CHAPTER TWO

Once the ground quit shaking, Sarah absently noted that the Doctor had covered her body with his to protect her from any falling debris. As they both stood up, she ignored his outstretched hand. 'I'm fine,' she said softly in answer to his unspoken question. 'We need to get the lights on and find out what that was.' She worked her way across the room and grabbed a torch from the shelf and used it to guide her way into the other room.

She reached her aunt just as Lavinia turned on her own torch and looked around, quickly assessing the situation. 'We don't normally have earthquakes in this part of England,' Lavinia said, shining her light towards Sarah.

'I don't think it was an earthquake,' Sarah replied. 'Are you all right, Aunt Lavinia?''

'Yes, of course.' Lavinia pointed the light at Sarah's head and quickly looked from her head to her feet. 'You're not hurt?'

'No, I'm fine. Are you sure you're all right?' Sarah asked again. She knew her aunt was just as determined as she was and wouldn't admit it if she had been injured.

'Sarah Jane,' Lavinia scolded. 'I'm perfectly fine. I am more concerned with why the generator failed, it should be up and running by now.'

Sarah frowned, knowing Lavinia was right. Unless something had damaged the generator as well. 'Why don't you make sure things are in line here while the Doctor and I check the grounds and get the generator going?'

'That sounds good dear.'

'All right, but I'll leave K9 with you, in case you need anything.'

'Just be careful, Sarah Jane.'

'You too.' Sarah and the Doctor made their way outside after Sarah told K9 to assist Lavinia.

'Whatever that was took out all the lights on the entire property,' the Doctor said quietly.

'Obviously,' Sarah said dryly. 'We'll head out across the market garden. We keep a backup generator there to power the essentials in the house.'

'Good girl,' the Doctor said with a grin. 'I knew I could count on you.'

Sarah continued walking, stepping out in front of the Doctor, making sure to lead the way. 'Whatever has happened would've happened with or without you here. You're not counting on me, I would've been here regardless.'

The Doctor frowned, even though he knew Sarah couldn't see it. She'd always been moody during their time together, but there was an unmistakable new edge to her voice that hadn't been there before.

They continued walking in relative silence, yet keeping their distance from each other. Sarah couldn't believe that he was here, with her, after so many years apart. She wasn't sure how she felt about his sudden appearance, to say nothing about his attempted dognapping of K9.

She'd been keeping her eyes peeled on the areas around them, trying to notice anything different, anything that could've caused the explosion that rocked the house, but nothing seemed out of place. Finally, she spoke. 'I tell you what Doctor, why don't I continue on to the generator, and you can take a look around and see if you can find what caused the explosion?'

'Good thinking, we'll cover more ground that way.'

Sarah nodded, then realised that he might not have seen it. 'I'll catch you up once I get the lights on.'

As Sarah started to walk away, the Doctor stepped forward and reached out towards her, catching her hand. 'Be careful, Sarah. We don't know what's out there.'

'Never was a truer statement made, Doctor,' she said flippantly, but then paused and gave his hand a squeeze. 'You be careful too.'

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Just as Sarah turned on the generator, bringing light back to the area, she frowned as she looked around and immediately noticed the large crater disrupting the otherwise undisturbed landscape. She could see the whipping of the Doctor's scarf even from the distance. He was looking over into the crater and seemed to be gesticulating wildly and talking, although she couldn't make out the words.

She rushed to join him and looked out over the edge of the massive crater. It seemed to go down at least ten metres and was twenty metres wide. 'What are they?' Sarah asked quietly as she noted the ship at the bottom of the crater and a being exiting the craft and climbing up towards them.

The Doctor frowned. 'Scandari.' He glanced over at Sarah. 'This isn't good.'

'What are Scandari?'

The Doctor sighed. 'Scavenger race. They go searching planets to mine them of their mineral content for food. Normally the planets they choose are uninhabited, so no one has interfered. If they're here, it can't be good. We'll need to stop them.'

The Scandari finished his climb up the side of the crater and now stood in front of them. He was two and a half metres tall, and covered in metal-like armour. His form was humanoid, even down to the facial skin colour, except he had four arms instead of two.

The Doctor addressed the Scandari as he reached out an arm and gently pushed Sarah behind him. 'State your intention for Earth. Why are you here?'

The Scandari regarded the Doctor for a moment, tilting his head to the side, taking in the Doctor's life signs before speaking. 'You are a Time Lord. This is not your world or your concern.'

The Doctor smiled. 'Let's just say I have a vested interest.'

'We have no reason to hide our purpose from you. We have only one goal. To use this planet as a food source, converting its mineral base into nutritious substances that our population can use to fight the famine plaguing our planet.'

'Destroy one planet to save another! Not only is that highly unethical, there's no way I'll stand by and let you do this,' the Doctor countered. 'Just go back to your ship and leave. Immediately.'

'You have no authority here, Time Lord.'

Sarah stepped forward. 'Maybe he doesn't, but I do.'

'Your planet is the perfect fodder for us, Earthling. You have no say in our plans.'

'Oh really? Have you ever considered that your scans may be wrong?'

The Doctor shot Sarah a questioning glance. Scandari scanning methods were well known across the universe. He knew the Scandari's initial scans would've accurately tabulated the chemical and mineral composition of the planet down to the last element.

The Scandari turned on Sarah, approaching to stand less than six inches from her yet towering over her slight frame. 'The scans cannot be inaccurate. This planet has one of the most varied compositions we've ever discovered. It will sustain us for quite some time.'

Sarah looked up at him, refusing to back down. 'I think your scans are out of date. We've mined and used the natural resources to a point where they're no longer useful. Scan me, and see if I'm not giving you more up to date information.'

The Doctor stepped up and grabbed her hand. 'Sarah, you can't,' he insisted.

Sarah turned to him. 'I don't have a choice.'

'You don't know what them scanning you even entails.'

'It doesn't matter,' she said calmly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. 'It's either me or the planet. I think the planet wins.' She turned back to the Scandari. 'Do it.'

The Scandari grabbed Sarah by the arm, pulling her away from the Doctor. From the pain etched on Sarah's face, the Doctor knew the vice grip on her arm was painful. Upon closer inspection, he could see smoke rising as the fabric of her sweater burned at the point of contact. The Scandari then released Sarah and took several steps back away from her.

Sarah glanced down and noted how the fabric on the arm of her sweater had literally melted. Clenching her eyes shut, she ignored the throbbing pain in her arm and focused her mind on showing the bleakest images of the planet she could think of. She knew it was up to her alone. She had to make sure the Scandari knew that Earth was unsuitable for their needs.

The Doctor watched as the Scandari reached out an arm towards Sarah, but without touching her, lifted her a good half metre above the ground with the power of his mind. A high-pitched squeal echoed through the air as the scan started. The Doctor fought the urge to run towards the Scandari as he saw the intense pain etched on Sarah's face and knew the amount of enormous pressure that now coursed throughout her body. He wanted to take her place, to not see her suffer or be harmed in any way, but at this point, there was nothing he could do.

Even for the Doctor, it seemed as if time stopped as the Scandari continued their scan of Sarah. Finally, the ear-piercing squeal stopped, leaving nothing but the echo of silence, but Sarah stayed frozen, suspended in mid-air. The Scandari looked at the Doctor. 'This human has provided more up to date scans. This planet is unsuitable to our needs.'

Without another word, the Scandari teleported back to his ship, the pressure to Sarah's body finally eased, and the force of them holding her in the air disappeared, leaving her to collapse on the ground, unconscious. The Doctor vaguely noticed the ship taking off as he rushed to Sarah's side, quickly gathering her up in his arms. As he cradled her to him, he avoided the melted fabric on her one arm, knowing the skin underneath had to be badly burned. He also worried about the damage to her mind, given both her proclivity for being hypnotised, and with what he knew about the Scandari scanning methods. She had to have made the images realistic, or they wouldn't have believed her.

The Doctor had always known that Sarah was stronger than the average human, as she'd proven repeatedly during their time together, but she never had to undertake such an extreme effort before. He wouldn't know the true extent of her injuries until they were in the TARDIS and Sarah had been properly scanned.

Trying not to jostle her, the Doctor stood up with Sarah safely tucked in his arms as he headed towards the TARDIS. He had forgotten how light she could be, and while he didn't like the fact that she was currently unconscious, he did feel that her being in his arms seemed right somehow.

He banished that line of thinking, knowing he had to focus on Sarah and her emotional and physical well being. Once he was sure she was all right, then he could allow his mind to wander.

After all, he had a lot of thinking to do.

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