 he next morning found Jo Grant alone in the Doctor's lab, soldering some wires inside a complex-looking helmet-like device. She was interrupted in her work by the sudden arrival of the Brigadier, the morning paper tucked under his arm.
'Where is he?' he asked briskly, glancing around the room.
'In there,' Jo told him, nodding towards the TARDIS.
As the Brigadier eyed the Doctor's craft suspiciously, the Time Lord suddenly hurried out, a large cuboid piece of machinery cradled in his arms. He walked swiftly across the lab and deposited it on the bench next to Jo, apparently unaware of the Brigadier's presence. 'How are you doing? He asked her.
'Nearly finished,' Jo grunted, straining to get at something within the device.
The Brigadier cleared his throat loudly, and the Doctor turned to face him. 'Ah, good morning, Brigadier,' he said cheerfully, 'Any news?'
'Well, as a matter of fact...' the Brigadier began, but before he could get any further, the Doctor snatched the newspaper from him and began to read the front page.
'Oh dear,' he muttered, 'that's not very good, is it? In fact, it's extremely dangerous!' He flung the paper down on the bench, and turned to face his friends solemnly. 'I'm afraid,' he announced, 'that your planet is in the most terrible danger.'
'What do you mean?' cried the Brigadier.
The Doctor grabbed the newspaper once more, and thrust it into Jo's hands. 'All over the country!' he exclaimed.
'What?'
'Sightings!'
'Sightings of what exactly?'
'The Cosmic Dust.'
'The Cosmic Dust?'
'That's right!' The Doctor grabbed an atlas from the shelf and flicked through it until he found a detailed map of England. He placed it on the bench and Jo and the Brigadier gathered around to see what he was getting at.
The Doctor picked up the paper again and, referring to the article as he went along he began to make a number of pen marks on the map. 'Now, this is where we are,' he explained, pointing to one of them, 'and this "cosmic dust" as you call it has been sighted here...and here...and here...and here!'
'Almost in a straight line.' Jo observed.
'Exactly!' the Doctor exclaimed, with some satisfaction.
'So you think it's actually going somewhere?' asked the Brigadier, incredulously.
'It certainly looks like it,' the Doctor commented.
'But where?' asked Jo.
'Here perhaps?' the Doctor suggested, making another pen mark on the map.
The Brigadier was shocked. 'The nuclear weapons plant?' he exclaimed, gaping at the map, the line of pen marks and the inescapable conclusion that the Doctor had come to. 'But it would wreak havoc if it got into that!'
The Doctor nodded glumly. 'That's probably the idea!'
'But what can we do?' stammered the Brigadier, aware of the fact that he had never felt so helpless in his life.
'Good question,' remarked the Doctor. He turned to his assistant. 'Jo, have you finished that soldering job yet?'
'Yes, here you are.' said Jo, handing him the helmet she had been working on.
'And what on Earth is that supposed to be?' the Brigadier wanted to know.
'Well,' the Doctor explained, 'working from the fact that this cosmic dust was able to use the TARDIS to apparently change places with my machinery in the box, I've managed to work out quite a lot about their molecular structure, enabling me to build this!' He indicated the helmet, proudly.
'So, what does it do?' the Brigadier asked impatiently.
'Well, with this,' the Doctor explained, popping the helmet onto his head, 'I should be able to communicate with our little friends.'
'Communicate with them?' roared the Brigadier. 'We should destroy them!'
The Doctor sighed and turned to the large cuboid machine he had brought from his TARDIS. 'I've built something to do that too,' he said, 'but I sincerely hope that it won't be necessary.'
'That's more like it,' the Brigadier said happily, 'A nice, straight forward solution to the problem.'
'Which we'll only use,' the Doctor said firmly, 'If everything else fails. Now, I suggest we get going.'
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