Note: I envisioned this taking place between The Family of Blood and Blink, though the story doesn't actually indicate any relative time points.

Chapter 1: Agazzina

"This is the planet Agazzina, 533 years into your future," the Doctor told Martha as they stepped out of the TARDIS.

Before Martha's eyes laid a vast network of cubic temples that were highlighted by columns on all four sides. "These look like Greek temples. I guess in all the universe, a design like this is going to appear more than once. "

"More than a few times, actually," the Doctor responded

"These designs, on the other hand . . . " Martha noticed that the columns were decorated with single-leaf fleur-de-lis carvings and etchings of a beetle-like creature with long plumes coming out of the head. All the columns were also adorned with thick and hard green strings from which tiny five-pronged leaves emerged. "How common are these plants and insects off this planet?"

"Not common, though the green plant has been exported to the Kian Empire and grown there."

"Oh, are we near there?"

"This planet used to be a part of it, but Emperor Byzlusse restricted the empire a few centuries ago to one galaxy for optimum control and to have a political buffer zone for protection from nearby empires."

During their tour, the pair met a few Agazzinans, quadrupeds that reminded Martha of centaurs. However, Agazzinans had four very muscular legs that contrasted with four thin arms. Their bare heads were oval. Two enormous eyes were located on the sides like insects and a nose was found on the top. Mouths were in a place Martha considered normal by human standards, but she couldn't see any external auditory organs. She also noticed a lack of a tail and hooves.

"Is there any significance to how the temples are grouped together?"

"They're grouped by biological relations," the Doctor answered as he noticed a few Agazzinans walking towards a central location. He then saw smoke in the sky near where they gathered.

The Doctor and Martha joined the crowd looking at a small space ship that crashed. A small trail of red blood was found, but it ultimately led nowhere.

"This looks like a transport ship," the Doctor remarked, "but something's been manipulated. It wasn't always a transport ship. Why would someone take one ship and turn it into a transport ship when there are so many transport ships already?"

Eventually, the Doctor gave up on his inquiry and he and Martha continued their tour of the temples. At one, far away from the crash site, Martha found a pool of blood. She and the Doctor followed a small trail leading to a woman with light olive skin lying on the ground. She looked human to Martha.

"Are you all right?" Martha asked as she kneeled down to examine the woman's neck, one source of heavy bleeding. "Do you have anything to wrap around your neck?"

"Leave me alone," the woman, Brikenna, responded. She was trying to stop Martha and the Doctor, who was looking at Brikenna's abdomen, the other source of profuse bleeding.

"I'm the Doctor and this is Martha. You're hurt and you've lost a lot of blood," the Doctor said. "Let us help you."

"I don't need your help," Brikenna replied as she stood up and started to run away. After a brief moment, though, she stopped and sat down on the ground.

"You shouldn't have exerted yourself with those injuries," Martha told Brikenna. "The Doctor's ship is nearby; we can help you there. Please let us help."

"Where are you two from?"

The Doctor heard the underlying question in her voice. "We're not from anywhere nearby. We're just travelers passing by for fun."

Brikenna hesitated a moment before speaking again. "Please take me to your ship."

In the TARDIS, Martha dressed Brikenna's wounds while the Doctor found a change of clothes and a drink for her.

"So, where are you from?" the Doctor asked Brikenna, who didn't reply. "Zabartia? Dhè-Kahla? Sukenna? Dimatia? Herro? Eloquia?"

Brikenna quietly responded negatively.

"You must be from the Oyrosian Star System, then. That's a start, at least. I take it the ship that crashed was yours."

"You know a lot about the Kian Galaxy, for one who is just passing by from far away."

"I do know a bit, yes. I like to be informed." Seeing Brikenna's eyes narrow, the Doctor continued. "Whatever you're hiding, we have no part in it. You're safe here."

"What makes you think I'm hiding anything?"

"I took a guess."

"How are you feeling now?" Martha interjected.

"I'm feeling better. Thank you," Brikenna responded as she lifted herself into the air.

"Are you in any shape to be moving around yet?" Martha asked. She doubted Brikenna, but she didn't want to overstep her boundaries given her limited knowledge about Oyrosians, especially now when she found herself surprised by Brikenna's ability to fly.

"Oyrosians heal more quickly than humans," the Doctor pointed out, "but not this quickly."

"I heal more quickly than other Oyrosians," Brikenna claimed.

"Well, at least we know that too now," Martha said to herself, very quietly.

"Your crash generated a lot of attention," the Doctor said, trying to stop Brikenna from floating out. "You might have trouble proceeding on foot or by flying without anyone noticing. I can take you to where you need to go."

"I don't want to trouble you any further, and I should be doing this alone."

"From your ship's crash site, I gather you were heading east. Martha and I were going there, too, to Kesska. Let me take you that far, at least," the Doctor finished as she saw recognition on Brikenna's face.

"I need to go to Hursel," Brikenna said quietly.

"Those two cities are practically next to each other!" the Doctor exclaimed. He was concerned about Brikenna as much as Martha was, but he knew that Brikenna would attempt to distance herself from others despite her condition. "Do you know a lot about Kesska, specifically the Petri Museum?" the Doctor asked, feigning ignorance. He had devised a strategy to keep tabs on Brikenna longer.

"Yes, I've been there before."

"Good. I'm hoping to recover an artifact there. Can you help me before I take you to Hursel?"

The Doctor, Martha, and Brikenna walked up to four sheets of paper, each around the length of Martha's arms and half as wide. The sheets hung in the Petri Museum against a wall with a glass case protecting them.

"I've seen those before in the TARDIS," Martha told the Doctor, referring to decorative symbols that formed borders on all four sheets. "Is that Gallifreyan?"

"Yeah," the Doctor answered while signaling someone.

"Yes?" a museum guard said.

The Doctor held out his psychic paper. "Hello. I'm the first minister of culture. The premier has asked that I take these four sheets to her, something about returning them to their rightful owners. Would you take these out and package them for me, please?"

"Right away, minister, as soon as I clear it."

The trio did not wait long before the guard returned with the four sheets in a box and they returned to the TARDIS. Soon, they were in Hursel.

"Let us come with you," the Doctor told Brikenna.

"No, that cannot happen," Brikenna replied as she opened the TARDIS doors.

"You helped me at the Petri Museum."

"And you helped me at Mewfur. Our debts to each other are even. Thank you." Brikenna flew off before the Doctor could reply.

Martha, who was standing next to the Doctor, quickly put on her jacket.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor asked.

"I'm doing what you were going to ask me to do."

The Doctor smiled and the pair ran out, trying their best to keep up with Brikenna while staying out of sight. After approximately twenty minutes of going around almost in a circle, they saw Brikenna land on the roof of a manor not far from the TARDIS. She broke in through a window.

The Doctor and Martha went up to the door of the manor and Martha knocked. A tall creature met the pair. He wrapped his two arms around the door handle to open it. Martha noticed mouths at the end of each arm.

"Hello," the Doctor began while holding out his psychic paper. "We're from the Ministry of Domestic Power. There have been unusual and potentially dangerous spikes around the area. May we have a look at your zibrotecium energy core, please?"

The figure made a face that Martha construed as a frown. "It's very important," Martha said. "We can't let this go without a thorough investigation."

After another brief moment, the doorman stepped aside. The Doctor and Martha entered but took only a few steps before alarms sounded.

"Is that because of us?" Martha asked as the doorman bolted down the hallway. "I suppose not."

"Come on!" the Doctor exclaimed as they followed. Soon, the pair came across Brikenna fighting the doorman, two Agazzinans, and a fourth individual who looked generally like herself. Martha noticed a man, who also looked like a human with olive skin, lying facedown unconscious.

"Do we pick a side, Doctor?"

"How about we just help that man?" the Doctor said before he saw Brikenna shoot an Agazzinan in the head with her gun, killing him instantly. The other Agazzinan then hit Brikenna's head with a club, knocking her down. The Doctor looked up and saw that the lights were petts ionic. "Martha, shut your eyes!" the Doctor quietly said as he pointed his sonic screwdriver up. The blinding flash that followed gave the Doctor and Martha a chance to drag the unconscious individual and Brikenna out. They picked up the pace when Brikenna slowly regained consciousness and was able to move a little on her own. Soon, they were back in the TARDIS.

"I demand to know who you two really are," Brikenna said angrily, but weakly.

"Like we told you before – " the Doctor began before being interrupted.

"You coerced me into these situations and follow me into this mission. I am grateful for what appears to be assistance, but I will not have my mission complicated or hindered."

"Look, I know this is all a bit suspicious," Martha responded, "but we're only trying to help. We saw how injured you were at the temples and we've been concerned, that's all. I'm a doctor, a medical doctor. This is what I do. The Doctor is like that, too."

"Whatever your mission is, we are not trying to intrude on it," the Doctor said. "I haven't even asked what it is."

The other man in the TARDIS started to groan.

"Eyanten!" Brikenna exclaimed as she knelt down. A bunch of her hair swung forward, partially blocking her view. "How are you doing? I'm very sorry."

"I'm fine. I just need a bit of real rest," Eyanten replied weakly. However, he was able to brush away the strands of Brikenna's hair by waving his fingers. There was never any physical contact.

Martha knelt down next to Brikenna. "He can stay here and recuperate," she told Brikenna quietly. "So can you. You're still not completely healed yet from the crash and I don't even know how much that blow to the head hurt you."

Brikenna sighed. "Very well."

The four then heard banging at the TARDIS doors, prompting the Doctor to relocate to a more peaceful location.

Martha approached the Doctor by the TARDIS console.

"Both of them are sleeping now and they do seem to trust us a little," she told the Doctor.

"Good."

"From what I've been able to gather, Eyanten was working undercover as a spy. Brikenna seems to need him for something, but accidentally revealed his secret. Also, he can do a lot more than telekinesis. I think he could tell that we were being truthful, like the Teters."

"If we ask Brikenna about her mission, she'll probably take off with Eyanten."

"I know. Doctor, I'm having doubts about all this. They might trust us, but should we trust them? She invaded that house and killed that Agazzinan."

"We'll stay around and keep them out of trouble. She can't do what she did again."

"Oh, she's going to love that."

The Doctor sighed. "Based on the ship, her biology, and an Agazzinan spy with mystical powers and a Sukennan name, she might be on a mission for Emperor Byzlusse."

"The guy who reduced the empire centuries ago? Or is there a number after his name?"

"Same guy; he's immortal."

"Oh. So is working for Byzlusse a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Byzlusse is a good man. If he trusts Brikenna, that's a good thing . . . "

"But . . . ?"

"She's out here on a secret mission all alone until now, and she must be up to something big. I'm not sure if that is a good thing."