout, desperate to remain hidden.

"We meet at last, Doctor." Another burst of laughter startles us. "I love saying that!"

"Stop this, stop it now!"

"As if a perception filter's gonna work on me." He forms an exaggerated pout, looking over to Jack and Martha. "And look, it's the girlie and the freak... although I'm not sure which one's which. And where's the girlfriend?"

There's no use staying hidden now. Taking advantage of the confusion, I rapidly jump out from under the table, snatching a gun from one of the guards and aiming a shot into the glass ceiling, commanding silence. "When you're done monologuing," I sneer, aiming it at him.

He raises his hands in mocking surrender, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "Ooh, I like her! She's got fire."

"Yes," I retort, "she has. And I know this thing won't kill you, but I'm