Alice's POV:

"...Where are we?" I asked on the other side of the portal. An impossible number of stars, more than I had ever seen in my life, filled the sky. We were standing on a rocky surface, almost as if we were walking on the moon...

The Doctor pointed to a cluster of stars. "Do you see that very tiny, very faint star way over there?"

"Yeah?"

"That's your Sun."

"WHAT?" Suddenly, my surroundings took on an entirely new meaning. "That means...it's...this is...outer space. We're in outer space!"

"I know." the Doctor said with a smile.

"So this is another planet?" I asked, excitedly.

"No, that's being too generous. It's too small for that, & we don't seem to be in any kind of orbit. I'd say we're standing on a piece of space rock, just floating in the universe."

My excitement turned to dread in an instant.

"Doctor...if we're just standing on an asteroid or something...how are we still breathing?" A little bit of panic crept into my voice.

"Good question." the Doctor said, nonchalantly. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver & waved it in the air before examining it. "There's an atmospheric bubble surrounding us. Plenty of air to breathe." He picked up a loose pebble & dropped it. "Gravity seems to be the same as Earth, too."

"Is this where the Cronzins are from?" I asked. "Some space rock in the middle of nowhere?"

"No, Cronzinia looks nothing like this." the Doctor said as he walked off. I hurried to catch up to him. "It was a dry, harsh, desert climate."

"So what happened?"

"The Daleks happened."

"The...Daleks?" I asked. "What are they? Some other kind of alien race?"

"The worst kind of alien race." the Doctor said, bitterly. "The Cronzins were a relatively simple people, but as their name suggests, they did manage to develop very basic time travel technology. Their planet was one of the only sources for Cronzinium, an element that can be used to power time machines. The Daleks wanted that resource...so they took it."

"Ok, but what about the Cronzins themselves?" I asked. "What happened to them?"

"When the Daleks want something, they don't usually leave behind any survivors."

We walked in silence for a while, as I tried to process what the Doctor had just said.

"So what about that Mark of the Hunt?" I asked. "How does that work?"

"Pretty simple, really." the Doctor said. "The Cronzin hunter would scout out a possible food source. He'd leave the Mark, & send the Xolis eel to do the dirty work, since Cronzins were pretty weak physically."

"So the Mark is like a dinner bell?" I asked.

The Doctor launched into a very detailed explanation, which I tuned out because I had felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Something was behind us...something big...

"Um, Doctor?" I said, tugging on his sleeve so he'd shut up. "I don't think we're alone anymore."

We turned to find the Xolis eel behind us. It towered over us, standing nearly its full height, ready to pounce. It screeched at us, giving us a glimpse of its very sharp teeth.

"What do we do?" I asked. The Doctor reached over & took my hand.

"Run!" The Doctor tugged me to the side, just as the beast struck.

Thanks to the Doctor, it got a mouthful of space rock instead of us...

"I think we lost it." the Doctor said, as we hid behind an outcropping of rock to catch our breath.

"Yeah, & in the process you've gotten us lost, too." I said. "How are we going to get home?"

"There!" The Doctor pointed just beyond the outcropping. I looked & saw a shimmer in the air. The portal! We must have gone in a complete circle!

Suddenly, a screech came from behind us. The Xolis eel had spotted us. It raised itself up to attack, it was about to strike...when a shrill whistle pierced the air. I covered my ears, but the whistle seemed to pierce through me.

"Sounds like your master is calling you!" the Doctor yelled over the sound, although he also had covered his ears. Amazingly, the Xolis eel turned around, crawling away. We were safe.

"Come on." the Doctor said as the whistle stopped. We ran in the opposite direction, back through the portal to the shopping center parking lot. We didn't stop running until we got to my car. We jumped in. I turned the keys & hit the gas, giving us a burst of speed.

"Is it still following us?" I asked, checking my rearview mirror.

"No, I don't think so." the Doctor said. "Look out!"

I turned my attention forward just in time to notice the traffic ahead of us stopped at a red light. I slammed on the brakes, just barely avoiding a fender bender with the car in front of us.

"Sorry." I said, catching my breath. "You can just throw that stuff in the back." A bunch of junk had slid forward from the back, & now pooled around the Doctor's feet.

"Rock Climber's Monthly?" he asked, inspecting an old magazine that had slid forward.

"Just a hobby." I said. "There's a climbing wall place near my flat, & I just find it really helps me chill out, be in the present moment, you know? I'd love to actually climb a real mountain sometime."

The Doctor wasn't listening. He had already moved on to the next thing in the pile. "Ooh, this looks interesting. Principles of Environmental Science."

"That was my major at university." I said as the light turned green & traffic began to move. "Green energy is the future. I wanted to be a part of it, help save the world."

"So why aren't you?"

"Because I need to pay rent?" I said. "Besides, it's 2019. Nobody actually has a job related to their major anymore..."

"2019?" the Doctor asked, surprised. "Darn. I was aiming for a little bit earlier..."

"So, what do we do now?" I asked. "About the Cronzin & the Xolis eel?"

"We put a stop to it."

Next time, our heroes come up with a plan to save the world! But you know what they say about best laid plans…

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