It was such a strange place for someone to have died.

The New Forest was wild and ancient, almost completely unclaimed by the modern world. The presence of humans was not wanted here and did not belong to this rugged landscape of windswept moorlands and great swathes of trees. Beyond the base camp was nothing but darkness. They were so utterly alone here that it was a question as to how and why the unfortunate occupant of the tent had met their end.

The presence of UNIT made the possibility of it being an accident relatively low against the idea that something awful had happened in this boggy field.

Gordon and Hart had lost their cheery disposition the moment the Doctor pointed out the plastic tent. They knew what grisly contents lay beyond its flaps and perhaps what had caused it. It was their job to find out what had taken place, and more importantly, they needed to prevent it from happening again.

"It's not a pretty sight in there," Gordon confirmed. "I did the preliminary examination after we arrived."

"I need to take a look inside." The Doctor decided. "You're going to need my help on this one."

Such a bold statement would have sound optimistically arrogant coming from anyone else. Gordon and Hart were part of a team trained and ready to deal with whatever lay ahead of them. The Time Lord hadn't even seen what had happened yet, but he was already assuming he knew better. But Rose had witnessed whole civilisations accept the Doctor's wisdom and guidance without question. He had a way of inspiring confidence in people, which automatically paved the way for him to take charge.

The trick didn't quite work this time, however.

"Don't get me wrong, Doctor." Gordon began. "We're glad you're here. But you really need to speak with the boss first."

"Five minutes in there. That's all I need." The Doctor protested. "Then I promise I'll have a chat with your commanding officer."

He took a step in the direction of the white tent, but he was prevented from going any further as both Gordon and Hart stepped out in front of him. As much as they admired and respected the Doctor, they had their orders and were determined to follow them.

"Look, if it was up to me, I'd let you go." Gordon continued. "But the boss will not appreciate you snooping around his base and operation without permission."

"He's not someone you want to upset, Doctor." Hart chimed in. "The boss is brilliant, but…."

The younger soldier didn't dare finish his sentence as Gordon shot him a warning look.

It was enough to cement the impression that their commanding officer was someone who inspired both respect and fear in his men. None of them wanted or dared to disobey an order, and they knew him well enough that he would not appreciate them going behind his back just to amuse the Doctor's curiosities.

The Time Lord's long breath of disappointment was entirely for show. Such rules and formalities were of little consequence to him when something positively mysterious and dangerous was up for an investigation. He wasn't about to give up so easily on getting what he wanted and knew exactly how he was going to get it.

"You do have your orders." He acknowledged. "Mind you, so do I."

With his hand already tucked deep into his coat pocket, the Doctor pulled out the battered leather wallet which contained the physic paper. Designed to show whatever the bearer wanted at any given moment, what Gordon and Hart saw was almost certainly fabricated and constructed to allow immediate access to the white tent.

The eyebrows of both soldiers shot up in surprise.

"That's a direct order from the brigadier?" Gordon remarked. "He sent you here?"

"We're old pals." The Doctor confirmed. "He thought that you might need a helping hand."

Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart had been a young man when the Time Lord had first met him. Together they had been at the forefront of founding UNIT and had embarked on many previous adventures together. As far as the Doctor was aware, the officer was still acting as the commander of the British section of the organisation.

"Well…" Gordon conceded. "If the brigadier had given you permission."

It was enough of a concession to allow the Doctor to sidestep the two soldiers and continue on his way towards the white tent. Rank was everything in the armed forces, and to arrive under the guise of the orders of someone at the top of the chain of command would allow himself and Rose to bypass the person in charge here at the base.

"Come on." He encouraged. "Let's get inside before the rain arrives."

The lack of stars or the moon showed that the thunderously dark clouds were directly over them now. A slight drizzle had steadily grown worse since they'd left the TARDIS, and now the weather was about to make good on its threats.

A third soldier was stood on guard outside the white tent.

Disregarding the bitterly cold temperatures and downpour as it finally began to fall, only a hint of curiosity flickered across his face as Gordon and Hart approached with the Doctor and Rose. Standing up a little straighter, the man acknowledged the lance corporal with a slight nod of his head.

"It's a code nine, Thompson," Gordon explained. "The Doctor is here to see the body."

If Thomson was either surprised or excited to meet the Time Lord, he was very good at hiding it. Perhaps his facial features were too frozen to move due to his sentry duty but Rose so no change of expression as his dark eyes swivelled over in their direction. When Thompson spoke, it was with a distinctly Scottish accent.

"Aye, sir." He agreed. "Does the boss know he's here?"

There was a hint of amusement that emerged from Gordon and Hart in light of enquiry. It wasn't just them that was under the impression that the Time Lord should really be consulting with their commanding officer first before stepping inside the white tent. But as far as any of the soldiers knew, it was under the orders of the brigadier.

"It's been handled, Thompson," Gordon stated. "Hart, go and let Amell know we're back. Right, Doctor. Let's see what you make of this, shall we?"

He then stepped forward and pushed aside the plastic flaps to allow the Time Lord and Rose access to the white tent. Its warmth and the glow of the lights inside against the cold and wet night was deceivingly tempting. Whatever lay inside wouldn't make for pleasant company, but it was perhaps better than staying out in the rain.

Rose's heart was hammering against her chest.

It didn't matter how much death or atrocious acts of violence she had witnessed. The bad feeling would still begin to bubble away in the pit of her stomach and threaten to turn into bile. If she wasn't careful and failed to brace herself, then it would quickly rise up and reach her throat.

"Oh my god!"

It had been a brutal end.

The man had been placed inside a body bag, which was zipped up as far as his chest. His cause of death had not been covered up with it, however, and it was immediately evident that this had been no tragic accident whilst he had been out walking. His bright blue jacket had been torn to shreds, and the many dark red patches staining the ruined garment showed just how much blood had been spilt. The uncountable amounts of cuts and slashes on his body trailed all the way up to…

Rose had to fight the urge to throw up.

Save for a small part of his spine and a bit of skin, there was nothing else keeping his head attached to his shoulders. Whatever had attacked him and almost entirely bitten clean through his neck and left a mangled mess of what had once been a handsome young man.

"Now, what's done this?" The Doctor pondered. "Some kind of animal attack?"

Unfazed by any squeamishness, he crouched down beside the body and leaned forward to get a closer look at the damage which had been caused. Whatever had killed this man had attacked with such brutality and strength that no creature from Earth could have possibly done it, at least not within the confines of the New Forest.

"The local authorities are under the impression that a lion has escaped from a nearby private collection," Gordon explained. "We're here to ensure that it is caught and stopped."

"Did they believe that?" Rose questioned. "The police?"

"We didn't give them much of a choice. Given the alternative, we kept the real cause on the need to know basis."

"So, what is the real cause?" The Doctor asked. "I gather it isn't from Earth?"

"No, we don't think it is." The lance corporal replied. "It's a large predator, but the injuries don't match for any wild animal we know of. The body hasn't been consumed for food, and every ounce of blood had been drained from it."

"So something killed him, only to drain him dry?"

They were taking so impassively that Rose could not understand how they could ignore the fact that this had once been a living, breathing person. How long ago had he died? Did he have a family, and had they been told what had befallen their loved one? Perhaps UNIT would never allow the truth to ever come out. His death would forever be a lie, and the creature responsible had yet to be caught.

"Who was he?" She asked quietly. "The man, who was he?"

Gordon regarded her with a sympathetic look.

"Tom Richardson. He was an accountant from London out here on a camping trip." He explained. "Some ramblers found him late this morning and called the police. His car and tent are just on the other side of the woods where we found you."

Standing up and taking a step back from the late Tom Richardson, the Doctor could sense that all had not been disclosed yet. Something was unsettling Gordon, and it was not the bloodied body he had been charged to guard and examine. The soldiers had been here for a good amount of hours now, and it was not the absence of the creature they were hunting that was hindering them.

"What aren't you telling me?" He asked. "What's wrong?"

"The complication is, Doctor." Gordon began. "Is that he wasn't alone. We found two sleeping bags in the tent. Personal items also found strongly indicate that his girlfriend was travelling with him."

"You've been out looking for her, haven't you?"

"Even since we arrived." The soldier confirmed. "Just as much as the creature. But a delay in the police sharing the information with us, not to mention the weather… Both have vanished."

The rain which had plagued the operation all day now seemed settled in for the evening as the continued thuds of droplets could be heard hammering against the plastic roof of the tent. Any tracks would have long since been washed away, and with it, the easiest way of tracking the two targets down.

Walking over to a small table at the back of the tent, Gordon picked up something significant and white. Returning to the Doctor and Rose, he held it out for the Time Lord to inspect.

It was a fang the size of his palm. Razor-sharp and curved severely enough for the two ends to almost meet one another, the power of the creature it once belonged to was practically pulsating off its ivory-white surface. In stark contrast to the bone of the tooth was the section of bright pink fleshy gum that had been ripped away during the attack.

"Oh, now that is interesting." The Doctor declared. "You're right, lance corporal. It's not from Earth."

"We found in what's left of the throat," Gordon explained. "Poor bloke. He put up a fight, but he didn't stand a chance."

Rose was suddenly in need of some fresh air. She didn't care if it was raining outside. What was needed was to be away from the horrible sight of Tom Richardson's body. It was an all too dreadful notion to think of his final moments, and she at least needed to take five minutes before they set out to find out what had happened.

Turning on her heel and bolting for the unzipped flaps of the tent, Rose only managed to travel a few steps forward before she collided into something solid and warm. Having been expecting fresh air and droplets of rain, she looked up in surprise and found herself face to face with another soldier.

This one was younger than all but Hart. Perhaps only twenty-two or twenty-three years old, he had fair hair cut short apart from two thick strands that hung over his forehead. It was wet from the rain, and droplets of water continued to trail down his temples. Tall and slender, his high cheekbones and small nose made for a slightly chiselled face.

Rose felt him stumble back as she crashed into him.

"What the..." He began. "Just what is going on in here!?"

He wasn't from London, as Gordon and Hart were. Nor was he from Scotland. His accent spoke of somewhere slightly further south of the capital, and it had a tendency to drop the letters H and T much more. Also, by its tempered tone, it was clear that he wasn't impressed by what he had walked in on.

"Corporal Amell, sir." Gordon greeted smartly. "Hart told you that the Doctor and -"

"Oh, that he did." Amell snapped back. "He couldn't have been more excited to tell me, in fact."

"Isn't that nice?" The Doctor chimed in. "Hello, I'm the Doctor. This is Rose Tyler."

Aware that she was still stood no more than three inches away from Corporal Amell as he stared at them all incredulously, Rose retreated away from him by a few paces.

"Hello." She greeted. "Nice to meet you."

Amell had a pair of dark brown eyes, and they had narrowed with both suspicion and irritation. There was no warm welcome here and no great display of respect or reverence for the Time Lord and his companion. In fact, Amell couldn't look less happy to meet them.

"Why hasn't the boss been informed about this?" He questioned Gordon. "Why are they in here?"

"Sorry, but that was my fault." The Doctor intervened. "Last minute arrangement on behalf of the brigadier."

He was still in possession of the fang and quickly slipped it into his coat pocket. Replacing it with the psychic paper, the Time Lord held out the battered leather wallet for Amell to see the same false credentials which had so easily fooled Gordon and Hart.

"I see." Amell acknowledged. "Well, Doctor. I rather think you and Miss Tyler should come with me."

The Doctor nodded in agreement as he pocketed the psychic paper. They couldn't delay speaking with the commanding officer of the operation any longer, especially now that someone was in danger and in need of rescuing. There wasn't a moment to lose in locating the missing woman and the alien stalking these woods.

With a curt nod, Amell beckoned them both to follow him out into the cold night.

The rain had subsided for the moment, but it was still bitterly cold, and the air remained damp. More downpours would follow and perhaps even another storm. It wasn't the best weather to be out in the middle of nowhere, especially given a murderous creature was out on the loose.

Corporal Amell paid no attention to the mud squelching beneath his boots as he led the Doctor and Rose into the heart of the base camp. Taking them into and through the nearest large green tent allowed Rose to see the sheer scale of the operation even this tiny group of UNIT soldiers had created.

Two large collapsible tables had been joined together to make enough room for a dozen men to gather. The chairs surrounding them were made of hard plastic and had narrow bars of metal for legs. To the right, one of the canvas walls was completely hidden behind a dozen large black crates. Each of the labels stuck to them only had an assigned six-digit code printed on the white sticker, keeping the contents as closely a guarded secret as anything else onsite.

Just like in the white plastic tent, the structure was illuminated by a harsh LED strip light that had been strung up by a pair of cables.

There was another soldier taking inventory of the items contained within the black boxes. With a clipboard in his right hand and a pen in his left, he did not comment and only watched curiously as Amell escorted the Doctor and Rose through the tent and past him.

"Out of curiosity, corporal?" The Doctor enquired. "How many men have you got?"

"Eight."

"Not a massive operation, then?"

Amell stopped dead and turned around on the spot to face the Time Lord.

"It's a covert operation, Doctor." He explained. "We don't exactly want to announce to the world that we're here."

Satisfied that the Time Lord wasn't about to ask any more questions, Amell turned back around and led the Doctor and Rose through and out of the other side of the tent.

A small circle had been formed by it and the other two identical structures. If there was an ideal spot for a campfire, it would have been right here. But one hadn't been constructed, and Rose had so far not seen any other way in which the soldiers might keep themselves warm. Perhaps they were just more hardened to such conditions, and the split-second glimpse of cot beds throughout the opened flaps of the second tent showed that they were committed to staying until the job was done.

There were no more than ten paces between each of the tents. But before Amell took them inside the third one, he stopped and once again turned around to face the Doctor.

"Look, I know this will be hard for you." He told him sternly. "But try to be on your best behaviour with the boss. He won't be happy that you've been snooping around before coming to see him. Orders or no orders. Just listen to what he has to say, give an informed and quick summary of what help you can give us, and you'll get on fine with him."

"You make it sound like we're about have a battle?"

The left corner of Amell's mouth twitched up into a brief and sly grin.

"Well, we are soldiers, Doctor." He said. "But get on the bad side of the boss, and it won't be a battle you'll win."