Chapter 1

Above the Earth, the ship slipped stealthily into orbit, unfurling two solar sails as it did so. It looked for all the world like any of the satellites orbiting at that time, and this was the intention. If any government below spotted it they would simply assume it belonged to another nation and it would be long gone before anyone became suspicious.

Because they were in orbit, they were forced to wait patiently for the Earth to turn and reveal their target. The captain, Anesh, was used to waiting. At two hundred years old, he was barely middle-aged. A long-lived species, his kind had learned not to rush and not to be frustrated by delay – unlike his human employer, who was jiggling impatiently beside him.

Neither being spoke, the Raptarnok because he had nothing to say, his boss because she was too busy fiddling with the observation equipment. The inside of the ship was clinical looking; the surfaces were angular and functional, in white and chrome. Most work stations were featureless, but the station where the human worked had lit up; different coloured lights were blinking beneath the surface and as she passed her hand over them things would seem to happen. She passed her hand over a blue patch and a monitor popped out of the wall in front of her. Another wave of the hand activated it and the planet below came into view.

The large land-mass slowly gave way to ocean, then began to approach another continent. The human gave a cry of triumph as Britain hove into view, and the ship's captain allowed himself a small smile of amusement. This smile made the reptilian look toad-like, his mouth wide and his eyes bulging. Then he blinked and the smile was gone.

The view on the monitor was changing, sort of zooming down to the planet's surface below. It homed in on the south coast of England, going down further and further until a town could be seen around a harbour, then individual buildings became visible, then cars and people. No human built satellite could have scanned Earth's surface with such high resolution. The human could have read a timetable at a bus stop had she so desired. Instead, she was hovering her hand expertly over the control lights so that the image moved to the harbour and then along the quay side.

This was an affluent town, and the old warehouses had long since been converted into bars, restaurants and shops. Near one end was a proper stone harbour where fishing boats were moored, but far more prominent was the marina, full to bursting with expensive leisure yachts.

It was on this quayside that the picture finally came to rest; not upon a yacht or something that might be of obvious strategic importance, but upon a child, who appeared to be happily fishing.

"That's her!" announced the human, triumphantly, "now go and do what I paid you for!"

Anesh snapped his jaws in a smart salute and marched from the ship's bridge.

The girl sat on the lowest step of the quay wall, crab line in one hand, net in the other. The sun sparkled on the water and the waves lapped lazily against her toes. Almost motionless, she stared down through the water, seeking out her prey. Several blennies were pecking at the bait but the girl was waiting for a crab to take hold. There was a large one in a crack in the stone wall nearby, and the girl swished the line closer hoping to entice it.

Above her on the quay wall was a clear bucket already teeming with crabs, blennies and shrimps. Occasionally, passers-by would stop, peer into the bucket and comment, but the girl was completely absorbed and took no notice. Her face was obscured by her long, windswept, fair hair but from the slender curve of her back you could tell she wasn't very old- certainly not a teenager yet.

Suddenly there was a tug on the crab-line and the girl gave a start then began to reel it in. The crab clung to the bait with its pincers, determined not to lose its meal, and in this way it was hoisted out of the water and into the waiting net. It was the biggest crab she had caught in absolutely ages, bigger than her hand, and already it was struggling to escape the net.

Excitedly, the child ran up the steps to add her latest catch to her bucket. She crouched down and tipped the net gently so the crab would land safely in the bucket. She only caught the animals so she could look at them and always returned them to the sea when she had finished. The crab put up a brave fight but she got it in there eventually. It was when she stood up straight again that she finally noticed the monster standing before her.

It was huge, nearly double her own height, and had the appearance of an angry, orange gecko. It was naked apart from what looked like military-style dog-tags round its neck, an oversized, thick watch round one fore-leg and a stick thing in its other which it was pointing at her as though it were a gun.

She didn't have time to take in any more detail because she had already decided to turn tail and run. With a roar the gecko monster gave chase, putting the stick in its mouth and dropping onto all fours, the better for speed. Its thick, ridged tail swished the bucket over the side, and with a splash, its inhabitants had their freedom.

The girl ran for all she was worth, arms pumping, lungs screaming for air, and she could hear the thing behind her, maybe gaining on her. She ran into the road straight into the path of a land-train ferrying tourists. The driver blasted his horn but she kept on running. The gecko monster could not get by so easily, and the girl could hear the people on the land-train screaming as the beast ran along the carriages trying to get past. It gave her vital seconds, and she ran pell-mell along the shop-fronts, people screaming and scattering before her when they saw her pursuer.

She ran past an amusement arcade then up an alleyway, hoping to lose the monster in the maze of old streets behind the quay. However, she found her way blocked by a builder's skip and there was nothing else she could do except crouch down with her arms over her head and await the inevitable.

But the attack never came. Instead there was a vworp vworp sound and a little blue box appeared in the alley beside the child. The door opened, and a tall thin man in a pin-striped suit stepped out. He quickly took in the scene; the gecko monster, frozen in position on its hind legs staring at him in amazement; the shaking child curled at its feet; and made a snap judgement of what had to be done. He reached down, scooped up the child, stepped back into the box with her and slammed the door. With another vworp vworp the box was gone, leaving Anesh blinking with bewilderment. The whole rescue had taken just three seconds.

The man set the girl on the floor but she immediately curled into a foetal position, her eyes still tightly closed. The floor was warm beneath her and she could hear a gentle thrumming noise which was oddly soothing.

A woman's voice called out from somewhere, "You were quick- forget your wallet?" Then from nearer, it added, "That's a child!"

"I can see that," replied the man's voice.

"That's an actual child," the woman repeated.

"Yes," said the man, simply.

"You've kidnapped a kid!"

"Well, not exactly…"

"But I sent you out for chips!" argued the woman. "I just wanted some chips, bit of vinegar; nothing too complicated, I would have thought; and you come back with a child!"

The child in question began to wonder whether she would be on the menu instead.

"Well, that's the strangest thing," explained the man. "She was about to be attacked by some giant lizard. Can't have that. Besides, the lizard was between me and the chip shop. I think we need to find a different alley to park in."

Then the girl felt the man crouch down beside her.

"You're safe here," he said, gently. "Why don't you tell us your name?"

She did not reply, but moved her arm slightly so she could sneak a peek. She could see his red basketball sneakers, which seemed to her a bit odd with the snappy suit. Looking up a little more, her gaze met his, and he smiled warmly. His eyes crinkled when he smiled, and he looked kind.

"Up you get," he coaxed, "let me see if that thing's hurt you."

The girl obeyed, and her jaw dropped when she saw where she was. She hadn't seen the box arrive, and was amazed to find herself on what could only have been described as an alien spaceship. The walls seemed somehow alive like flesh, and a central console was pulsing, a bit like a heart.

The woman was looking at her curiously. Despite the harshness of her voice, the girl thought she looked nice. The woman must have been about her mum's age and she had wavy, red hair. It was a colour she would describe as "bourbon" which always made her mum laugh for some reason.

"Have you been taught not to talk to strangers?" the lady demanded.

"You're a good girl then. But we can help you, so you're going to have to trust us."

"Well," said the man, "I'm the Doctor, this is Donna, and you're Ruth, so now we all know each other!"

"How did you…" began Ruth and Donna together.

"I'm brilliant!" replied the Doctor, but Donna had already followed his gaze down to Ruth's shoe, where a little badge with her name had been pinned as a decoration.

Ruth jumped back as the Doctor suddenly produced a slender silver torch with a blue light on one end and began waving it over her. It made intermittent peeping sounds.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" shouted Donna, pushing it away. "When will you learn to stop bleeping people? I'm sorry," she added more gently to Ruth, "he's got no manners has he?" She turned back to the Doctor. "And where's my chips? My stomach thinks my throat's been cut!"

Ruth's stomach gave a loud rumble at the mention of food.

"I have to go home," she said. "It must be lunch time and Mum will wonder where I am."

"We need to keep you a little longer while we find out what was chasing you," replied the Doctor. "It might still be looking." Ignoring the dirty look from Donna, he resumed his bleeping.

"I don't mean to be rude," he murmured, "but what's so special about you? Why would it be chasing you? And what was it?"

"You mean you don't know?" said Donna, incredulously. The Doctor turned to her.

"Have you any idea how many different species there are throughout the universe?" he asked her. "How many have come and gone from beginning to end? Not to mention countless parallel universes. Of course I don't know them all. I doubt I've met even the tiniest fraction of them. But the TARDIS has databases and we might be able to find out."

So saying, he turned to the pulsing console and was reaching out to its controls when at that moment, the TARDIS, which Ruth hadn't been aware was moving, juddered to an abrupt halt, knocking them all off their feet.

"What was that?" demanded a startled Donna, as they all picked themselves up. The Doctor bit his lip.

"I have an awful feeling our lizard friend is about to introduce itself to us," he said.