Three: The TARDIS, somewhere in time

[Colonel Blood]

The Doctor gives Sarah Jane a big, almost maniacal, grin and a big hug. "Ee' gads! It's good to see you again." He straightens up, his hands still on her arms, and gives her an ernest look. "But there are no more TARDIS. Apart from the one."

He turns to face the Collector, forming a 'board of enquiry' look alongside Sarah Jane. "Yes, how did you know about this diamond? And what's this about aTARDIS?"

[GarrettPLC]

Flabbergasted, the Collector pointed accusingly at Sarah Jane.

"Look, she mentioned the TARDIS, not me! I've no idea who this Master is! And I wasn't after the diamond, I was just investigating readings of advanced technology where they shouldn't be! I was in the airport when my Transponder picked up something on or about your person, Miss Smith, and I figured I could find something valuable in India, so I decided to investigate." He crossed his arms. "I'm just a bystander in the whole scenario, though now that I know it's the Koh-i-Noor I feel much more curious than I was before."

[Sarah Jane]

Irrationally cheered by the hug, Sarah Jane refused to be deterred by the Collector’s apparent outrage.

“I’m thinking that selective amnesia is an awfully convenient affliction for a thief� she mused. “On the plane you used the phrase ‘I'm here on good authority’. Whose authority was that then?�

[GarrettPLC]

"Well, uh---" the Collector turns slightly red--- "That was what might be known colloquially as 'colouring the truth'---I was mainly curious as to why someone from 21st century Earth would have something that detected as advanced technology."

[Sarah Jane]

“It might� she replied drily. “But I doubt your seat assignment happened by chance. You really have no idea who set you onto that flight to India?�

Sarah Jane leaned back against the railing next to the Doctor, leaned slightly into him if truth be told, and closed her eyes to think through events.

“One mysterious murderer Master X. One lost or missing K9. Sounds of an impossible Tardis dematerialising. One Koh-I-Noor which probably isn’t a lump of carbon. Two mentions of something called Torchwood. One of UNIT. A stray dupe with amnesia. And something or someone killing off your old assistants, Doctor.

“This was designed to get your attention I think.�

[Colonel Blood]

"Well they've succeeded," says the Doctor, pulling out a very cool pair of glasses and putting them on his face. He strikes a serious pose. "Whoever it is has already got to Mel, Turlough, Teegan and K9-1. Jamie McCrimmon died in my arms at Bannockburn, but it wasn't a redcoat that got him with a monomolecular Tulwar, I'll tell you that for nothing. And now they've come after you too. Well it's going to stop."

He turns and inputs more data into the TARDIS which starts to make a rather worrying humming noise.

[Sarah Jane]

“And Liz Shaw, Jo Grant, Harry Sullivan…. I hope Rose is safe, wherever you left her. And that nice young man Ricky, or Nicky?�

Sarah Jane straightened up too, struck with a sudden nasty thought. “You don’t suppose someone has planted another piece of alien technology on me do you? Something intended to get here, to you?�

She whirled round and grabbed hold of the Collector, who was trying to edge away to some dim, overlooked corner.

“Scan me again!�

[GarrettPLC]

Mulling over the extremely strange coincidence of all three time travelers ending up in the same row of seats (of course, he and this 'Master' seemed to have both been following the same thing, though the other with more reason), the Collector was surprised by the sudden order. Groping through pockets, he fumbled out his Transponder and flicked it on, narrowing the scan-field to Sarah Jane for maximum efficiency.

Despite his usual clumsiness, the Collector seemed fairly at home manipulating the small devices' controls. More than that, in fact. His brow furrowed in concentration, and he muttered to himself while working.

"Come on, come on, come on...."

[Colonel Blood]

The Doctor briefly looks up from his work to see what the Collector is doing with his gadget. He makes no move to help.

[GarrettPLC]

A moment of beeping, humming and whirring---then, the pocket-watch-shaped Transponder emitted a single, ear-piercing BEEP.

The Collector waved it up and down about a yard from Sarah Jane. As it passed to about neck level, another BEEP sounded. "There!" he exclaimed, a bit surprised---then:  "No, wait---there's something funny---" As he continued waving the device up and down and back and forth, a third BEEP sounded, this time from one of her shoulders. Then, a second later, another from a leg. "I think you're clear of alien tech, but I'm picking up some awfully strange energy residue. It might be from the diamond itself, if it had any power supplies, or even just from the presence of this Master fellow. We should be safe enough."

As he was snapping the Transponder closed, the Collector seemed struck by a thought. "Unless, of course, he can follow that energy. Uh---Doctor? Any chance you'd know---?"

[Colonel Blood]

"Well it's not like me to blow my own trumpet, but yes." The Doctor whips his sonic screwdriver out and begins to run it over Sarah Jane like a security guard at an airport. "Hmm, interesting. Very interesting. Hmm." He ponders some read outs on the console as his screwdriver feeds information back to it. "The TARDIS is showing the same energy signature at the sites where friends of mine have been attacked. Right through time - the same wavelength. And you're positive this chap didn't get the diamond? Time to go to the source I think."

[Sarah Jane]

“Not yet, although if he can follow an energy trail from the diamond then he might not be far off,� Sarah Jane replied absently.

She watched the Doctor work the console, partly in sheer enjoyment and partly in concern. She was used to him being either dapper or scruffy, but just now he looked dishevelled even by the standards of the fourth incarnation. In fact he looked like shit. ‘What the hell’s happened since I last saw him?’ she wondered.

“You realise that…  another mutual friend of ours is guarding it?â€� she asked him, with a suspicious, sideways glance at the Collector.

[Colonel Blood]

"Well I had an inkling you didn't have it in your handbag," smiles the Doctor. "I think it's best off where it is at the moment, if my guess is right. A guard dog is just what we need. Until we know what we're up against. Time for a little history lesson."

He literally jigs over to Sarah Jane with a big smile on his face, but something in his eyes isn't smiling. He offers an arm to link as he swooshes his glasses off with his other hand.

[Sarah Jane]

She returned a cheery grin and linked her arm into his.

“What? Not even time for a cup of tea?�she asked in mock dismay.

[Colonel Blood]

The Doctor and Sarah Jane skip over to the door of the TARDIS, the Doctor turns and gestures to the Collector. "Come on Jeremy. Look but don't touch. You might learn something."

He turns and opens the door. A wave of heat and light enters the TARDIS along with a cricket ball which hits the Doctor on the head and knocks him out cold.

"Owzat?!"