first_in_time | Copy Cat

Copy Cat

The taxi pulled up outside a rather tall and grand looking hotel. Barbara stepped out to stare upwards. There were tall buildings in London but there was something about being in a different city which made the buildings unique and fascinating. Despite how tired she felt after such a long flight, she could almost go for a walk to see some more but there would be time for that later.

A finely dressed man dashed toward the from where he had been standing next tot he doors. "Shall I take your luggage?" he asked Ian and Barbara once the cabbie, or taxi driver, had hauled it out of the boot.

"Yes, thank you," Barbara replied. She reached out. For Ian's hand and offered him a smile before they walked into the hotel lobby together.

Once they had signed in at what appeared to be a marble desk, taken the lift up to near the very top, and stepped into their room, Barbara turned to thank the man for bringing their luggage. She gave him a small tip, since she didn't have a lot of money on her, and shut the door behind him.

"Would you look at this!" she said to Ian, gesturing to the entire room. "You must be valuable to have the board so generously pay for you to stay here!"

Barbara trotted over to the window to look out, passing a bottle of champagne and a note which wished them both a happy first anniversary.

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One of the men offered Ian a gun, but he shook his head. "I'll blend in better without it." They relented, but gave him an earpiece.

It looked like these aliens, whoever they were, were on top of the situation. Since they'd had previous experience, Ian was happy to leave it to them.

He was still holding the earpiece when the men started moving out. Ian hesitated for a moment by Barbara. "Will you be all right?"

"They're locking the doors. I'll be fine," she smiled a little. "But kiss me anyway. It might be the strength I need."

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. "I'll be back soon," although that wasn't something he could really promise.

In her mind, Barbara pretended that Ian was a only going to fetch some milk or ice cream. It was easier than facing the prospect that he might not be back.

"You will."

"Human! Our schedule has been pushed forward because of your inability to think things through. I suggest you move!" one of the others shouted from the door.

Ian was sorely tempted to complain that it wasn't his fault, but he didn't want to get on their bad side, when they were his only way of stopping this invasion. "I'm coming," he said irritably. Then added, "I hope you know what you're doing," under his breath.

They took off at a jog, back out into the main corridor. Rather than turning down and heading back toward Earth, they headed for the bridge and stopped just outside another wide, thick door.

"There are several clones quite close to you now. Only about a yard or so away," Barbara's voice crackled into everyone's ear pieces.

A man pointed at Ian: "you, headin there and provide a distraction. We'll sneak in and form the position. Get them looking the other way then cover yourself once we open fire. Got that?"

"Right." He was pretty sure that just walking in would be enough of a distraction, so he opened the door and went in, head held high.

No one looked at him at first, they were too busy manning controls. Ian went up to one at the other side of the room and pulled him out of his chair.

"Hey!" the man protested and jostled with Ian, causing the rest of the room to look up to see what was going on.

The little green men snuck in and disappeared into the shadows, taking their positions with such silence that it seemd as though they were floating.

One the of the on-lookers grabbed at Ian as he moved past, attempting to trap his arms behind his back while another took a swing at his head.

Ian fought back, knowing that all he had to do was to keep fighting. So although he twisted and kicked out, he only wounded and gave his attackers another chance to get at him. Another two clones came over to help and between the four of them they had Ian pinned.

At which point everyone was looking at them and the little green men took the opportunity to start shooting. Ian wasn't exactly in a position to take cover - all he could do was struggle in his captors' grasp.

Three of the four clones were hit and, as the green men advanced, other clones dashed about, trying to find weapons. One which looked very much like the scientist in charge of the conference Ian was attending, started firing a very large gun at he offending party. Three of the green men exploded before they knew what was happening.

Ian had a brief worry that the whole conference was a cover and it was all being run by clones, but there wasn't time to dwell on it with a firefight going on. Since he didn't have a weapon no one was taking any notice of him any more, so he ran and tackled the scientist, bringing him down and preventing any more green men from being hit.

A few green men rushed over and shot him. As Ian stood up, one of the green men said, "We told you to stay out of the way."

"You're welcome," he said sarcastically and left them confused as he found a chair to hide behind.

"There are more approaching from the direction you just came. About two hundred yards. They're closing in fast," Barbara puffed over the speaker.

"Positions!" shouted man nearest Ian. He must have been in charge.

The little green men scurried back into hiding places just as the doors burst open. More clones. They rode scooter-like things and jumped off them as they entered. Rather than crashing into walls, the scooters simply stopped.

The clones moved slowly, cautiously, fanning out to cover more ground as though they knew something was in the room with them.

"Got one!" a Barbara clone cried out and pounced on Ian behind the chair. She was unusually strong, far stronger than the real Barbara could ever be.

Other clones, identical to those which worked in the hotel, stood back to jeer.

"Weren't you the one who pulled her original out of the copier?"

"Events turn quickly, don't they my friend?"

"We're getting close to busting through that door and when we do..."

The three laughed.

At least he could be sure this clone wasn't Barbara. But as he struggled in her grip he shivered. "Barbara!" he called out through the earpiece. "The clones are coming to find you."

Another of the clones stepped forward to hold on to him. Knowing he was going nowhere, he stopped struggling to conserve his energy. The green men were doing well against the clones, but how many more clones were there? Even if the green men beat this lot, there could be more on their way.

"Barbara, get out of here." He wanted her off this ship and safe. Or safer than being on the ship at any rate.

"Ian? What's going on? We can't get out - the door is locked!" said the Barbara in his ear.

The Barbara in front of him put on a look exactly like Barbara's when they laid next to one another, exausted and happy. "It's no use, Ian Chesterton," she purred, "we're-"

She was cut off by a blast that ripped her apart, spreading her around the room.

"Good distraction," said one of the men once they had Ian free.

Ian said nothing for a moment, staring wide-eyed at the place the clone of Barbara had been. It had gone past disconcerting to downright creepy. "Make sure it stays locked," he said to Barbara, hoping she couldn't hear the way his voice shook.

"The room is ours," he heard one of the green men say. When Ian looked around he could see there were no more clones here - unless they were hiding, but Barbara could tell them that. One of the green men locked the door.

"We push forward," another of the men said, "but we'll have to use more stealth." He pointedly broke off to glare at Ian. "Should we be detected, it'll be over for all of us and the others will win. I don't think I need to express how cataclysmic that will be."

The green men nodded in agreement and left their fallen brothers to move forward and enter the next stage of their assault.

It was hardly his fault the clones were fixated on him. And if it was for releasing Barbara, then he wasn't going to apologise for that. "Where to next?" he asked. "Earth?"

"Most of the clones will return to fight here," the green man at the back of the group replied. "But that is where we are ultimately headed."

"People on Earth don't know about aliens and they won't understand if you turn up and start blasting clones. They don't know they're clones, it won't give your people a good reputation."

"Reputation is not everything," he replied, "not when we do not associate with the planet in question." It seemed simple enough to him, and he moved to stand with the rest of his group.

The other doors slid open silently and the green men stepped through so quietly that it was like watching ghosts.

"It is to me." He grabbed at the last man in the group and the others looked round to glare at him for making a noise. "There's got to be another way. Can't you make the clones work for you?"

The green man at the front worked his way to the back, not happy with Ian's objections. "No, we can't. You can go back to the control room." He plucked Ian's earpiece from his ear and motioned for two of his men to march Ian back to the room they'd left Barbara in.

"You said you needed me for my local knowledge," Ian shouted back over his shoulder. "I'm giving you my knowledge and now you're ignoring it!"

Ian didn't get any response from the men. Instead they continued to drag him away.

"Ian? I can't get a clear picture of you - what's going on?" Barbara asked over the ear piece.

A few yards ahead, around the corner from where Ian was being dragged, clones worked at the complex lock placed upon the door which Barbara and the other original copies were being kept behind.

Edited 2013-11-28 10:37 (UTC)

Not having his ear piece on, Ian couldn't answer. And none of the green men did either.

"Much as I appreciate you saving the planet, why can't you listen to me?" Ian shouted, angry that the green men were going to make a mess on Earth that he and Barbara were going to have to live with.

He broke off from that train of thought when they rounded the corner. "Barbara!" he shouted, just as the clones broke the lock and open the door.

The green men that held Ian so tightly dropped him to run forward. It wasn't that they had ties with the individuals in the room, but more that the original copies would be stuck back in the Copier if the clones weren't stopped. Their mission couldn't afford that.

Barbara was hunched in her chair as the door opened. For a moment, she thought that Ian was returning to take her home but that wasn't what she saw. She didn't recognise those who advanced toward her, smirking.

"Barbara!" Ian shouted. He ran toward the clones that were advancing on her, but two of them had hold of her and were dragging her out of her chair by the time he got there.

"Let her go." He stood in front of the clones holding Barbara and shouted the order at them.

Barbara tried her best to wriggle out of their holds and prise their tight grip off but they were too strong. She looked up at the both, frightened.

One of the clones scoffed and let go of Barbara to advance at Ian. He went to swing a punch at him but changed at the last moment to strike at Ian's stomach with his boot.

Ian was focusing too much on Barbara and not concentrating on what the clone was doing. So he was caught out by the kick, and folded over with a groan, his arms protectively round his stomach.

The clone laughed. "Going to stop us, are you?"

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