Regeneration

Out of the seemingly endless void that was space came a sign, the first of many. At first, no one noticed, it was just yet another tiny, insignificant twinkle amongst an ocean of planets, stars, and galaxies. It was nothing to worry about.

And yet on the second day, it came again, brighter this time and with a different, less recognisable shape. But like the day before, no one saw nor thought about it with any indifference. Perhaps amongst the billions of inhabitants that made up Terra, a handful of scientists took the time to give it a second glance, but that was it, a glance. No more…

But again and again it came, one day, two days, three days, four, five, it came everyday for the next two weeks, and each time it became brighter and closer than the day before. But for a civilization as old and advanced as the Terrians, none had the time for such anomalies; leave it for the scientists, they all thought, people who actually cared about these fancy if not boring bits and bobs within this marvellously empty void known as the Universe. Let them worry and loose their sleep over this mysterious object whilst the rest of us get on with their tasks and routines, things that are actually worth to be worried about. And so the people of Terra carried on with their lives, whilst the scientists and intellectuals studied the shape, trajectory, and indeed origin of this celestial body with minimal interest, because like all who lived on Terra their motto was simple: If it won't improve us, it's not worth bothering…

By the third week though, things began to change… Terrians have spent the best part of their history exploring the galaxies and worlds beyond their own. They have seen so much, it was said, that they believe they have seen it all, the past, the present, the future, everything. But they didn't see this. Not this. The object has now reached a dangerously low altitude, flying so close to the atmosphere that a glowing blue trail has began to form on its rear during the end of the third week. All of a sudden, the citizens became alert; non-essential personnel were ordered to take shelter whilst military organizations began to set up their various weapons and defence mechanisms, prepared for either a natural disaster, or perhaps a hostile invasion.

"But we are safe," The chancellor of the planet had assured her citizens, "Our shields are designed to withstand a category ten meteor shower and our weapons are the most advanced within this sector of the galaxy. I assure you, nothing can harm us. Nothing."

But by the fourth week of the so-called 'invasion', even the optimistic chancellor had begun to doubt her words. According to the sensors, the object's velocity has increased and its trajectory has been altered, specifically more acute as it skipped and took its time to pass through the Terrian shields with minimal damage. Within seconds, the republic of Terra called out a planet wide alert: an unknown object, possibly hostile, has infiltrated Terra. From across the entire globe, ion cannons, argon blasters, heat rays and just about any type of surface to air weapons one could think of has opened fire in a vain attempt to shoot down the object. For the few of the citizens who dared to climb to the surface for a better view, they had their first look at the mysterious object: a blue box, a box of unknown, possibly alien origin, with small windows and a flashing light on its roof was crashing down amongst the industrial buildings of the planet. A strange scrapping sound followed as it gained once again in speed, one would have heard a sonic boom as it broke the sound barrier except the scrapping was too loud, and it covered everything. The Terrians covered their eyes whilst the cannons continued their barrage against the blue box but to no avail, it was coming down too fast.

But as though the Creator himself was playing a massive joke, it vanished. From across the planet, sensors indicated that the box simply disappeared. No reports came from any of the gun batteries to suggest that perhaps it was destroyed by a lucky shot; neither did the radiation sensors report any signs that it simply vaporized because of the heat. It just disappeared.

And whilst the people of Terra began to crawl out of their shelters and recovered from the shock of a possible attack, from about ten miles away from the city centre on the eastern continent, a strange man stepped out of a blue police box with a massive smile on his face.

"Finally!" He exclaimed and took a deep breath, "Barcelona!"