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Shuskin returned, having scouted their surroundings.

She gave Liz a look of sorry contempt before turning her attention to the rest of the group. 'I have surveyed the area.'

she said loudly. 'The base is two miles in that direction. We will leave immediately.'

'Just give Liz a few moments, will you?' asked Mike.

'Not possible.'

'Listen, Captain.' spat Yates. 'She needs to rest, OK?'

The Doctor got to his feet and walked over to the two UNIT officers, who seemed to be on the verge of exchanging blows. This was no time for a duel by handbags at ten paces.

'Will you two stop behaving like a pair of hurt children?'

snapped the Doctor. 'We're all working for the same outcome.

Hopefully.'

Shuskin seemed to accept the wisdom of the Doctor's intervention, and turned away. Mike stood his ground for several seconds, before he too backed down.

'That's better,' continued that Doctor. 'Liz should be all right to travel soon. I would suggest that as we approach the base our priority is to stick to what little cover there is.'

'Why?' asked Shuskin.

'Because I scanned our surroundings with this.' said the Doctor, holding up the portable radar. 'And it's picking up thousands of small signals!

'The Waro?' asked Mike.

'Precisely. They'll be drawn to the cobalt-60 like iron filings to a magnet. We've seen what carnage even a small number of Waro can cause, and I estimate this group is ten times as large as that in the Soviet Union.'

Shuskin's face visibly paled. 'Ten times...?'

'Maybe fifteen.' said the Doctor with a wry grin. 'The combined forced of the US Air Force and the CIA - even if they're using alien technology - might not be a match for the Waro. If our experiences so far have proved anything, it's that you can't attack small and numerous creatures like the Waro in jet fighter aircraft.'

'So, we're defenceless?' asked Mike, anxiously.

Before the Doctor could reply, Liz hobbled over to them, with the aid of Private Harrison. 'That's not like you, Doctor,'

she said. 'I'm sorry, my dear?'

'You've always got a plan.'

'Well.' said the Doctor, with quick smile. 'As it happens...'

The Brigadier had spent some minutes trying to converse with the aliens, but they remained impassive. He reasoned that if he could find a way to break into the cubicles, he could show the Nedenah that he meant no harm, and thus gain their trust. He was so engrossed in the electronic keypad to the side of the door that he didn't hear footfalls behind him until it was too late.

'Place your hands on your head!' Surprisingly, the man was English, and well-spoken, but the threat in his voice was clear. 'Now, turn around. Slowly.'

The Brigadier did as he was told, and gasped in surprise as he recognised the shorter of the two men who faced him.

'Professor Trainor,' said the Brigadier. He turned towards the man with the gun. 'I don't believe I've had the pleasure...?'

The taller man ignored the Brigadier's query, motioning to the side of the room with the automatic firearm. 'Stand over there. And shut up.'

The Brigadier, hands still on his head, walked to the wall, and watched as Trainor nervously approached the cubicles.

He was dirty and tired, having clearly come some distance through the desert. So, Trainor and the tall man were intruders in the base.

The professor's eyes lit up the moment he saw the aliens. 'Such beautiful creatures.' he enthused. 'Such intelligence, such grace of form and function. What are we going to do?'

'We kill them.'

The professor was shocked, and momentarily rendered incapable of speech.

'Don't look so surprised,' continued the tall man. 'We've made our allegiances. The enemy of my friend is my enemy, is that not true?'

'What are you talking about?' stammered Trainor.

'We must obey our orders.'

'Orders?'

'You don't understand, do you, Professor? These aren't the creatures your probe established contact with. You see, your staff were kind enough to make sure that all information about the creatures from Triton - the Waro - came to me first.

I do, after all, pay their wages.' He paused,