CHAPTER ONE.

Donna Noble stared at the Doctor as he admitted the entire Earth had gone missing. She never herself contemplated this fact to occur, Earth, a mere blip in the universe... suddenly gone missing, while she and the Doctor, safely tucked away in the TARDIS, were pottering about wondering what happened, as no doubt her family were suffering somewhere a million light years away. "But if the Earth's been moved... what about the sun? What about my mum, my grandad? They'd all be dead!" she swallowed the thought. "They're dead, aren't they?"

The Doctor frowned as he continued to look at a monitor for answers. He thought he knew everything, but this event had completely baffled him. Who had the power and the technology to move an entire planet? Surely it looked like the Solar System was still in place... they were still were where the Earth should've been... the other planets were still there, the moon... even Pluto, but the fact was, where's Earth? "I don't know, Donna. I simply don't know. I'm sorry".

"That's my family", admitted Donna with a choking sob. "The whole world, six billion people you constantly try to save and they're... gone, just like the cream from an Oreo!"

The Doctor was somewhat ignoring yet acknowledging Donna at the same time, her worry about her family got to him, "There's not a whisper... not a trace of where it could've gone... oh that is fearsome technology!"

"So, what do we do?" asked Donna, finally letting the Doctor take control and her worries subside.

"We've got to get help", the Doctor said with a slight racing from his two hearts. He grinned.

"From where?"

"Donna, I'm taking you to the Shadow Proclamation. Hold tight!" Suddenly, Donna screamed as the Doctor flicked a switch on the TARDIS and it spun from the bleak empty space of where the Earth once was.

--

A television was flicking through various channels as the media were attempting to make sense of this strange event. Various comedians happened to get quite a cheap shot out of this, and in particular, the television was paused on an Australian 'comedy' show, with a very strange looking man hosting it.

"Y'know, I was standing outside, and I kept thinking to myself... how hard did I hit me missues over the head last night! Then I looked up and said not hard enough!" Dave Hughes gave one of his cold laughs as the audience stifled a laugh in return.

The channel flicked again.

"The United Nations has issued an edict, asking the citizens of the world not to panic as they are still unable to explain the 26 planets that have entered the sky",

The channel flicked back to Dave Hughes of the 7pm Project as he was making a joke about a disabled man trying to talk to an alien, being his typical humour.

"...then the homeless guy said... what was I drinking last night? Furniture polish?"

Ianto suddenly burst into laughter, as from the computer next to him; Captain Jack Harkness gazed at him in disapproval.

"Ianto, there's a time and a place. Since when did you manage to pick up THAT show?"

"Well, he is sort of funny". Ianto refused to answer the second half of Jack's question.

"Take a look at this!" Jack said in a sudden change of tone, when seconds later he was knocked over by a violent force of light. As his gaze adjusted, and Ianto removed his arm from his eyes, the pair noticed a woman standing in the middle of the Hub, naked, and looking quite dazed.

"Don't just stand there", she snapped, quickly pulling of Jack's coat and wrapping it around her. "We've got a situation".

"Hold on!" Jack was still trying to gain his balance by the strange woman wearing his coat and was busy working hard at his computer. "Who are you, no wait, why are you naked?"

She looked up at him with deep brown eyes, the same endless eyes he had seen once before. Once before those eyes belonged to a man, a brilliant man, but surely... he couldn't have become a woman?

"Time and a place", she repeated his previous comment. "Do me a favour. Fetch some clothes and I'll do what I can to rectify this issue, has anyone managed to contact the Doctor?"

"What... how did you know about him?" Ianto finally found his words.

"Clothes now, answers later. You humans... your computers barely operate fast enough to keep up with my thinking", she pulled something out of thin air that Jack quickly recognised.

"A sonic screwdriver!" Jack announced. "Hey, leave my computer alone!"

"Got it", the woman pocketed the screwdriver in an area where Jack didn't even want to think about, something that reminded him of his adventure on Satellite Five. "Clothes. Now".

Ianto glanced at Jack who shrugged. "You heard the woman", Jack said, as he noticed odd readings appearing on his monitor. "Get her some clothes, please". He grinned a little at Ianto, who hurried to his feet and up the stairs.

Gwen, who was at the top of the stairs, in mid conversation with her other half – Rhys – who was on her mobile phone, glanced at Ianto as he shoved past her. "Oy, where's the fire?"

"Naked woman, computer... Jack... clothes..." Ianto blinked and hurried into the storage room.

"Nothing new around here, then", finished Gwen, as Rhys caught the end of that comment. "No, look, just tell mum... tell her to take her pills and go to sleep. I'll be home soon... I love you, you big idiot". She hung up as she hurried down the stairs in time to see the woman at Jack's computer, wearing his cloak, and having barrels of fire red hair falling down to the small of her back. "Who's she?" Gwen demanded.

"No idea, but she's brilliant. Look at these readings... someone's established an artificial atmospheric shell... keeping the air and holding the heat... just who are you exactly?" Jack poked the pale shoulder of the woman sitting at the computer as Ianto ran back downstairs with some clothes for her.

"Sorry, these were all that I could find", he tossed them to Jack.

"Why do you need me to approve them?" Jack asked, who tossed them to Gwen.

"Time and a place", Gwen sighed as the woman rose from her seat and took the clothes.

"No one touch anything until I get dressed. Understood?"

"Since who are we taking orders from, then?" Jack demanded. "Listen, lady. I'm tired of playing nice with you. I've let you play with my computer, now the least you can do..." he took out his personal pistol and pointed it at her head... "is tell me who you are".

The woman adjusted the clothes in her arms into a ball. She pointed her sonic screwdriver at the screen formerly displaying a horrible comedic act of Dave Hughes until a file came up on screen. "Pronounce my name wrong and I will not only shove that gun up your behind, but I will fire it as well".

Jack turned to the screen and brought up her name:

"Romanadvoratrelundar, aka... Romana".

"Could do with a bit of work, but it will suffice. Now, if you don't mind?" Romana peered at the two men who were gaping at her information spiralling on screen until they decided to turn around.

"So, how did you escape the E-Space, then?" Jack asked, rocking back and forth on his heels. Sure, a horrible situation was happening outside – but the fact was... they had a Time Lady in Torchwood.

Surely she would be bait to bring the Doctor back.

"Ask whoever pulled the Earth into the Medusa Cascade, or so I thought that was where we are", she said, pulling up a pink zippered vest and fluffing out her red hair. "Right. Now, as you were saying...?"

"Uhm", Ianto cleared his throat as Romana approached the trio, who were gazing at her recent findings. "Whoever's done this, wants the human race alive. That's a plus..." he paused. "27 planets, including the Earth".

"26, if you exclude the lost moon of Poosh", Romana said, pulling a face. She didn't want to admit the lost moon of Poosh was a planet. "Right, then! You there", she pointed to Jack. "...fetch me a glass of water. This new regeneration is dehydrated".

"No, but wait! That's not a planet", Gwen stated... as a big, blinking red dot appeared in the middle of the screen.

"That doesn't look like the lost moon of Poosh", frowned Romana.

--

Sarah Jane looked rather confused as she too noticed the big, blinking red dot appeared in the middle of Mr Smith.

"The reading appears to be artificial in construction", confirmed Mr Smith as Sarah nodded to herself.

"Some sort of space station, sitting at the heart of the web", she finished explaining the situation with an air of confidence around her. She turned her head to see Luke appearing with a mobile phone in his hand.

"They're fine, Maria and her dad, they're still in Cornwall. I told them to stay indoors, and Clyde's with his mum".

Suddenly, Mr Smith interrupted Sarah Jane's breath of relief for her young friends. "Sarah Jane, I have detected movement. Observe",

Both sets of eyes were fixed to Mr Smith as several blinking red objects appeared on the screen.

"Spaceships", grinned Luke.

--

General Sanchez, one of the high commanders of UNIT, looked like a cherry on top of a pavlova as he gathered various readings from the main computer. He ran a hand over his bald head, swearing he could feel beads of sweat forming between his fingertips.

"Tracking 200 objects. Earthbound trajectory! Geneva is calling a Code Red. Everyone to battle positions!" He couldn't believe these observations. He'd been trained in every single disaster possible, but when facing one such as this... he had to rely on his own judgement. He peered over at Martha Jones who was trying to make a call on her mobile. Yes, he wished he could find time to call his wife and ensure that she was all right... and their young children, but there wasn't time.

"Dr Jones, if you're not too busy", he said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

Martha looked up suddenly, frowning as she couldn't get a signal. It had worked all the time before... why not now? "I'm trying to phone the Doctor, Sir".

Sanchez started to feel a little better with this news. "And?"

Martha was slightly panicked as she threw the phone into her pocket in mere frustration. "There's no signal! This number calls anywhere in the universe, it never breaks down. They must be blocking it. Whoever 'they' are". Martha frowned deeply as she looked at the screen, and Sanchez peered in over her shoulder. We can see that it's the same image, which had startled Torchwood and Sarah Jane.

Sanchez looked a little interested, but inwardly he felt fear. There had to be some sort of hostile reason for whoever 'they' were to steal the Earth in the first place. "We're about to find out. They're coming into orbit".

--

The streets of London were different compared to normal. People were running and screaming... either in fear or drunken delight. Alarms were sounding through various stores as they were being robbed, some people escaping with for some reason limited edition DVD collections of P!NK in concert.

Rose Tyler walked through the madness, she was worried about the people, but yet she was determined to ensure that whoever is responsible for this pays. Rose was alerted to someone staggering nearby.

"The end of the world, darlin'! End of the stinkin' world!" Though quite drunk, he was fairly sincere in his words.

Rose merely acknowledged him with a nod and a smile. "Have one on me, mate".

Her thoughts solely on the Doctor and where he could be, she entered an electronics store with smashed glass everywhere. Her eyes fall on a pair of young men who picked up a couple of HD TVs.

"Right, you two! You can put that stuff down, or run for your lives", she cocked her huge gun, the pair of young men's eyes suddenly widening with surprise. "Do you like my gun?"

The men ran away terrified. She sat down and was watching a nearby screen to see the images that we had seen before. The 27 planets and the spaceships moving toward the Earth, she clicked her jaw for a moment and hoped that the Doctor saw this happening.

--

Sylvia Noble was watching the news footage on the television. Her face looked stricken with worry for not only of her own life, but for Donna, who she hadn't heard from for a while. Her face suddenly dropped open to surprise with the newsreader popping up on screen.

"We're now getting confirmed reports of spaceships. The Pentagon has issued an emergency report..."

She called out to her father. "Dad? Come and see!"

The newsreader continued: "...and now heading towards Earth in a regular pattern..."

Her voice fell to that of panic. "They're saying spaceships!"

Wilf returned to the lounge with a mobile phone in hand. He looked concerned, and for once he wasn't interested in the spaceships being shown on the telly.

"Did you find her?" Sylvia asked.

Wilf frowned deeply. "No, no, there's no reply. Where are you, Donna? Where are you, sweetheart?"

--

Back in Torchwood, the crew were watching the scene carefully as Romana tried desperately to lock onto the TARDIS via another computer. She didn't recognise the ships off hand; their machinery felt familiar... but seemed more advanced.

"So, you're a Time Lord... like the Doctor?" Jack asked, still completely fascinated that another had existed... and quite a looker at that.

"Yes. Stop asking such immature questions and give me more power!"

"I can't. You're already draining half of the rift!"

Gwen looked at the pair. "3,000 miles and closing... But who are they?!"

Jack, pleased with relief that he had a distraction, his mobile phone rang. Romana shook her head as the signal was lost yet again... and she tried desperately to find another power source by searching through the boxes nearby.

"Martha Jones! Voice of a nightingale! Tell me you put something in my drink?" He eyed Romana as she shook a very valuable artefact. "Hey! Put that down, that's priceless!"

"It's junk", Romana threw the device away. "Trust me; once you get it working again it'll be nothing but a pretty light display that'll last as long as cheap Christmas lights".

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Trouble in paradise?" Martha asked.

"You'll never believe this. There's another Doctor, and, she's... well... destroying the place at the moment".

"Another Doctor? Another Time Lord? A SHE?"

"Long story". There was an awkward silence as something else crashed in the background and Martha decided to return to the reason for her call.

"Have you heard from the Doctor?" Martha questioned.

"Not a word, Romana's trying to track the TARDIS down using power from the rift. I told her she was insane, she told me to get a haircut. Where are you?"

"I heard that", Romana snapped, as she returned to the computer with her sonic screwdriver.

"New York", Martha replied, catching some of the conversation going on in the background. "She sounds like fun".

"Perhaps if we got in a room together for fifteen minutes, who knows..."

"I've been promoted. Medical Director on Project Indigo". Martha sounded proud, yet fearful at the same time as she was watching the screen displaying the spaceships getting closer.

"Did you get that thing working?" Jack wondered.

Martha didn't look impressed that he knew about it. "Indigo's top secret, no-one's supposed to know about it",

Suddenly, there was a crash. Jack turned to see Romana throwing the keyboard onto the ground. "Useless! Pathetic primitive technology... can't even locate a TARDIS..."

"What was that?" Martha asked.

"Romana's just destroying Torchwood". Jack grinned a little; he was beginning to like her. "But I met a soldier in a bar, long story".

Ianto finally looked up with a jealous expression. "When was that?"

"Strictly professional!" Replied Jack, cutting Ianto off quickly before he could offer a response.

Gwen was still looking at the monitor. She looked rather tense. "1,500 miles, boys, and accelerating. They're almost here".

Romana stopped doing what she was doing and wandered over to Gwen. "Looks like they're trying to send a message..."

--

Sarah Jane looked up as Mr Smith alerted her of a new situation. "I'm receiving a communication from the earthbound ships. They have a message for the human race".

"Put it through, let's hear it". Sarah Jane waited with interest... yet the second she heard these next words...

"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Her heart leapt into her throat.

--

"Oh my God..." Jack said as he dropped his phone when the message started to play.

"Exterminate!"

Romana's face turned whiter than it already was.

--

"Exterminate!" The message followed through to UNIT, where Martha looked like she was about to faint.

--

The words seemed to rotate like a rusty gear in Jack's mind. The others were concerned with his facial expression, except Romana, who merely seated herself down in a slow motion.

"No", Jack said, remembering his last situation with them... the situation where he died... but following Rose looking into the heart of the TARDIS making him have eternal life. "Oh, no".

"What is it? Who are they? D'you know them, Jack? What about you... Romana?" Gwen wondered fearfully.

Jack was speechless but Romana explained with a blank look on her face.

"They wiped out my planet. My entire race, my family, and now they're after Earth... but why... why would they want Earth..."

"Who's they?" Ianto asked.

Jack said nothing. Instead he pulled Ianto and Gwen into an embrace and kissed them both on the forehead.

--

Sarah Jane's eyes were full of tears as the message continued... those same words... over and over, she held her son tight, mumbling, "Oh God, you're so young... so young..."

--

"There's nothing I can do... I'm sorry... we're dead..." Jack said, holding the pair tight when Romana got to her feet.

"Yes, we can fight. Earth has two Time Lords on their side, and the Doctor has his followers. We will win this".

Jack merely frowned slightly. "But we can't FIND the Doctor!"

"I think I have an idea..."