The harsh LED light hanging overhead was almost painful in comparison to the darkness outside.
Once Rose's vision adjusted, she saw the makeshift office which occupied the space. Central to it was a scratched and dented desk with three chairs surrounding it, two of them facing this side of the surface. A considerable pile of paperwork spread untidily across it, and two SIG P226 pistols were acting as paperweights.
A map of the New Forest had been pinned to a noticeboard that was situated behind the desk. The area the base was located had many handwritten observations scribbled across it, mostly made up of large red crosses that began in the immediate area and spread out for miles in every direction. Given there was only eight of them, the team of soldiers had done exceptionally well to cover such a large area in the time they had been there.
But there was still no sign of the missing woman or the creature.
Perhaps the commanding officer would actually be reciprocal of the Doctor's help. Ignoring the formidable reputation he had already managed to create, an outside opinion might actually prove helpful. He had clearly not paused to rest once since arriving. His cot lay to the left of the tent, and the single blanket and uncased pillow remained neatly pilled up at one end. Sat on the foot of the cot was a large black Bergen rucksack that must have weighed at least twenty kilograms.
Who it belonged to remained unclear as the two men stood in front of the large map turned around to face the Doctor and Rose as Corporal Amell led them inside.
The tallest soldier was a black man whose muscles were evident even underneath his bulky uniform. He looked as though he had seen everything and perhaps had. His crooked nose stood out on an otherwise handsome face, looking as though it had been broken multiple times in the past.
Like every other soldier, he was wearing a kevlar vest and protective elbow and shin guards. The distinctive red UNIT beret was perched on top of his closely cropped hair.
The other man's beret was tucked in neatly through the lapel of his jacket, and he couldn't have looked smaller stood next to his much stockier colleague. Skinny and pale with a pointed face, his eyes were cold and murky blue like a puddle of rainwater. It was he who was the first to speak.
"What am I suppose to make of this?" He remarked. "Did you pick up some strays, Amell?"
Stood to attention to greet his seniors, a half-smile had crossed Amell's lips due to the news he was about to deliver.
"It's a code-nine, sir." He replied. "Gordon and Hart found them in the woods."
"Did they?"
The slender soldier had a very clipped and articulate accent that would be quickly mocked back on the Powell Estate. She took an immediate dislike to his drawling tone, and the marred hint of hostility was a sure sign that he was not in a mood to welcome his new guests.
"Hello, it's nice to finally meet you." The Doctor warmly greeted. "So, who do we have here?"
"Second Lieutenant Eugene Kensington. This is Sergeant John Becker."
"Doctor." The sergeant acknowledged. "I can't say we were expecting you?"
"Not many people do. But now that I am here let's see what can be done about all of this."
Smiling brightly and ignoring the mixed reaction his arrival had created, the Doctor sauntered up to the desk and sat down on one of the two chairs facing the soldiers. Retrieving his tortoiseshell framed glasses, he slipped them on and helped himself to one of the pieces of paper that lay on the surface in front of him.
It was a statement provided to UNIT by the police when they had handed control of the situation over.
Tom Richardson, twenty-eight years old. Mister Richardson was found with extensive injuries and has fatally been wounded about the throat and neck. It is the possible result of an animal attack of an unknown origin. Mister Richardson was understood to have been camping at the stated location with his partner when the incident occurred. Jane Wilson, also twenty-eight…
The Doctor already knew all of this, but he nevertheless stored the information away as another report caught his eye.
Written down rather than typed up on a computer, this was the first-hand account of the commanding officer of the UNIT team. His cursive penmanship gave much more detail and insightful knowledge that showed the experience he had gained from years spent out in the field.
Hostile struck with a decisive frontal attack, intending on killing the victim with a singular bite to the jugular vein. Food was the unlikely cause of the attack as the body of Mister Richardson remains otherwise untouched. The creature is almost certainly a predator of a considerable size capable of hunting large mammals without issue. However, no further reports of further attacks indicate that the victim was targeted for a specific reason. The primary asset, Misses Jane Wilson, remains unfound and, if still alive, further strengthens the theory that said creature has above average intellect for any wild animal.
Extensive searches of the surrounding area have yielded few results. A delay in Hampshire Constabulary coming forward with the situation and several weather fronts have further hampered efforts, with all primary methods of tracing the primary down already destroyed. However, I have concluded that such a large creature would not choose to hide in such dense woodland. Quadruped animals of similar size prefer open spaces and would also not resort to an ambush strategy when known to be the apex hunter.
The presence of daylight and the activity of the base being constructed may have caused the creature to seek shelter. Eliminating the forest as a potential point of interest, and with additional support unable to find evidence that it has left the area, it could be that the creature has gone to
The sentence remained incomplete, as though the author no longer felt the need to write the rest of it down.
"Might I help you find something, Doctor?"
The Doctor looked up to see Kensington scowling down at him. With his arms folded across his chest, the officer's patience with the Time Lord was already growing perilously thin.
"This is very good." He praised. "Brilliant, in fact. But why did you stop?"
Kensington's frown deepened as confusion replaced irritation.
"What are you talking about?"
But the Doctor had already worked out why the officer hadn't finished writing his report. The same idea had crossed his mind, which had already crossed the Kensington's. Finally, the creature who had so far eluded capture might now be found and stopped from hurting anyone else.
"Oh! Something occurred to you, didn't it? You know where the creature is."
Kensington opened his mouth to speak, but no words followed.
It set off an awkward silence that even the Time Lord couldn't miss, as bad as he was detecting such little traits of human behaviour. He grew perplexed as he realised that none of them had the faintest idea of what he was talking about. But how was it possible when…
The truth hit him as Sergeant Becker answered on behalf of everyone.
"Doctor, we don't know where the creature is." He admitted. "What is that, in your hand?"
Striding around the desk, Kensington snatched the piece of paper out of the Doctor's hand and quickly read what was written down for himself.
"It's the lieutenant's report." He answered. "He thought I wrote it."
Rose mentally ticked off each of the soldiers she and the Doctor had met so far and tallied it against the eight that Corporal Amell had said formed up the team. Quickly, she understood how the Doctor had gone wrong. Including Kensington and Becker, there were only seven soldiers, and none of them was the commanding officer who had written the report.
"Ah, only seven of you." The Doctor realised. "There's only seven of you."
Clearing his throat loudly and stepping forward, Amell regarded Kensington.
"Sir, where is the boss? I didn't see him anywhere outside." He reported. "He should know Gordon and Hart are back and that the Doctor is here."
Kensington considered this and responded with a fresh bout of irritation. However, unlike his dislike of the Doctor, there was nothing the officer could do in light of his commanding officer's absence. He might outrank everyone else here, but he did not have the authority to do as he pleased. There more than a hint of disproval as he spoke, however, of the missing lieutenant.
"He was writing his report and suddenly declared that he needs to do some reconnaissance." He announced. "Then he took off without further explanation."
"Why?" Rose questioned. "There's a monster out there. It could kill him."
"I wouldn't worry." Becker chuckled. "The boss is more than capable of handling himself."
"His luck will run out one day." Kensington rebuked. "But you're right, Becker. He can handle himself."
With the commanding officer remaining absent, the Doctor knew they couldn't wait until he got back. No matter how accurate the officer's report was, there was nothing to suggest where the creature and the missing woman was. If Jane Wilson was still alive, then she would not be for much longer if they remained here at the base.
"Never mind that now." He decided. "I've seen the body, and I can tell you this is something UNIT hasn't faced before. Judging by the map, you've also run out of places left to search."
"Doctor, with all due respect." Kensington began. "This operation -"
"Was a difficult one from the start." The Doctor acknowledged. "But I make it my business to help when no one else can. There's no shame at all in admitting that you need it. Given the circumstances, I think you might benefit from learning a thing or two now that you've got me."
Rose felt the mood in the tent shift in an instant.
These soldiers had been working hard all day in the harshest of conditions. They had covered miles of forest and countryside to try and locate a very dangerous alien, which they would have to face had they found out. The Doctor's indifference to this effort must have been nothing short of a slap to the face.
"Not your best." She whispered. "Maybe a little rude."
"Really?"
"Yeah, just a bit."
The Doctor seemed genuinely surprised by this. Then again, social niceties and behaviours often escaped his attention. He was too busy occupying a mind that had a whole universe of knowledge to know when he was being been quite insulting to those he was genuinely trying to help. But equally, he didn't waste time getting embarrassed by such mistakes.
Swinging his legs up onto the desk as he leaned back into his chair, the Time Lord shrugged it off.
"Well, maybe I'm wrong." He admitted. "But you have to admit, Second Lieutenant Eugene Kensington. This whole operation has stalled, and if your boss can't even be bothered to be here in person, then we might as well all go home and forget about the whole thing."
If the soldiers weren't insulted before, then they were now.
"Doctor!" Kensington snapped. "If you have come here with the sole intention to critique everything we have done, then -"
But the officer's anger only increased the Time Lord's own growing level of frustration.
"I've come here to help you." He countered. "A woman is missing, and every minute we spend here talking is one less she has. But all any wants me to do is talk with your commanding officer. Now he isn't here, and I'm left with nothing but half a report to go on. So, where is the idiot who wrote it?"
There wasn't time to get mad at him.
The tent's doorway was pushed aside so quietly that it could have been caused by a gentle breeze. Kensington and Becker smartly stood to attention, as did Amell as he and Rose turned around and saw the eighth and highest-ranked soldier of the team.
"Well, Doctor." Kensington sneered. "You're in luck. Here is now."
The Doctor twisted around in his seat. A most extraordinary pair of bright grey eyes were staring back at him, furious and as foreboding as the weather outside.