“Oh, well then.” The Doctor came up short as the Kessek blocked their way with his body (plus scary-looking weapon, but really, the Kessek was so wide that the weapon wasn’t even needed at this point other than to be obnoxiously impressive in sheer size). He exchanged looks with Barbara, then motioned for the Kessek to lean a little closer. “See, the thing is, that all depends. You can order us all you like, but really, it’d be easier if we three worked together. We can’t help if we’ve got our heads bashed in, you know! Frail like that unfortunately.”

He beamed at Barbara and this alien, as if they were already friends here and he was only seconds away from kidnapping him for an adventure. Apologies, Barbara. She knew what he meant. Smart human like that.

The Kessek’s great big face pulled into what the Doctor assumed was some sort of intrigued-but-didn’t-want-to-look-it expression. That or it was some sort of threat display that he was grossly underestimating.

“And why wouldn’t the Daligig be aware of this? They could check Stacy’s memory banks.” The Kessek asked.