A/N: I don't know how anyone else feels about these flashbacks, but I like writing them lol. I have no idea whether they fit or if they're even needed, but they're fun to write. This one was anyway, and the very first one. The other one was just a bit... depressing :( Yes I'll go away now :P

Chapter Ten

Two Birds

The Sol System

Sol III Date: 20th March, 2008

'What's he doing?'

'Just sitting there.'

'I wasn't talking about Dead-Head there, I was talking about our target.'

'So was I. He's just sitting there.'

Nikto Nrendi leaned over the pilot's shoulder to see out of the front window for himself. He frowned a little at the sight of the blue box that hung above the grand, blue-green planet. Nikto cocked his head, not able to understand. The pilot, Gina Henderson, glanced towards him and smiled thinly.

'Trap?' she suggested.

Nikto snorted. 'I doubt it. What the hell is he going to do, throw splinters at us? Nah, I don't think he's noticed us.'

Gina looked back out of the window at the box. 'We are in stealth mode,' she stated thoughtfully. 'We won't have shown on his system, so he probably just hasn't seen us yet. But still… I've heard a lot about him. I don't just want to assume he hasn't seen us.'

Nikto snorted again. 'You need to stop worrying so much.'

Gina glanced warily over her shoulder and lowered her voice. 'Yeah, well I can't help it when our ex-boss just happens to be a part of our team.'

Nikto followed her uneasy glance to the man who sat in one of the passenger seats in the far corner of the cockpit. His body was rigid and he stared blankly ahead. Nikto clicked his tongue and turned back to Gina.

'Him? He can't understand a word we say. He's just programmed to get that Doctor fella's spaceship and get back to the new boss. It's the new boss we got to worry about, Gina.'

Gina nodded and sighed. 'I just think it's… well… creepy. I never liked those Zed-Head things, and he's even weirder than the rest of them. Especially when he starts that whistling…'

'Look, if you're that uneasy about it, how about we try and lure him out?' Nikto suggested. 'We could land on Sol III. He's a curious fella, that one, so if he sees us passing him and going to land he's bound to follow. And even if he doesn't we can just take off again and catch up with him.'

Gina considered this. 'What if we lose him?'

'Then we don't tell anyone we found him.' Nikto shrugged.

'Okay. Sounds fair to me.' Gina flicked the switch that controlled the stealth mode and began to move the ship forward.

'Where should we land?' she asked, peering down at the watery planet.

'On that one,' Nikto pointed. 'The one that's kind of shaped like a fella with a big nose. Land somewhere in the middle, far away from all that water. That's what I hate about this bloody planet – too much water. It's unnessecary.'

Gina nodded, gliding by the box and bringing the ship down towards the country that Nikto had chosen. While she steered, Nikto watched the radar screen.

'There we go,' he grinned. 'Told you he'd follow us. Now get that stealth back on and hide the ship.'


'I don't believe it,' Gina muttered, checking the scanner in her hand for the second time. 'It's impossible. Seriously…' She thrust it towards Nikto and nudged him hard in his ribs at the same time. 'Take a look at this.'

Nikto consulted the scanner, and then looked up to the drunken human swaying against the metal shutters. 'It must be a mistake.' He replied.

They were concealed from sight across the road and a little up an alley. The ship was behind them, but invisible to everyone else due to its cloaking device. Across the street was their target, the Doctor, but they had found something even more interesting – and even more valuable.

'It never gets it wrong,' Gina hissed. 'And it's on the wanted list.'

Nikto and Gina looked at each other for a long time, and Nikto shook his head. 'It's impossible. The last one is at the compound. Everyone says that Telkaline's are extinct.'

'But you know there's a hybrid somewhere,' Gina insisted. 'It's on the list! The scanner says that she is that hybrid! Imagine what the reward will be when we bring the Doctor and the Telkaline back with us! Can you imagine?'

Nikto took a moment to imagine, and while doing so his eyes lit up. 'We'll be rich.' He confirmed.

'Damn right.' Gina nodded, tucking the scanner in her belt. 'Do you think we should grab them now? She looks like she'll be an easy grab, she can barely stand up.'

'Don't be ridiculous,' Nikto scowled. 'Do you know what those things can do? You'll be dead before you get out the alley. No. We should wait. Watch for a bit. And then send in Giggles, there.'

Gina glanced back to the Zed-Head that had been sent along with them. She frowned. 'What if he gets the credit?'

'Are you kidding?' Nikto chuckled. 'What's he going to spend his money on? No way, we'll divvy it up between us. If we send him in at least we can save our arses from being scorched if it goes wrong.'

Gina nodded reluctantly. 'Okay. So we watch. Then we send him in. Should we call in and tell them what we found?'

'No way,' Nikto shook his head. 'If he finds out we lost him, we'll be screwed. If he finds out we lost her too, we'll be dead.'

Gina winced. 'You're right.'

'So we wait?'

'We wait.'


Nikto pushed open the garden gate, but Gina grabbed his arm. She pointed behind her to where the Zed-Head had been a moment ago.

'He's gone,' she mouthed.

Nikto glanced around, scowling. That would be right. He had hung around for the past few days while they had watched the Doctor and the red-haired girl and now when they were doing the grab he had vanished. It was too late to back out now though. Nikto just shrugged and continued through the gate. He had only got two steps when his shin hit something hard. He stumbled over the metal dustbin, the crashing sound almost deafening, stopped rigid. He glanced around to see Gina glaring at him.

'Sshh!' she hissed.

He nodded, and began to get up again. The dustbin lid crashed on the pavement. Nikto winced, and carried on up the path.

'Manny?' a faint, bleary voice called faintly from inside the house. 'Is that you?'

Nikto and Gina remained silent. At the sound of a car approaching they ducked into the darkness. Car headlight swept over them, but they remained unseen. Slowly, Nikto approached the front door. He put his hand on the handle and tried to see through the frosted glass of the front door.

'Manny, is that you?'

He moved away from the window and turned to look at Gina. She pointed around the side of the house and quietly stepped onto the slightly dishevelled grassy patch in the small garden. Nikto watched her head around to the window, and then put his hand on the door handle again.

'I'm going to call the police!' The woman's voice was high and wavering. 'You try and get in here and I'll cave your head in!'

Nikto half smiled, amused by her fear. He glanced around to Gina to see she was smirking also. She winked at Nikto, and then tapped her fingernails on the window. Nikto stepped back in front of the door and pushed down on the handle, but it was locked.

'I'm phoning the police!' There was a pause. 'The police are coming! Right now!'

Nikto and Gina glanced to each other and Nikto moved towards her. He mimed that the door was locked, and Gina gestured to the back of the house. They both knew that the woman hadn't phoned the police at all. They were going to make their way around to the back when there was a sudden crash from somewhere inside the house. Gina and Nikto looked at each other in bewilderment and then raced around to the back of the house.

When they got there everyone had already gone. The back door was off his hinges and in a splintered mess on the floor. Without hesitation Gina sprinted one way up the alley and Nikto went the other.

Gina turned the corner of the next alley and ran into a hard body. She stumbled, dazed, and then frowned in confusion at the strange whirring sound all around her. She looked up just to see the blue box fading away to nothingness. She looked up at the Zed-Head beside her and sighed heavily.

'Well done.' She grumbled. 'We lost them. 'I hope you're bloody happy. We're all in the crap now.' She began to trudge back to find Nikto. 'At least they're together now. Should make it easier to round them up.'

Fidus Meynell continued to stare at where the TARDIS had been a moment ago, before turning and following Gina back down the alley. It didn't matter to him that they had lost them. After all, he was just another soldier.