The Doctor and Donna were none-too-gently returned to their prison cell after a speedy return journey in the spherical Guard car. Donna's bruised body was crying out from all of the rough treatment it had received during the day from the TARDIS's sudden take off to being literally thrown into the cell. She was also aware that she hadn't slept in almost twenty-four hours and was running on adrenaline (and maybe a little extra blood pressure due to her mild annoyance with the Doctor's actions).

The Doctor practically bounced off the cold floor and back onto his converse-clad feet as if he had not felt the impact of several tonnes of hardened cement.

'Buh-bye then!' He called after the rather large Guard who had just chucked them into the white-washed room. He waved frantically as the door slammed in his face and the Guard slammed a chunky fist against it in anger.

'Are you trying to wind them up?' Donna snapped irritably, pushing herself into a sitting position on the floor, the palms of her hands fast losing heat to the freezing ground. This was definitely not one of her favourite days. The Doctor, who had been staring at the metal door and the slight dent that had appeared in it due to the Guard's powerful fist, turned to face her.

'Let's face it, Donna, we've-,'

Donna cleared her throat loudly and raised her eyebrows at him.

'Okay, I've already wound them up. They already hate me and by association, you and I have a plan- well, half a plan- so we can get out of here and sort out this big ol' problem here. Is it really going to hurt me if I wind them up more?'

'It will if they insist on throwing us round like sacks of potatoes.'

'Which just further proves my point,' the Doctor said, wagging a finger at her, starting to pace the three metre long cell. 'Back when I was here the first time, the Skraarkans wouldn't hug each other for fear of accidentally poking someone in the eye in an act of unintentional violence. Hurting another was one of the worst things a Skraarkan could possibly do- and that should be the rule on all planets, it would definitely make my life easier.' He came to a sudden stop. 'So, Donna, if you're quite ready to return to your feet, let's break out of this joint.' He winked at her and held out his warm hand for her to take. He wiggled his fingers, as if they were itching to go and explore.

With a sigh, Donna reached out and took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. You have to admire his enthusiasm, she thought. The Doctor gave her a quick smile, squeezed her hand, before letting go and rummaging in his pocket for his sonic screwdriver. Having found it, he tossed it into the air, where it rotated several times and he caught it with his other hand.

'Such a show-off,' Donna muttered as he strolled calmly to the door and the familiar metallic buzzing filled the room, along with the reassuring blue light of the sonic screwdriver at work. With a satisfying click, the door unlocked and swung a little ajar. The Doctor wrapped his fingers around the edge of the door and pulled it open, standing behind it slightly, leaving Donna with a view of the dark corridor through the empty frame. She felt her heart beat speed up; she was about to escape from an alien prison.

'Aprés toi,' the Doctor grinned, giving Donna the opportunity to venture out first. He loved being able to share all of these experiences with his companions.

Nervously, Donna stepped out into the black corridor and started walking down it. The Doctor followed, closing the cell door behind him, trying to keep as quiet as possible. He was just about to continue after Donna when he turned and almost collided with a rather tall and imposing figure. The green lights flickered on overhead and the Doctor could see that the Skraakan, who was a good few feet taller than the Doctor, already held Donna by the arm; something the red-haired human was definitely not pleased about.

'This is why I don't like to go out of doors first!' Donna hissed at him as the Skraarkan grabbed him by the shoulder and steered him back into the cell, the door having been opened by Pliam who had fast appeared on the scene (of the crime, as it were).

'Give me that weapon!' Pliam demanded, already outstretching a hand to receive the sonic screwdriver.

'What weapon?' the Doctor tried to feign innocence.

'Do not play the fool with me, Doctor,' Pliam told him sternly. 'You and I both know what weapon I am referring to and I know that I can see everything you get up to in this cell. You can ignore every other thing I say, but please, do not mistake me for a fool.'

The Doctor's mind was racing with possibilities, none of which were going to help them in their current situation. The sonic screwdriver was his only weapon, but was of no use to him now when he really needed it. He put his hand in his pocket and clutched the ridged cylinder in his hand, calmly pulling it out again as his eyes darted around the cell, looking for an answer that would successfully allow both he and Donna to escape and not get clobbered over the head with the dinner-plate sized hands of the other Skraarkan Guard. But no such ideas came; there simply was no possibility of escape. Keeping his eyes firmly locked on Plaim's, the Doctor handed him his only method of escape. He saw Donna throw him a scared look out of the corner of his eye.

Pliam held the sonic screwdriver in his podgy fist.

'Take you coat off, there's no knowing what else you have in those pockets,' he ordered. The Doctor knew there was nothing useful in his pockets- not that he could remember anyway- and he wordlessly obliged.

'Turn out your trouser pockets.'

The Doctor dug his hands in his pinstriped trousers and pulled out the white lining. To his surprise, a small, orange, rubber duck fell onto the floor. The large Guard approached it suspiciously and picked it up. The duck emitted a wheezy squeak and the Guard flinched as if he thought the bath toy was about to explode. He tossed it back at the Doctor, who caught it and returned it to his pocket. Perhaps it could come in handy…

Donna was given the same treatment, turning out her trouser pockets to reveal nothing but a crumpled five pound note. With the Doctor's coat over his arm and the sonic screwdriver in his hand, Pliam left the cell and the other Guard locked them in once again.

The Doctor sat down on the small, uncomfortable bench and let his head fall back against the cool wall. Donna sat beside him.

'That's that plan out the metaphorical window then,' he said after a few moments silence.

'You've got another one haven't you?' Donna asked. The Doctor said nothing. He was still thinking, ideas whizzing around inside his skull but nothing came to him. He was confident that he would come up with something eventually, the situation wasn't that dire that there was no chance of returning back to the comfort of the TARDIS.

'Oh.' Donna said simply, taking his silence as a no.

'Hey, give me a bit of time,' the Doctor said indignantly, lifting his head so he could appear suitably offended. 'I am a genius y'know.'

'Right,' Donna smirked.

'I am!'

'I know, I just need you to prove it again so I don't end up as some alien's breakfast.'

'Nah, you're alright, Skraakans are vegetarians and they're pretty fussy so they'll only eat what they can grow on their own planet.'

There was a pause as the Doctor's irrelevant fact hung in the air, not helping them at all.

'So, what do you think the problem here is then?' Donna questioned him.

The Doctor ran a hand through his already messy hair and then rubbed his chin.

'Well, this is mostly guesswork at the moment, but I did think it was weird that the Queen's third eye wasn't moving or blinking at all.'

'And that's weird because Skraarkans worship the sun?'

'Exactly and Queen Ruza is- was- famous for being very religious about the sun. When she could, she would stare at it with all three eyes.'

'So, if her third eye isn't moving at all, what does that mean?'

The Doctor let out a long breath. 'I think it means that she's dead.'

Donna was confused. 'But she was right there in front of us, breathing and shouting for us to be punished… You'd think you'd have to be alive to do those things.'

'Ah, but, Donna you should know better than that by now. The universe is always doing millions of new things and I want to see as many as possible. It seems like we've got a new thing right here now and we're some of the first people to notice. Isn't that fantastic?'

Donna didn't even have to think back to her old life as a temp to answer his question.

'Definitely,' she replied. 'Fantastic new things. Although this time round, it seems to be some sort of undead alien monarch.'

'A fantastic new puzzle from the universe to us.'

'Undead alien monarch,' Donna repeated, like she was trying to view the fantastic new puzzle from a different angle.

'Undead alien monarch,' the Doctor copied with glee. The he frowned in thought. 'I'm not sure about the whole undead bit though… Alien and monarch are right enough, but undead? I think she is dead and has been for a while but there's something in her keeping that body moving and changing the ways of this planet for its own purposes…'

'Are we going to wait here then?'

The Doctor stood up again, as restless as ever. 'We don't have much of a choice. I need to try and get close to the Queen again so I can get a better look at her. Hopefully the Guard will drag us back to her… And hopefully she hasn't introduced the death penalty, I may have wound them up a bit much…'

'Death penalty?!' Donna shrieked. 'Doctor, I thought you said-,'

But the Doctor didn't hear what Donna thought he had said because, at that moment, her shouts were drowned out by the sounds of an explosion and hundreds of lumps or rocks and shards of glass being blasted into the air and falling with a deadly rushing sound. The Doctor and Donna covered their faces as huge pieces of brick and cement began collapsing and falling rapidly towards them like lethal rain.

……

A/N: I do like a good cliffhanger. And to think there was going to be a little more to this chapter… I guess I'm a bit cruel. Thanks for the reviews, keep your thoughts coming!