Chapter 10

Eventually, they found what looked like a room at the end of the long corridor. It was bathed in darkness but as the Doctor panned his torch around it, he noticed that there were several terminals dotted around. It also looked like a disaster zone, like a tornado had just blown through. One thing was for certain, they had to shed light on the situation before they could see the extent of the damage.

"Right, let's get some lights on shall we," said the Doctor, moving to the nearest terminal.

"Jack, you try one of the others," he ordered, as he crouched down and pulled off an access panel.

"And, what do I do?" demanded Jenny, who still stood near the doorway.

The Doctor turned to her.

"Hold this," he replied, as he tossed the torch to her, "and tell me when the lights or anything comes on," he added, returning his attention to the terminal taking out his sonic screwdriver and started work.

"Is that it?" replied Jenny, "theres nothing else?"

"No… oh hang on, you can keep an eye out for anyone that might turn up," replied the Doctor,

"Do you really believe theres someone out there?" replied Jenny, anxiously

"Jack believes so and I believe him so theres a possibility," replied the Doctor, "that's why I need you to keep watch, because as they say, the day is still young."

"But, you said there was nothing here," replied Jenny, "that we were the only ones."

"Yes, I know but still keep watch because you never know," replied the Doctor

Jenny sighed but did as she was bid and turned back towards the dark corridors.

"Kids, eh," remarked Jack, jokily

"Tell me about it," mumbled the Doctor, buried in cables

The commander kept moving in the intense heat of the Thaxolian day. The intruders had reached the city itself and had disappeared inside.

Although, he had to admit, one of the intruders, the one the others called 'Jack' had somehow spotted him and the other called 'the Doctor' had tried to locate him but as he already knew, he would be impermeable to any basic scans. Finally, they had abandoned the idea and retreated into the city. There, he knew, they would be easier to locate and capture, like trapping prey in a cage.

His ship hadn't contacted him about the scans he took of the intruders ship. Maybe, like he did, they found it confusing and somehow impossible to understand.

Well, that didn't matter that much as he didn't need the scans to do his job. It was just as matter of skill and ingenuity and nothing else. When he finally got to the city, then the real game would began, a game which he would ultimately win.

"Anything?" asked the Doctor, buried in the wires of the terminal.

"No not yet, no," replied Jenny and Jack together.

"Damn," cried the Doctor, in frustration

"Language, Doctor," called Jack, chuckling, from the other side of the room

"Sorry," replied the Doctor, under the wiring

Jenny looked back out the door and panned the torch, the Doctor has given her, around. She hadn't seen anything move or even heard nothing for a while. Suddenly, like an answer to her thoughts there was a distant sound of footsteps. It was hard to pin point where it was coming from. She moved out into the hallway, still keeping close to the doorway.

"Hello?" she called to the empty blackness. There was no response.

The foot steps had seemed to have stopped as she couldn't here them anymore. Jenny panned the torch trying to find source of the noise. She looked down the hallway leading away from her and then to the right but found nothing.

"Hello? Anyone there?" she called again but still silence answered her.

Then the footsteps seemed to come from the left hand hallway, sounding close. With all her military training she shouldn't have been so scared but the noise sent shivers down her back. She also found herself turning and heading towards the noise. Should she tell Jack and her dad? No, they were dealing with the lights and other stuff. Its her duty to be look out.

She continued walking down the corridor, still hearing the footsteps plus hearing her hearts beating, pounding in her ears.

She came across room after room but found nothing. The sound of footsteps were getting nearer and nearer.

She looked into another room but still found nothing inside. Then the footsteps came running up and something grabbed her. She tried to struggle. Tried to use her training to throw off her attacker. She lashed out behind her, the punched connected with something soft but felt no give. Then from somewhere nearby, she heard a soft hiss and something blowing across her face. She felt herself go limp. She tried to fight back but it was no use. She heard the torch fall and hit the floor with a loud metallic clang and spin away. Then knowing it was no use, that she had been drugged, she succumbed to pressing blackness and lost consciousness.

It was at that moment that lights in the room and the surrounding corridor flashed on but no one was in the room. No trace of Jenny or her kidnapper. They had both vanished.

"Oh, yes!" screamed the Doctor, as the lights in the room powered up.

"Ah, finally," exclaimed Jack, as he looked at the lights as they flickered to life, "Now I can actually see what I'm doing."

The Doctor quickly got to his feet and bent over the screen of the console. His fingers danced over the screen.

"Had any luck with that?" said the Doctor, looking over at Jack.

"Nope not yet," replied Jack, "there's a lot of damage. It must have been when the overload happened," he added

The Doctor nodded, concentrating again on the screen in front of him.

The Commander hefted the young woman he had just caught onto the floor. He opened out his communication device and it automatically bleeped to life.

A male voice came over the comm.

"Commander?"

"I have one of the trespassers...a female...I need her transported and contained. She has been drugged so I need her checked over first then lock her away in one of the holding cells," ordered the commander.

"Yes, sir...preparing transport," replied the male voice.

A few seconds later a blue haze of light appeared like a sudden flash and suddenly the young woman had disappeared.

"Transport complete, sir," said the voice, "medical personnel are looking after her now,"

"Good, tell them and security to tell her nothing and to keep her closely guarded," replied the Commander

"Yes, sir and good hunting," came the reply and the commander switched off his communicator. That was very easy, he thought to himself, but he knew the hard part was to come...it always did but at the end of it he knew he would be victorious.

Happy in the knowledge that one of his prey was safe and confined, he moved out of the room and into the corridor. He checked his scanner and found the other two were in a room just ahead of him. He made to move down the corridor but suddenly a loud voice burst the silence and one of two beings poked their head out of the corridor, followed by the other.

Immediately, the commander shrunk back into the darkness and headed down the corridor and out of sight. He would have to find another way around to surprise his prey. Surprise was always an advantage.