"I can't believe she went swimming. On a planet I don't even know!" The Doctor paused to wheel on the leader of the Dolphinus. "What do you call this planet anyway?"
"It is still in debate in Council."
The Doctor grimly smiled, suspicions confirmed. "This isn't your home planet. You said you chose it. Why? If there is a race out there hostile to its invaders-"
"We sensed no lifeforms when we scanned. And we did not activate the 'bigger on the inside,' as your friend called it, right away for it is a rather permanent structure. We scanned continuously for half of a year in case of migratory species. But nothing turned up. After being driven from our original home, we would not want to drive out someone else." The leader paused. "And then there was a strange solar event. Our astronomers and engineers worked days to figure out what it could have been. We scanned for life. But nothing showed up."
The Doctor noted her sorrowful, downcast gaze. "What happened?"
"Our people, our explorers, they began to disappear. There was nothing around us but sand. Nothing to hide any life form. But people kept disappearing. So we'd leave gifts, tribute. It would leave us alone for a while before striking again."
"But you started to run out of supplies to pacify the beast. So you traveled to Earth, a planet with billions, to gather some tribute."
The leader sadly sighed. "There were exactly the number of people we needed there, too-"
The Doctor interrupted her thought. "You see, ma'am, I've got a...'thing' for planet Earth. And I hate to see their advancing people threatened. Now you will retrieve the people that have been taken and I'll help you get rid of the beast."
"It's too late, good Doctor. It's nearing feeding time."
The fury of Heaven and Hell crossed over the Doctor's face. "You placed dozens of people out there to die. And then, you let Rachel go out there too?"
"We were missing one." A thought fluttered in the leader's eyes. "We could use one more."
The Doctor took off running.
Rachel, who took a big breath and carefully worked her way up to the top, was happy to confirm that the depth around the dome was twelve feet approximately. About a pool-length or two away was a spot where the floor rose up to two feet.
It was a swimmer's Heaven. Had Rachel been on the swim team, she might have been more excited about the actual swimming. But as she settled down in the few feet of water, feeling the soft waves crash her chest, words started to creep into her mind.
They flew right back out when a flash of color on the floor caught her eye.
"Catch him! Alive!"
The Doctor was darting in and around buildings and streets, trying to evade an unfamiliar (now hostile) race in an unfamiliar city on an unfamiliar planet. He snatched a spear from a bystander and he hoped to find a harmless way to use it.
In short, he was in a pinch.
And he felt a pinch, right between his shoulder blades, just before the world went dark and he fell to the ground.