"Well, Jamie, I think you'll get your wish."
"Really? Home?"
The Doctor gave a toot on his recorder. The tune was not a tune that Jamie recognised, and it sounded more of a parody of a Scottish lament than a real one.
"I'd like to see Scotland," said Victoria.
"Yes, wouldn't we all..." muttered the Doctor, under his breath. As the control console fell to a halt, he switched on the scanner, and six eyes looked expectantly at the screen.
A busy marketplace stared back at them. It was clear from the clothing, and the nature of the stalls, that they were not in 17th century Scotland.
"Ah. Well, perhaps we'll have better luck next time..." the Doctor switched off the scanner, and began pressing other buttons. "Hmmm... the planet Zalwack... in the year... AD... 4615."
"You've mixed up the date," observed Victoria. "You wanted 1645, didn't you?"
"Ah, yes, so I have." The Doctor seemed pleased with this deduction. "Well done, Victoria."
"Are we going to have a look around?"
He seemed to pause. "Do you want to?"
"It would be a shame to come all this way and not see what it's like."
"What about you, Jamie? Can you bear to indulge Victoria, and put off going home for a little longer?"
The Scotsman didn't need to think twice.

"No, Tamnus, that is the end of it!"
"But I don't understand! Yesterday, you assured me that my plan was agreed, and this meeting was just a formality."
"Decisions change. It is the collective view of the Committee that your plan has many faults which render it devoid of all value, and as such, we cannot put our names to it."
Tamnus stared at the faces behind the table. There seemed no clues as to whom the brains behind this change were. No shifty eyes, no sneers of victory... perhaps they had all been persuaded by someone else. But who?
"Very well, I shall waste no more of your precious time." He knew it ran the risk of censure to be even subtly critical of the Committee, but he just couldn't help himself.
Papers back in hand, he walked out of the Room.

It was an odd universal constant, thought the Doctor, that Thursday became Market Day.
The three of them had received some odd and rather negative looks from the locals, so they had covered for this by claiming they were looking for material to make Victoria a new dress.
"Will you keep your filthy hands off my cloths!"
Unfortunately, this approach fostered a different kind of resentment.
"Hey, d'ya think there'll be somewhere to get something to eat? I'm fair famished!"
"Oh, Jamie, sometimes I think you only worry about one thing."
"Now,Victoria, perhaps Jamie has a good point. Besides, we're not exactly getting very far browsing through this market, are we? Come along, there might be food down here." The Doctor walked with confidence, although his shoulders gave away his lack of certainty.
"Hold on, Doctor!" Jamie sniffed the air. "Oh, can ye no taste that? It's coming from somewhere over here... I think..."
"Oh... very well, Jamie. Come along, Victoria, we might get to taste the local cuisine. Give you a chance to try out the food of the future!"
His enthusiasm was such that Victoria quite forgot any qualms she was having.

Tamnus sat at the base of the War Memorial, in the centre of Plast Square. The imposing edifice of the Community Hall stared out, as if oblivious to him.
Without proper representation, he wasn't going to be able to pursue his plan, and he felt that was a sad loss. If the Committee thought he was working against their interests, they could throw him before the police without a thought. Then where would he be?
Sighing, he decided he might as well check in on Lusdam, see what was cooking.

Jamie and Victoria had chatted about the myriad wonders of Zalwack, whilst the Doctor learned from the man at the counter, that the local currency was Zals, and that credit was available.
Shortly after, the Doctor whistled to Jamie, and the Scot got to carry a tray of food to their table.
"I do hope these will be to your tastes," murmured the Doctor, "the menu is rather opaque, although that comes from centuries of progress. And regress."
Victoria looked at the bizarre sandwich she had been given. At least, she could only think of it as a sandwich. It was meat between two slices of a bready product, but there seemed something odd about it.
It didn't help her that Jamie was eating something similar, had scooped a red and yellow paste onto the meat, and was eating with relish.
Or the fact that the Doctor was just eating the bread part of his.
She decided to try the brown-black liquid that had been poured into strange paper cups. It was sweet, and rather invigorating.
The Doctor noticed her involuntary judder. "It contains a mild stimulant. The legacy of its origins on Earth."
There was a word on the side of her cup : Coke.
Before she could ask the Doctor about it, she saw the door open, and a pinstriped gentleman bustled in, clearly in a hurry. He reminded her of the type of man whom her father had invited to dine at their home, and the memory made her both happy and sad.
"Hello, Tamnus!" said the man at the counter. "Usual?"
Tamnus seemed about to say something, but then he shrugged. "Yes, go on. I deserve a treat."
"It went that well, then, did it?"
"I wish it had." He sighed, and looked around, and seemed to catch her eye. It was then that she realised that the Doctor was watching him too.
Jamie continued to eat.
"There you go, one Castell special."
"Great, thanks." Under his breath, he asked, "Who are those people at Table 2?"
Lusdam looked over at them, but only surreptitiously. Victoria noticed it, because she was still curious about this Tamnus, and the Doctor was lip-reading his response. "No idea. They came in a few minutes ago. Travellers, I expect. Their money's alright, so what does it matter to me?"
Tamnus grinned. "Rather you than me," he said. He picked up his food, and headed over to Table 2. "Do you mind if I sit down?"
The Doctor having moved around from sitting by Jamie, to sitting next to Victoria, smiled. "No, by all means. Don't mind Jamie, he hasn't eaten in a while."
"Aye, centuries" grinned Jamie, between another mouthful of meat. The Doctor gave him a frown.
"My name's Tamnus," he said, accepting the Doctor's handshake.
"I'm the Doctor. This is my friend Victoria, and this... is, er, Jamie."
"How do you do?" asked Victoria as she shook his hand, not really expecting an answer. Manners seemed to have died out wherever they went in the TARDIS.
Jamie continued to eat.
"We're travellers," continued the Doctor, "we got lost on our way somewhere, and we thought we'd take a look around whilst we were here."
Tamnus seemed satisfied with this explanation. "I'm an independent adviser to the Committee. When they've some grand scheme, they ask for advice on the best way to do it without causing too much trouble. The Committee may be a job for life, but they don't want some angry voter ending that life, do they?" He chuckled at his little joke, but the others didn't laugh.
"Sounds a reasonable set-up," commented the Doctor.
"Yes... the thing is, sometimes they change their minds, and you wonder what for..."
It sounded typical to Victoria, but the Doctor's tone suggested otherwise. "Oh yes?" he asked, the beginnings of a frown on his face.
Relaxed, Tamnus decided to get it off his chest. "Well, take today for instance. I went to deliver this speech about their proposal for a new monument to be built in Tesant Square. To commemorate Castell, a great hero of ours." He unrolled his diagram, showing it to them. "It would be a cross, in honour of his faith. And now they're saying they don't want to know!"
The Doctor peered at the drawing. "Seems quite a good design to me. And you say they just dismissed you out of hand? No warning, no hint of dissatisfaction?"
"They treated me like dirt! And I'm telling you, I've known the guys on that team for years. Grew up with some of them, went to the Acadmey with them. I tell you, Doctor, whatever changed their minds, it wasn't normal."
"Wasn't it now?" This sounded like the news that the Doctor had been waiting for.
"You could see it in their eyes. Or you couldn't, do you see?"
"I think I see. Come along, er, Tamnus."
"Why? Where are you going?"
"You and I are going to see this Committee of yours, and get some answers."
Victoria stood up, too. "Come on, Jamie, time to go."
"Er, no, Victoria. I think you and Jamie would be safer here."
"Safer? You're not going to get into any danger, are you?"
"I hope not. But I'd really rather you stayed here. Is that alright, Mr..?"
"Lusdam. Seems okay to me. What do you say, Tamnus?"
Tamnus saw them all looking at him. "Well, I guess I'd like some answers. Alright, Doctor, come with me."
After they left, Victoria thanked Lusdam.
"Sure, any friends of Tamnus are friends of mine. Can I get you another burger?"
Before she could answer, a grateful voice said, "Oh, aye!"

The Community Hall was impressive enough from the outside, thought the Doctor. Rather liked a converted tenement block.
"Do lead the way," he said.
Tamnus felt slightly unnerved returning so soon. It was inexplicable. Just the idea of voluntarily walking back in here, without being summoned... it seemed out of order.
"Would the Conmmittee meet on the top floor by any chance?"
"Yes, they do. How did you know that?"
"Oh, just an educated guess. Suggestive of power from on high, you know. Also puts everyone who wants to see them under great strain. Ooh, stairs!"
Tamnus had been walking towards the lift, but his new friend seemed keener on using the stairs. Strange, he hadn't walked up them before... ever? It was more practical and convenient to use the lift, wasn't it?
The Doctor was almost bouncing up the stairs. An odd reaction... but if he came though okay, then he could do what he liked.

Business seemed to have tailed off, and Lusdam had found these two young people to be quite engaging company. Unlike anyone he remembered ever meeting. The girl, Victoria, was politely chatty, and the lad, Jamie, had a champion appetite, and wasn't as bright. But both spoke highly of this Doctor.
"So, Castell was just a lieutenant in the Zalwack Army. When his general, Plast, was lying wounded, Castell stepped up to fill his shoes. He improved the morale of the troops, and soon we were winning the war again. It's long been a cause celebre that Castell hasn't had any form of honour. The official word seemed to be that he had acted out of turn, that it would set a bad precedent to commemorate such a lowly soldier. When Tamnus told us he had been commissioned to build this cross, well, we were all thrilled."
Victoria nodded, trying to equate the Struggle for Zalwack with the limited experience she had of wars. Jamie had told her about the villainous Redcoats, and she had already met the harsh Cybermen. Not to mention the Daleks.
"I do hope the Doctor can change their minds again. It seems such a good thing to do, to commemorate this Castell."
"Yes, I hope so too."

Tamnus walked firmly to the door of the Chamber, and was about to knock when he realised the Doctor was holding back. "Is something wrong, Doctor?"
The little man was staring all around, seeing the architecture, the upholstery. To Tamnus, it was bland and irrelevant, so he usually ignored it.
"It's very quiet here, isn't it?"
"Quiet?" This was not an observation he had been expecting.
"This Committee of yours is the top decision-making body in the town, yes?"
"Well, their word is final."
The Doctor nodded, a speculative frown holding court on his face. "They work from this room, then?"
"Yes, the Chamber."
"Tell me, Tamnus, do you have to follow any procedural protocol when entering the Chamber, or addressing the Committee?"
"Of course. But there's no need to explain it, I'm here, I can do it." He moved once more to knock on the door.
"Actually, I'd rather you didn't do that." The Doctor seemed to be frantically patting himself all over.
"What's the matter?"
"I must have left it in... never mind, I shall have manage without it." He gently elbowed Tamnus aside, then lightly touched the door handle. He used his free hand to make a gesture calling for silence.
Then he pushed the door open, and walked in.
Bemused, Tamnus followed him.

"Business seems slow this afternoon," said Lusdam, wistful.
Victoria looked around, soaking in the truth of his words. "Well, it's a good thing Jamie's here, then."
Lusdam grinned. "Maybe I should make him Customer of the Month?"
"Och, I don't think I'll eat another thing ever again... ooh." Jamie held his stomach for dear life, barely registering the pile of waste cartons on the table.
"Have you got indigestion, Jamie?"
The only response was a weak groan.
Laughing, Lusdam walked back to the counter. "I think I'll have some tablets somewhere that'll help."
Poor Jamie, thought Victoria. Then her thoughts turned to the Doctor and Tamnus. She hoped they were safe in the Community Hall, and not locked up in some prison.

The room was empty.
"Where does the head of the Committee sit?"
Tamnus just stood, frozen in shock. No wonder the Doctor had said it was quiet. Where were the Committee?
The Doctor registered his friend's situation, and walked back behind the long table that dominated the room. From Tamnus' description, the mysterious Committee should have sat behind this. Logically, the leader would sit in the centre... where there was an especially ornate chair. He stared at the table from that side, looking for clues.
Suddenly, a side door opened, and someone walked in. "Oh, my goodness!"
Tamnus was jolted from his reverie. "Chaplus! Are the rest of you in there?"
Chaplus had lost all blood in his face. "Rest..?"
"No, they aren't, are they?" The Doctor nodded at the newcomer. "Tamnus, where does this man sit?"
"Next to the chairman, Stamcud-"
"Oh, I doubt it." The Doctor looked at the new chair, and immediately saw a pushbutton. Unable to resist, he pressed it.
To Tamnus' surprise, the Committee suddenly appeared out of thin air. Every chair was taken. Except one.
"I take it, Chaplus, that you are the only real member of the Committee?"
Chaplus sat in his chair, almost in tears. "I did my best! The strain was too great... They said they wouldn't let me join them... It was all I've ever wanted..."
"I wonder... Tamnus, keep an eye on him." Without another word, the Doctor walked through into the next room.
Chaplus laid his head on the table, crying into the electronics. The Committee seemed to flicker.
Tamnus began to sidle after the Doctor, but he reappeared. "Tamnus, I'm afraid you'll have to call in the police. Tell them they'll need 11 bodybags."
At the final word, Chaplus seemed to shake, trying to vomit.

Later, the Doctor collected his companions from Lusdam's. "Well, at least Castell will get his Cross. Tamnus has become the main choice for the new leader of the Committee."
"They might even get a monument to Tamnus," said Victoria.
"Such a terrible waste," muttered the Doctor. As he put the key in the lock of the TARDIS door, he noticed Jamie had been quiet. "Are you alright, Jamie?"
The Scotsman nodded, but his face and posture suggested otherwise.
"He did get rather carried away," explained Victoria.
"Yes, I see. Come along, we'll see if we can't find you some exercise. You'll have put on some weight..." He pushed his friends inside his ship. "Can't send you home in that condition..."